Alvin Lee & Ten Years After

Alvin Lee & Ten Years After - Solid Rock - 1997 - Chrysalis

As with many of the other English beat groups of the '60s, Alvin Lee cut his musical teeth in Hamburg, Germany in a band called the Jaybirds. By 1966, back in England, he had changed the name of his band to Ten Years After and was rapidly becoming a major attraction because of the virtuosity of his solo work. Most Americans first became familiar with Lee through his appearance at Woodstock, although he remained active throughout the decades that followed; among his releases were 1974's In Flight, 1986's Detroit Diesel, and 1996's Live in Vienna. Alvin Lee died on March 6, 2013 due to complications from a routine surgical procedure.© All Music Guide © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alvin-lee-mn0000011620

Mention the name Alvin Lee and most people will say what a wonderful blues guitarist the man is. Press it further, and the other half will respond with “I’m Going Home” Woodstock 1969 Ten Years After what fantastic rock and rollers they are. This Solid Rock edition is a rocking greatest hits kind of jam release, a good introduction for the rank amateur, just discovering the band and the time, that they were in their classic prime. You’ll get to hear both sides of what the group was about. This includes Alvin with Ten Years After and also some tunes from Alvin Lee gone “solo”. It should be known, that Alvin himself hand picked the songs presented here. So, you can be sure that he’s giving you a little sneak peak as to what his personal taste consist of, and his most beloved rocking songs are. When I first heard “I’d Love To Change The World”, my first impression of Ten Years After was, damn, who is that guy burning up the rosewood fret-board here? During that time, the two guitarist who were grabbing up almost all of the accolades were, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. While Alvin Lee’s accomplishments greatly impressed me, and still do. Between the record companies, the music business and the sheer passage of time, all three have buried this guy in the forgotten pile. He’s truly one of the unsung heroes of rock and blues. This collection also includes two bonus tracks, both never before released. “Fight For Your Rights” and “I Love You When You Rock and Roll”. Judge for yourselves. © Martin Lake © http://www.alvinlee.de/1997.htm

On 6th March 2013 the great English guitarist Alvin Lee left us to join that "Great Gig In The Sky". "Solid Rock" is a good compilation album featuring thirteen tracks from Alvin with TYA and a few of his solo tracks. Some would say that Alvin Lee was a better guitarist than he got credit for. This album is HR by A.O.O.F.C and covers both the blues and rock 'n' roll side of Alvin and Ten Years After. “Fight For Your Rights” and “I Love You When You Rock and Roll” were not released on a TYA or Alvin Lee album album prior to 1997. Alvin Lee made a huge contribution to great rock music and will be sorely missed. Listen to his blistering "In Flight [live]" album, and Ten Years After's classic "Cricklewood Green" album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 130 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Rock & Roll Music To The World - Alvin Lee
2 Detroit Diesel - Alvin Lee, Steve Gould
3 I'm Coming On - Alvin Lee
4 Jenny Jenny - Alvin Lee, Steve Gould
5 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain - Alvin Lee
6 Play It Like It Used To Be - Alvin Lee, Tim Hinkley
7 Let's Shake It Up - Alvin Lee, Steve Gould
8 Shot In The Dark - Alvin Lee, David Hubbard
9 You Can't Win Them All - Alvin Lee
10 Too Late To Run For Cover - Alvin Lee, Tim Hinkley
11 Baby Won't You Let Me Rock'n' Roll You - Alvin Lee
12 Fight For Your Rights - Alvin Lee
13 I Love You When You Rock And Roll - Alvin Lee

MUSICIANS

Alvin Lee (guitar, harmonica, drums, vocals)
Steve Gould (guitar, vocals, background vocals)
Neil Hubbard (guitar)
Leo Lyons, Alan Spenner (bass)
Steve Grant (bass, keyboards)
Mick Fc'at (bass, background vocals)
Tim Hinkley, Chick Churchill (keyboards)
David Hubbard (keyboards, bass synthesizer)
Alan Young, Richard Newman, Ric Lee, Ian Wallace (drums)
Clarence Clemons (tenor saxophone)
Mel Collins (saxophone, flute)
Vicky Brown, Paddie McHugh, Frank Collins, Dyan Birch (background vocals)

BIO (WIKI)

