Ten Years After

Last updated

Ten Years After
Ten Years After (1970).png
Ten Years After in 1970. Leo Lyons (top), Chick Churchill (left), Ric Lee (right), Alvin Lee (front)
Background information
Origin Nottingham, England
Genres Blues rock [1]
Years active
  • 1966–1975
  • 1983 (one-off reunion)
  • 1988–present
Labels
Members Chick Churchill
Ric Lee
Marcus Bonfanti
Colin Hodgkinson
Past members Alvin Lee
Leo Lyons
Joe Gooch
Website ten-years-after.co.uk

Ten Years After are a British blues rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. [2] In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200. [3] They are best known for tracks such as "I'm Going Home", "Hear Me Calling", "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Love Like a Man".

Contents

History

Formation: 1962–1966

Leo Lyons and Joe Gooch of Ten Years After at Suwalki Blues Festival, 2009 Blues Festival Suwalki 2009 - Ten Years After 02.jpg
Leo Lyons and Joe Gooch of Ten Years After at Suwałki Blues Festival, 2009

The band's core formed in late 1960 as Ivan Jay and the Jaycats. After several years of local success in the Nottingham/Mansfield area, they changed their name to the Jaybirds in 1962, and later to Ivan Jay and the Jaymen. 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. Roy Cooper played rhythm guitar and sang from 1960 to 1962. The Jaybirds moved to London to back the Ivy League in 1966. [4] In the same year, Chick Churchill joined the group as keyboard player. That November, the quartet signed a manager, Chris Wright, and changed their name to Blues Trip. Using the name Blues Yard they played one show at the Marquee Club supporting the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons again changed their name in 1966 to Ten Years After – in honour of Elvis Presley, [5] one of Lee's idols. [5] (This was ten years after Presley's successful year, 1956). [4] [6] Some sources [7] claim that the name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine, advertising a book, Suez Ten Years After (referring to the Suez Crisis).

Ten Years After: 1967–1974

The group was the first act booked by the soon-to-be Chrysalis Agency. They secured a residency at the Marquee, and were invited to play at the Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967. That performance led to a contract with Deram, a subsidiary of Decca – they were the first band without a hit single that Deram signed. In October 1967 they released the self-titled debut album Ten Years After . [8] In 1968, after touring Scandinavia and the United States, they released a second LP, the live album Undead , with a first version of the noteworthy song "I'm Going Home". [8] They followed this in February 1969 with the studio issue Stonedhenge , a British hit that included another well-known track, "Hear Me Calling", which was released as a single (and was covered by the British glam rock band Slade in 1972). In July 1969, the group appeared at the first instance of the Newport Jazz Festival that rock bands were invited to. On 26 and 27 July 1969, they appeared at the Seattle Pop Festival held at Gold Creek Park. On 17 August, the band performed a breakthrough American appearance at the Woodstock Festival; their rendition of "I'm Going Home" with Alvin Lee as lead singer/lead guitarist was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and increased the group's popularity. [8] In 1970, Ten Years After released "Love Like a Man", the group's only hit in the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at #10. [2] It was the first record issued with a different playing speed on each side: a three-minute edit at 45 rpm, and a nearly eight-minute live version at 33 rpm.[ citation needed ] The full studio version song appeared on the band's fifth album, their most successful in Britain, Cricklewood Green . [8] In August 1970, they played the Strawberry Fields Festival near Toronto, and the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. [9]

In 1971, the band switched labels to Columbia Records (US) and Chrysalis (UK) and released the hit album A Space in Time, which marked a move toward more commercial material. [8] It featured the group's biggest hit, "I'd Love to Change the World". [8] In late 1972, the group issued their second Columbia album Rock & Roll Music to the World and, in 1973, the live double album Ten Years After Recorded Live. The band broke up after their final 1974 Columbia album, Positive Vibrations . [8]

Post-break-up, then reunion

In the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s, Alvin toured with a new band he called Ten Years Later.

The original Ten Years After reunited in 1983 to play the Reading Festival, [10] and this performance was later released on CD as The Friday Rock Show Sessions – Live at Reading '83' .

In 1988, the members reunited for a few concerts and recorded the album About Time (1989) with producer Terry Manning in Memphis. [6] [8] They stayed together for their longest continuous period, until 2003, though without releasing new material. In 1994, they participated in the Eurowoodstock festival in Budapest.

In 2003, the other band members replaced Alvin Lee with Joe Gooch, and recorded the album Now . [8] Material from the subsequent tour was used for the 2005 double album Roadworks. [8] Alvin Lee mostly played and recorded under his own name following his split from the band. He died from complications during a routine medical procedure on 6 March 2013. [11] [12] [13] Ric Lee is currently[ when? ] in a band called Ric Lee's Natural Born Swingers, along with Bob Hall. In January 2014, it was announced that Gooch and Lyons had left Ten Years After. [14] Two months later, veteran bass player Colin Hodgkinson and singer/guitarist Marcus Bonfanti were announced as their replacements. [15] In October 2017, the band released its most recent studio album, A Sting in the Tale. [16] [17]

Band members

Timeline

Ten Years After

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manfred Mann</span> English rock band

Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two different lead vocalists, Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966 and Mike d'Abo from 1966 to 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Boomtown Rats</span> Irish rock band

The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original line-up comprised six musicians; five from Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin; Gerry Cott, Simon Crowe (drums), Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Bob Geldof (vocals) and Garry Roberts, plus Fingers' cousin Pete Briquette (bass). The Boomtown Rats broke up in 1986, but reformed in 2013, without Fingers or Cott. Garry Roberts died in 2022. The band's fame and notability have been overshadowed by the charity work of frontman Bob Geldof, a former journalist with the New Musical Express.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazareth (band)</span> Scottish hard rock band

Nazareth are a Scottish hard rock band formed in Dunfermline in 1968 that had many hit singles and albums in Canada, the United Kingdom, and a number of other European countries beginning in the early 1970s. The breadth of their popularity expanded internationally, including in the United States, with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog, which featured their hits "Hair of the Dog" and a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts". They have continued to record and tour internationally for more than 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Lee</span> English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (1944–2013)

Alvin Lee was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter, who was best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After.

