by Andy Powell
Wishbone Ash had already performed on Peel’s Sunday Concert and would go on to do three studio sessions for his regular evening programme, Top Gear, which was rebranded as John Peel after 1975. During one of his programmes for the British Forces Broadcasting Service in 1992, he apparently mentioned Wishbone Ash as one of his favourite bands from the 70s and went on to play ‘Time Was’, for old time’s sake.
Sounds Of The Seventies
Rec: 1/1/71, 8–11:30pm
TX: 11/1/71; repeated 15/2/71
Presenter: Bob Harris
Producer: John Muir
Engineer: John White
Studio: Maida Vale, Studio 5
Tracks: Queen Of Torture / Errors Of My Way / Vas Dis / Lullaby
Note: The contract was issued on December 8. The fee was £40. ‘Lullaby’ was only broadcast on the repeat date. Bob’s other session guests that week were the blues duo Mark-Almond; on the repeat it was Mythica.
Sounds Of The Seventies
Rec: 21/4/71, 2:30–6pm
TX: 29/4/71; repeated 27/5/71?
Presenter: Stuart Henry
Producer: Malcolm Brown
Engineers: Mike Harding, Mike Franks
Studio: Maida Vale, Studio 4
Tracks: Blind Eye / Lullaby / Phoenix
Note: The contract was issued on March 15. The fee was £40. Beggar’s Opera were Stuart’s other session guests. Based on Radio Times information, the session was probably repeated on May 27, when Wishbone Ash shared the programme with a Hawkwind session. ‘Blind Eye’ and ‘Lullaby’ appear on Live At The BBC.
Top Gear
Rec: 5/7/71, 2:30–6pm and 7–11pm
TX: 10/7/71
Presenter: John Peel
Producer: Peter Harwood
Engineer: John Walters
Studio: Playhouse, Northumberland Avenue, London
Tracks: Jail Bait / The Pilgrim / Lady Whiskey / Lullaby
Note: The contract was issued on June 21. For whatever reason, the band got to enjoy the luxury of longer recording time here—most BBC sessions in the 70s were standard three-hour affairs. The contract also specifies that the broadcast will be on July 10, with a repeat on another date TBC. Presumably it was repeated, but the information as to when remains elusive. The fee, as usual, was £40. (Two contracts for this session were issued in error, the second one being cancelled.) ‘The Pilgrim’ appears on Live At The BBC.
On September 28 an internal memo was circulated around various departments (including Light Entertainment Bookings, Programme Accounts, and the Tax Unit) to confirm that Myles [sic] Copeland was Wishbone Ash’s agent.
The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2 TV)
Rec: 12/10/71
TX: 12/10/71
Presenter: Richard Williams
Producer: Michael Appleton
Tracks: Vas Dis / Jail Bait
Note: While only two tracks were broadcast, just over twenty-six minutes of audio-visual footage of Wishbone Ash working on the tracks survives at source: two complete takes of each song plus an incomplete take of ‘Jail Bait’. The contract for the show, from Television (Light Entertainment), was signed on September 24. The fee was £55. Lindisfarne were the other live band featured that night. Audio from the broadcast takes appears on Live At The BBC; audio and video appears on the Phoenix Rising DVD.
Sounds Of The Seventies
Rec: 18/10/71, 6:30–10pm
TX: 1/11/71; repeated 13/12/71?
Presenter: Bob Harris
Producer: Pete Dauncey
Engineer: Adrian Revill
Studio: Studio 1, Transcription Service, Kensington House, Shepherd’s Bush
Tracks: Jail Bait / The Pilgrim / Lullaby
Note: A contract issued on September 28 states that the session was to be recorded on October 11 from 7–10:30pm in Kensington House, with John Muir as Producer. On October 12 a letter was sent to Myles [sic], presumably after a phone call from him saying the date or time was difficult for the band, confirming that the recording had been moved to October 18. Presumably John Muir now wasn’t available, so they got Pete Dauncey instead. The fee was still £40. Other sessions on Bob’s show that night came from David Bowie, Stone The Crows, and Dando Shaft. Based on Radio Times information, the band’s session was probably repeated on December 13 1971; the other sessions on that episode coming from The Strawbs, Roy Harper, and Spyrogyra. ‘Jail Bait’ appears on Live At The BBC. All tracks are extant on Transcription Disc.
