Ten Years After
Watt

Perhaps my favorite cover among the records in my collection: a simple suburban image tinged with infrared, with a beautiful color choice that makes it completely unique, especially distinguishable among all other albums...

Between the sixties and seventies, there were also them, Ten Years After (what a nice name!), English and devoted to rock-blues. Not at the level of Purple and Zeppelin in terms of popularity and actual merit, but still among the top-rated of the time in the genre. Above all, like others (Cocker, Crosby Stills & Nash, Santana) "miraculously" appearing at Woodstock: the nimble blond on the red and snarling Gibson rock'n'roll with lots of grimaces is one of the iconic moments of that decisive media event for rock. The "blond" is named Alvin Lee, guitarist, singer, composer, and bandleader. A good "handle" but not a trendsetter, with very stereotypical phrasing ("licks", as they say in his area)... because he liked to play fast, at the expense of creativity. His voice is then not considered among the most charismatic, but ultimately, in the history of rock, Alvin certainly wrote his page and with merit.

His group was completed by his brother Rick on drums, bassist Leo Lyons, and keyboardist Chick Churchill, all good performers but ultimately honest supporting players. "Watt" was released in 1971 and was already the fifth or sixth of the band, which, after the early works where the blues component prevailed, had sensed the air, starting to shape their music to be more commercial and also heavier (without, however, venturing into hard rock, as Alvin didn't have an adequate voice nor did his brother have sufficient "punch"). "I'm Coming On" opens and "the fastest guitarist in the West" immediately stands out, after two fast verses comes a long psychedelic solo with the distortion, one that any producer today would cut by ninety-six bars, undoubtedly effective precisely for its improvisational freedom aroma. The piece struggles to regain structural semblances for a third sung verse and an epilogue.

"My Baby Left Me" that follows is much more orthodox, rock blues in midtempo led by an obsessive unison guitar-bass riff, as was common at the time. Also very orthodox is the ballad "Think About The Times" played on A minor that then resolves to C major in the chorus. Very relaxed music, especially compared to the concerts, a way of conceiving the recording studio that even Cream had, for example... This is not the case for the next "I Say Yeah!" which is very blues and very lively and vibrant. "The Band With No Name" is a short instrumental arpeggio that opened the second side on the LP, introducing the best moment of the record "Gonna Run": after a kind of "mantra-blues" dragged and hypnotic vocal, there is a very successful break and a long swinging jam session finale kicks in, fluid and tasteful, with the clean guitar and also the piano working great over a very competent rhythmic pedal.

"She Lies In The Morning" is the last studio piece because the epilogue is entrusted to a cover of a Chuck Berry classic performed live at the Isle of Wight. The performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen", dirty and wild, exemplifies what I wrote before: a two-faced band, often reflective in the studio, rustic and gritty in concerts. A rather strange choice for this finale, quite out of place given the slightly late-psychedelic atmosphere of the album and its fascinating cover.