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TEN YEARS AFTER at the "WOODEN BRIDGE HOTEL"
December
10th, 1967 / March 10th, 1968
Many Thanks to Lionel Webb for
these rare memorabilia
click
pictures to enlarge
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The town of
Guildford, England dates back to AD-885 in a
reference from then King Alfred The Great. Jump
forward to 1968 and the worst recorded flood was
recorded on Saturday September 14, 1968, when a
heavy persistent rain fell upon the Guildford area
of Surrey.
By the
evening of September 15th - the news was
spreading that the river Wey had burst its banks,
washing away the bridge on the Horsham Road between
Shalford and Bramley.
The lower
lying parts of Guildford Town were severely flooded,
rising over six feet in some places. This was a
flood that is only expected to occur once every
thousand years.
This was
September and Ten Years After played at the Wooden
Bridge Hotel on March 10, 1968 as well as a year before on December 10,
1967.
Now, the story that I heard from the band, was that
Guildford was still so flooded, that they could only
reach the venue by the use of a moving truck type
vehicle, with high wheels. I believe this was for
the 1968 concert date.
Apparently,
this historic flood was so bad that the effects of
it were still causing problems months later. A very
memorable experience for the band, trying to get to
their gig on time.
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The Wooden Bridge Public House
Guildford - Pub / Bar / Hotel
The Early
1960’s – The Mod’s Generation – Known As The Society
of Cool
The South
London Mod’s – The Mod Scene in Guildford, England
started in the summer of 1964. They travelled on
very smart Italian Lambretta scooters, with modest
accessories such as added lights stolen from Honda
50’s. They wore parkas that were basically worthless
in wind, rain and cold, with trilby hats – and soft
animal hide shoes.
Violence was
a major part of the Mod’s Scene, and there was no
getting away from it.
One night at
the Wooden Bridge Pub, there was a confrontation
between us and the Guildford mod’s. At that time I
was mouthy, but I was no fighter. I listened to
their plans to come into town the following Tuesday
and kick ass. I returned to my group and told them
exactly what I had heard. On the following Tuesday,
we were more than ready to rumble with them. We had
increased our numbers so much, that when they rolled
into town they took one look and kept on going. We
made up the Guildford Boys after that. We saw very
few “Rockers” as they stopped going to the resort
towns after 1964 because they were vastly out
numbered.
We would go
to dances at the “Wooden Bridge Pub” in Guildford
when The Rolling Stones played there. The dances at
the main dance ballroom in Guildford that they named
“The Ricky Tick Club” but it was Mickey Mouse (with
a smile). The “Crawdaddy Club” – Eel Pie Island on
occasion and the “Harvest Moon Club” also in
Guildford.
We would get
to see: Georgie Fame, Chris Farlowe, Long John
Baldry, Spencer Davis and of course John Mayall. We
also hung out at “The Disc” on Wardour Street.
At The
Wooden Bridge Hotel – Brian Jones fathered a child.
In November of 1959 he went there to see a band, he
met a married woman named Angeline. The two had a
one night affair that resulted in a pregnancy.
Angeline and her husband decided to raise the baby
named Belinda together. As for Brian, he always
wanted to be a Pop Star, the minute he saw The
Beatles. The Rolling Stones Played at the Wooden
Bridge Hotel on March 30, 1963,
April 19, 1963 - June 7, 1963 and - August 7, 1963
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click picture for the PDF file
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Record Mirror January 20, 1968 |
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Record Mirror
February 3, 1968
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Photos Courtesy of by Pieter Kentrop
Photos taken
17 February 1968
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Record Mirror February 17, 1968
Record Mirror February 24, 1968
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Ten
Years After March 2, 1968
Self
Titled Album
While
not especially different
from other electric blues groups, Ten Years
After do rank with the more talented ones. Their
sound is exciting; their music has texture. Ten
Years After has the potential of a hot new group
on the horizon.
Bill
Board Magazine
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Ten
Years After – Record Mirror – March 2, 1968
Ten
Years After have a single out at the moment – their
first – that could well be a hit. It’s called
“Portable People”.
“We’ve
all got a lot of confidence in it,” said Ric, the
group’s drummer. It’s not really our style of music
– though it’s still “us”. If you see what I mean.
It’s a very commercial sound, but even if it’s a hit,
I don’t think we’ll ever record such a commercial
number again – not that it’s bad or anything. It’s
just that we prefer to record what we like, and not
what’s necessarily hit material. What pleases us the
most is that we’ve been accepted as a group for
playing the sort of music that we like – which is
basically blues. So we haven’t had to make too many
concessions. “And if “Portable People” does get
into the charts, we’d never change our stage act or
anything, and become more “pop”. We’ve got a lot
going for us as we are – it’s very bewildering,
really, because suddenly it all seems to be happening
for us. And it
wasn’t so long ago that we were having a very rough
time – in fact we haven’t quite caught up with
ourselves as yet”.