Amen Corner were a Welsh rock group formed in Cardiff, Wales. They are best known for their hits "Bend Me, Shape Me", "High in the Sky" and the chart-topper "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Chocolate (band)</span> British soul band

Hot Chocolate are a British soul band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Grosvenor</span> English rock guitar player

Luther James Grosvenor is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym Ariel Bender, in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ric Lee</span> English drummer

Richard "Ric" Lee is an English drummer of the blues rock band Ten Years After.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Lyons</span> Musical artist

Leo David William Lyons is an English musician, who was most notably the bassist of the blues rock band Ten Years After.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Churchill</span> Musical artist

Michael George "Chick" Churchill is an English keyboard player of the late 1960s to 1970s blues rock band Ten Years After.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny McElhone</span> Musical artist

John Francis McElhone is a Scottish guitarist and songwriter.

Doc Holliday was an American Southern rock band from Warner Robins, Georgia, United States, who were named after the American frontier gambler, gunfighter, and dentist, Doc Holliday.

<i>Stonedhenge</i> 1969 studio album by Ten Years After

Stonedhenge is the second studio album, and third album overall, by English blues rock band Ten Years After, released in February 1969 by Deram Records. It was recorded with producer Mike Vernon at London's Decca Studios in September 1968.

<i>Ten Years After</i> (Ten Years After album) 1967 studio album by Ten Years After

Ten Years After is the debut album by English blues rock band Ten Years After. Recorded at Decca Studios in London in September 1967, and released on 27 October 1967, it was one of the first blues rock albums by British musicians.

"5-4-3-2-1" is a 1964 song by British band Manfred Mann. It was written by Mann, Mike Hugg and Paul Jones, and peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart thanks to weekly television exposure from being the theme tune for the ITV pop music television programme Ready Steady Go!. This would be the last single released before bass player Dave Richmond left the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk and Alcohol</span> Single by Dr. Feelgood

"Milk and Alcohol" is a song by the band Dr. Feelgood that reached number nine in the UK Singles Chart in 1979. Written by Nick Lowe and Gypie Mayo, and produced by Richard Gottehrer, the song was Dr. Feelgood's biggest hit and continues to be played by the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Gallagher discography</span> Albums and singles by Rory Gallagher

The discography of Rory Gallagher, an Irish guitarist and singer-songwriter, consists of 11 studio albums, 6 live albums, 13 compilations, and 5 singles. Gallagher was a solo artist for much of his career and collaborated with artists such as Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis. Before his career as a solo artist, Gallagher was the guitarist, vocalist, and saxophonist for the Irish rock trio Taste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Brilleaux</span> Musical artist

Lee Brilleaux was an English rhythm-and-blues singer and musician with the band Dr. Feelgood.

<i>About Time</i> (Ten Years After album) 1989 studio album by Ten Years After

About Time is an album by the blues rock band Ten Years After, released in 1989. It was the final studio album featuring Alvin Lee, their singer and most prominent songwriter since the band's formation. It was their first studio release in fifteen years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie McCracken</span> Northern Irish bassist (born 1948)

Richard 'Charlie' McCracken, Credited as both Richard and Charlie McCracken, is a retired Northern Irish bassist who was a member of Irish blues rock power trio Taste, featuring Rory Gallagher. He also played with The Spencer Davis Group and Fastway, and also was a session musician with Medicine Head, Kevin Ayers, Mike D'Abo and Francis Dunnery.

References

  1. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 19 January 2002. p. 24. ISSN   0006-2510.
  2. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records. p. 553. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  3. "Ten Years After | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Alvin Lee biography". Alvinlee.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  5. 1 2 Yardley, William (7 March 2013). "Alvin Lee, British Blues-Rock Guitarist, Dies at 68". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p.  444. ISBN   0-85112-072-5.
  7. "Pre-Ten Years After". alvinlee.de. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ruhlmann, William. "Ten Years After | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  9. Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing. p.  205. ISBN   0-85112-072-5.
  10. Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing. p.  355. ISBN   0-85112-072-5.
  11. Power, Rob (6 March 2013). "Ten Years After's Alvin Lee dies". MusicRadar. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  12. "Ten Years After singer and guitarist Alvin Lee dies aged 68". Stereoboard.com. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  13. "MusikWoche | News | Alvin Lee von Ten Years After verstorben". Mediabiz.de. Retrieved 15 June 2013.[ dead link ]
  14. "Ten Years After lose frontman and bassist". Classic Rock Magazine. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014.
  15. "Ten Years After reveal new line-up". Classic Rock Magazine. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014.
  16. "Ten Years After - A Sting In The Tale". Discogs. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  17. "A Sting in the Tale - Ten Years After - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

Further reading