They managed nine records in the UK top 40 (four top 10) and six in the US top 40. US sales improved after the release of the movie Woodstock, which featured Ten Years After's I'm Going Home in a smoking hot performance. They toured extensively and had one top 40 single in the US, the somewhat out of character I'd Love To Change The World in 1971.
Their eponymous debut from 1967 is a hot number that includes solid versions of Willie Dixon's Spoonful, Sonny Boy Williamson's Help Me, Al Kooper's I Can't Keep From Crying, Sometimes, and several good ones from Alvin Lee's pen. Keyboardist Chick Churchill gets a highlight on Adventures Of A Young Organ. It is a strong debut, showing off the bands many strengths and displaying just a bit more jazz influences than most blues-rock of the time.
Next up was the live Undead 1968. The live setting shows off Lee's hot guitar chops and snarling vocals, and the whole band cooks. A hot version of Woody Hermann's Woodchopper's Ball and the first recorded version of I'm Going Home (in a modest six-minute version) are highlights. The original's five songs are nicely augmented by four extra tracks on the 2002 CD reissue.
Stonedhenge 1969 is a studio album written entirely by Alvin Lee and the band members. Beside some strong songs from Alvin Lee, including the jazzy shuffle Woman Trouble, the slow blues of A Sad Song, the driving Speed Kills, and the rocking I'm Going To Try and Hear Me Calling, each other member gets a feature. Drummer Ric Lee does a drum solo version of Three Blind Mice, and keyboardist Chick Churchill and bassist Leo Lyons both perform solo pieces as well. It is almost there, but Alvin Lee's best songs are yet to come, and the solo band member's features could have made room for more rocking.
1969 also saw the release of Ssssh, one of their better records overall, and the beginning of their run of solid studio outings. I reviewed it here back in 2014. All eight tracks are strong, and Lee snarls out the vocals and plays lightening fast runs on the guitar while one of the best driving rhythm sections in blues-rock just push the songs into your ears. The rockers Bad Scene, Stoned Woman, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, The Stomp, and Woke Up This Morning never let up, while Two Time Mama features nice acoustic guitar, and If You Should Love Me is a strong mid-tempo ballad.
We are into the best period for the band, and Cricklewood Green 1970 continues and expands on the excellence of Ssssh. The rockers here are all solid, including organ and guitar driven Sugar The Road, the driving Working On The Road, the seven-minute showcase 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain, the hit single, stomping Love Like A Man, and the slow burn of As The Sun Burns Away. Add to that the jazzy Me And My Baby, and one of Lee's better ballads, the haunting Circles, and you've got a sure winner. It is easy to see how it was their highest charting record.
1970 also saw the release of Watt. It is hard to believe that Watt came out between Criclewood Green and A Space In Time, two of their best records. The singing and playing are all fine, but the songs are just not as strong as either of those other two. It sounds like Alvin Lee needed more time to write some better ones, so these could have mostly been the bonus tracks on the reissue thirty years later. It's not terrible, but it is almost entirely unnecessary, especially compared to their best work.
A Space in Time 1971 saw the band broaden their sound with more acoustic guitar, and even strings on Over The Hill. The single I'd Love To Change The World was their biggest hit, mixing acoustic guitar verses with searing leads on the chorus and breaks. It's killer, but not really like much else they had done, and was rarely performed live. And while the album features more ballads and mid-tempo material than usual, there's solid rock here too with One Of These Days, Baby Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You, I've Been There Too, and Let The Sky Fall. The record plays well, and is consistently strong.
1972 brought Rock And Roll Music To The World, and they continue to offer their driving blues-rock they had become known for by now. Strong songs include Standing At The Station, Choo Choo Mama, You Give Me Loving, and the boogie title track. Some of the rest feels less fresh, and the limits of Alvin Lee's songwriting shows up again as it did on Watt.
Positive Vibrations 1974 was released just before the band broke up, and as such probably didn't receive much record company push. A mix of hard rockers and a few mid-tempo numbers, it's a pretty good one overall. Rockers Nowhere To Run, Going Back To Birmingham, It's Getting Harder, You're Driving Me Crazy, and I Wanted To Boogie are all quality Ten Years After, and most of the material holds up well. But Alvin Lee had one foot out the door, and the record only made it to #81 in the US, and didn't chart in the UK at all.
Alvin Lee continued on as a solo act and with bands Ten Years Later and The Alvin Lee Band. He made a dozen studio solo records between 1973 and 2012. In 1989, he reunited with the original members for About Time, a decent record with some good songs and some weak ones, and the band sounds good. It suffers from Lee's guitar sound, that over-driven, pure tone heard on Boston and Journey records of the same time period. Lee's guitar sound in the seventies was always a bit more organic. They toured together off and on until 2003 when Lee left and the band replaced him with Joe Gooch, with whom they recorded several more albums. Alvin Lee died in 2013 from complications from surgery.
When they were hot, they were hard to beat. They deserved more fame than they achieved. Their debut is a landmark given that it came out in 1967. Ssssh and Cricklewood Green are the bomb, the pinacle of their work, and A Space In Time is excellent. Positive Vibrations is a strong swansong, and should have sold better.
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