ALVIN LEE & TEN YEARS AFTER - Bluest Blues

[John in Andalucia]

Hot on the tail of Gonzer's thread, here's an impromptu RIP to a most underrated, English blues/rock guitarist who died in Spain a few weeks ago.

Be sure to crank up the volume at around 4:20 mins. even if you're not a fan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzNkhqkF8U

[John in Andalucia]

Sorry, I meant surf4z's thread.

[sur4z]

Love this song...

[John in Andalucia]

Now up there with Jeff Healey, playing, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

[Gonzer]

Choo Choo Mama ranks in my top echelon of guitar licks. TYA's gig at Woodstock was arguably best boogie woogie of the show.

John, you have exceptional taste. Yessir indeed!

[John in Andalucia]

Gonz - a lot of my musical appreciation has developed late in life with the advent of the Internet. I listen to KCTunes streaming radio on my laptop and phone - 24/7. I hear stuff that just totally breaks my concentration. Subsequently, I'm tuned into the American & Canadian rock music archives, and a plethora of groups I'd never heard of until last year; The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Pure Prairie League, The James Gang, Foghat, Georgia Satellites, Marshall Tucker Band, Grand Funk Railroad, Chilliwack, The Guess Who..

I grew up listening to rock music in England from around 1978; Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Rainbow, AC/DC, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Queen, Slade, Sweet - to name but a few. TBH, the 80's arrived at an influential time in the development of musical appreciation - and ruined it. To give you a good example, Bon Scott died when I was 16, and whilst my older sister's friends had copies of "Highway to Hell", I started my rock appreciation listening to "Back in Black" whilst struggling to hold back the tide of New Wave and the sight of former rock Gods like Robert Plant wearing Miami Vice-style shiny suits with baggy, pleated trousers. It was decades before I could start to appreciate the talents of AC/DC during the Bon Scott era. Maybe it's because I moved out of the city 12 years ago and became a country boy in rural Spain. Yep, I quite like wearing the same clothes every day!

Talking of boogie woogie...

Rock and roll done best:

Top tracks on the radio for me at the moment include; Ted Nugent - Stranglehold and Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster.

(Shameless plug)

"KCTunes.com is a 1 man operation done in my spare time. We are out of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Me and my friends have shared there CD (about 1200 of them) for this project. Music is in my family, my brother was a DJ in the disco days and I was a chauffeur and security in the 80's for groups such as The Doobie Brothers, Rush, Journey, Styx and more. I miss the music from those days so I figured that other people did also, so I started this web site. I tried not to inundate you with all kinds of ads for revenue. All donations, sales of merchandise & profits from mp3 downloads will go to upgrade the site, add listeners and purchase music."

Well, RIP Alvin Lee. A fan was born, and you will be loved..

Rock overload, over and out!

[Gonzer]

Very cool John, your tastes run about the same as mine.

Very funny that you'd mention the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Their two biggest hits were so diametrically opposed that you'd swear it was two bands.

'If You Wanna Get to Heaven" and "Jackie Blue", check 'em out.

Alvin Lee never got the recognition he richly deserved but then again playing in the era he did you really had to stand out in ways other players couldn't.

So Ted's "Stanglehold" has gotcha huh? Ever wonder why I'm called 'Gonzer'? Such subtle lyrics..."got you in a stranglehold baby, I'm gonna crush your face!"

[John in Andalucia]

I think the title of this topic explains a lot. It seems it was always Alvin Lee and "Ten Years After" and as he said himself, they were a jamming band so probably would never have worked to have a dedicated vocalist like Robert Plant, say. I suppose you could cite Eric Clapton and "Cream" and Clapton's solo successes, and ask why Lee didn't achieve the same notoriety? Watching Lee play, you just get the feeling that he's on his own in a rehearsal room, not particularly confident at the mic, but capable nevertheless. To quote from Wikipedia:

"The super-ego works in contradiction to the id. The super-ego strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant self-gratification."

Watching rock interviews from the early 70's, and the likes of Led Zeppelin talking to the press, you get a sense that they were massaging their collective egos to get ahead in their careers. Isn't that natural when you have a lead guitarist/vocalist combo? Outside the box of course, is rock immortality; Hendrix, Joplin, et al. Had Lee died in the 70's, would he have been similarly remembered?

Stranglehold - !! I never pay much attention to lyrics (unless it's a rock ballad) but that guitar, the rhythm and pace about 3/4 way through, just starts coursing through my veins!