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Twin Barrels Burning
Studio album by Wishbone Ash
Released	8 October 1982
Recorded	June – August 1982
Studio	The Sol, Cookham, Berkshire Surrey Sound, Leatherhead, England (track 4)
Genre	Hard rock
Length	38:57
Label	AVM Records
Producer	Wishbone Ash, Ashley Howe, Stuart Epps (track 4 produced by Nigel Gray and Stuart Epps)
Wishbone Ash chronology
The Best of Wishbone Ash (1981) Twin Barrels Burning (1982) Raw to the Bone (1985)
Singles from Twin Barrels Burning
"Engine Overheat" Released: 1982 "No More Lonely Nights" Released: 1982 "Me and My Guitar" Released: 1982 (Spain)

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Twin Barrels Burning is the twelfth studio album by British rock band Wishbone Ash, released in 1982. It was mostly recorded at Sol Studios in Berkshire, England. It was the highest charting Wishbone Ash album since New England in 1976, matching that album's peak position of No. 22 in the UK Albums Chart. Conversely, it was their final album to appear in that listing to date.

It is the only Wishbone Ash album to feature ex-Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder, who was a member of the band for two years (April 1981 – April 1983)

Background

The band's previous album, Number the Brave, had achieved Wishbone Ash's lowest chart placing in the UK to date, reaching number 61, and the band's record label MCA decided not to renew their contract, leaving the band without a record label. After the departure of bass guitarist John Wetton from Wishbone Ash after the recording of Number the Brave in late 1980, the band hired ex-Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder as his replacement in April 1981. Bolder had previously replaced Wetton in Uriah Heep, and he later stated he was not intimidated by replacing him or original Wishbone Ash bassist Martin Turner. He said, "They were both great bass players and good singers, but [their reputations] didn't bother me at all." Of Wishbone Ash's music, he added, "I was used to their style of music as I'd been playing it since I was a kid. It was mainly blues-based except for tracks like "Phoenix"."

Claire Hamill, who had performed backing vocals on the previous two albums, was added to the touring lineup of the band, but she had left by August 1981, after a disagreement on tour. The band then consisted of guitarists and vocalists Andy Powell and Laurie Wisefield, Bolder, and drummer Steve Upton. Powell later recalled Bolder's impact on the band: "Trev was a very easy guy to get on with, down to earth, good sense of humour, a fantastic bass player who could really dig in rhythmically while propelling the band forward. [He] had a nice levelling effect on all of us." Powell and Wisefield had handled most of the vocals on Number the Brave, but after Bolder had joined, they considered the idea of recruiting a frontman, an idea which had prompted the departure of Martin Turner two years previously. Wisefield later said that John Sloman and Terry Slesser were among the singers suggested, but that they ultimately decided to split the vocals between the three of them (Upton did not sing). Wisefield remembered, "Trevor just said, 'Look, if you wrote the song then just sing it.' and that's what I did, like it or loathe it."

After a tour of the US, an appearance at the Reading Festival and a tour of India, the band began writing material for what would become Twin Barrels Burning in early 1982. During a ten-date UK tour in May, four new songs were performed: "Streets of Shame", "No More Lonely Nights", "Engine Overheat" and "Cat and Dog Fight". Powell said at the time, "We're not embarrassed by our past in any way, but we do like to play the new material because we believe in it. I think it's just a case of it taking the kids a while to get used to it."

Recording

The recording sessions began in June 1982 at Sol Studios in Cookham, Berkshire, owned by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Ashley Howe was the producer at the beginning of the sessions, but due to commitments elsewhere, he passed control to his assistant Stuart Epps halfway through the recording. One track, "Me and My Guitar", was recorded at Surrey Sound Studios with producer Nigel Gray.

In the early stages of recording, Bolder and Powell experienced problems getting the sound they wanted. Bolder claimed that the studio monitors were not functioning correctly, and eventually Page came to the studio to try and resolve the issue. He and an engineer examined all the equipment and found that the monitors had been wired out of phase. With the problems fixed, the recording sessions continued.

The material the band members were composing was markedly heavier and more aggressive than on previous albums, and echoed the rise of the New wave of British heavy metal at the time. The addition of Bolder to the band accentuated the heavier style, as other band members later acknowledged. Powell compared Bolder's style with that of Martin Turner: "Trevor's playing made the band a lot heavier. He really fattened out the bottom end. He's a very orthodox player – there was less wild experimentation." Upton agreed, stating, "His bass playing was lower [pitched] than the way we had worked with Martin."

Bolder himself acknowledged that his playing was heavier than the bass on previous Wishbone Ash albums, but said there was no deliberate attempt on his part to change the sound of the band. He said, "I think at the time Laurie was edging the band towards heavier rock along the lines of AC/DC or ZZ Top. Powell described the band's aim with the new direction: "We wanted to make a rough 'n' ready album that reflected a band playing a club like The Marquee."

Songs

The first two songs, "Engine Overheat" (the first single from the album) and "Can't Fight Love", were sung by Wisefield, while "Genevieve" featured Powell's vocals alongside Wisefield's. The next track, "Me and My Guitar", was inspired by Wisefield's difficult experience performing in a TV talent contest when he was 14.

