Wishbone Ash
Live Dates

It was probably my particular fondness for "live" vinyls or the curiosity for a band I had heard about but never explored; so, what happened was that in a fairly recent past at the usual used album store, I stumbled upon this enticingly priced "yellow" double album, and the leap to my beloved Thorens was both short and astonishing!

When one comes to "discover" a band in such a manner, the infatuation can be profound, and so it was. If we then delve into specifics and encounter, unsurprisingly, "The King Will Come," which is truly Wishbone Ash's flagship piece, the King isn't "coming"; he's already present before us with a clear improvement compared to the original track contained in the 1972’s Argus, certainly the most representative album of the English group. But the marvel is just beginning and continues to escalate with "Warrior" and "Throw down the Sword," epic rock tracks where our warriors drag us along with the fantastic medieval phrasing between the two guitarists Andy Powell and Ted Turner, carrying with them the enthusiastic Newcastle audience. The first side flies by so pleasurably, you hardly notice it! One "lands" a bit with the slightly cheesy "Rock 'n' Roll Widow" and the subsequent charming ballad of the Lighthouse; both are from the group's fourth album, not exactly their best, but the one Wishbone Ash had to "promote" in the summer of '73. Ending side B is the cover "Baby What You Want Me to Do" by Jimmy Reed (1959), a blues that highlights the notable skills of the aforementioned guitarists and their significant virtuosity.

The best is yet to come, however, and it materializes with: "The Pilgrim," when the delicate introduction reminiscent of waves crashing on the beach gives way to a fast-paced progressive track of rare beauty, in line with the group's second album "Pilgrimage" from '71, perhaps more interesting even than the famous "Argus," which consecrated the group worldwide and from which the following ballad is taken: "Blowin' Free," with its good rhythm marvelously conveyed to the concluding track "Jail Bait," also from "Pilgrimage" and characterized by the usual friendly guitar exchanges of the perfectly paired Powell & Turner.

The debut of the fourth side "Lady Whiskey" pays homage to the most famous track from the eponymous debut album (mind you, we are in 1970!) by "Wishbone Ash" and clearly highlights the relative immaturity of that period, although the phrases are still appreciable. The drum roll by Steve Upton kicks off, sweetly finishing with, "Phoenix," a psychedelic "fashionable" song, again from the group's first work, which leads into an engaging rock ballad that ends up becoming a Wishbone Ash trademark, later conjugated in various, always captivating versions "enriched" by the outstanding phrasing of the previously mentioned guitar duo, brilliantly supported here by Martin Turner on bass.

In conclusion, an excellent live double album that "captures" just right and doesn't fatigue the listener, aided by the high sound quality of the recording; quality rock with blues and psychedelic inserts produced by excellent musicians; the weak point is the singing, which is slightly cheesy at times, but essentially contained and not enough to impair a definitely very positive judgment.