Ten Years After
are an English blues rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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TEN YEARS AFTER TICKETS
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History
After several years of local success in the
Nottingham/
Mansfield area as a band known since 1962 as The Jaybirds (its core was formed in late 1960 as Ivan Jay and the Jaycats), and later as Ivan Jay and the Jaymen, Ten Years After was founded by
Alvin Lee and
Leo Lyons. Ivan Jay sang lead vocals from late 1960 to 1962 and was joined by
Ric Lee in August 1965, replacing drummer Dave Quickmire, who had replaced Pete Evans in 1962. In 1966 The Jaybirds moved to
London, where
Chick Churchill joined the group. That November the quartet signed a manager, Chris Wright, and decided to change their name to Blues Trip, Blues Yard (under which they played a show at the
Marquee Club supporting the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), and finally in November 1966, to Ten Years After (in honour of
Elvis Presley, an idol of Lee's whose momentous year in rock, 1956, helps to better explain the band's title). They became the first band of the soon-to-be Chrysalis Agency. They secured a residency at the Marquee, and received an invitation to play at the renowned Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967. That performance led to a contract with
Deram, a subsidiary company of
Decca – the first band so signed without a
hit single. In October, their 1967
self-titled debut album was released.
In 1968, after touring
Scandinavia and the
United States, Ten Years After released their second album, live
Undead
, which brought their first classic, "I'm Going Home." This was followed in February 1969 by studio issue,
Stonedhenge
, a British hit, that included another classic, "Hear Me Calling" (it was released also as a single, and
covered in 1972 by British
glam rock rising stars,
Slade). In July 1969 they appeared at the
Newport Jazz Festival, in the first event to which
rock bands were invited. In August, the band performed a breakthrough American appearance at
Woodstock; their furious-to-soft-to-furious rendition of "I'm Going Home" featuring Alvin Lee as the lead singer was featured in both the subsequent film and
soundtrack album and catapulted them to star status.
During 1970, Ten Years After released "Love Like a Man", their only hit in the
UK Singles Chart. This song was on their fifth album,
Cricklewood Green
. The name of the album comes from a friend of the group who lived in
Cricklewood, London. He grew a sort of plant which was said to have hallucinogenic effects. The band did not know the name of this plant, so they called their album
Cricklewood Green
. It was the first
record to be issued with a different playing speed on each side – one a three-minute edit at
45rpm, the other, a nine-minute live version at
33rpm. In August, Ten Years After played the
Isle of Wight Festival 1970 to an audience of 600,000.
In 1971, the band released the album
A Space in Time
which marked a move toward more commercial material. It featured their biggest hit, "I'd Love To Change The World". But a few albums later, the band broke up after the 1974 album
Positive Vibrations
. They re-united in 1983 to play the
Reading Festival and this performance was later released on CD as
The Friday Rock Show Sessions - Live At Reading '83'
. In 1988, they re-united for a few
concerts and recorded the album
About Time
(1989). Finally, in 1994, they participated in the
Eurowoodstock festival in
Budapest.
Alvin Lee has since then mostly played and recorded under his own name. In 2004, the other band members replaced him with Joe Gooch and recorded the album
Now
. Material from the following tour was used for the 2005
double album Roadworks
. Ric Lee is currently in a band called The Breakers, along with Ian Ellis (
Clouds).
Band members
- Alvin Lee – guitar, vocals, harp; born Graham Barnes, 19 December 1944, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.
- Leo Lyons – bass; born David William Lyons, 30 November 1943, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
- Chick Churchill – keyboards; born Michael George Churchill, 2 January 1946, Mold, Flintshire, North Wales.
- Ric Lee – drums; born Richard Lee, 20 October 1945, Cannock, Staffordshire.
- Joe Gooch – guitar, vocals; born 3 May 1977, Highbury, London (joined in 2003).
Discography
Studio and live albums
Ten Years After
| 1967
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Undead
| 1968
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Stonedhenge
| 1969
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Ssssh
| 1969
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Cricklewood Green
| 1970
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Watt
| 1970
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A Space in Time
| 1971
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Alvin Lee And Company
| 1972
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Rock & Roll Music To The World
| 1972
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Recorded Live
(double album)
| 1973
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Positive Vibrations
| 1974
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About Time
| 1989
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Live At The Fillmore East 1970
(double live album)
| 2001
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Now
| 2004
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Roadworks
(double live album)
| 2005
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Evolution
| 2008
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Compilations
- Double Deluxe
(1970)
- Ten Years After
(1971)
- Classic Performances
(1976)
- "Hear them calling" double compilation album (1976)
- Goin' Home
(1977)
- Greatest Hits
(1977)
- Profile
(1979)
- Ten Years After
(1980)
- Timewarps
(1983)
- The Collection
(1985)
- At Their Peak
(1987)
- Universal Music Co.(Classic Rock Gold – 2 disc)
(1987)
- Portfolio - A History
(1988)
- The Collection
(1991)
- Essential
(1991)
- Pure Blues
(1995)
- I'm Going Home
(1996)
- Premium Gold Collection
(1998)
- The Best of
(2000)
- Very Best Ten Years After Album Ever
(2001)
- Ten Years After Anthology
(2002)
Band name and connections
- In his 1971 Elvis Presley biography, rock journalist Jerry Hopkins claimed Alvin Lee named his band "Ten Years After" because they started ten years after Presley (by another source, the name Ten Years After was taken in 1966 from London's local radio listings – one radio station was called Ten Years After (the end of national service in the UK). [1]
- Norm Coleman, former U.S. senator from Minnesota, worked as a roadie for Ten Years After in 1969. [2]
References
- Alvin Lee FAQ database
- USA Today article - June 2002