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TEN YEARS AFTER
The Anthology: 1967-1971 (Hip-O)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
With his long blonde hair flying in a desperate and futile attempt to keep up with his turbo-charged fingers, Ten Years After guitarist Alvin Lee became an international star when the world saw his performance of "Goin' Home" in the film Woodstock. That roots-rock number is what TYA is most remembered for, which is ironic since they were a blues band with a sound steeped in reverbed mystique and droning Hammond backdrops for Lee to fly his Gibson ES-335 across at supersonic speeds. The tunes themselves were usually slower paced, making Lee's excursions all the more shocking. He was a genuinely talented speed demon in an era before anyone figured out you could cheat by using two hands on the neck. Alvin did it the hard way and made it look easy. The sad part is that despite all the notoriety from Woodstock, and the additional help of a 1971 hit single in "I'd Love To Change The World," TYA never caught on to the point where people actually bothered to get to know the material. Ask anyone to name two TYA songs and most will only come up with "Goin' Home."
The Anthology puts two CDs in the faces of those people and shows them what they missed. If they appreciate electric blues at all, they're going to be hooked within minutes. The Ten Years After repertoire was loaded with 12-bar blues songs that could have been ordinary if not for the apparent TYA mandate to give each something unique to identify it, from the bass and vocals-only lines of "Help Me" to Chick Churchill's manic Hammond B-3 solo in "Spider In My Web." As witnessed at Woodstock, TYA were a hell of a boogie band, too, and that side of the band is on display with the mandatory Woodstock performance of "Goin' Home" and a ya-gotta-hear-it tune called "I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always" in which everyone gets their ya yas out, Leon Lyons with a jazz-inflected bass solo, drummer Ric Lee by grooving at a high speed shuffle, Churchill with frantic Gulbransenesque organ work that sounds like all-skate in the amphetamine arena, and Alvin Lee with some terrific singing that shows he's more than just another blazing guitar.
The term "classics" means different things to different people. Some think a classic must have been a commercial success. Balls. I say it must have been a great song that continues to be a great song. The Anthology is overflowing with classics. Their version of Sonny Boy Williamson's blues classic "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" was so bloody good they rebuilt it as a psychedelic tune called "Let The Sky Fall" and THAT was a classic, too. It's the final song on disc two, and I'm glad it made the cut. It was the B-side of "I'd Love To Change The World," and as much as the solos in the single melt my soul, I played the B-side far more often back in the day. "But Deej, it's just 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl' with an echoplex and some backwards guit..." "Awwww, shuddup. I got goosebumps here. You're fuckin' with my goosebumps."
One final note on The Anthology. It's not listed as an audiophile release. I've checked Hip-O's site and a few other sources and it just claims the usual clean-up process, yet it sounds like something I would have expected from one of the audiophile labels. The hiss is almost gone (and believe me, I'm familiar with all the releases of these tracks, and they had hissssss), and the EQ sounds just right. Nice job, folks. From a guitarist and fan who always had Alvin and Sabbath's Tony Iommi side by side on the highest pedestal - and still does - thank you for this.
Track List - Disc One:
I Want To Know * I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes * Spoonfull * Help Me * Portable People * The Sounds * Rock Your Mama * Spider In My Web * I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always (Live) * Going To Try * Woman Trouble * Hear Me Calling * Boogie On
Disc Two:
I Woke Up This Morning * If You Should Love Me * Good Morning Little Schoolgirl * I'm Going Home (Live at Woodstock) * Me And My Baby * Love Like A Man * 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain * I'm Coming On * My Baby Left Me * One Of These Days * Here They Come * I'd Love To Change The World * Let The Sky Fall
© 2002 - DJ Johnson