"Hold On" was written entirely by Bolder, despite all the album's songs being originally credited to Wisefield, Powell and Upton. The reason Bolder was not given credit for this song, or the others to which he contributed, was contractual. He was still signed to the publishing company he used while with Uriah Heep, and he did not want them earning royalties from his songwriting because they still owed him money. When the album was expanded and reissued in 2018, Bolder was given full credit for "Hold On", and joint credit for three other tracks. Bolder also sang lead vocals on "Hold On", which he later said he wrote "one night in a drunken stupor", about feeling frustrated after a gig while out on tour and trying to call home to his wife, only to find she's not there. "You keep calling but you can't get through," he later said.

Side two of the album opened with "Streets of Shame", which featured lyrics written by Upton about the band's experiences on their recent tour to India. He later said, "When you walk through a red-light district, seeing people behind barred windows and in cages, that's something that will make an impression on you. We had to write about it." The album's second single, "No More Lonely Nights", featured a guitar riff and vocals by Wisefield, who also provided the title, although the lyrics were composed by Upton. The final two tracks were "Angels Have Mercy", sung by Powell, and "Wind Up", with vocals by Wisefield.

Three other songs were recorded during the sessions but remained unreleased at the time: "Cat and Dog Fight", sung by Wisefield, which had been performed live earlier in the year, and two other songs titled "Go for the Gold" and "Night Hawker", both sung by Powell. The latter was an alternative version of "Streets of Shame", mostly featuring the same Steve Upton lyrics.

Release and artwork

After the band was dropped by record label MCA the previous year, Twin Barrels Burning was released through AVM Records, a label set up by the band's manager, John Sherry. The album artwork, a depiction of a car with twin exhausts accelerating away, was provided by Ian Harris, a friend of Powell's.

The album was not released in the US until the following year, when it appeared on the Fantasy label. It featured a different cover, an image of an early 1970s Chevrolet Camaro, and the tracks were remixed with a different running order. One track, "Me and My Guitar", was renamed "My Guitar". The remix was completed without any member of Wishbone Ash being present, and the band members were not pleased with the result. Bolder later stated, "He took lots of stuff off that he shouldn't have and just stripped it down to the bare bones. I'd left by the time it got remixed, but I don't know why they let him do it... Even the cover's naff!" In Finland, the album was released with another different cover, a photo of a funny car accelerating away on a dragstrip.

2018 reissue

Twin Barrels Burning was expanded and reissued by Cherry Red Records in 2018, released on their imprint Lemon Recordings, and approved by Powell, Upton, Wisefield, and the estate of Trevor Bolder. The reissued album featured the three previously unreleased tracks from the recording sessions, with one of them, "Night Hawker", mixed by the band's original bass guitarist and vocalist, Martin Turner. The second disc of the double CD set featured the full US remix version of the original album, with the alternative running order used on the original remixed release. The liner notes were written by journalist Dave Ling of Classic Rock magazine.

Track listing

• On original releases, all tracks were credited to Laurie Wisefield, Andy Powell and Steve Upton. The 2018 reissue shows some adjusted credits: tracks 2, 3 and 7 are credited to Wisefield, Powell, Upton and Trevor Bolder, and track 5 is credited solely to Bolder.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Engine Overheat"	4:03
2.	"Can't Fight Love"	3:59
3.	"Genevieve"	3:34
4.	"Me and My Guitar"	3:58
5.	"Hold On"	4:48

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Streets of Shame"	4:34
2.	"No More Lonely Nights"	5:12
3.	"Angels Have Mercy"	3:50
4.	"Wind Up"	4.59

2018 reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Cat and Dog Fight"	Wisefield, Upton	3:41
11.	"Go for the Gold"	Wisefield, Upton	4:05
12.	"Night Hawker"	Wisefield, Powell, Upton	6:11

Personnel

Wishbone Ash

• Andy Powell – guitar, lead vocals (tracks 3, 6, 8, 11–12) and backing vocals
• Laurie Wisefield – guitar, lead vocals (tracks 1–4, 7, 9–10) and backing vocals
• Trevor Bolder – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (track 5)
• Steve Upton – drums

Additional personnel

• Allan Townsend – synthesizer on "Hold On"

Production

• Ashley Howe, Stuart Epps – producers, engineers
• Nigel Gray – producer and engineer on track 4
• John Sherry – executive producer
• Ian Harris – sleeve design and art
• Phil Kaffel – remixing (US alternative mix)
• Phil Carroll – art direction (US alternative cover)
• Committée d'Art – cover design (Finland alternative cover)
• Pata – cover photo (Finland alternative cover)
• Nigel Palmer – mixing (2018 reissue, track 10–11)
• Martin Turner – mixing (2018 reissue, track 12)

Charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)	22

References

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{{Wishbone Ash

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[[Category:Wishbone Ash albums [[Category:1982 albums [[Category:albums produced by Nigel Gray