Ten Years After

A storming blues and boogie band from the U.K., Ten Years After rocketed from modest success to worldwide fame in the wake of their performance at the Woodstock Rock Festival in 1969, where their nine-minute rendition of "I´m Going Home" showed off the lightning-fast guitar work and howling vocals of Alvin Lee, the unrelenting stomp of bassist Leo Lyons and drummer Ric Lee, and the soulful support of keyboard man Chick Churchill. While the group was also capable of moody pop and acoustic-based material (as heard on 1971´s A Space in Time, whose single "I´d Like to Change the World" was their greatest American hit), it was the group´s raw blues-based music that remained their trademark, powered by Lee´s high-speed guitar figures. While their original run would end in 1974, Ten Years After would reunite in the ´80s, and they continue to record and tour more than 50 years after they started out. Ten Years After, referring to the fact they launched the band in 1966, ten years after Elvis Presley´s career breakthrough opened the doors for rock & roll. As heavy touring spread the word about the act, TYA released the first of two 1969 albums in February, Stonedhenge, which charted at number 61. The band didn´t slow down much to enjoy the fruits of their labors, and 1970 saw two more albums from TYA, Cricklewood Green (which spawned a major hit single in England, "Love Like a Man") and Watt.