Which
isn’t surprising, because apart from playing their
particular brand of blues, in a million and one
different countries, they’re also involved in a film
and lecture tour!
By
Derek Boltwood
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Record Mirror March 16, 1968
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Record Mirror March 23, 1968
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From
Record Mirror March 30, 1968
 THE
FASTEST GUITARIST ALIVE !
I’ve
reckoned Ten Years After since I first saw them, months ago,
down at the Marquee club, where they were busy playing their
own kind of blues, and building up their large fan-following,
and they were about to release an LP. And that LP has been
released, and has given them a great reputation. In fact, on
the strength of it, the group have received a letter from the
Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, asking them to give a
concert there when they go over to the States later this year.
“We were all knocked out by that,” said Lee. “We
hadn’t approached them or anything, the letter just arrived
out of the blue, and when we got it, our manager framed it,
and it’s up on the wall of our office now! I think he’s
even more knocked out than we are.
"Too
Seriously:"
“I
like the way things are going for the group, because we’ve
made our reputation so far by playing our sort of music, and
we’re being taken seriously. But I’m a bit worried in case
we start taking ourselves too seriously, you know, with things
like this lecture tour of colleges and universities that
we’ll be doing shortly, people might start saying that
we’re getting a bit above ourselves. Most people only see us
when we’re on stage, and we’re very serious then, knocking
ourselves out to try and play better each time. And perhaps
they don’t realise that there’s another less-serious side
to us. Another thing that worries me slightly, is that I think
we might be getting a bit too freaky on stage, Sometimes when
we’re playing, I go into a guitar solo that last about
twenty minutes, and although the group’s enjoying themselves,
we tend to forget about the audience. If they don’t
understand what’s going on, they might get very bored and
they sometimes do.
“Most
of our numbers are very long, some of them go on for sixteen
minutes or so, and we’re having a bit of a problem trying to
re-organize our stage act to get some new numbers in, we
really ought to play “Portable People” which is our new
single, but it’s difficult, because it’s not particularly
suited to what we do on stage.”
While
we were talking Eric Burdon walked into the room, he’s in
the country on a short visit in the middle of his American
tour, and shouted across to Alvin that the Ten Years After LP
is doing very well over in the States. “It’s very close to
the sound they’re making over on the West Coast at the
moment,” said Eric, “and everyone’s playing it and
talking about it.” “That’s
 very pleasing news,” said
Alvin, “but it’s funny that we seem to be meeting with
more success in other countries than we are over here. When we
go to some places there are crowds to meet us at the airport,
and all that sort of thing. When we were over in Denmark
recently, I was interviewed by a newspaper and I started
talking about the Vietnam war, and apparently the article has
caused an enormous amount of interest and controversy over
there, and the paper has asked all the group to write
controversial articles for them!
“Our
Next Move”
“The
group is very busy thinking about policy at the moment, having
come so far, it’s difficult to know in which direction to go
next. We’d planned this far ahead, now we’ve got to start
thinking about our next move.” Perhaps Ten Years After,
haven’t got a widespread
reputation in this country, but the reputation they
have is excellent, and I don’t think they have to worry too
much about the future, because I’m convinced their music is
going to be appreciated by an ever-widening circle of people.
Article
by Derek Boltwood
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March 30, 1968
Early Alvin Lee interview
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Record Mirror April 6, 1968
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My
View Of America - 1968
By Leo Lyons
America
was I think, the best thing that could’ve happened to us as a band,
and also as individual musicians. The musical feel of the States, and
the change of environment has really instilled in us an added
enthusiasm, new ideas, and made us a much tighter working unit.
We’ve got our heads together so to speak.
As
a band that relies on the audience in order to play at our best, as no
doubt some of you will have noticed if you’ve seen us on a bad gig,
it was great to find American audiences as good as our best British
ones. One thing we did in America that we haven’t done so much here
in England is long jamming. Everyone gets up and has a blow with
everyone else until it’s difficult to tell who’s entertaining who.
On
one particular evening in New York City, there were about eight of us
up on stage,
included were Jimi Hendrix, along with Mitch Mitchell,
with Larry Coryell, Janis Joplin, an unknown flute player, and two
other guitarist I didn’t recognize at all. We all ended up doing a
two and a half hour set, that was really just one long number.
No
one seemed to mind in the least if the show runs over time, as we did
a gig at the Fillmore West in San Francisco with Peter Green and Paul
Butterfield. We all ran over our allotted time slots, and the show
that was suppose to end at 2:00 AM still had Paul Butterfield raving
away at 4:45 AM in the morning. That’s the Fillmore for you, I only
wish that sort of thing would start catching on over here in England.
