Wishbone Ash - Biography

Main band members :- Martin Turner (born 1/10/1947) Steve Upton (born 24/5/1946) Andy Powell (born 19/2/1950) David “Ted” Turner (born 2/8/1950) Laurie Wisefield (born 27/8/1952)
Mart & Steve were in a band called the Empty Vessels with Mart’s brother Glenn on guitar, gigging around the southwest of England, mainly in the Exeter area. In May 1969 they decided to move up to London and try their luck there after changing their name to Tanglewood. Soon after, Glenn decided to return to Devon. At Tanglewood’s final gig in July 1969, Mart & Steve first met Miles Copeland (older brother of Curved Air / Police drummer). He soon became their manager. They wanted to recruit a guitarist and a keyboard player, and an advertisement was placed in Melody Maker for a guitarist. Both Andy Powell and Ted Turner (no relation to Mart) attended for audition. Mart & Steve couldn’t make their mind up and decided to invite both to rehearsals to see if they could play together. Mart and Steve were impressed with both lead guitarists and thought twin lead guitars would be an interesting concept to develop and both were recruited into the band. The search for a keyboard player was abandoned.

They wanted a new name and wrote some names down on two bits of paper, and Mart picked one from each, Wishbone (from one) and Ash (from the other).

The band worked on developing the sound that they wanted and played their first gig in November 1969, building up a reputation opening for more established bands. They had written their own songs and the setlist contained mostly original material which was to feature on the first album released in December 1970 titled Wishbone Ash. Many of the songs from this album regularly still appear on today’s setlists. The album managed to reach the top 30. In September 1971, Pilgrimage was released, comprising all original material except for the Track Vas Dis which was a popular song on their setlists. They gained a following through touring the UK and the USA in 1971. In May 1972, the LP Argus was released to high critical acclaim and took them near to the top of the album charts, and cemented their popularity as an album oriented band although they did release a few singles that did not make any impression on the charts. May 1973 saw the release of Wishbone Four, and in December 1973 Live Dates was released, both entering the USA LP chart listings.

In May 1974, Ted Turner announced that he would quit, citing personal reasons. He was soon replaced by Laurie Wisefield, who had played in the band Home, alongside Cliff Williams who went onto better things as the bassist in AC/DC. In November 1974, The LP There’s the Rub was released, carrying on the twin lead guitar sound that the fans wanted, and made the LP charts on the UK and in the USA.

In 1975, the band relocated to the USA having quit Britain releasing the LPs Locked In (March 1976) - New England (November 1976) - Front Page News (October 1977) - No Smoke Without Fire (October 1978) - Just Testing (January 1980) and Live Dates II (October 1980)
In September 1980, Martin Turner announced he was leaving and was replaced by John Wetton, then Trevor Bolder, later Mervyn Spence, then Andy Pyle. Number the Brave April 1281, Twin Barrels Burning October 1982, Raw to the Bone 1985 were subsequently released. Then Laurie Wisefield left the band in December 1985.
The original mark 1 line up decided to reform and did so in May 1987 releasing two albums - Nouveau Calls February 1988, Here to Hear August 1989. They also toured extensively before finally calling it a day in July 1990.
Andy Powell carried on with the name Wishbone Ash and still tours and records. Martin Turners’ Wishbone Ash also tour and record.

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