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Ten
Years After. Their Place in Music History.
Depending
on whether you like the film or not, there’s no doubt
that Woodstock was a seminal rock movie. It featured a
host of late 1960’s superstars including Jimi Hendrix,
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Santana, Country Joe and
the Fish, The Who, Sly and the Family Stone and many
others who performed at the gigantic 1969 festival, the
film is a valuable and interesting record of what was
going on in the international rock scene at the time.
For
one British band, however, the film was to kick open the
door to America. For Ten Years After, their featured,
frenetic, twelve minute version of ‘Goin Home’
brought them immense attention from the media and also
from the concert promoters as well. It was the prelude
to an almost permanent touring schedule, during which it
had the band in perpetual motion criss-crossing the USA
throughout the 1970’s. However, Ten Years After’s
roots lay deeply imbedded in the heartland of England.
Alvin
Lee, who was co-founder and focal centre of the band,
was born in 1944 in Nottingham. He became interested in
music at an early age, but soon dropped his first choice
of the clarinet in favour of a guitar in 1957, when the
first exciting sounds of blues and rock ‘n’ roll
could be heard on the AFN (American Forces Network) and Radio
Luxembourg. He found out very quickly that other
enthusiasts lived in Nottingham, and he soon joined two
local bands the Square Caps and Jail Breakers, who were
bashing out the Top 40 hits of the day with more passion
and energy than skill. In 1961 he met up with bass
player Leo Lyons, with whom he was to enjoy a long
musical partnership that would last for the better part
of four decades.
The
boys, still both only
teenagers, took off for Germany for a spell working at
the famous Star Club, just a few weeks after the Beatles
made their historic appearance there, and upon their
return to Britain Alvin and Leo were determined to
capitalise on their new experience.
They
enlisted the services of Dave Quickmire on drums, and
called themselves the Jaybirds, they took a deep breath
and plunged themselves into the uncertain world of the
fully professional music business. The line-up was to
remain stable for four years, and the young trio built
up a respectable local reputation as a dependable and
often very exciting rock ‘n’ roll band.
They
frequently returned to Hamburg, which is well known to
all, for its dubious pleasures and relatively high wages,
and it was under these conditions that Alvin Lee began
to establish himself as an extroverted guitar player.
That line-up never recorded, and initially were hesitant
about moving to London, the acknowledged centre of the
British music scene.
By
August 1965, Dave Quickmire had decided he’d had
enough and quit the band, as they didn’t seem to be
getting anywhere. Nottingham had spawned several bands
in the early 1960’s, one of them being Ricky Storm and
the Storm Cats which had transmogrified into the
Mansfields, which featured Stuart Lane on guitar, Mick
Hodgkinson on bass and vocals, Keith Williams on guitar
and vocals and Ric Lee on drums.
When
Quickmire left, Alvin and Leo wasted no time in wheeling
Ric into the Jaybirds, and for the next eighteen months,
the powerful trio took their rock ‘n’ roll all over
the East Midlands and onto the North of England.
However,
it became obvious that if they were to move many more
rungs up the ladder of success, like it or not, they had
to move to London, where there could be found a huge
concentration of record companies and publishers. Thus
in 1966 the Jaybirds set off for the big city. They
landed the job of providing the music for a London stage
play called Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which
later turned into a hugely successful film starring the
one and only Albert Finney. Southern Music, a Denmark
Street song publisher, needed musicians to record demos,
and the band willingly provided the simple backing
required for dozens of potential hits. Through the
Southern contract, they met the Ivy League, who out of
the ashes of Carter Lewis and the Southerners, were
formed to cash in on the Beach Boys / Flower Power era.
John Shakespeare (Carter’s real name), James Lewis and
Brian Pugh, all songwriters and session singers, decided
to tap a rich vein in the shape of their close-harmony,
high pitched vocal style (sounding like the “Four
Seasons” in America). For a while, the Jaybirds toured
as backing musicians with the Ivy League.
However,
Alvin, Leo and Ric soon grew tired of the rather empty,
shallow role they found themselves playing and decided
to contact the powerful London agent and manager, Chris
Wright. In retrospect, little could the Jaybirds or
Wright have ever imagined just how successful the
partnership would become, but the relationship started
out modestly enough for sure.
By
the middle of 1966, Alvin, Leo and Ric had decided that
the name Jaybirds was beginning to sound distinctly
dated and it certainly didn’t seem to match the
band’s growing preference for hard-driving rhythm and
blues. They searched around for a suitable change of
name, and briefly worked as the Bluesyard (for one or
two gigs) which sounded much more appropriate. As that name didn’t last long, Alvin, Leo and Ric decided
to honour the music era that they had all found so
stimulating by calling themselves Ten Years After (ten
years after the start of rock ‘n’ roll with Elvis,
Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry…also
(a name Leo Lyons read in the print media, is the
official story, as to where the name came from, and it
was perfect because the name (they all thought) didn’t
tie them down to anything musically).
At
around the same time, they decided that the trio format,
though exciting and ever dominated by Alvin’s
increasingly flashy and impressive guitar playing, was
musically limiting. They needed to expand the band’s
sound and did this by adding Chick Churchill on
keyboards in late 1966.