A supplementary contract, with a ‘special’ fee of £10, was issued on September 28 1972 for the use of ‘Lullaby’ on an edition of Sounds Of The Seventies broadcast on October 20, presented by Pete Drummond, and produced by John Muir. Presumably one of them particularly liked this version of the song, for a special contract to be created to allow for its rebroadcast.
Top Gear
Rec: 18/4/72, 2:30–11pm
TX: 25/4/72
Presenter: John Peel
Producer: John Walters
Engineer: ?
Studio: Maida Vale, Studio 4
Tracks: Blowin’ Free / Warrior / The King Will Come
Note: The contract is issued on 26/3/72; the TX date is TBC. The fee is £40.
Sounds Of The Seventies
Rec: 10/5/72, 2:30–6pm
TX: 18/5/72; repeated 13/7/72?
Presenter: Pete Drummond
Producer: Malcolm Brown
Engineers: Mike Harding, Mike Franks
Studio: Maida Vale, Studio 4
Tracks: Throw Down The Sword / Warrior / Time Was
Note: The contract was issued on April 19 1972, stating the session was to be recorded May 3, 2:30–6pm, at Maida Vale 4 with Malcolm Brown. Presumably the date didn’t work for the band; a second contract was issued with the revised recording date (as above), though studio and producer remained as was. The fee was £40. Pete’s other session guests that night were Al Stewart, prog-rockers Egg, Graham Bond, and Pete Brown. From Radio Times information the session was probably repeated on July 13, with the other session guests on that occasion being Al Stewart, Listen, and The High Level Ranters. ‘Throw Down The Sword’ appears on Live At The BBC and also on Argus: Deluxe Edition.
In Concert
Rec: 25/5/72, 9–10:30pm
TX: 3/6/72
Presenter: Bob Harris
Producer: Jeff Griffin
Location: Paris Theatre, London
Tracks: Time Was / Blowin’ Free / Warrior / Throw Down The Sword / The King Will Come / Phoenix
Note: The contract was issued on May 25 1972. The fee was £40—which seems a bit unfair in hindsight! They certainly got their money’s worth: this concert has been rebroadcast in full a few times, on Radio 1 in 1986 and on BBC 6 Music in 2009 and 2013. The full show appears on BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert (in mono) and (in stereo, with better mastering) on Argus: Deluxe Edition and has also appeared on various bootlegs (see below). Online sources suggest that ‘Jail Bait’ and ‘The Pilgrim’ were recorded but not broadcast.
Sounds Of The Seventies
Rec: 31/5/72, 7:30–11pm
TX: 3/7/72; repeated 14/8/72?
Presenter: Bob Harris
Producer: Jeff Griffin
Engineer: ?
Studio: Aeolian Hall, Studio 2
Tracks: Blowin’ Free / Leaf And Stream / The King Will Come / Sometime World
Note: The contract was issued on May 26, broadcast date TBC. The fee was £40. Wishbone Ash received a letter dated June 21 from a Miss Quinault, ‘Assistant Light Entertainment Booking Section’, informing them that the broadcast date would be July 3: ‘Perhaps you would be good enough to alter your copy of the contract accordingly.’ I’m sure they did. Bob’s other session guests that night were Ralph McTell, Stealers Wheel, and Paul Williams. The session was probably repeated on August 14, with the other exclusive content providers that night being folk-rock band Trees. ‘Blowin’ Free’ appears on Argus: Deluxe Edition.
The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2 TV)
Rec: ?
TX: 21/11/72
Presenter: Bob Harris
Track: Blowin’ Free
Note: This was a promotional film of ‘Blowin’ Free’ shot at Cambridge Corn Exchange by Eyeline Films Ltd. In other words, either the band or the record label provided the OGWT with the film to use on the show. It lasted 3:44 (a short version), 1:05 of which survives at the BBC (part of this episode of OGWT, as with several early episodes, is missing). However, the same film was undoubtedly the one sent to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which used it for GTK (Get To Know), a black-and-white programme, in which form it survived. This is the version that was sourced for the DVD release Phoenix Rising. It’s likely the promo was originally filmed in colour, as all of the UK TV stations had adapted to colour by 1972.
Stackridge & Co (BBC West Country TV)
Rec: ?
