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.

Helpless
Wishbone Ash Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ooh, there's something happening, ooh
Ooh, there's something happening, ooh (repeat)
Won't you take my love forever
Won't you take my love for you
Won't you take my love together
Won't you give me your love too?

I will give you my love gladly

And I hope you'll give me yours
Somehow we can live together
Could not love you any more

I'm so helpless, helpless
I can feel you're helpless too (repeat)

I'm so helpless, helpless
So helpless without you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to the song Helpless by Wishbone Ash are about the feelings of love and the desire for a reciprocal relationship. The singer expresses the excitement of being in love with someone and the willingness to give their love and live together. He implores the person to accept his love and reciprocate it.

Throughout the song, the singer is vulnerable and admits that they are helpless without the person they love. He believes that the other person is feeling the same way as he does. There is a sense of urgency in the repeated lines of "something happening". It could be interpreted as a strong emotional connection between the two people, or it might be the feeling of a new beginning.

The repeated phrase "helpless" conveys the helplessness and vulnerability of the singer, enmeshed in the throes of love. He can't help the way he feels and can't imagine life without the person he loves. Overall, the song speaks to how intense love can be and how a reciprocated love is necessary for happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

Ooh, there's something happening, ooh
I sense that there is a change taking place

Won't you take my love forever
Will you hold onto my love eternally

Won't you take my love for you
Will you accept my love meant for you only

Won't you take my love together
Will you share my love with me

Won't you give me your love too?
Can you give me your love as well?

I will give you my love gladly
I will offer you my love with joy

And I hope you'll give me yours
I hope you will grant me your love

Somehow we can live together
We can find a way to coexist

Could not love you any more
I have reached the limit of my love for you

I'm so helpless, helpless
I feel powerless, powerless

I can feel you're helpless too
It seems that you also feel powerless

So helpless without you
I am completely powerless when I am not with you

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave
Written by: ANDREW HARTWELL, ANTHONY SYLVESTER, CHRIS TURNER, JAMES TILLEY, KEVIN WILLIAMS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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