Interview with The Original Guitar Hero Andy Powell of Whishbone Ash
By Mick Michaels
Cosmick View: Hello, Andy! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thanks for taking some time out of your day to speak with us. It's greatly appreciated.
Andy Powell: You are welcome! My pleasure.
CV: What
do you see being Wishbone Ash's most
enduring characteristic as a band? What has kept the group's music still
finding new fans over 50 years since its formation?
AP: We had a signature sound right
from the beginning - the harmony twin lead guitar concept. We still feature it.
That, along with the very melodic approach to our music certainly helped people
recognize our music. Also, we were trusted for always delivering, both
musically speaking and in terms of a show, in the live context. We are still trusted! We’re known as an album
band, more than say, a singles band. Singles tend to fix you in a certain time
frame or era, though of course, the 70s is where our roots lie. No bad thing.
CV:
Dueling guitar melodies are now the staple in most Hard Rock and Heavy Metal
bands. Were you aware at the time, that Wishbone
Ash's playing style would have had such an influence on the next generation
of bands?
AP: Well, I certainly knew that we’d
hit on a very powerful and recognizable rock sound at the time. I also realized
that we were mining a seam that not many other bands could get into. They
simply weren’t proficient enough. Our stuff can be quite technical. The Flying
V guitar is now also a staple of heavy metal bands. I was one of the first to
use that instrument when it was considered too far-out! So, all these things
influenced the next generation of bands and we are regularly cited by bands
like Judas Priest, Saxon, Iron Maiden or Thin Lizzy as having influenced them.
It makes sense, since those guys would have been 5 years or so behind us and certainly
would have seen us in concert. They just took it into a heavier, more easily
accessible direction for the generation of fans 5 years younger than them.
Also, for us, it was hard to envisage the resurgence of heavy rock after things
started to implode for guitar based bands like us during 1980s.
Later, in the U.K., the New Wave of Heavy Metal bands came to the fore and harnessed the genre and most importantly, the business injected a lot of money into big shows again. I don’t think I ever fully realized just how big all of that would become and still remain.
CV: Was
such an approach of having two lead guitarists prominent something that was
formulated at the band’s inception or was it more of an organic permeation to
the band's songwriting?
AP: Originally, the idea was for one
guitar player and a Hammond player. However, once Ted Turner and I started
jamming out with Martin Turner and Steve Upton, (we hadn’t formed the band at
that point) it became evident that a new sound could be possible. I’d already dabbled
a bit with twin lead guitars in a local band and more importantly, I’d played
in large soul bands where I’d been involved in working out horn lines for the
sax and trumpet players. I’d developed a very good musical ear which was
crucial for composing lines. Don’t forget that the mid 60s was a period where
there were these great, mostly British guitar players, treading the boards
(Clapton, Beck and Page) and it seemed that by the 70s, everything possible had
been explored with the guitar. Little did we know! In addition, it was
understood at that time that if you were going to cut through and rise
above the hundreds of new bands
springing up, in the London area alone, then you needed your own signature
sound. Each key band in the 70s had this, if you think about it - Yes was as
different from Deep Purple as Jethro Tull was different from Wishbone Ash, for
example.
You mention songwriting. In addition to the organic permeation, these songs were written specifically for twin lead guitars. They were peppered with lots of twin guitar lines and hooks together with space for individual soloing. So the short answer is that it was a little of both or…we simply used everything musical that was available to us in order to help with our recognition as a band.
CV:
"Live Dates" is regularly
listed as one of the finest live rock albums of all time by critics. With many
live albums from that era having received the standard "performance
enhancements" prior to being released, what do you feel separates "Live Dates" from these somewhat
less than authentic concert albums of that period?
AP: Importantly, we were at the peak
of our success in the U.K. so the audience excitement at each show was crucial
in terms of driving the band to great heights and while the recordings are
fairly honest, we were indulgent in that we did not simply use one whole
concert recording. We culled the best recording each of the songs from specific
nights on that tour, so there was a lot of listening to different performances
in the mixing studio before settling on a specific version of a song.
CV: How do you feel the rerecording of “Live
Dates,” captured this past summer at Daryl
Hall’s venue, Daryl’s House Club
in New York, stacks up again the original version? Were there things you did
differently this time around given the hindsight perspective on the original
live performance recording?
AP: I don’t believe that we are
specifically interested in ‘stacking up’ or comparing performances, so much as
using the album format as a vehicle to make another more ad hoc live recording
of those songs. Indeed, judging by the mixes that I’ve already heard, we sound
like this current incarnation of WA paying tribute to the earlier recording.
This new album will offer a different perspective while showing how this music
still stands up even by today’s standards. Some of the arrangements differ
slightly and the technical side of making the recording was so much easier,
obviously.
As a side note, we recently came across the original Rolling Stones mobile truck located in a national music museum in Calgary, Canada. It was incredible to see one of only a few mobile recording trucks from the time, almost in pristine condition, with the original MCI tape machines and console preserved, like that. So many great rock recordings were made with that set-up. The truck itself had done millions of miles and I believe the museum curators eventually located it in Moscow. Can you believe it?
CV: In
your opinion, can a band be both musically mainstream friendly but yet be
sonically different? Is it possible or is it one or the other in terms of
having the biggest impact on a listening audience?
AP: Yes, I do absolutely believe
that. Not so much these days, admittedly, since everything has become more
generic, more homogenous and many bands are interchangeable in terms of their
signature sound. I just think that it’s due to a lack of imagination and that
possibly, YouTube and so on has killed this somewhat, since so much is
available at the click of a button and that can be intimidating.
CV: Many
critics seem to believe that music is simply just not evolving; that it's only
repeating itself in a less than flattering way and that the current music
trends only work to maintain a level that appeases the lowest common
denominator of listeners? Is such a sentiment even remotely true from your
experience?
AP: Ouch! Yes, unfortunately I have
to concur to some degree. There is no shortage of talent out there but we are
often swamped by so much information and the same goes for the wider culture
itself. Everything is available and accessible. This tends to crush one or kill
individuality or imagination. Things also seem to then need to fit into specialized boxes or genres. The freedom that
we had in the early 70s was quite extraordinary in that regard.
CV: What
more can fans expect to see coming from Wishbone
Ash as the 2023 begins to get closer?
AP: A lot more touring for sure,
since we are celebrating over 50 years as a band and also celebrating the 50th
anniversary release of certain albums like the iconic Argus album and also this
album Live Dates. None of this takes away from the fact that we have a recent
album Coat of Arms with which to celebrate and obviously at some point we’ll be
thinking about recording more new music - something that we have always done
throughout the band’s 50+ year career.
CV:
Thanks again Andy taking the time to
share with our readers. We wish you all the best and continued success.
AP: My pleasure! Some thoughtful
questions from you there. Thank you!
Check out Andy at:
Official: www.wishboneash.com
Facebook: @Wishbone.Ash.Official
Instagram: @wishboneashofficial
Twitter: @wishboneash_com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/wishboneblog?app=desktop
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