Everything
being considered, it was a terrific trip, and the fact that our
“Undead” album has made it into the American Music Charts, has
just added icing to the cake!
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June 14, 1968 - "Cheetah"
Venice, California
Record Mirror July 20, 1968
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“Ten Years After, when Alvin Lee had an
afro and a moustache”
 “The
Golden Bear Club” was founded by Harry Bakre in 1923
and located in Huntington Beach, California – Orange
County at 306 Ocean Avenue and now called The Pacific
Coast Highway and Main Street. It was a very famous
venue for anyone on their way up in the music business
or on their way back down.
In the 1960’s
the club was revered by musicians for being one of the
best sounding rooms in the country. “It was a great
place for musicians who wanted their music to sound
right and who wanted to be able to hear it right” says
Chris Hillman of the Byrds. Les Baxter’s Balladeers
featuring a young David Crosby, played there. Hoyt
Axton, The Lovin´ Spoonful and The Buffalo Springfield
– 1963 to 1966. Peter Tork of the Monkees worked as a
dishwasher at the club before becoming a famous
musician.
1966 to 1974 –
Jimi Hendrix – Janis Joplin – Neil Young – The Flying
Burrito Brothers – Jimmy Reed – Seals and Crofts and
Richie Havens all played there.
Ten Years After played
here June 25th through the 29th
1968. The Golden Bear was really a roadhouse and the
band stayed in cabins which, to be fair, were
sub-standard housing to say the least – complete with
bugs of all sorts and cock-roaches scattering when
lights were turned on.
1974 to 1986 –
Muddy Waters – Jerry Garcia – Patti Smith – Agent
Orange – Arlo Guthrie – Maria Muldaur and Peter Gabriel
played here. The last band to perform at the Golden
Bear was Robin Trower.
The entire
structure was demolished in 1986 and going with it, the
memories of B.B. King,
The Doors, Bob
Dylan and countless others who had the pleasure of
playing there.
The Bands and Musicians:
Robin Trower –
Chris Hillman – David Crosby – The Byrds – John Kay and
Steppenwolf - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band – Country
Joe and the Fish – Jimi Hendrix – Janis Joplin - The
Flying Burrito Brothers – Jimmy Reed – Arlo Guthrie –
Agent Orange – Patti Smith - Maria Muldaur – Muddy
Waters – Peter Gabriel – Seals and Crofts – Richie
Havens – Jerry Garcia – Hoyt Axton – The Lovin´ Spoonful
– The Buffalo Springfield – Peter Tork – Phobe Snow –
Shakti featuring Billy Cobham – George Duke – Stanley
Clark (what a great fusion band that was) – Tower of
Power – Taj Mahal – Jessie Colin Young – The Mamas and
the Papas – The Manhatten Transfer – Ike and Tina Turner
– The Steve Morse Band – The Dixie Dregs – Cecillio and
Kapono – Seawind – Poco – Steve Gillette – Hedge and
Donna – Doug Kershaw – John Hartford, Emmylou Harris and
the Hot Band – David Lindley and El Rayo X – Tracy
Nelson and Mother Earth – Spirit – Jimmy Witherspoon –
Robben Ford – Chris Isaak – The Beau Brommels – Leon
Redbone – Huey Lewis and the News – Charlie Musselwhite -
Popa John Creach – The Sir Douglas Quintet – The Chili
Peppers – Dire Straits - Elvin Bishop – Nicolette Larson
– Gary Busey playing with Paul Butterfield – Rick Danko
– The New Riders of the Purple Sage – Peter Tosh – Brian
Auger – Allan Holdsworth – Jimmy Smith – Fishbone -
Captain Beefheart – Al Stewart – Lee Ritinour – Stephen
Bishop – Albert King – B.B. King - Strange Daze – Dan
Hicks – Rick Derringer – Tommy Tutone – The Ramones –
The Ventures – Tim Morgon – Jessie Winchester – The
Spinners – Joe and Eddy – Dave Myers and the Surftones
(House Band) – The Guess Who – The Strawberry Alarm
Clock – Mark Turnbull – Charles Bukowski – The Average
White Band – Kris Kristofferson – Chicago - Carly Simon
– Ivan and Sylvia – England Dan and John Ford Coley –
Flow and Eddie – Dave Mason – Ken Rhoads – Neil Diamond
– Honk (Band) – Steve Goodman – Billy Boy Arnold - Joan
Baez – Bob Dylan – Wet Willie – The Mitchell Trio – John
Denver – Albert Collins - The Pointer Sisters – Van
Halen – The Busboys – Jose Feliciano – Crosby, Stills
and Nash - Jefferson Airplane – Gordon Lightfoot – Moby
Grape – Junior Wells – Buddy Guy - Les Dudek….One
(Local Band) – The United States Of America – Joe Byrd.
