Ten Years After
Origin Nottingham, England
Genres
Blues rock hard rock
Ten Years After are an English 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. In addition they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200, 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, and hard rock.
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. Ray 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. 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, an idol of Lee’s. (This was ten years after Presley’s successful year, 1956). Some sources[which?] claim that the name was pulled by Leo Lyons from a magazine, advertising a book, Ten Years After The Suez (referring to the Suez Crisis).
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.
In 1968, after touring Scandinavia and the United States, Ten Years After released a second album, the live Undead, with the noteworthy song, “I’m Going Home”. 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, was featured in both the subsequent film and soundtrack album and catapulted them to star status.
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. 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.[citation needed] This song was on the band’s fifth album, Cricklewood Green. In August 1970, Ten Years After played the Strawberry Fields Festival near Toronto, and the Isle of Wight Festival 1970.
In 1971, the band switched labels to Columbia Records and released the hit album A Space in Time, which marked a move toward more commercial material. It featured the group’s biggest hit, “I’d Love to Change the World”. 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. The band subsequently broke up after their final 1974 Columbia album, Positive Vibrations. The members reunited in 1983 to play the Reading Festival,[14] 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. 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. Material from the following tour was used for the 2005 double album, Roadworks. 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.
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. Two months later, veteran bass player Colin Hodgkinson and singer/guitarist Marcus Bonfanti were announced as their replacements.
In September 2017, the band intend to release their most recent studio album, A Sting in the Tale.
Band members
Current members
Chick Churchill – keyboards (1966–1974, 1983, 1988–present)
Ric Lee – drums (1966–1974, 1983, 1988–present)
Marcus Bonfanti – guitar, vocals (2014–present)
Colin Hodgkinson – bass (2014–present)
Former members
Alvin Lee – guitar, vocals, harp (1966–1974, 1983, 1988–2003; died 2013)
Leo Lyons – bass (1966–1974, 1983, 1988–2014)
Joe Gooch – guitar, vocals (2003–2014)
Discography
Studio albums
Ten Years After Deram, 1967
Stonedhenge Deram, 1969
Ssssh Deram, 1969
Cricklewood Green Deram, 1970
Watt Deram, 1970
A Space in Time Columbia, 1971
Rock & Roll Music to the World Columbia, 1972
Positive Vibrations Columbia, 1974
About Time Chrysalis, 1989
Now Ten Years After, 2004
Evolution Ten Years After, 2008
A Sting in the Tale Ten Years After, 2017
Live albums
Undead Deram, 1968
BBC Sessions 1967–1968
Recorded Live Columbia, 1973
The Friday Rock Show Sessions – Live At Reading 1983 Raw Fruit Records, 1990
Live 1990 Edsel Records, 1993
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
Compilation albums
Double Deluxe (1970)
Ten Years After (1971)
Alvin Lee and Company (Deram, 1972)
Going Home (Deram, 1975)
Classic Performances of (Columbia, 1976)
London Collector – Greatest Hits (London, 1977)
Profile (1979)
Ten Years After (1980)
Hear me calling (Decca, 1980, A Tony Watts compilation)
Timewarps (1983)
The Collection (1985)
At Their Peak (1987)
Universal (1987) (Chrysalis Records)
Portfolio: A History (1988)
The Collection (1991)
Essential (1991)
Pure Blues (1995)
I’m Going Home (1996)
Premium Gold Collection (1998)
The Best of (2000)
Very Best Ten Years After Album Ever (2001)
Ten Years After Anthology (2002)