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.
Blind Eye
Wishbone Ash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You turned a blind eye to everything I ever did.
You didn't worry, why call your telephone?
You didn't worry, baby,
You're just content to roam around.
Yes, you are.
The lyrics to Wishbone Ash's "Blind Eye" seem to speak to the frustration of feeling ignored or overlooked by someone significant. The repetition of the line "You turned a blind eye to everything I ever said" and "You turned a blind eye to everything I ever did" emphasizes a sense of dismissal or indifference on the part of the other person. The use of the phrase "turned a blind eye" also suggests that this behavior is intentional and willful, indicating a deliberate choice to disregard the singer's words and actions.
The lyrics also highlight the singer's attempt to reach out and connect with the other person, represented by the line "Why call your telephone?" The fact that this attempt is ignored further underscores the sense of isolation and helplessness that the singer feels. Despite this, there is a resigned acceptance in the final lines, "You're just content to roam around, yes you are," as if acknowledging that the other person is simply not interested in engaging with them.
Line by Line Meaning
You turned a blind eye to everything I ever said,
You disregarded and ignored every single thing I ever communicated to you.
You turned a blind eye to everything I ever did.
You purposely avoided acknowledging or noticing any actions I took.
You didn't worry, why call your telephone?
It's pointless for me to contact you since you clearly have no concern or interest in me.
You didn't worry, baby,
You didn't care or show any concern, my dear.
You're just content to roam around.
You're completely satisfied with wandering aimlessly without a care in the world about those you leave behind.
Yes, you are.
This is an affirmation that you indeed lack any attention or concern for anyone else's wellbeing.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANDREW POWELL, DAVID TURNER, MARTIN TURNER, STEVE UPTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Simon
I dedicate this album to all who attended 'West Bridgeford'- FE college, Nottingham UK - Sept 1970 when it opened for the first time ...
A bunch of us were part of what was called 'The Entertainment Commitee ' and had a budget to book bands to play at the college.
Tony Triptree ( In charge of the budget) managed to get hold of Wishbone's manager and they were our first successful booking ...
This album had just come out and the band were tipped for great things ...
They used our office in the common room to change pre gig so we had a chance to talk them ...decent guys , found out they came from Torquay in Devon UK ...
Great night , full house big success for the college ...
If you're out there anyone , this goes out to ...
Tony , Rod , Rosso , Beeb, Mongie , Zena, Eliz, Phil , Adam , Richard and others who I've forgotten !
50 plus years ago when we all so very much younger ...
The birth of the new decade .
Halcyon times , never to be repeated ever again ...Simon .
Kevin Jones
Arguably one of the best debut albums ever.🎸
TIM O'
What a great track. And how it rocks! They were the first band to 'popularize' twin lead guitars to great effect. "You turned a blind eye to every thing I ever said.....you turned a blind eye to every thing I ever did".....
Mystic Wolf
As a drummer so fun to play and to get it perfect isn't easy as his rolls are wild
gael cornuau
As a Bassist, I think you're totally right, dear!!! Take care of you, and break a leg;)
flimbambo
Wow! Can you play it? I was trying to find out about the drummer but there’s not much on him really
E. J. Breider
It's impossible to tire of this album. A big part of the greatest 5 year period in music history.
Steve Gardiner
WishboneAshAllSongs
, Thank you for putting so much great music on here! It's much appreciated!
Ian Adamson
My band had the pleasure of supporting them a couple of times, once in Dorothy Ballrooms, Cambridge then again at Reading University. They were fantastic players and really great guys as well, had a blast.
john dickey
One of the greatest 1st songs on a debut album. Perfect attention grabber.
wishbone
yes one of 10.