Comedians:
Steve Martian –
Lenny Bruce – Howie Mandel – Bob Duback – Cheech and
Chong -
Pat Paulson
Personal Memories:
“I loved the
Golden Bear years ago, I saw some of the best groups
there, the venue was small and the talent was huge”.
“Great memories
live on”.
“My girlfriend
and I snuck in one night and saw Canned Heat”.
“Hunting Beach
back in the 1960’s and 1970’s was filled with surfers
and hippies”.
“The Golden
Bear was an institution of Hunting Beach. Small venues
like that made you feel so invested in the performers
and their music”.
“I remember how
everyone reacted to the loudness of the bands, it was a
great time for music. For the musicians and audience.
Now, there are just too many people, it was a more
intimate thing back then”.
“I used to work
at the Golden Bear from 1969 to 1970 it was so much fun,
I miss those days so much. Janis Joplin with Big Brother
and the Holding Company. Steve Martin, so many cool
people used to warm up there before playing the Los
Angeles Forum”.
“It was a great
place, I heard “America” there … what a great night”.
“Cecllio and
Kapono, Seawind made me feel like I was back home in
Hawaii”.
“Steve
Gillette, Hedge and Donna, Richie Havens, Poco the best
venue ever”.
“Randy
Hansen, Dick Dale and Dire Straights are the shows I
remember”.
Update on the Golden Bear 2011:
There is a
movement on to reinvent the past into the future. In a
reincarnation / resurrection of the old / historic
Golden Bear Club. A brand new building was to be built
on the exact same spot where the old venue once stood in
Hunting Beach, California. This was to be completed by
early to mid 2011. It’s now October 16, 2011 and this
dream has not yet materialized.
Their have been
some construction photos released of the area, but now
there is apparently a large black cloud impeding its
progress. Romantic Nostalgia has collided head on with
our Modern Bureaucratic Reality, as is stated here in a
current update about the situation: “Unfortunately, the
city of Huntington Beach was not economically supportive
of a new venue opening in their area, and the Golden
Bear project is on hold until further notice”.
Jon Reiser, one
of the club developers explained in a short email: “The
city passed several ordinances restricting new bars and
clubs from opening in the downtown area. The project is
on hold until it can go through the “Conditional Use”
permit process successfully”.
This after the announcements were made that they were
already accepting resumes to fill the following
positions: Bartenders, Servers, Hostess and Security
Guards. The newly planned venue is designed to
accommodate up to 600 people. Featuring live
entertainment of all kinds.
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2nd August, 1968 |
3rd August, 1968 |
7th August, 1968 - "Just back from their very successful American Tour"
9th - 10th - 11th August
1968
Sunbury Festival 1968
Back In
Those Early Days - It Was Cooperation Over Competition:
“When The WHO came up with a 1000W sound
system, The Pink Floyd wanted a 2000W system. It went a bit
mad”. “For The Rolling Stones In The Hyde Park Concert, in
the summer of 1969, Watkins had to borrow back some of the
equipment that he had sold to other groups”. “I didn’t have
all that many columns, but I wanted to put up a 1500W
system for that event.
I borrowed some from T-Rex. They all chipped
in, that’s what we used to do. It was quite a family, if
anyone had a big gig, they would all pool their gear”.
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The Cook’s Ferry Inn
– Jazz Club – Edmonton – Near London –
The Toby Jug Blues
Club.
The jazz club at Cook’s Ferry Inn was started by Harry
Randall who is the brother of jazzman Freddy Randall. The
music was played in a large hall attached to the pub.
Ten Years After
played there on August 12, 1968 – It was not just jazz
that was played at Cook’s Ferry, many other famous rock
names have appeared there too. Bands such as The Graham Bond
Organisation – The Who – The Animals – Alexis Korner –
Spencer Davis and many more played there.
Graham Bond was
there almost every week and he played Jazz and Rhythm and
Blues on a Hammond B-3 organ, his bass player was Jack Bruce
and his drummer was Ginger Baker, both of whom went on to
form “The Cream” with Eric Clapton.
Back in those days I
used to smoke. The only place on a bus to smoke was on top
and a couple of times I rode sitting next to Ginger Baker
and we talked about music, but don’t ask me why he travelled
by bus, I don’t know.
Back to Cook’s Ferry
Inn, it was normally quite “roomy” except when The Animals
played there and we were stacked like sardines. As I
mentioned before, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce used to play
with Graham Bond and I saw them many times at this venue. I
used to get there fairly early and many a time I saw all
three lugging a Hammond organ from the back of their van.
During one of the Graham Bond sessions, Eric Clapton jammed
with them, so that would be where the first “Cream” number
was ever played.
