Ten Years After

Ten Years After are a British blues rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart.[1] In addition they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200,[2] and 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". Their musical style consisted of blues rock[3][4][5][6][7] and hard rock.[8]

For other uses, see Ten Years After (disambiguation).

Ten Years After
Ten Years After in 1970
(Top, Leo Lyons, left, Chick Churchill, right, Ric Lee, front, Alvin Lee)
Background information
OriginNottingham, United Kingdom
Genres
Years active
  • 1966–75
  • 1983
  • 1988–present
Labels
Websiteten-years-after.co.uk
MembersChick Churchill
Ric Lee
Marcus Bonfanti
Colin Hodgkinson
Past membersAlvin Lee
Leo Lyons
Joe Gooch

Formation
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, known since 1962 as the Jaybirds and later as Ivan Jay and the Jaymen, Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons founded Ten Years After. Ivan Jay (born Ivan Joseph Harrison, 1939, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, died in April 2009, USA) sang lead vocals from late 1960 to 1962 and was joined by Ric Lee in August 1965, replacing drummer Dave Quickmire (born David Quickmire, 1940, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire), who had replaced Pete Evans (born Peter Evans, 1940, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire) in 1962. Roy Cooper (born 11 November 1943, Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire) played rhythm guitar, vocals from 1960 to 1962.

In 1966, The Jaybirds moved to London to back The Ivy League.[9] 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. They again changed their name, to Ten Years After – in honour of Elvis Presley,[10] one of Lee's idols.[10] (This was ten years after Presley's successful year, 1956).[9][11] Some sources[12] claim that the name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine, advertising a book, Suez Ten Years After (referring to the Suez Crisis).

1967-1974

The group was the first act booked by the soon-to-be Chrysalis Agency. It secured a residency at the Marquee, and was invited to play at the Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967. That performance led to a contract with Deram, a subsidiary of Decca — the first band Deram signed without a hit single. In October 1967 they released the self-titled debut album, Ten Years After.[13]

In 1968, after touring Scandinavia and the United States, Ten Years After released a second album, the live Undead, with a first version of the noteworthy song, "I'm Going Home".[13] They followed this in February 1969 by the studio issue Stonedhenge, a British hit that included another well-known track, "Hear Me Calling" (it was released also as a single, and covered in 1972 by the British glam rock rising stars, Slade). In July 1969, the group appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, in the first event rock bands were invited to. Between 26–27 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 Woodstock; their rendition of "I'm Going Home" featuring Alvin Lee as lead singer/lead guitar, was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and catapulted them to star status.[13]

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.[1] It was the first record issued with a different playing speed on each side: a three-minute edit at 45rpm, and a nearly eight-minute live version at 33rpm. The full studio version song appeared on the band's fifth album, their most successful in Britain, Cricklewood Green.[13] In August 1970, they played the Strawberry Fields Festival near Toronto, and the Isle of Wight Festival 1970.[14]

In 1971, the band switched labels to Columbia Records (U.S.) and Chrysalis (U.K.) and released the hit album A Space in Time, which marked a move toward more commercial material.[13] It featured the group's biggest hit, "I'd Love to Change the World".[13] 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.

Break up and reformation

The band subsequently broke up after their final 1974 Columbia album, Positive Vibrations.[13] In the 2nd half of the 1970s and early 1980s, Alvin actively toured with a new band he called Ten Years Later. The original Ten Years After reunited in 1983 to play the Reading Festival,[15] 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.[11][13] They stayed together for their longest continuous period, until 2003. 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.[13] Material from the following tour was used for the 2005 double album, Roadworks.[13] 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.[16][17][18]

Ric Lee is also currently in a band called Ric Lee's Natural Born Swingers, along with Bob Hall.

