It became so commonplace that we stopped thinking of it as in any way unusual but there was a time when it was very unusual indeed and when you first saw it, it seemed incredible. What was it? Twin lead guitars.
See? It doesn’t seem so unusual does it? But back in 1970 when Wishbone Ash were first heard, it was quite shocking, not least because you didn’t know who the lead guitarist was in the band, Andy Powell or Ted Turner. But tracks like Phoenix were a guitar tour de force, and though it became a sort of template for a boogie-orientated band, at the time it was a whole new approach.
They never seemed to get any credit for their innovative approach and by the time I was playing Argus and Live Dates at school at lunchtime, other bands had adopted it. I’ve got a couple of bootlegs from 70/71 and what strikes you about these live recordings is how extraordinarily tight they are, weaving expertly together. I can only assume they were well-rehearsed because there’s no ‘after you’ about it, they each reach their break, right on time and often at speed.
I still can’t tell which is which by listening to the albums. When Laurie Wisefield replaced Ted Turner, he effortlessly fell into the twin guitar groove. And you’d think one of them would perhaps be weaker than the other but, no. Both absolutely burn up the fretboard.
Of course even though both were credited as ‘lead guitar’ one always played rhythm behind the other. So they both had to be good at not getting in the way but provide strong backing.
On Argus, I consider the guitar breaks on Sometime World to be the finest of the era. So powerful and emotional.
These days while other guitarists are still feted, Ted, Andy and later Laurie deserve to be hailed as great innovators and Wishbone Ash, especially in the early 70s are still peerless.
