In The Skin

Album: Nouveau Calls (1989)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In an in-depth interview with Lawrence Pugliese at the Moonshine Theatre, Scranton, during the 2005 Ashfest, Andy Powell was asked about this guitar instrumental. He said that at one point Wishbone Ash were managed by Miles Copeland - they were in fact the first band he managed. They parted company in the mid-seventies, but met up with him again in the mid-eighties, and Copeland had this idea of producing a series of guitar instrumentals with an ad hoc group of top guitar players on a label called No Speak. Andy mentioned too the No Speak tour. Although he and then fellow lead guitarist Ted Turner went on this, it was not a Wishbone Ash tour.

    "In The Skin" came out of that tour, or rather out of that concept, and it was only natural for the band to put together its own instrumental album. Although they have recorded a number pure instrumentals over the years such as "Outward Bound" and most infamously "F.U.B.B." (which led to drummer Steve Upton being arrested!), these have been few and far between.
  • "In The Skin" is the sixth track on Nouveau Calls; according to the band's official biography, its title is a pun by Steve Upton: Nouveau Calls - No vocals!
  • "In The Skin" and the album was made with the reformed original line up of Andy Powell and Ted Turner on guitars; the unrelated bass player and vocalist Martin Turner on bass - with nouveau calls this time! - and Upton on drums.
  • Writing on Martin Turner's official website, Gary Carter and Mark Chatterton (who are the band's official biographers) said "In the Skin" was one of the tracks that "stemmed from songs Martin Turner had recorded with his early eighties band The Wolfgang (the original vocal versions of these tracks can be found on Martin's retrospective "Walking the Reeperbahn" album, available on Blueprint)." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for all above

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.