Story by George
Welsh
 Cooks Ferry Inn –
Angel Road – Upper Edmonton N18
In the 1960’s and
1970’s this venue hosted many world famous rock music acts
before they were famous. The venue was demolished to make
way for the enlarged North Circular Road, and now this
hugely important building, is just going to disappear from
the public knowledge and be totally forgotten as if it never
existed at all.
 Led Zeppelin played
here on March 24, 1969 – Rod Stewart – T. Rex – Cream – Sam
Apple Pie – Thin Lizzy – Ten Years After – Hawkwind – The
Graham Bond Origination – The Who -
The Yardbirds – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers - Nic Pickett
and also The Savoy Brown Blues Band, this group can rightly
take credit for cutting the farewell anthem of the 1960’s
British Blues Boom.
This in the form of a modern blues aptly
titled “Train To Nowhere”. Historically, as well as
musically, this song remains a sad reminder that by the time
of its 1969 release as a single, most original blues were no
longer commercially viable in Britain, as more and more
blues clubs closed their doors forever. Within four years of
Savoy Brown’s formation, however, they had become a major
league live act in America, while on their home turf in
Britain, the band couldn’t get arrested or break out of the
club scene. Savoy Brown backed, Champion Jack Dupree and
John Lee Hooker. Record Mirror Magazine praised Savoy Brown
as playing “a style of Chicago Blues which is both
commercial and authentic, and observed that Youlden was
often rated in the same breath as Long John Baldry and Rod
Stewart”. |
Free Concert at Hyde Park, London - August 24, 1968
(Photos by Alan Grange)
Alvin Lee dangling the
microphone for Ric Lee's drum solo as Leo Lyons looks on
We really like these original photos from this concert, when they
arrived there was no hint of a date or place where they were taken
from, we matched the clothes and that gave us a time frame and which
concert. We continue to put the pieces together.
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Ten Years After Play Hyde Park – Free
Concerts - Dear Diary – Fans Remember – August 24,
1968
“A very beautiful
afternoon, started by Ten Years After, with some really
mind-bending instrumental work, original lead guitar
playing by Alvin Lee. In one number he ran through excerpts
from half a dozen blues classics, with a different voice
for every one”. Pete Collins
“I saw Ten Years
After, the audience was relaxed, music great and the
afternoon was generally imbued with 1967’s love and peace,
really fantastic and enjoyable. I’m so glad things like
this can happen”. Chris Marshall
“My recollection,
is that Ten Years After came on and did a John Mayall
number (?) Which lasted for their whole set, with the
obligatory solos”. Allan Warfield
“I remember attending this concert, clutching my brand new
copy of “Undead” by Ten Years After, which had just been
released. As it was one of the earlier concerts that was
held in the cockpit, the view was pretty good from wherever
you were seated and it was a sunny day as well, what more
could you ask. Ten Years After played first as they had to
get away early to reach another gig on time. I don’t
remember what they played, only that it was good”. |
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West Hampstead Railway Station - The
Home of Klook's Kleek
Recording "Undead"
at Klook's Kleek, 1968. A packed little room with sweat
dripping down the walls and sound pounding off of them too,
just the way the band likes to perform, with everyone
listening and being a part of it all. As you can see from this
photo, Ric Lee's back was to the wall, how he could play drums
that way is beyond me, and that little screen guard had to be
placed between him and Alvin Lee for the recording.
Note from Dick Weindling:
TYA played four gigs at Klooks all during 1968. As
you know, the session on 14 May was recorded live with
cables running out of the door of the upstairs room of the
Railway Hotel, and into the Decca Studios which were next
door. This was the excellent 'Undead' album.
New Musical Express August 31, 1968
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7th September, 1968
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LEO
LYONS INTERVIEW:
From
The
Record Mirror - From the week ending September 14, 1968
(Upon
Ten Years After’s return from their very first American
tour)
Many
people will now be familiar with the combination of Leo Lyons,
Alvin Lee, Ric Lee (No Relation) and Chick Churchill, the four
members of Ten Years After who have recently returned from a
highly successful American tour. Fewer people, however, are
fully aware of their activities. I spoke to Leo Lyons, bass
player with the group:
“Since
we’ve returned home it’s been tremendous”, he enthused.
“Every gig has been a full house. We now find people in
England will accept the lengthy numbers we like to play. We
start our act by doing a set number, you know, and take it
right from there as the audience responds. The better the
audience, the better we play.”
Leo
also seemed very impressed with the reception the group
received from American audiences, and he continued: “Ten
Years After really have a small minority appeal, but the small
minority in America is vast! Even the large places we played
there had a very good atmosphere because the audience were
like a very large club audience.
