How www.ten-years-after.com and  www.alvinlee.de  Came To Be:

 For many years Brigitte collected magazines and newspaper clippings and put them into an old wooden box that she kept. I had my own collection of material, flyers, posters, books and magazines. We combined the two collections, we bought other fans collections, and then began the projects that you will enjoy now.

Clippings:

That’s all they were, bits and pieces of a Ten Years After / Alvin Lee History that was saved,  but also a legacy of a band in fragments. So we started by putting what we had on our pages. Little by little.

 The band formed in 1967 and continues to this day 4/20/11 which gives us an endless supply of material to use. In the beginning it was fun and a real joy to go through everything, discover photos, articles and reviews that I’ve never seen before.

A Non-Linear Approach: 

Like the 1960's I wanted our website to be set up for the thinking person with imagination. I had a vision, it was fun for me but difficult and confusing for the visitors. It was a great learning experience but we scrapped that idea in the end - for simplicty and nostalgia  reason.

It now opened new doors of expression, that served us both well. We both became really inspired. We had to untangle all of our previous work, we started all over again. It took us two full years of relentless effort.

New / Old Material:

So now we were free to follow a  plan that seemed easy. It turned out to be much more complicated but rewarding in the long run, than we ever expected. For example, I decided that we needed to do something that no one else had ever done before. Take all the scraps, cuttings, reviews, articles, photos and then reconnect them to their original sources.

We wanted to provide the best and finest chronological order possible. In other words, an article from say a  “Sounds” newspaper needed to have the original cover in the same spot as the article itself. If there were photos to go with it, place them there too. Keeping it uniform, intact and original. Thus giving the entire project “Integrity” never before attempted.

For Us / The Fans / The Band:

In order to set the record straight and get the story right, we add captions from the band members where possible. To photos and articles  we add their personal experience where needed. Giving it a well rounded effect.

There are, in many cases, a week by week / month by month / year by year accounting of the bands activites. With a running record of the bands movements, progress / concerts.

As Ten Years After / Alvin Lee fans – for over 40 years now. This is something that we both wish someone else had done a long time ago - for us to enjoy. The only one who took the time, had the patience and personal integrity to attempt such a thing, was the author of the Ten Years After Book  “A Visual History”  - Herb Staehr. 

With his untimely passing, we continue where he left off. Our respect to our good friend Herb, who left us with a generous supply of fond memories, and good feelings all around. 

In Conclusion:

For Brigitte and I, it’s a labor of love. It’s a work in progress. It’s for all of you with our thanks.  We’ll continue to collect, organize and present the material that adds to the whole Ten Years After story. You will also notice many redundancies through out the pages, photos repeated, articles giving the same information, but it’s all a part of the whole.

Some of the best fun we have had, was putting photos together from the same photo shoots.

They provide different camera angles, facial expressions, attitudes and sometimes backgrounds. When placing articles in order by date, this also excelled our enthusiasm. Or when finding part two that goes with part one / or part three that has been lost for thirty five / forty years. It gives the entire project a brand new look, fresh meaning / reason for existing, because we have laid down the groundwork for yet another whole  generation.  They will discover these great musicians and the music they made, from another time and place. What they laid down is just as pertinent today as when it was first recorded.

We have a pile of new / old material sitting right here, just waiting to find a home on our websites. If you have something to contribute please let us know. We are more than willing to share it, while giving you credit for your photos, articles, scrapbooks or clippings.

Brigitte and Dave