Ten Years After: Biography

Ten Years After
Formed:
Jan 1, 1967 in Nottingham, England

Disbanded:
Jan 1, 1974

Genres:
British Invasion Oldies Music, Rock Music, Metal Rock Music

Decades Active:
1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's|2000's


Artistic Quality
Low
Cultural Impact
Low
Popularity
Low



Ten Years After is a British blues-rock quartet consisting of Alvin Lee (b. Dec 19, 1944), guitar and vocals; Chick Churchill (b. Jan 2, 1949), keyboards; Leo Lyons (b. Nov 30, 1944) bass; and Ric Lee (b. Oct 20, 1945), drums. The group was formed in 1967 and signed to Decca in England. Its first album was not a success, but its 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 its appearance at Woodstock, at which it played a nine-minute version of "I'm Going Home." Its next album, Ssssh, reached the U.S. Top 20, and Cricklewood Green, containing the hit single "Love Like a Man," reached 14. Watt completed the group's Decca contract, after which it 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.

- William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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