Wishbone Ash is a British rock band which achieved its greatest success in … Read Full Bio ↴Wishbone Ash is a British rock band which achieved its greatest success in the early and mid-1970s. Their most popular albums included Wishbone Ash (1970), Argus (1972), There's the Rub (1974), and New England (1976). They were one of the first bands to use twin lead guitars.

Wishbone Ash can trace its origins back to Torquay, Devon, England, a seaside resort in the southwest of the country. It was there that Martin Turner and Steve Upton first performed together; Turner on bass, Upton on drums, before moving to London in 1969 to seek fame and fortune. In the capital the decision was made to place an advertisement for a keyboard player and a lead guitarist. The resulting audition threw up two guitar leads, but nobody could decide who to choose and the trademark twin-lead sound of Wishbone Ash was born.

Ted (David) Turner and Andy Powell soon went through the poverty and growing pains of a new band, but were fortunate that Miles Copeland was championing their cause and a fairly rapid progression was achieved. The first Album, Wishbone Ash, was released in December 1970 and their second, Pilgrimage, surfaced just six months later to reach #6 in the NME charts. Great things were just 11 months away with the release of Argus (1972) -- possibly the band's best album; certainly their most commercially successful -- which reached #2 in the UK charts and went gold. Argus is considered to be one of the great rock classics of all time. The next album, Wishbone Four, only 12 months later, went silver.

After these early highs, Ted Turner decided that he had had enough, and left the band to be replaced by Laurie Wisefield. Although Laurie’s style was not to everyone’s taste, he was generally well liked by the fans and brought a slightly harder edge to the folk-tinged progressive rock that was the Wishbone Ash formula. Wisefield was a dynamic player and became an excellent partner to Andy -- they were to play together for a very successful 11 years and the MKII version of the band is very well thought of for most of its output. About this time the band became more influenced by America and would eventually move there.

The next album, There's The Rub (1974), was recorded in Florida and produced by Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk. Once again it was to do well, achieving silver disc status. There's the Rub included the instrumental piece F.U.B.B. Steve Upton was arrested in New Zealand for announcing at a concert it's full title. In New Zealand, swearing in public is a criminal offense, and when Upton announced the title at an outdoor concert, a woman sunbathing in her garden nearby complained to the mayor. Upton spent the night in jail, and the album reached #3 in New Zealand due to the publicity.

It was inevitable that a turkey was due and to fans Locked In (1976) fit this bill. This record was not released -- it escaped! Fortunately things were much better with the quality of the following albums and although the high chart positions were gone, the fans were enjoying some competent, well-crafted output.

After 11 years in the band, Martin Turner decided to leave. This move began a period of frequent changes of bass player with the likes of John Wetton and Trevor Bolder being two of the better known; however, Wishbone Ash always has attracted musicians of the highest order. A much more controversial move was the introduction of Clair Hamill to fill in some of the vocal talent Martin had taken away with him. Clair was not popular with the fans which was perhaps a little unfair. She had contributed backing vocals on Just Testing (Turner's last album (1980), which he had also produced) and had co-written the excellent Living Proof, which is still a crowd favourite today. Her stay was short-lived with Andy Powell taking on more vocal duties. Wisefield left in late 1985 and the band continued to tour with various replacements, but were very much in limbo until 1987 when a miracle occurred. Miles Copland persuaded the original lineup to reform for a project for a music charity that he was helping, and a Hammersmith Odeon concert which the BBC recorded resulted. The project produced an instrumental album Nouveau Calls (1987), which was very well received. Even better received was the fact that three years of the original lineup were to follow.

Just when things were going so well, Steve Upton decided to quit the business entirely in 1990, to be replaced by Ray Weston. Martin Turner carried on for another year before leaving to pursue a solo career, and Ted left two years later. The next five years saw lots of personnel changes, but eventually resulted in a good period of stability with Ray Weston returning and Bob Skeet joining on bass in 1998.

