Ten Years After

Part of the UK's blues explosion in the 1960s, Ten Years After went on to play at the legendary Woodstock Festival and become an institution of the blues rock scene. Inspired by his father's collection of Delta blues and prison work song records, Alvin Lee took up the guitar when his dad brought Big Bill Broonzy back to the house after a gig in Nottingham. Lee started playing with bassist Leo Lyons and they built up a reputation as The Jaybirds before changing their name to Ten Years After and moving to London in 1967 where they instantly became part of the vibrant scene with their self-titled debut album. They played at the Newport Jazz Festival and made waves in America when their track 'I'm Going Home' was featured on the 'Woodstock' film and soundtrack album. The band scored their biggest hit in the UK with 'Love Like a Man' in 1970 and reached number four in the US Album Charts with 'Cricklewood Green' in 1970 before turning down the amps and dabbling with acoustic guitars on the more pop sounding 'A Space in Time' in '71. They split in 1974 but later reformed to play the Reading Festival in 1983, continuing with Joe Gooch replacing Lee in 2003. Lee died ten years later after complications during a routine medical procedure. In 2014 Gooch and Lyons left the band, being replaced by bassist Colin Hodgkinson and singer Marcus Bonfanti. They released a new album, their first in almost ten years, in 2017 titled 'A Sting in the Tale'.

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