Ten Years After are a great and legendary British classic rock and blues rock band which had their heyday during the late 1960s as well as early 1970s. The band was formed in Nottingham, England in 1966 and was named in honour of Elvis Presley (the idol of the band’s guitarist and vocalist, Alvin Lee), signifying ten years after the successful year of 1956 of Elvis Presley.
Ten Years After in 1968, in a trade ad for one of their singles entitled ‘Portable People’. Original source: Billboard, page 71, 13 April 1968. Author: Deram / London Records. Image source: Commons Wikimedia
Ten Years After in 1970, a band of four rock musicians in this publicity photograph (a trade ad) for one of their singles entitled ‘Love Like A Man’. Image source: Commons Wikimedia
Their music charted very well both in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) as well as in the United States of America (USA) between 1968 and 1973. The band was initially active between 1966 and 1975 before disbanding. The British blues rock group had one-off reunion in 1983 and have been performing again since 1988 onwards. Best known for such hit singles as ‘I’m Going Home’, ‘Hear Me Calling’, ‘Love Like A Man’, and especially ‘I’d Love to Change the World’ (my personal most favourite song from their entire discography), Ten Years After managed to create a powerful, touching, and timeless niche in the history of rock music. Alvin Lee, the band’s guitarist and vocalist (who also played on the harp), was pivotal to the band’s commercial success, their music being also critically-acclaimed.
To date, the band released 12 studio albums, 10 live albums, 13 compilations, 27 singles, 3 video albums, and 5 box sets. Two of their highest charting records were ‘Ssssh’ which was released in 1969 and was certified gold in Canada and ‘A Space in Time’ which was released in August 1971 and was certified gold in Canada and platinum in the United States. Other higher charting notable records of the band were ‘Cricklewood Green’ (which was released in April 1970) or ‘Watt’ (which was released in December 1970).
The band’s guitarist symbol as well as one of the most remarkable all time legends of rock music, Alvin Lee, was active with the group from 1966 to 1974, then once more in 1983 during the band’s one-off reunion, and finally between 1988 and 2003. He passed away in 2013.
Below you can listen to the band’s most well known songs via YouTube. I truly hope you’ll like listening to them! All the best and rock on!
‘[…] I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you‘
Documentation sources and external links:
- The band’s page on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- The band’s discography page on www.wikipedia.org (in English)