WISHBONE ASH: PILGRIMAGE/1st 1971/RED BROWN DOGBONE/NM

	£		20
	$		27

WISHBONE ASH

Pilgrimage

What our American friends call the band's 'sophomore' album

Labels: MCA Red/Brown variant of the Dogbone, perfect, just a couple of light tracery spindle marks only visible under bright magnification.

Mode: Stereo

Rarity: Very, in this condition 

Original Year of Release: 1971

Catalogue Number: MDKS8004

Outer Sleeve: Bagged into a PVC cover on purchase, the only time the vinyl has ever been out of its inner was when it was being played. It was played on a Pioneer PL12AC. Thorens TD160, B&O Beogram 4002, Rega Planar and now the Linn, all fitted with high quality cartridges, of course.

 This Robert Stace & Co soft and delicate Gatefold, normally found in a heavily worn condition, is in superb condition, very little rubwear and no feathering. Clean, bright and fresh with no marks and practically no storage or rub wear to the edges or (thick) spine - where all the text is clear and bold. Even the slight ringwear and small adhesive label residue at the top corner of each side don't detract from the amazing quality. In short, a fantastic example of this easily worn sleeve - EXCELLENT

Inner: Record Care Poly-lined, date stamped 9-71 

Insert: 

Matrices:  7-LMNG-244-2L, 7-LMNG-245-1L 

Vinyl Weight:   130gms

Vinyl Condition & Grading: There's not a mark on the vinyl to be seen! There's not a click, a tick, a pop or a crackle to be heard! Absolutely brilliant quality of audio; crystal clear, deep, rich and warm sound and, with the very loud cut used on the early presses, huge undistorted volume. There are no significant audio issues of note - no scratches, no skips or jumps and minimal surface noise - in fact, there are no issues at all.  This first pressing is immaculate with very quiet dead vinyl tracking throughout and fantastic audio quality even in the very quiet passages. The playback is practically flawless with stunning warmth, depth and clarity and no groove-wear or distortion (I've taken really good care of it over the last 40 years). I grade this album NEAR MINT for audio. It's a fabulous copy of an outstanding LP and one that I can recommend highly to anyone.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. (Equipment: Linn Sondek LP12, Linn Ekos arm, Linn K9 moving coil cartridge, tracking at 2 grams into a Cambridge Audio Azur 340A amp and out to a pair of Bose speakers with a Super Woofer)

Album Tracklisting:

1 Vas Dis
2 The Pilgrim
3 Jail Bait
4 Alone
5 Lullaby
6 Valediction
7 Where Were You Tomorrow
8 Jail Bait

Wishbone Ash's sophomore release, Pilgrimage, unveiled their creative genius after a debut that merely presented them as a boogie- and blues-based rock outfit. The opening track, "Vas Dis," with its jazz bassline, slicing rhythm guitar, and gibberish vocals was their answer to "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (or vice versa as both were released in 1971). "Jail Bait" has gone on to become a Wishbone Ash staple as well as possessing one of the more memorable guitar riffs of '70s rock & roll. A conscientious effort seemed to be in place for this band to write and perform material better suited to their gentler vocal tendencies. Where Wishbone Ash essentially went full tilt throughout, Pilgrimage is a moodier affair that includes beautiful, slower melodies like the brief instrumentals "Alone" and "Lullaby" along with the chilling "Valediction," which should have been an Ash classic but is rarely featured on live and hits collections. Even though this band toned it down a bit for this album, their impressive guitar playing was heightened due to the variance in their songwriting. Next to Argus this is the Wishbone Ash album to judge all other Ash albums by.

Complete with PVC cover

MCA Label Info: I am indebted to an anonymous seller for the following information:

The Black MCA label was the last design Decca used for MCA for 1973/4 presses (the first pressings of Wishbone 4 released in 1973 has the black label). The first two Ash LPs have the two coloured (dogbone design) labels in Blue/Black, Red/Pink, Red/Yellow, Orange/Purple or Red/Brown. In 1972 (Argus) the label was two-coloured with a hexagon design in the centre. After these came the Black label, and in 1974 MCA severed links with UK Decca and switched its licensing deal to EMI. These later labels have the rainbow insignia and are EMI, not Decca presses.

Post & Packing: This is a valuable item which will be shipped with insured trackability as follows:

UK: £7.00 (Special Delivery)

Europe: £12.00 (International Signed For with Extra Compensation)

ROW: £15.00 (International Signed For with Extra Compensation)

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