“Commerciality
doesn’t necessarily matter. One of the barriers here is that
a lot of young people like Dave Dee, for example, and just
will not accept any other music. In America you get people who
like blues, who like jazz, who like progressive rock. You even
get a blues group playing soul – as long as it’s good
music the audience like it.”
The
group really enjoyed a massive jam session at the Scene Club
in New York, when such artists as Larry Coryell, Janis Joplin
and Graham Bond joined them on stage. In fact this so
impressed them, that on their return to Hampstead’s Klooks
Kleek club, Ten Years After invited many other musicians to
join them during their second set. Among those who obliged
were Roger Chapman of Family, Paul Williams, Alan Price and
John Mayall.
In
America, Leo informed me, Ten Years After are considered to be
“a progressive rock” group. I was interested to find out
how he felt about being categorised here as an
“underground” group, and if he thought this trend might
die as flower-power did. He replied:
“I
suppose that is the label of our stuff over here. I don’t
think it’s the same type of label as flower-power though,
and I don’t think it will die. I wouldn’t like to be in a
pop group where the main thing was not the music. I’m quite
happy to have just that.” To accentuate this point Leo
continued: “We don’t get the girls screaming and I
wouldn’t like to. When the Beatles used to do a concert it
wouldn’t really have mattered if their amplifiers were
switched off!
I
like people to hear what we’re playing – I wouldn’t like
to be a pop star in that respect.”
Before
Ten Years After return to America in September they will be
disappearing into the recording studios to cut some tracks for
a new LP and follow-up single to “Portable People”.
(Note:
The album mentioned here will be “Stonedhenge”).
All
the numbers will be originals penned by group member Alvin
Lee. They hope to record at least twelve tracks, one of which
will then be selected for the new single.
I
asked Leo how he regarded the singles market, considering that
the group are far more noted for their LP’s “Undead” and
“Ten Years After” than their single: “Singles give you a
lot of scope to get across to more people, but it’s just
something that sells commercially. We won’t actually try to
make a single, we don’t really know what is a commercial
single. It is looking up here, but generally they want two and
a half minute recordings, which wouldn’t be sufficient for
us. For this reason we like to make LP’s.
The
fact that Ten Years After like to play very lengthy numbers,
sometimes lasting at least thirty minutes, also affects their
attitude to television appearances. “We couldn’t represent
what we want to do in one short appearance,” said Leo. “If
they let us go on and do what we want to do it would be
fine. It would be nice to do, say, a half-hour show like they
have on BBC2.” The group have, however, made television
appearances in Sweden, Denmark and France, and feel that in
the longer time allotted to them they can achieve what they
are aiming for.
Said
Leo: “After guitar, I took up bass and learnt more by
listening to records and reading various books. I listened to
a lot of jazz as I think it’s the most technical and gives
the most scope.
I
particularly like Scott LaFaro, Richard Davis and Charles
Mingus.” Leo
Lyons and Alvin Lee also gained their knowledge on guitar by
playing at sessions for various bands for about nine years
prior to the formation of Ten Years After. (For those who are
now in the process of quick mental calculation , the group’s
ages range from 22-24 years!)
“I
imagine record production would be interesting, though playing
is the main thing. I wouldn’t really like to make films, it
would be just a giggle. All we want to do is play.”
Leo
does have another hobby though, which he took full advantage
of while in America. “I like horse riding,” he told me.
“Any chance I got, I used to rent a horse for the day. Get
away from civilisation and be very, very relaxed. Sometimes
I’d like to have been born 150 years ago. I sometimes fancy
being a hermit.”
There
is little chance of this happening for a while, for Ten Years
After have an even more extensive tour on their hands when
they return to America. They are also to make their fourth
visit to Scandinavia in January (Note: This would’ve taken
place in 1969).
As
Leo says: “Things are pretty rosy for us now, but maybe a
couple of years ago I could have made money doing something
else. I would have been satisfied to work in a pit orchestra,”
he continued, “even though no one sees you. I just
wouldn’t like to play anything that didn’t make me feel
emotional. We play how we feel emotionally and physically.”
Interview
with Leo Lyons written by,
Valerie
Mabbs for,
Record
Mirror Newspaper
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Bass
Notes
By Leo Lyons 1968
I’ve
been asked to recommend some records which I have been
influenced by and that form the basis of my roots as a
musician.
Ten
Years After have been described by one person as a Blues
Based, Jazz Orientated, West Coast-ish Rock Group,
playing Free Form Symphony Music, and I only heard half
of the sentence.
It’s
true I do have a wide taste in music, necessarily,
inside and outside of what we play, and music doesn’t
have to be clever to provide me with enjoyment. However,
Jazz Bass Playing provides a great scope for
inventiveness and it’s from listening to Jazz that I
have formulated most of my playing ideas.
