Ten Years After

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Ten Years After is a British blues rock band popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The band consisted of:

Alvin Lee — guitar, vocals; born 19 December 1944, in Nottingham.
Leo Lyons — bass; born 30 November, 1943, in Mansfield.
Chick Churchill — keyboard; born Michael George Churchill on 2 January, 1946, in Ilkeston.
Ric Lee — drums; born 20 October, 1945, in Mansfield.

1 History
2 Discography
- 2.1 Studio and live albums
- 2.2 Compilations
3 External links

History

After several years of local Nottingham success as the Jaybirds, the band moved to London, changed their name to Ten Years After, and secured a residency at the famous Marquee Club. An invitation to play at the Windsor Jazz Festival in 1967 led to a contract with Deram, a child company of Decca — the first band so signed without a hit single.

After touring Scandinavia and America, Ten Years After released their second album, Undead, which included the hit single "I'm Going Home". This was followed by Stonedhenge, a British hit. In 1969, they appear at the Newport Jazz Festival, in the first event to which rock bands were invited. In August, Ten Years After performed a breakthrough American appearance at Woodstock; their furious-to-slow-to-furious rendition of "I'm Going Home" was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and catapulted them to superstar status.

During 1970, Ten Years After released "Love Like a Man", their only UK hit single. It was the first record to be issued with a different playing speed on both sides - one a three-minute edit at 45 rpm, the other, a nine-minute live version at 33 rpm. In August, Ten Years After played the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 to an audience of 600,000 hippies. Their set was highlighted by performances of "I'm Going Home" as well as the blistering guitar solo and tuning parts on "I Can't Keep From Crying".

In 1971, the band released the album A Space In Time, which featured "I'd Love To Change The World", a hippie anthem of sorts, protesting the Vietnam War and possibly even capitalism itself. At this point in time, Ten Years After were in their heyday: at the beginning of their twelfth US tour, they played to a sold out Madison Square Garden of 20,000 fans.

Taking the second half of 1973 off to pursue side projects, news of a band breakup ran rampant, but the album Positive Vibrations was still recorded and released in 1974. After a tour of the UK, and their last tour (number 28) in the US, Ten Years After broke up.

Ten Years After reunited in 1983 for a tour of the UK, and in 1988 for several American concerts and a single album, About Time (1989).

In between times, Alvin Lee fronted a band called "Ten Years Later" with a bass player and drummer who did some UK gigs, including the Bristol Coulston Hall.

In 2003, a version of "Ten Years After" reappeared featuring every original member except Alvin Lee. The new guitarist is Joe Gooch.

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Discography

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Studio and live albums

Ten Years After	1967
Undead	1968
Stonedhenge	1968
Ssssh	1969
Live At The Fillmore East	1970
Cricklewood Green	1970
WATT	1970
A Space In Time	1971
Alvin Lee & Co.	1972
Rock & Roll Music To The World	1972
Recorded Live	1973
Positive Vibrations	1974
About Time	1989