Live At The Capitol Theater - January 19, 1974
by Wishbone Ash

Released on Renaissance Records in 2025, this archival live album is a big winner—Wishbone Ash during the latter end of Ted Turner's time with the original lineup, being recorded in January 1974, a few months before he would depart

Wishbone Ash live recordings from 1974 are exceedingly rare, given that the master tapes on recordings in late 1974 during the There's the Rub tour were all lost. But this pre-There's the Rub recording survives, and the sound quality is simply superb for the era that it was recorded in.

What else helps to make this album a winner is the uniqueness of the tracks; this is the first live recording I've heard of Sometime World from the original 1970-1974 lineup, and, wow, is it good. Arguably the definitive live edition of the song, given it's performed by the original band just over a year after the song came out, without any truncation to the legendary outro solo that unfortunately was cut down during previously available 1977 live performances of the song. An early live version of Time Was is also a welcome rarity, as is an extended jam version of Jail Bait that times out to seven-and-a-half minutes. And arguably the centerpiece of it all is a 22-minute rendition of Phoenix, among the longest recorded versions of the epic. And the other live standard inclusions (Rock 'n' Roll Widow, The King Will Come, Warrior, Blowin' Free) are all great as well.

Really the only downside about this album is that it doesn't include the full show—apparently Vas Dis, The Pilgrim, and Where Were You Tomorrow were also part of the set list, though they're nowhere to be found on this album. Still, a comparatively minor gripe when you consider the material that did make the cut. Highly recommend picking up this CD if you can spend the $20.