Repost: Ten Years After - Live at The Fillmore East (1970 uk classic hard blues, double CD - FLAC)

[ Tribute to Woodstock Series # 39 ]

This superbly recorded double disc (the original engineer was Eddie Kramer, best-known for his work with Hendrix) captured over a weekend worth of dates in February 1970 at the venerable New York City venue catches the Brit boogie quartet at the peak of their powers.

These shows were sandwiched between their triumphant Woodstock set and the release of Cricklewood Green, generally considered the band's best work.

They find the group primed through years of roadwork, as well as obviously excited to be playing in front of an appreciative N.Y.C. crowd. Kicking off with one of Bill Graham's patented individual-member intros, the group winds their way through the ominous riff of "Love Like a Man."

Mixing extended and rocking versions of blues standards — like Sonny Boy Williamson classics "Help Me" and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," as well as Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" — with two Chuck Berry covers and some nuggets from their own catalog, Ten Years After burns through this show with enormous energy and infectious enthusiasm.

Alvin Lee and his flying fingers stay firmly in the spotlight, but the remastered sound is so immaculate you can finally appreciate the contributions of the other, generally overlooked TYA members: Chick Churchill on keyboards and especially Leo Lyons' fluid bass work, along with Ric Lee's jazzy drums.

The songs shift into overdrive on the jams — the longest of which pushes "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" to 20 minutes — and amazingly stay interesting for the majority of that time thanks to Lee's sense of flashy dynamics, as he quotes liberally from Hendrix and Cream licks.

Detailed liner notes from drummer Lee describe the scene, not only in terms of Ten Years After, but also of the musical camaraderie of the time.

Some of this is almost embarrassingly dated — the drum solo-laden "The Hobbit" is particularly guilty, as are the often-interminable guitar gymnastics — and the Chuck Berry numbers might have been live crowd-pleasers but don't add much to the originals.

Still, this is the best Ten Years After concert album, and proves just how vibrant these boogie boys could be when inspired by the crowd and each other on a perfect night. (review by Hal Horowitz - AMG).


CD1:
01.Love Like a Man
02.Good Morning Little School Girl
03.Working on the Road
04.Hobbit, The
05.50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain
06.a. Skoobly-Oobly-Doobob
b.Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes
c.Extension On One Chord

CD2:
01.Help Me
02.I'm Going Home
03.Sweet Little 16
04.Roll Over Beethoven
05.I Woke up This Morning
06.Spoonful

TenYears After:
*Alvin Lee - vocals, guitar
*Leo Lyons - bass
*Chick Churchill - organ
*Ric Lee - drums

Ten Years After in Woodstock 1969 play at Sunday, August 17:
01.Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
02.I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes
03.I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always
04.Hear Me Calling
05.I'm Going Home


See complete list of posts this series, published in PHROCK Blog:
*PHROCK Blog celebrates 40th anniversary to Woodstock...


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