Ted Turner (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
David Alan "Ted" Turner (born 2 August 1950, Sheldon
, Birmingham
) was a guitar
ist and vocalist with the 1970s rock band
, Wishbone Ash
, in which he was famed for his twin lead guitar
instrumental
arrangement
s with Andy Powell
. Turner also contributed lap steel guitar
to a variety of Wishbone Ash recordings.
, in 1974.
His main guitar during this period was a maple necked Fender Stratocaster
. He also used a Gibson Les Paul
and vintage lap steel guitars. Wishbone Ash also used the early Orange/Matamp amplifier
s during this period.
In 1971 Turner was invited to play on John Lennon
's Imagine
, on "Crippled Inside
". Turner accepted the chance to record with John Lennon, George Harrison
and Ringo Starr
.
to record, write and produce music artists including as George Harrison, Billy Preston
and Al Stewart
.
In 1980, Turner returned to England and did studio work with Stewart Copeland
, Gene October
, and Brian James. The next year found him once again in the United States, where he married and formed a new band. Called "Choice", it featured Greg Cook
(guitars, keyboards, and vocals), Robbie Hewlett (bass guitar) and Bobby Dean Wickland (drums). In 1982, Ted joined the re-formed "Badfinger
" and toured the country with them.
From 1983 to 1985, Turner was involved in various recording projects with such artists as Brian Auger
and Rod Stewart
. In 1985 he moved to Chicago
, recorded with various artistes including Sugar Blue
.
" for Miles Copeland's No Speak label
. In the spring of 1988, the original Wishbone Ash toured England and Europe for the first time in 15 years, and in the autumn of that year Turner and Andy Powell were invited to join Copeland's "Night of the Guitar" tour. That group included such guitar legends as Randy California
, Peter Haycock, Steve Howe
, Steve Hunter, Robby Krieger
, Leslie West
, Alvin Lee
and Jan Akkerman
.
. He now has a daughter Sloane. In 2010 his first solo album ECLEKTIC VALUE is released to widespread critical acclaim. He has also made guest appearances with Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash
, led by Wishbone Ash's founding original member bassist/vocalist Martin Turner (no relation) including a performance at the High Voltage Festival in London's Victoria Park in July 2010 and more are planned, updates can be found on Ted's website http://www.tedturnerguitar.com
s 'Top Twenty Rock Guitarists of All Time', and named by Traffic magazine as "one of the most important guitarists in rock history".
Sheldon, West Midlands
Sheldon is an area of eastern Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the border with the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and Birmingham International Airport....
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
) was a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist and vocalist with the 1970s rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
, Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
, in which he was famed for his twin lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s with Andy Powell
Andy Powell
Andy Powell is an English guitarist and songwriter, and best known as a founding member of Wishbone Ash.-Early life and career:...
. Turner also contributed lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
to a variety of Wishbone Ash recordings.
Pre-Wishbone Ash
Prior to Wishbone Ash, Turner played with the Birmingham band, .Wishbone Ash
Turner joined Wishbone Ash in 1969, leaving after their fourth album, Wishbone FourWishbone Four
Wishbone Four is the fourth studio album by British rock band Wishbone Ash. It was a radical departure from their previous album, Argus, containing almost none of the twin-lead guitar harmonies and folk elements that featured in the previous album...
, in 1974.
His main guitar during this period was a maple necked Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
. He also used a Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
and vintage lap steel guitars. Wishbone Ash also used the early Orange/Matamp amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
s during this period.
In 1971 Turner was invited to play on John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's Imagine
Imagine (album)
Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...
, on "Crippled Inside
Crippled Inside
"Crippled Inside" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from his 1971 album Imagine.The song combines the bleak lyrical content of Lennon's prior solo recording, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, with the more upbeat musical arrangements typical to the rest of Imagine...
". Turner accepted the chance to record with John Lennon, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
.
