The new book about Wishbone Ash, by ColinH of this parish, is imminent. The band just posted the cover photo on their FB page and report that the foreword is by Ian Rankin, a long-time fan.
Can I also say that, as a huge fan of Andy Powell (officially The Nicest Man In Rock – budge over Mr. Grohl) this is bloody great photo.
Properly excited, now.
http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w479/niallbrannigan/94d507ad2581415294377450b0e54952_zpshm2m3ytz.jpg
Wasn’t aware this was imminent but looking forward to it now!
Tax Dodgers are saying 1st October, @bargepole
Cheers @niallb – order now in place!
Now That`s What I Call A Pleasant Surprise!
Four bands I have always thought were greatly underrated by history: Stone The Crows, Supertramp, Free and Wishbone Ash. I was lucky/ prescient enough to see WA first time they played the Electric Gardens in Glasgow, in the winter of 1971. Superb they were. The first five albums they released were best of stuff, but they did lose a bit when Ted Turner left….. and was there a better rock drummer than Steve Upton?
Great, great band.
Agree completely about Ted and Steve. The drums on Argus are just magnificent. And Ted’s distant, dreamy guitar on the first part of The Pilgrim still makes the hairs on my arms stand up.
The current band are really, really good. Muddy is a great foil for Andy and the last 3 or 4 albums have been very good indeed. Live, they sound brilliant, and they really rock.
As an original, card carrying member of the fan club, I adored them when I was 15 and 16. Looking back, my opinion has not changed.
Hi, @niallb – I lost track of the mighty Ash in the mid ’70s. You say the last 3 or 4 albums are very good – could you recommend the one to buy? Cheers.
In the absence of Fitter, I’d recommend The Power Of Eternity – my second fave after Argus, though very different to it.
Thanks, Colin….two recommendations for that one (see below) – I’ll investigate!
You’re welcome Fitz. I see I had a brain freeze above – I meant to say ‘in the absence of Niall…’!
I spotted that; but I was too grateful for your recommendation to point it out…..diffidence being my middle name*….
*(not strictly true….my real middle name is Hammond-Hammond….)
I agree with Niall. Having worked with Andy on this during 2014-15 (in fact… we only signed off on it yesterday!), I can confirm lest there be any doubt that Andy IS the Nicest Man In Rock. No question about it.
It would be unfair of me to say too much about the book – that’s Andy’s prerogative – but what I will say is that I recommended at the start of the process that Andy read Bill Bruford’s autobiography, and also Mark Ellen’s. He did so. We’ve done our very best to make Andy’s story and opinions and observations representative appeal to the average rock fan/music book fan, and present his story as representative of a generation of British musicians who grew up in the 50s and 60s and struck gold in the early 70s. The story of surviving the 80s and finding a viable long-tail Indian Summer in the 00/10s is, to my mind, even more compelling. Andy’s put 100% into making this book the very best he could and I’m proud to have helped him towards that.
Oddly (and I can’t foresee this ever happening again!), I’ll have books out this year back to back – in September (‘The Wheels Of The Word: 300 Years Of Uilleann Piping’) AND October (‘Eyes Wide Open’), both woth Jawbone Press, who are also terrific people to be involved with. None of us are going to be rich but it’s rewarding in other ways.
As a whimsical aside, being a hobby musician/composer, both my collaborators on these books – Andy and John McSherry – made time (seriously going out of his way to do so in Andy’s case) to contribute to a recording of an instrumental piece called ‘Hebridean Seas In Winter’, a tribute to Séamus Ennis, which will be on an instrumental album I’ll slip out when time allows. If I create/co-create no more books, I’ll be happy to bow out with these two!
Thanks for that detailed reply, @colin-h. The book comes out the day after my birthday, so Mrs. B has been nudged, urgently. Here is my all time favourite. I play this a lot and never cease to marvel at the fluidity of Andy’s solos in the second half. I’ve said before, he is one of our most underrated players. I can sing every note of his guitar solos, always a barometer for me. I love melodic players. In Andy and Ted, the band had two of the best. Andy is also a tireless worker to keep the legacy of the band alive. He has an integrity that I so admire, and is the beating heart of the band, through it’s history.
Good luck with the book. I’m off to see the band at The Stables again, in a few months, and will be taking my copy for autographs.
@fitterstoke Power of Eternity is terrific, as is 2002’s Bona Fide. From that album, here is Enigma.
Many thanks, @niallb: I’ll seek them out…..
@niallb. @colin-h
Hi gents: I managed to pick up both Power of Eternity and Bona Fide for a few quid each via the Amazon marketplace……still working my way through them…..but I’m really enjoying them both, so many thanks for the recommendations! Very happy to hear Andy’s classic guitar tone still intact, especially on P of E.
I hated the Bruford biography, moan moan moan bleat bleat. What a whinger. But I’m looking forward to this one!
I went to a Bruford talk about his bio, I took along the Daevid Allen book in which he mentions Bruford (not complimentary), didn’t have the nerve to ask Bruford what he thought about it though.( didn’t seem the person to ask)
Positivity is a key theme in Andy’s book, Twang. You won’t be disappointed! I like Bill’s book, myself, but it was essentially the scope and structure of it that I wanted Andy to see. We’ve brought some of that approach to EWO.
Sounds great Colin. I’m in.
From a visit to the Gibson place in NY, just today, here is AP with his signature guitar.
http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w479/niallbrannigan/ae2d3cb227c88498f81d33601364eac3_zpsd2psksml.jpg
Surprising that there hasn’t been one before, isn’t it?
“….the sustain, listen to it…”
Wishbone Ash, on tour in the UK in October. Hurrah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBGK5xKuTa0
Finally got round to picking up @colin-h ‘s Andy Powell book.
I’ve only flicked through and looked at the pictures so far, but thanks to one of the most extensive gig lists I’ve ever seen in any rock book, I can reveal that the last time I saw Wishbone Ash live was at University College, London on January 15, 1972, with Glencoe supporting.
Here’s the Powell book with my Harper library to date. I do hope this picture (which is mine) qualifies as “fair use”, otherwise we’re all up the swanee.
http://i.imgur.com/jCAwZ3a.jpg