Alvin Lee (born Graham Alvin Barnes, 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English rock guitarist and singer. He was best known as the lead guitarist and singer with blues-rock band Ten Years After. He was born in Nottingham and attended the Margaret Glen-Bott School in Wollaton which was a precursor to comprehensive schools with grammar and secondary modern streams. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, and with Leo Lyons formed the core of the band Ten Years After in 1960. Influenced by his parents' collection of jazz and blues records, it was the advent of rock and roll that sparked his interest, and guitarists such as Chuck Berry and Scotty Moore provided his inspiration. Lee began to play professionally in 1962, in a band named the Jaybirds, who enjoyed popularity in their native England, but moved on to seek a wider fan base. They began that year to perform in the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, following closely behind The Beatles. There, with Alvin Lee assuming the permanent role of lead vocalist in addition to that of lead guitarist, they began to build a following. It was not until the band moved to London in 1966 and changed its name, first to Jaybird, dropping 'The' and 's' to make it sound more contemporary; then to Blues Yard (for one gig at the Marquee Club); and finally to Ten Years After, that international success beckoned. The band secured a residency at the Marquee Club, and an invitation to the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival in 1967 led to their first recording contract. The self-titled debut album received airplay on San Francisco's underground music radio stations and was embraced by listeners, including concert promoter Bill Graham, who invited the band to tour the United States for the first time in 1968. Ten Years After would ultimately tour the US twenty-eight times in seven years, more than any other UK band. Lee's performance at the Woodstock Festival was captured on film in the documentary of the event and his playing helped catapult him into stardom. Soon the band was playing arenas and stadiums around the globe. Although Lee later lamented that he missed the intimacy of smaller venues, the impact the film made brought his music to a worldwide audience. Ten Years After had success, releasing ten albums together, but by 1973, Lee was feeling limited by the band's style. Moving to Columbia Records had resulted in a radio hit song, "I'd Love To Change the World," but Lee preferred blues-rock to the pop to which the label steered them. He left Ten Years After after their second Columbia LP. With American gospel singer Mylon LeFevre and George Harrison, Steve Winwood, Ronnie Wood and Mick Fleetwood, he recorded and released On the Road to Freedom, an acclaimed album that was at the forefront of country rock. Also in 1973 he sat in on the Jerry Lee Lewis double album The Session recorded in London featuring many other guest stars including Albert Lee, Peter Frampton and Rory Gallagher. A year later, in response to a dare, Lee formed Alvin Lee & Company to play a show at the Rainbow in London and released it as a double live album, In Flight. Various members of the band continued on with Lee for his next two albums, Pump Iron! and Let It Rock. In late 1975, he played guitar for a couple of tracks on Bo Diddley's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album. He finished out the 1970s with Ten Years Later who also released two albums, Rocket Fuel (1978) and Ride On (1979), and toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States. The 1980s brought another change in Lee's direction, with two albums that were collaborations with Rare Bird's Steve Gould, and a tour with the former John Mayall and Rolling Stones' guitarist Mick Taylor joining his band. Lee's overall musical output includes more than twenty albums, including 1985's Detroit Diesel, and the back to back 1990s collections of Zoom and Nineteen Ninety-Four (U.S. title I Hear You Rockin'). Guest artists on both albums included George Harrison. In Tennessee, recorded with Scotty Moore and D. J. Fontana, was released in 2004. Lee's most recent album, Still on the Road to Freedom, was released in September 2012. Lee died on 6 March 2013 in Spain. According to his website, he died from "unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure." He was 68. His former bandmates lamented his death, Leo Lyons called him "the closest thing I had to a brother", while Ric Lee (no relation) said "I don't think it's even sunk in yet as to the reality of his passing." Billboard Magazine wrote of his passing, highlighting such landmark performances as "I'm Going Home" from the Woodstock festival and his 1971 hit single "I'd Love to Change the World."

TYA (BIO)

Ten Years After was a British blues-rock quartet consisting of Alvin Lee (born December 19, 1944, died March 6, 2013), guitar and vocals; Chick Churchill (born January 2, 1949), keyboards; Leo Lyons (born November 30, 1944) bass; and Ric Lee (born October 20, 1945), drums. The group was formed in 1967 and signed to Decca in England. Their first album was not a success, but their second, the live Undead (1968) containing "I'm Going Home," a six-minute blues workout by the fleet-fingered Alvin, hit the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Stonedhenge (1969) hit the U.K. Top Ten in early 1969. Ten Years After's U.S. breakthrough came as a result of their appearance at Woodstock, at which they played a nine-minute version of "I'm Going Home." Their next album, Ssssh, reached the U.S. Top 20, and Cricklewood Green, containing the hit single "Love Like a Man," reached number four. Watt completed the group's Decca contract, after which they signed with Columbia and moved in a more mainstream pop direction, typified by the gold-selling 1971 album A Space in Time and its Top 40 single "I'd Love to Change the World." Subsequent efforts in that direction were less successful, however, and Ten Years After split up after the release of Positive Vibrations in 1974. They reunited in 1988 for concerts in Europe and recorded their first new album in 15 years, About Time, in 1989 before disbanding once again. In 2001, Ric Lee was preparing the back catalog for re-release when he discovered the Live at the Fillmore East 1970 tapes. He approached Alvin about getting back together to promote the lost album, but Alvin Lee declined. The rest of the band was up for it, though, and together with guitarist Joe Gooch, Ten Years After started touring again. In addition to touring the world, this new incarnation recorded its first new material in about a decade and a half and released Now in 2004 and added the live double CD set Roadworks in 2005. Alvin Lee died on March 6, 2013 at the age of 68 due to complications from a routine surgery. © William Ruhlmann © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ten-years-after-mn0000020050