Post-Wishbone Ash
In the spring of 1974, Ted left Wishbone Ash and the music business to travel the world. By 1975 he had found his way to New Orleans and into the 'World Man Band' project, an attempt to raise global consciousness through rock music based upon information from R. Buckminster Fuller. Later that same year, Turner moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to record, write and produce music artists including as George Harrison, Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
and Al Stewart
Al Stewart
Al Stewart is a Scottish singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician.Stewart came to stardom as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s, and developed his own unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of the great characters and events from history.He is...
.
In 1980, Turner returned to England and did studio work with Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
, Gene October
Gene October
Gene October is an English musician, best known as the singer for the punk rock band, Chelsea.October was instrumental in the creation of the punk venue The Roxy, persuading the manager of gay London nightclub, 'Shageramas', to convert the club to cater for a punk clientele...
, and Brian James. The next year found him once again in the United States, where he married and formed a new band. Called "Choice", it featured Greg Cook
Greg Cook
Gregory Lynn Cook , is a former American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback.-Early career:...
(guitars, keyboards, and vocals), Robbie Hewlett (bass guitar) and Bobby Dean Wickland (drums). In 1982, Ted joined the re-formed "Badfinger
Badfinger
Badfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
" and toured the country with them.
From 1983 to 1985, Turner was involved in various recording projects with such artists as Brian Auger
Brian Auger
Brian Auger is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon...
and Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
. In 1985 he moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, recorded with various artistes including Sugar Blue
Sugar Blue
Sugar Blue is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician, who plays the harmonica. He is probably best known for playing on The Rolling Stones' single, "Miss You"....
.
Rejoining Wishbone Ash
In 1987 he rejoined Wishbone Ash and with them recorded "Nouveau CallsNouveau Calls
Nouveau Calls is the fourteenth album by rock band Wishbone Ash. It is an all-instrumental album and is the first in 14 years to feature the original lineup of the band....
" for Miles Copeland's No Speak label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. In the spring of 1988, the original Wishbone Ash toured England and Europe for the first time in 15 years, and in the autumn of that year Turner and Andy Powell were invited to join Copeland's "Night of the Guitar" tour. That group included such guitar legends as Randy California
Randy California
Randy California was a guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967.-Biography:...
, Peter Haycock, Steve Howe
Steve Howe (guitarist)
Stephen James "Steve" Howe is an English guitarist, known for his work with the progressive rock group Yes...
, Steve Hunter, Robby Krieger
Robby Krieger
Robert Alan "Robby" Krieger is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."...
, Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
, Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee is an English rock guitarist and singer. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, and with Leo Lyons formed the core of the band Ten Years After in 1960...
and Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman
Jan Akkerman is a Dutch guitarist. Akkerman is a distinctive guitarist, constantly experimenting with new equipment and guitars. Akkerman's distinctive guitar sound is characterised by his pioneering use of volume swells which produce a smooth, fluty, sustained tone, and other complex techniques...
.
Later work
Turner continued to tour and record with Wishbone Ash until 1994, when he once again decided to depart. In that same year, he witnessed – and suffered – the loss of his son Kipp, who was killed by a drunk driver in Scottsdale, ArizonaScottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
. He now has a daughter Sloane. In 2010 his first solo album ECLEKTIC VALUE is released to widespread critical acclaim. He has also made guest appearances with Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash
Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash
Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash is a British rock band led by Martin Turner, original bassist, lead vocalist and songwriter of Wishbone Ash. Including various reunions, his tenures with the "original" Wishbone Ash band lasted 1969-1980, 1987–1991 and 1995-1996....
, led by Wishbone Ash's founding original member bassist/vocalist Martin Turner (no relation) including a performance at the High Voltage Festival in London's Victoria Park in July 2010 and more are planned, updates can be found on Ted's website http://www.tedturnerguitar.com
Recognition
During Turner's career with Wishbone Ash, he has played to three generations of fans all around the world. He has been voted one of Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s 'Top Twenty Rock Guitarists of All Time', and named by Traffic magazine as "one of the most important guitarists in rock history".