In January 2014, it was announced that both Gooch and Lyons had left Ten Years After.[19] Two months later, veteran bass player Colin Hodgkinson and singer/guitarist Marcus Bonfanti were announced as their replacements.[20]

In October 2017, the band released its most recent studio album, A Sting in the Tale.[21][22]

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
Release Date US GE NL NO UK Certification Label
Ten Years After 1967 – – – – – Deram
Stonedhenge 1969 61 – – – 6 Deram
Ssssh 1969 20 6 – 16 4 Deram
Cricklewood Green 1970 14 8 – 8 4 Deram
Watt 1970 21 9 2 8 5 Deram
A Space in Time 1971 17 35 – 13 36 US: Platinum Columbia
Rock & Roll Music to the World 1972 43 30 – 15 27 Columbia
Positive Vibrations 1974 81 – – 18 – Columbia
About Time 1989 120 87 – – – Chrysalis
Now 2004 – – – – – Ten Years After
Evolution 2008 – – – – – Ten Years After
A Sting in the Tale 2017 – – Ten Years After

Live albums
Release Date US GE NO UK
Undead Deram, 1968 115 – – 26
Recorded Live Columbia, 1973 39 10 9 36
The Friday Rock Show Sessions - Live At Reading 1983 Raw Fruit Records, 1990
Live 1990 Edsel Records, 1993
BBC Sessions 1967-1968 2000
Live at the Fillmore East 1970 (double album) Capitol, 2001
One Night Jammed (Live) Fast Western, 2003
Roadworks (double album) Ten Years After, 2005
The Name Remains the Same Kultopolis, 2014
Naturally Live Butler Records, 2019

Compilation albums
  • Double Deluxe (1970)
  • Ten Years After (1971)
  • Alvin Lee and Company (Deram, 1972) (US #55)
  • Goin' Home! (Deram, 1975)
  • Classic Performances of Ten Years After (Columbia, 1976)
  • London Collectors Edition – Greatest Hits (London, 1977)
  • Profile (1979)
  • Ten Years After (1980)
  • Hear Me Calling (Decca, 1980; A Tony Watts compilation)
  • Time Warps (1983)
  • The Collection (1985)
  • At Their Peak (1987)
  • Universal (Chrysalis, 1987)
  • Portfolio: A History (Chrysalis, 1988)
  • The Essential Ten Years After Collection (Chrysalis, 1991)
  • Pure Blues (Chrysalis, 1995)
  • I'm Going Home (1996)
  • Premium Gold Collection (1998)
  • The Best of Ten Years After (2000)
  • The Very Best 'Ten Years After' Album Ever (2001)
  • Ten Years After Anthology (2002)
  • Best: Love Like a Man (2003)
  • The Essential (2004)
  • Think About the Times: The Chrysalis Years 1969-1972 (2010)
  • Ten Years After 1967-1974 [10-CD Box Set] (2017)

[23]

  • Cap Ferrat Sessions (archive) (2019)

Bibliography
  • The New Musical Express Book of Rock, Star Books, 1975. ISBN 0-352-30074-4.
  • Paytress, Mark (January 1997). "Ten Years After". Record Collector. No. 221. pp. 84–89.
  • Alvin Lee and Ten Years After – Visual History – Herb Staehr, Free Street Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0970870001
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References
  1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 553. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. "Ten Years After | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (19 January 2002). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. David Dicaire (19 December 2001). More Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Artists from the Later 20th Century. McFarland. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-7864-1035-4.
  5. Robert Santelli (2001). The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Penguin Books. p. 455. ISBN 978-0-14-100145-6.
  6. James E. Perone (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. ABC-CLIO. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-313-37906-2.
  7. Prown, Pete (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 73. ISBN 978-0793540426.
  8. Chappell, Jon (2006). Blues Guitar For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 241. ISBN 978-0470049204.
  9. "Alvin Lee biography". Alvinlee.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  10. "Alvin Lee, British Blues-Rock Guitarist, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  11. Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 444. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  12. unknown. "Pre-Ten Years After". The History of Ten Years After. unknown. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  13. William Ruhlmann. "Ten Years After | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  14. Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 205. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  15. Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 355. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  16. Rob Power. "Ten Years After's Alvin Lee dies". MusicRadar. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  17. "Ten Years After Singer And Guitarist Alvin Lee Dies Aged 68". Stereoboard.Com. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  18. "MusikWoche | News | Alvin Lee von Ten Years After verstorben". Mediabiz.de. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  19. "Ten Years After lose frontman and bassist". Classic Rock Magazine. 13 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014.
  20. "Ten Years After reveal new line-up". Classic Rock Magazine. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014.
  21. "Ten Years After - A Sting In The Tale". Discogs. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  22. "A Sting in the Tale - Ten Years After - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  23. "Ten Years After Discography". Discogs.com. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
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