Chris
Wright’s management soon led them into the recording
studio of Deram Records, which is a subsidiary of the
British Decca record company. Their first album, simply
titled "TEN YEARS AFTER" was released in 1967, and was
followed in 1968 by the live
"UNDEAD" album, which was also on Deram. The band
was by now falling into the routine which would set the
pattern for eight busy and very successful years. Alvin
for one loved to tour and play, as he always dominated
the show with his extremely fast, note-on-top-of-note
style. It is arguable that he often sacrificed feel and
emotion in his playing for sheer speed and technique, as
he has been called “Mr. Speed Fingers” and his
playing said to be a case of “All Haste and No
Taste” over the years, along with the title “The
Fastest Guitar In The West”. All things being
considered , it has been his Nordic good looks, adequate
voice and his extrovert style that seemed to be the most
appealing factor to the audiences all over Europe.
The
one concert and historic event that changed the course
for Ten Years After forever, happened in August 1969
when they were invited to play at the “Woodstock”
festival. Their song “Goin Home” proved to be one of
the most potent rock anthems of the late 1960’s,
although to be honest, they must have become very weary
of playing it. As for the film “Woodstock”, it was a
huge success in the United States, and the band’s
appearance propelled them into super-stardom and made
them high profile from that moment onwards. Life for
them became almost literally one long never-ending tour.
The band seemed to almost never be off the road in
America, and the high earnings that were there to be
made, kept Ten Years After firmly entrenched
in the country. Between all the extensive touring
and their life on the road, the band regularly buried
themselves in the recording studios and Ric, Leo, Alvin
and Chick produced “STONEDHENGE” in 1969 and
"Ssssssh"
was released later in the same year, which was followed
by “CRICKLEWOOD GREEN” released in April of 1970.
The
touring schedule was gruelling to say the least,
although Alvin loved it, living only for the pleasure of
life on the road. The band endlessly toured America,
visiting and playing in virtually every major city in
the entire USA during their eight year existence. They
were a sure fire draw for any festival promoter and
Alvin’s extravagant and explosive playing, including
dragging numbers out to last half an hour at a time,
could be seen at dozens of open-air concerts. More
albums followed, including "WATT" released in
January of 1971, "ALVIN LEE & COMPANY"’ released in
1972, and followed by "ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC TO THE
WORLD" released later in the same year (recorded in
France).
In
September 1973, saw the release of TYA "RECORDED
LIVE" which was their fifth album for Chrysalis. (The
label was formed by their management team and played on
the names of Chris Wright and Terry Ellis.)
But
the end was now in sight for the classic Ten Years After
line-up, and just a few months later, in March of 1974
the band called it a day, and folded.
Alvin
felt, that the possibilities afforded by the line-up, by
now nearly a decade old, were very limited. Constant
touring had drained them of ideas, and the image of
Alvin playing guitar a hundred miles an hour backed by
Leo, Chick and Ric was becoming tarnished, so the boys
decided to take the most honourable way out and quite
while they were ahead of the game.
However,
the lure of the dollar meant that the combination of
Lee, Churchill, Lyons and Lee was not quite so ready to
lie down and die just yet.
After
a brief venture with Mel Collins on sax, Ian Wallace on
drums, Steve Thompson on bass and keyboard player Ronnie
Leahy to promote his “In Flight” L.P., Alvin called
the boys in the band to do a final ‘final’ tour of
the USA which took the band all over North America in
1975.
Leo,
Ric and Chick, who were exhausted from over a decade of
continually traipsing all over the world, moved out of
the performing arena and into the rather more sedate
side of the music world, involving themselves in various
recording, publishing and producing ventures.
For
Alvin Lee, however, the lure of the road never lost its
appeal, and 1976
saw a new band featuring Bryson Graham on drums, Tim
Hinkley on keyboards (from the original Bo Street
Runners) and Andy Pyle on bass. This line-up produced an
album which never saw the light of day and folded.
Undaunted,
Alvin launched the aptly-named band Ten Years Later,
which against all odds lasted over two years. The
members consisted of workaholic Alvin, along with Tom
Compton on drums and Mick Hawksworth on bass and the
outfit produced two outstanding albums which were
released on Polydor, ‘Rocket Fuel’ and ‘Ride
On’.
By
June 1980 Mick Hawksworth had left the group and was
replaced by Micky Feat on bass and vocals and Steve
Gould on guitar and vocals. This change of line-up also
prompted another name change, which also seemed to
finally acknowledge the fact that all of Alvin’s bands
had only really existed to provide a superficial backdrop to showcase his up-front,
superstar image.
The
Alvin Lee Band produced two more albums, ‘FREEFALL and
RX5 in 1980 and 1981 respectively, though Alvin’s
record sales were producing a poor showing, and his
material was also very pale by comparison,
from his out-put with his years with Ten Years
After, Alvin kept trying, but he also had trouble
keeping musicians working for him, for wages.
By
November 1981 even the word “Band” had been dropped
from the title, and so too had musicians Feat and Gould,
to be replaced by the ex-Stones and John Mayall
guitarist Mick Taylor, who was also joined by Fuzzy
Samuels on bass, as both went along with Alvin on his
endless touring schedule.
Alvin
Lee, will never be revered as R & B’s or R & R
most subtle or emotional player by a long shot, but his
head-down, straight-ahead approach to his beloved music
has these days found
him a small but ineffective handful of followers. He is
the epitome of the working musician for whom getting out
and playing to live audiences is the most important part
of the music business.
In
an interview in England, with Paul Flame, Alvin said
“I never want to stop being a working musician. I look
at Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and say to myself,
“Yeah, they are still at it”…and that’s the life
for me as well. Now I’ve decided that touring is the
natural life for me…and I intend doing it when I’m
forty, sixty, or eighty years old.”
By
Grant Sherwood
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