Wishbone Ash - seriously underrated

I just got the new SHM-CD of "Live in Tokyo". A official recording from November 1978, only for the Japanese market. I think this release from the end of last year is the first official CD release. Recommended for fans of the band. It's a good quality recording/performance.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I know it has come out pirated/bootleg but didn't know it finally got an "official" release. Damn, I just ordered something from CDJapan about 2 days ago, I would have got this in that order & saved some $ on shipping. I'll still pick it up though, despite having bootleg copies, I am an Ash nut...

 

I never take any notice of the 'which-version-is-better?' rubbish. Both Turner & Powell's version tour often enough so we go see them both.

 

Thanks for the post. Like Slipkid, I really like this incarnation of the band with Wisefield. I'll be checking this one out.

 

Very underrated and 'There's The Rub' is thier unsung masterpiece

 

I bought Argus and saw them in support of that album. Great, great live show. 4 was a bit of a letdown, and I was on to new things after that. Still one of the better live acts that I have seen.

 

There's The Rub might be my second favorite after Argus.

I actually like the live outtakes on Distillation better than the tracks on Live Dates 2 for the most part. I wish they would release deluxe editions of Live Dates 1 & 2 with versions of all of the songs that they recorded for the albums.

The also need to release the King Biscuit Flour Hour show with the Ted Turner line up that was recorded near the end of his first stint with the band in New Jersey 1974. The part that I heard was great.

The Andy Powell version of the band has a new album Blue Horizon that will be released soon.

The Laurie Wisefield version of the band tends to be overlooked a little

 

I only have their first 3. All are great.

 

Live Dates is one of my favorite live records ever. I think these guys were important in the evolution of the whole dual/harmony lead guitar thing. And they could really pull it off live, as this record shows... I'm a fan.

I like the version of "The King Will Come" better on here than the studio cut.

 

I picked that up as well. Cool that it is finally released officially.

The complete Live In Memphis e.p. can be found on the SHM-CD of Argus.

 

I may have already said this in this thread (I don't remember) but as much as I like Ash Mark I with Ted (and the subsequent reformation with Ted later), I've grown to like Mark II (with Laurie) more than the Ted lineup.

Live Dates Vol II is one of my top ten live albums, and studio-wise I really really love There's the Rub, New England, and No Smoke Without Fire. Maybe someday we should do an Ash album by album thread, might be fun.

Can't wait for the new album btw. Thought the last one was the best one of the current lineup.

 

I think I pretty much like EVERY Ash song done live more than the studio versions (strange to say). Some songs I don't even like the studio cuts but live - I am blown away. Biggest example is Living Proof (from Just Testing) - one of my favorite songs by any artist ever but ONLY the live versions. Great song from Laurie (with assist from Claire Hamill); love the chord progressions (Dm like King Will Come) and the fantastic bits for the guitar solos.

 

That Argus SHM-CD sounds fantastic.

 

Live Dates' 'Ballad Of The Beacon' is also better than the studio album version too.

 

I bought their first album (at target of all places) and purchased everything up through There's the Rub, saw them in concert about the time of Live Dates (1974ish) and they smoked

 

I buddy of mine saw them open for the Who. I think it was in 1972 and he also said they were awesome.

 

I am a huge fan of the first 3 LPs and consider Argus one of the best albums I've ever heard, on a par with Gone to Earth by Barclay James Harvest. I bought the SHM-SACD of Argus and it is incredible. I get chills every time I listen to it. Lost interest when the original lineup changed. They should have retired the name and started a new band. Then they would have left a legacy of 3 great albums peaking with Argus. I think they'd be remembered differently if they had.

Saw the original lieup live at an outdoor concert that headlined ZZ Top (I live in Houston) circa Argus/La Grange. The Ash blew everyone off the stage, including the Doobie Brothers (circa Captain and Me) and a few other bands that were really big at the time. Two of the scheduled bands (BOC and Savoy Brown) refused to go on after seeing their set, and ZZ made us wait 5 hours before they finally came out. Don't think they wanted to follow the Ash either!

 

What a lineup. Wow!

 

Andy Powell (probably all the guys - how could they NOT like em??) is a Who fan! He took some polaroid shots of The Who back in the days that Ash toured with them that he shared with me a few years ago (he found them in an old shoebox or something like that), knowing how big a Who nut I am. He wasn't sure when the shots were taken, after some pondering we were thinking December of 1971 in Texas (most likely Dallas 12/2/71). Could that have been when/where your friend saw them? In the live shots Pete is wearing a tie dyed jumpsuit.

 

I've heard glowing reports about the SHM-SACD - is the regular SHM-CD also recommended (actually there are a bunch of different Argus SHM-CDs btw - which one do you mean)?

Or were you referring to the SACD version? Someday I need to pick that up (the SACD).....

 

I think he saw them in Evansville, St. Louis, Memphis or Louisville . It was somewhere closer to where we live and I think he said it was at festival with a few groups but I don't remember exactly.

He is about ten years older than me and saw most of the classic rock groups. He saw the Stones on their 1972 tour in St. Louis w/Mick Taylor.

 

Other than Argus what are the best CD versions of the early albums?

 

I have heard both, I give the slight advantage to the 2013 SHM-CD over the SHM-SACD as the redbook has the bonus material. Both sound fantastic but you get more bang for the buck with the SHM-CD (or Platinum SHM-CD)

 

That is the version that I have, the SHM-CD with bonus material.

 

I think it was Monday August 16, 1971 at the Mississippi River Festival in Edwardsville.

Here is the setlist:

1. Time Was
   
2. Blowin' Free
   
   
3. Jail Bait
   
   
4. The King Will Come
   
   
5. The Pilgrim
   
   
6. Warrior
   
   
7. Throw Down the Sword
   
   
8. Phoenix

The Who:

1. Summertime Blues
2. My Wife
   
   
3. Love Ain't for Keepin'
   
   
4. I Can't Explain
   
   
5. Substitute
   
   
6. Bargain
   
   
7. Behind Blue Eyes
   
   
8. Won't Get Fooled Again
   
   
9. Baby Don't You Do It
10. I Don't Even Know Myself
    
    
11. Pinball Wizard
    
    
12. See Me, Feel Me
    
    
13. My Generation
    
    
14. Naked Eye
    
    
15. Magic Bus

It was the largest crowd ever to attend the festival.