TX: 5/12/72
Note: This was a BBC regional series, with Wishbone Ash appearing as guests on this episode, which is extant in the BBC Sound Archive. The SA blurb is: ‘Alan Read intros music from Stackridge, Dave Evans, Hunt & Turner & Wishbone Ash’. The band probably played one song; the episode’s duration is 29:25.
In Concert
Rec: 14/2/74, 9–10:30pm
TX: 23/2/74
Presenter: Alan Black
Producer: Jeff Griffin
Location: Paris Theatre, London
Tracks: Ballad Of the Beacon / Sometime World / Rock’n’Roll Widow / Blowin’ Free / Jail Bait / Time Was / Phoenix
Note: This was Ted Turner’s last performance with Wishbone Ash. A contract was issued on December 20 1973 for this show to be recorded on January 10 for broadcast on January 19. It was noted that the band’s management/representation had changed to ‘c/o John Sherry Enterprises Ltd’. The ‘special’ fee offered was £80. That same day, a memo from the Light Entertainment Booking Manager to the Programme Account requested the above contract be cancelled. The following day a Miss Kenney, Light Entertainment Bookings, sent a memo to Jeff Griffin and other departments: ‘This is to remind you that Wishbone Ash were not willing to accept the transcription clause covering possible sale of records of their performance for transmission in the USA and its territorial possessions. [Therefore] we have deleted this clause on their contract for the above programme. Will all departments that this affects please make a note of this restriction on the usage of the recording.’
Consequently, as a result of whatever problem the band or their management had with this US syndication aspect, this In Concert was never cut to transcription disc. The recording and broadcasting date were then changed. A new contract was issued on January 11 for February 14, with a rehearsal that afternoon at 3:30pm. The fee was still a ‘special’ £80. Maybe John Sherry had reckoned it was time the standard £40 was negotiated upwards. Miss Kenney circulated her internal memo again on January 31.
Amazingly, the BBC Sound Archive database suggests that, although it was probably not rebroadcast (unlike the much repeated 1972 concert), this 1974 In Concert does survive in master quality on tape. A bootleg CD from a decent FM off-air copy also circulates. Four of the songs performed at this In Concert—plus one that wasn’t—would be the subject of separate contracts over the course of the next fifteen months to allow their rebroadcast on episodes of The Alan Freeman Show. So the full concert certainly existed on master tape at that point in time.
The ‘Fluff’ episodes were as follows:
Alan Freeman Show
TX: 9/3/74
Tracks: Blowin’ Free / Jail Bait
Note: The contract for this was issued on March 19 1974. The fee was £20 ‘special’.
Alan Freeman Show
TX: 23/3/74
Track: Phoenix
Note: The contract was issued on March 27 1974. The fee was £20 ‘special’.
Alan Freeman Show
TX: 23/11/74
Track: Rock’n’Roll Widow
Note: The contract was issued on December 9 1974. The fee was £20 ‘special’.
Alan Freeman Show
TX: 16/8/75
Track: The King Will Come
Note: The contract was issued on August 21 1975. The fee was £20 ‘special’. The contract confirms that this song was recorded at the February 14 1974 In Concert performance, although it wasn’t part of the February 23 broadcast.
By December 1974, the band’s representation had changed from ‘John Sherry Enterprises Ltd’ to ‘Scope International’, albeit with the same address. On February 11 1975 a memo was circulated to BBC departments notifying them that their agent details had changed again: from ‘Scope International’ to ‘BTM (Artistes Management Ltd.)’. The memo also confirmed that this is the new name for the previous company. Miles was a man of many clothes—but the band were getting tired of his wardrobe. On 6/4/76 (having fired Miles after the financial issues around the August 1975 Star Truckin’ tour) another internal BBC memo was circulated informing departments that monies should now be payable to ‘Wishbone Ash’ and sent c/o Dick Jordan, 138 Dukes Avenue, N10.
John Peel Show
Rec: 19/11/76
TX: 9/2/77
Location: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
Tracks: Runaway / The King Will Come / Lorelei / Mother Of Pearl / Blowin’ Free
Note: Occasionally, John’s show featured exclusive studio sessions provided by an artist or record company, from their own studios or foreign locations, rather than the norm of having been recorded on BBC premises. One famous example of these would be a series of sessions, or exclusive mixes of album tracks, supplied by The Who (the first act allowed this leeway) from 1967 onward. A less famous example was Wishbone Ash. Although classified as a studio session in Ken Garner’s second book (it’s absent from the first) and given an erroneous recording date of January 16 1977, this set was introduced by John as exclusive concert tracks—which they were.