The new millennium has also seen stability in respect of Andy's guitar partner, with the last 6 years being filled by Ben Granfelt and subsequently Muddy Manninen, both of whom come from Finland. 2005 saw Wishbone Ash celebrate their 35th year. 2006 heralded the new album Clan Destiny (the first featuring Muddy as guitarist). 2007 saw the exit of long-term drummer Ray Weston, due to the increasingly hectic pace of band life. Joe Crabtree (formerly of The David Cross band) stepped up to fill his place. With regard to new releases, 2007 saw First Light, which features original recordings of the songs featured on their debut album, as well as some outtakes. Also released that year was the new album The Power of Eternity (partly featuring Joe Crabtree on drums), which coincided with the Autumn tour.

Wishbone Ash are still performing 150 gigs a year in the U.S. and Europe. They get very supportive crowds with good numbers turning out all over Europe -- the U.S. tends to attract smaller audiences, but very committed fans. If you want to hear classic Wishbone Ash, get ahold of Argus. Visit their web site www.wishboneash.com, where tour dates and albums, etc. can be obtained.

Baby The Angels Are Here
Wishbone Ash Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

No smoke without fire
If the sky was light
And the moon shine brightly
Then we?d be away tonight
Better chance be taken
Than love forsaken
This ain't no mistake that I'm making.

Baby the angels are here,
Brought me a Bible and a gun,
Baby I wanted to stay with you,
But they're saying I?d better run,
Cause heaven?s a footstep away.

Well I was hoping to make it
Sometimes you put it together
Before you try
Let it take it?s course,
Because you just can't force it
And I don't want to break down and cry.

Baby the angels are here,
Brought me a Bible and a gun,
Baby I wanted to stay with you,

But they're saying I?d better run,
Cause heaven?s a footstep away.

Overall Meaning

The song "Baby The Angels Are Here" by Wishbone Ash reflects the dilemma of a man who is torn between his love for his partner and the fear of facing his own mortality. The lyrics suggest that the man is aware of the fact that there might be some danger surrounding him due to the line "no smoke without fire" which hints at the possible presence of a threat. However, instead of focusing on the fear, the man emphasizes the beauty of the night sky and expresses his desire to escape with his partner. He then reassures himself that taking a chance and living life to the fullest is better than sacrificing love.

The chorus of the song, "Baby the angels are here, brought me a Bible and a gun," suggests that the man has some conflicting thoughts in his mind. The juxtaposition of the Bible and the gun represents the duality of his desires. The Bible probably represents a symbol of hope and faith, while the gun is a symbol of fear and aggression. The man is apprehensive about his proximity to heaven ("Cause heaven's a footstep away") which implies his fear of death.

Overall, the song captures the essence of the human condition, which is fraught with contradictions and conflicts. It underscores the importance of cherishing love in the face of adversity and the inevitability of the cycle of life and death.

Line by Line Meaning

No smoke without fire
Something must have happened to cause this situation, there must be truth to the rumors.

If the sky was light
If the circumstances were different, things might be easier and decisions would be simpler.

And the moon shine brightly
If this was a better time, there would be more hope for the future.

Then we’d be away tonight
If we could escape this situation, we would take the chance and leave right away.

Better chance be taken
It's better to take a risk than to do nothing and lose everything.

Than love forsaken
It's better to take a chance and risk losing love than to never try at all.

This ain't no mistake that I'm making.
I know what I'm doing and I'm making a conscious decision, I will take responsibility for my actions.

Baby the angels are here,
There is a presence watching over me, giving me guidance and protection.

Brought me a Bible and a gun,
The guidance I'm receiving is both peaceful and violent, showing me there are different paths I can take.

Baby I wanted to stay with you,
I want to be with you, but circumstances are making it difficult.

But they're saying I’d better run,
The guidance I'm receiving is telling me to leave this situation for my own safety and well-being.

Cause heaven’s a footstep away.
If I follow the right path, I can reach a better place, a place of peace and rest.

Well I was hoping to make it
I had hoped things would turn out differently, that I could overcome this challenge.

Sometimes you put it together
Sometimes you gain understanding and perspective by piecing together different ideas and experiences.

Before you try
Sometimes it's good to take a step back and consider your options before taking action.

Let it take it's course,
Sometimes events will unfold naturally without your intervention, and you can just let things happen.

Because you just can't force it
Forcing an outcome or trying to make things happen before their time can lead to negative consequences.

And I don't want to break down and cry.
I don't want to be overwhelmed by emotions and let them control me - I want to be strong and make rational decisions.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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