I
listened to records by bassists like Ray Brown, Charles
Mingus, Percy Heath, Red Mitchell and the father of them
all Jimmy Blanton. As these are comparatively well known
artists I will pass them over with just a mention.
A
bassist most people will not have heard of and one of my
greatest influences is Rocco Scott La Faro. “Scotty”
lived a very short life, he was killed in a motor car
accident back in 1963 at the young age of 25. He made
ten record albums as far as I know, nine of which are in
my personal collection.
His
style was something completely different, although he
did admit in his early years to having been influenced
by Charles Mingus. Jazz critics liken his playing to
that of Django Rheinhardt which is an incredible feat on
Double Bass.
His
speed and intonation are nothing short of a miracle, and
in his solos his phrasing is akin to that of a good
tenor player. He never however lets his technique run
wild, and I consider him to be one of the most tasteful
players I’ve ever heard. I could write for hours about
“Scotty’s” playing, but I feel it would be better
to listen for yourself, and form your own opinions.
“Scotty”
was a strongly featured solo man, and can be heard
playing at his best with The Bill Evans Trio, with whom
he did most of his recorded work.
Albums
with Bill Evans include:
Portrait
of Jazz (on
Riverside Records)
Waltz
For Debby (on Riverside Records)
Bill
Evens at the Village Vanguard (which was Scotty’s last
recording)
Other
albums featuring Scotty are as follows:
The
Arrival of Victor Fieldman (which is a must have for
every collector)
Hampton
Hawes For Real
Jazz
Abstractions
Free
Jazz, by the Ornette Coleman Double Quartet
Ornette
A
few of the other bass players that I recommend listening
to are:
Eddie
Gomez, Charlie Hayden, and the man who is said to have
taken over where Scotty left off is Richard Davies. He
can be heard on the record album called “Thad
Jones-Mel Lewis Solid State".
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The Boat Club, Nottingham
Originally it
became a live music venue in 1962. It has a capacity of 250
people.
Downstairs, you’ll
find room to chill-out with the Heavenly Jukebox.
Name Dropping:
Sits quietly by the
banks of the River Trent and is overwhelmed by the dwarfing
city ground in its shadow, The Boat Club remains virtually
unknown to many. Ten Years After played there on September
22, 1968 and others who have played there are Rod Stewart,
Elton John and The Sex Pistols to name but a few. Continue
by naming Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath have both graced
these hallowed walls and we have just upped the anti by
half more.
This place sounds
like it should be home to the green polo and golf sweater
set, as a country pub for the quiet set of respectable
elders. Showing fox hunting photos is not what this venue
is about at all. The Boat Club in name is an oxy- moron –
oddity in itself. It’s really an illustrious array of rock
and roll luminaries running free.
The Boat Club
Layout:
The Boat Club is
divided into two main parts. The function room with the
main stage being at the front, and a large lounge area with
its seating around the walls. Its design evokes memories of
school discos, with the main dance floor in one area and
then the surrounds where the dateless and the broken
hearted go to sink into their own personal misery. But it’s
really not as depressing as all that – it just sounds like
Heartbreak Hotel is all.
The Rooms:
The two rooms work
in harmony and the main bar runs adjacent to both. One
offers calm conversation and sit-down drunks and the other
the other offers more atmosphere and life. The lounge area
is decorated with displays of The Boat Club’s achievements
along with framed photographs of previous and current
personal provide a sense of belonging and homeliness to the
venue. Tables, Stools and in – wall seats are dotted around
the spacious interior, helping the lounge to stand alone as
a pub unto itself.
The Stage:
The centre-piece of
this venue and the main reason it has been such a success,
is its own performance hall. Wooden floor, boarding
underneath and an elevated main stage at the front provides
the key features to a cosy but not under sized room. The
acoustics here, although obviously under the direction of
volume control, dissipate through the entire venue, so that
the band playing on the main stage are a pleasant
background noise to the beer drinkers in the bar, at the
back. But the main focus of attention to those main
function room.
The Nottingham Boat
Club has everything, from glamour to glitz and atmosphere
that has made it famous for the last 40 years.
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Ten Years After at the “Wood Green Jazz
Club London”
September 24, 1968 – Members of the Promoters Association.
The British Jazz Society and Associate Members of Haringey
Borough Council Arts and Civic – The Nice Club – For Nice
People. The Fishmongers Arms and Bourne Hall. September 24,
1968. Ten Years After played there in the early part of
1968, as with the Marquee Club, Jazz was fading out and
Rhythm and Blues were coming in. The Graham Bond
Organisation with Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger
Backer – Jethro Tull – Fairport Convention all played there
among others
The Wood Green
Jazz Club was a fantastic place and memories I will always
treasure.
It was located with
Fishmongers Arms and Bourne Hall at 287 High Road, Wood
Green, London N228HU. Today Bourne Hall is a block of
flats.
