Ten Years After are an English blues rock
band,
most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Band
members
- 3 Discography
- 3.1 Studio
and live albums
- 3.2 Compilations
- 4 Trivia
- 5 External
links
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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 original drummer Dave Quickmire, who had
joined 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 legendary Marquee
Club supporting Bonzo Dog Band), and finally Ten Years After in
November 1966. 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, 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-slow-to-furious rendition of "I'm Going Home" 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 sixth 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 didn't
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 both sides - 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".
Ric Lee is currently in a band called The Breakers, along with
Ian Ellis (Clouds).
Band members
- Alvin Lee - guitar, vocals, harp; born 19
December 1944
in Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire.
- Leo Lyons - bass;
born David William Lyons, 30 November 1943, in Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire.
- Chick Churchill - keyboards;
born Michael George Churchill, 2 January 1946, in Mold,
Flintshire,
North Wales.
- Ric
Lee - drums;
born Richard Lee, 20 October 1945, in Cannock, Staffordshire.
- Joe Gooch - guitar, vocals; born
3 May 1977, in Highbury, London. (Joined in
2003)
Discography
Studio and live albums
| Ten Years After |
1967 |
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| Undead |
1968 |
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| Ssssh |
1969 |
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| Stonedhenge |
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 (2LP) |
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 (2CD live) |
2001 |
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| Now |
2004 |
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| Roadworks (2CD
live) |
2005 |
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Compilations
- Double Deluxe (1970)
- Ten Years After (1971)
- Classic Performances (1976)
- Goin' Home (1977)
- Greatest Hits (1977)
- Profile (1979)
- Ten Years After (1980)
- Timewarps (1983)
- The Collection (1985)
- At Their Peak (1987)
- Universal (1987)
- Portfolio (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)
Trivia
- 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 Elvis
(by other source, the name TYA was taken in 1966 from London's local radio listings: [1]).
- Minnesota
Senator Norm
Coleman worked as a roadie
for Ten Years After in 1969 [2]
External links
