Wishbone Ash Album: “First Light”

This is a must buy for Wishbone Ash fans. This is the bands first known recording before there first album came out back in 1970. The cd has a mix of mostly songs that were recorded officially on there first two albums, as well as some songs done that never made it to vinyl during that time. The recordings on the cd were pre-1st album recordings from the vaults that were never released until now. Track One: "Lady Whiskey" One of the classic Wishbone Ash songs that you never get tired of listoning. A very young Martin Turner on vocals on this track.Track Two: " Road of Day to Day" Previously unreleased song. An " Argus" type of song, that features some nice guitar solo's from Andy and Ted. Track Three: " Blind Eye" This of course is one of the bands great traditional songs. Ted Turner on vocals. Track Four: "Joshus"This is a previously unreleased song also. A nice jazzy intrumental. Track Five: "Queen of Torture" Another one of Wishbone Ash's classic songs. Nicely done too. Duel leads from Ted and Andy highlight this track. Track Six: "Alone" A instrumental on there original album. This track features vocals. Another great short track from the boys.Track Seven: Handy. This is one of my many favorite songs from the original Wishbone Ash album as well as this one. Another great double lead guitar song that also features Steve Upton on drums.Track Eight: " Errors Of MY Way" This song still is one of my favorite Wishbone Ash songs of all time. Great harmony lead guitars, as well as some great vocals. This cd, like I said, is a must for all Wishbone Ash fans. If you love the early years of Wishbone Ash, you will love this cd. Bruce H.

I am an avid collector of Wishbone Ash. Finding the very firt recording of this very young band is miraculous! There were no songs listed on this acetate purchased @ a Christies auction! I was bidding against Beatle Collectors since this was an Apple Label acetate. After winning this auction and playing this I was totally floored hearing the Raw Talent of these young kids! To find two un- released songs after 40 years and a lyric version of Alone, I realized this Holy Grail find needs to be returned to the band! This I did and Andy Powell agreed to release this to the fans! The original members receive all royalties which they deserve! Enjoy this incrdible recording! Kind regards, Dr. John

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dr. John. From the text and comments so far, one might get the impression that this was put together from demo tapes and abandoned sessions, but that's not at all the case. This was a self-produced album project that was recorded in a good studio with good engineers (including Eddie Offord, made famous by ELP's "Are You Ready, Eddie?"), mixed, and pressed to an acetate. On the whole the production values are on a par with a lot of classic British rock albums of the period. Some of the drum recording and mixing is better, to my ears, than the first official albums, though I don't think the guitars are captured as well. You can clearly hear the signature guitar tones of early Wishbone, though some of the harmonies borrow more the Duane Allman/Dickie Betts style than the more mature arrangements of the same material, and the mixing of the guitar tracks is more tentative, and the occasional overdub effects less subtle, than the MCA albums engineered by Martin Birch. But this is *so* much better than the average "tape found in the vaults" legacy album from a 70's band! Just having an alternative studio version of the epic Handy is well worth the price.