It was different
in those days, the London club scene was more intimate. I
realize now, just how fortunate we were at the time, that’s
just the way it was. Jazz was fading out, and the bands
weren’t pulling in the crowds that they once did.
Tuesdays
attendances were embarrassing low, sometimes in the single
figures when they started playing. If you were at the front
for the opening numbers, it felt like they were performing
just for you. Of course this could not last and jazz was
phased out in favour of the Rhythm and Blues bands like
“The Mike Cotton Sound”. I can also recall seeing “The
Graham Bond Organisation” with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker,
(later forming “Cream” with Eric Clapton) but this was
really not my thing, too loud, and I prefer my blues
acoustic and I drifted away from the club. I don’t know
when the Jazz-Club ceased to function, but by 1968 the
Fishmongers Arms and the Bourne Hall was the venue that
presented the likes of Jethro Tull and Fairport Convention
with Richard Thomson and Sandy Denny, this is one that I
would have liked to have seen perform live, but I moved
away from London by then.
Other bands who
played there were: Pink Floyd November 8, 1968 – Led
Zeppelin - December 20, 1968 – Juicy Lucy – Trader Horne 17th
– Freddy King – Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac Blues Band.
The
band “Stranger Than Yesterday” supported The Pink Floyd at
The Fish Monger’s in Wood Green. They also supported “The
Pretty Things” at Rush Green Technical College.
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Top Of The Pops - 5 October 1968
Ten Years After... "Undead" and Well, and touring
the States
Colour Feature on the new group
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Record Mirror -
12 October, 1968
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12 October
1968 |
12 October, 1968
Album Review of "UNDEAD" inside the magazine |
Ten
Years After’s Second Album
- Recorded Live but called "UNDEAD" Comes To Life!
“After
the first album came out, we got the letter from Bill Graham
saying he would be glad to book us if we would like to come
over. So, we put together the American tour and we didn’t
have time to do a studio album, so we did the live album.”
Leo Lyons
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Rolling Stone
Magazine -
October 12, 1968
Ten
Years After “UNDEAD”
“…A
very fine jam band, recorded live doing its thing…Ten Years
After just gets in there and
swings…”
Another
Review:
“Undead”
by Ten Years After, was recorded “Live” in a small club in
1968, this set was Ten Years After’s commercial
break-through album. There’s no estimating how many aspiring
guitar heroes heard it and immediately wanted to kill
themselves.
 Leader
Alvin Lee’s fleet-fingered-fret work, although no big deal
by jazz standards, sounded pretty revolutionary in a rock
context, and started a school of guitar playing in which speed
matters above all other musical considerations which continues
to this day.
Undead
is a good unpretentious set of mostly up-tempo blues-jams (the
most famous being Ten Years After’s signature “Goin’
Home,” immortalized in the Woodstock movie).
However,
there’s no mistaking the period in which it was made…a big
clue being a cover of Gershwin’s ultra-melodic
“Summertime” that’s primarily a vehicle for a drum solo.
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From
Bill Board Magazine October 12, 1968
New
York – Linn County, a heavy blues group, gave a
powerful second set at Steve Paul’s Scene Wednesday
(2). Sharing the bill with the Mercury quintet from
Chicago via San Francisco was Deram’s Ten Years After,
whose growing reputation and glowing and glowing
performances doubtless was a primary reason for the
packed house. But Linn County’s long set showed that
they too, are big league material.
The unit uses volume as an element in it’s
performance, but there is much more to Linn Country than
just volume. Organist Stephen Miller not only is a good
musician, he wails in emotional blues style. Larry
Easter’s performance on amplified tenor and soprano
saxophone (he also played flute in the group’s first
set) was overpowering, More on the jazz side, Easter
also showed traces of progressive jazz and even
classical elements.
Lead
guitarist Fred Walk, also gave a strong performance,
frequently teaming with Easter.
Solid
support also was provided by drummer Snake Mc Andrew and
bass guitarist Dino Long. Most of the numbers were
extended, including “Elevator Woman,” which included
fine work by Walk as well as by Miller and Easter,
“Boogie Chillen,” more up-tempo, also was a good
extended selection as it included some wild soprano sax
work by Easter and varying dynamics. “Tell The Truth”
was another upbeat number with wild sax and Miller’s
strong vocals. “Think” and “Lower Lemons” were
top numbers from Linn County’s debut album on Mercury:
“Proud Flesh Soothseer”.
While
Linn Country, in its first set, filled the floor with
dancers, Ten Years After filled it with seated listeners.
And the English quartet gave another excellent
performance with all four youths having brilliant
sections. Folk singer Hal Waters also had a good initial
set.
By Fred Kirby
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Record Mirror November 16, 1968
Record Mirror November 30, 1968
26th December 1968 |
 
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