The tracks (running to 29:42) were recorded by Wishbone Ash, independently, at Glasgow’s Apollo on November 19 1976. The contract defining the BBC’s use of the tracks was issued a few days retrospectively of the broadcast, on February 16 1977. The fee was £75 ‘special’. The terms were that the band granted the BBC the right to use the material for one broadcast on The John Peel Show. It warranted that Wishbone Ash were entitled to supply the recording for this purpose, and that they had obtained any necessary consents. Specifically, the band indemnified the BBC against all claims and expenses arising out of any failure to comply with this. The contract also confirmed that the BBC would ensure that the recording was not used for the BBC’s Transcription services. Wishbone Ash were obviously still concerned about overseas syndication.
With this contract the band’s representation contact changed (again) to ‘John Sherry, NEMS Agency, Nemperor House, 3 Hill Street, London, W1’. Brian Epstein’s old company. The contract was signed two days later, and John sent in a letter of authorisation from the band confirming this latest change, noting that cheques for Wishbone Ash should be paid to NEMS: ‘This authorisation being duly signed by a member of the group Mr Steven Upton.’ The full set at the Glasgow Apollo on November 19 1976 was this:
Jail Bait / Time Was / Blowin’ Free / Warrior / The King Will Come / Rest In Peace / Runaway / In All My Dreams / Lorelei / Outward Bound / Bad Weather Blues / Mother Of Pearl / Persephone / It Started In Heaven
Tracks from the concert have appeared on various Wishbone Ash releases, beginning with ‘Lorelei’ on a free single with the original pressings of the 1978 album No Smoke Without Fire. ‘Lorelei’ and ‘Rest In Peace’ also feature on Distillation (Repertoire, 1997). Other tracks have appeared on the three volumes of Tracks on Talking Elephant in the 2000s.
As was the case with the 1974 In Concert, The Alan Freeman Show was given a second bite of the cherry. The band must have verbally agreed to this in advance because, in spite of the ‘one broadcast only’ clause of the Peel contract, John Sherry signed contracts for them subsequent to the rebroadcasts of thre
e of the Glasgow Apollo/John Peel Show tracks on Alan’s programme. The details are as follows:
The Alan Freeman Show
TX: 12/2/77
Track: The King Will Come
Note: The contract was issued retrospectively, on May 4 1977. The fee was £18.75 ‘special’.
The Alan Freeman Show
TX: 16/4/77
Track: ?
Note: The contract was issued retrospectively, on the same date as above. The fee was £18.75 ‘special’. Oddly, the contract neglects to specify the track.
The Alan Freeman Show
TX: 17/12/77
Track: Blowin’ Free
Note: The contract was issued retrospectively, on December 22 1977. The fee was £18.75 ‘special’.
The David Hamilton Show
TX: 14–18/11/77; repeated 28/11–2/12/77
Tracks: ?
Note: This was another case of Wishbone Ash being allowed to provide exclusive tracks recorded, as the contract states, in the band’s ‘own studio in USA’. David fronted a mainstream afternoon show broadcast simultaneously on Radio 1 and 2 at the time. While the tracks aren’t specified, the band obviously provided five songs that would be broadcast one per day during the weeks in question. Clearly, the proviso that was stated on their audition panel report back in 1970, that they were for ‘progressive programmes only’, had worn off by now! The contract was issued on November 4 1977. The fee was £62 for the session, with a repeat fee of £31. John Sherry ‘lost or mislaid’ the contract but must later have needed it for some reason (tax, possibly), as a replacement copy was requested a few months later, on May 26 1978.
The Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2 TV)
Rec: late 1977
TX: 11/10/77
Presenter: Bob Harris
Producer: Michael Appleton
Tracks: Baby Come In From The Rain / Goodbye Baby, Hello Friend
Note: Colour film of the band performing at Criterion Sound Studios, Miami. The film is extant and BBC records indicate it was shot by OGWT rather than provided by a record company (as often happened). Audio of both tracks appears on Live At The BBC.
