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.
Runaway
Wishbone Ash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Till I met a lady who brought me to my knees
The day I stop loving is the day that I die
But now I'm running from her game 'cause the lady is a lie
I've got a choice
Run away or be torn to shreds
I've got a life and I want to live
I met her down in the underground
Got a taste of the low life, just creepin' around
I got what I came for and more, that's for sure
'Cause now I'm running from her game, can't take any more
I've got a choice
Run away or be torn to shreds
I've got a life and I want to live
Don't want to be dead
When I first met you, baby
I knew you could come on strong
But when you held a knife to me
You know, that just ain't too friendly
I've heard of liberated,
But that's so understated
I should have listened to them
When they told me you were crazy
And you said I was a runaway
The lyrics of Wishbone Ash's "Runaway" are about a man who meets a woman who initially seems amazing, but he soon realizes that she is actually dangerous and unstable. He compares his experiences with her to "the low life" of the underground and decides to run away from her before she destroys him. The singer admits that he once thought he had seen everything there was to see, but meeting this woman has changed his perspective. He also states that he can never stop loving, but he must escape from her game because she is not who she appeared to be.
The lyrics reveal the dynamics of a dysfunctional relationship which can be alluring at first, but lead to destruction. The man is caught in a struggle between his desire for a full life and the fear of being destroyed by the woman he thought he loved. In the end, he chooses to run away, and the song ends on a note of caution; sometimes things will not always be what they seem, and one must be careful not to be tempted by things that are too good to be true.
The song "Runaway" was written by Wishbone Ash's lead vocalist and guitarist, Laurie Wisefield, and was released in 1982 on the album "Twin Barrels Burning." The song was a statement by Wisefield, who had recently joined the band, and wanted to show that he could write songs as well as his predecessor, Andy Powell. Wisefield stated that the song was inspired by his experiences of being on the road, living in hotels, and dealing with women who were not interested in him as a person.
Line by Line Meaning
I thought I had been every place a man could be
I had travelled far and wide and thought I had experienced everything life had to offer.
'Till I met a lady who brought me to my knees
But then I met a woman who was so captivating that I was rendered powerless in her presence.
The day I stop loving is the day that I die
For me, love is the very essence of life and without it, existence would be meaningless.
But now I'm running from her game 'cause the lady is a lie
However, I find myself running away from this woman's manipulative and deceitful ways.
I've got a choice
I realize that I have a decision to make.
Run away or be torn to shreds
I can either run away from this situation or face the dire consequences of staying.
I've got a life and I want to live
I value my life and want to make the most of it.
Don't want to be dead
I don't want to be a victim of circumstance and have my life cut short.
I met her down in the underground
I first encountered this woman in a seedy and disreputable place.
Got a taste of the low life, just creepin' around
I indulged in activities that I normally wouldn't and experienced the darker side of life.
I got what I came for and more, that's for sure
I initially got what I wanted and then some, but it turned out to be far more than I bargained for.
'Cause now I'm running from her game, can't take any more
As a result, I am now running away from her manipulations and can no longer tolerate the situation.
When I first met you, baby
In the beginning of our relationship,
I knew you could come on strong
I was aware that you had a powerful presence and personality.
But when you held a knife to me
However, when you resorted to violence and threatened me with a knife,
You know, that just ain't too friendly
I realized that this behavior was inappropriate and far from friendly.
I've heard of liberated,
I have heard about people who are free to express themselves and their sexuality,
But that's so understated
But your behavior is beyond what is considered liberated, it is extreme.
I should have listened to them
I regret not heeding the warnings of others
When they told me you were crazy
When they advised me that you were unstable.
And you said I was a runaway
You accused me of running away from the situation, but I knew that it was the best decision for my safety and well-being.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GEORGE S CANLER, MIKE SKILL, WALTER PALAMARCHUK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dmitry I. Ershov
Just bought my first Wishbone ash album/// Started with Argus, it's huge!!!
Beach5289
One of my favorite intros ever done , I still jump sometimes even though I know it's coming LOL
Robert Atherley
Saw them in 1974. Astounding musicianship. Even heavier live
Martin Lefkowitz
I loved this album and played it on WJJW when I was a DJ in College (in New England) all the time. While this is great to have on line,the problem with this full album version is that unfortunately there is a gap between track 2 & 3. Listening to track 3 start on the album at high volume always got my heart going.
Fly In the ointment
That's the point.
William Patterson
This is one of their best songs that they ever did. I thought I would comment on the song runaway since everyone else just seem to acknowledge the album.lol🎅
fredtboy
Great memories!..Summer of 76! great album!
Brian Hickey
So I had the album New England - the song before this (You Rescue Me) fades out with the sound of crickets and then POW this song hits!! I can't tell you how many pair of Advent speakers I blew out listening to this at very high volume! Worth every dollar :)
Geoff Snell
Bought this album in 77 and by 78 you could see through it.
z bailey
@fredtboy he wore the record out