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DARK SECRETS: Alvin lee - The Real Truth

"It was like something from Mad Max, with all the fires and steaming bodies." Meet the rock'n'roll Forrest Gump, who turned down Jimi Hendrix, butted heads with Lemmy, and was saved from a bad trip by Pete Townshend

As Ten Years After release an expanded version of their Ssssh album, founding bassist Leo Lyons recalls a live packed with rock'n'roll flashpoints

Louder

“I did tours sleeping in a tent to save money. I asked this family if I could pitch up in their garden. That helped me get my first P-Bass”: Rock ’n’ roll's ‘Forrest Gump’Leo Lyons shares the story of Ten Years After and their iconic Woodstock set

The Ten Years After bassist survived Hamburg’s Star-Club, sparked the blues boom, achieved immortality at Woodstock – and is still going strong at 82. “Music,” he says, “it’s a drug…”

Guitar World

"I probably should have retired years ago but I really love keeping the band alive": Ten Years After are down to one original member but there's still gas in the tank

One of the great British blues-rock bands of the 60s and 70s, Ten Years After are keeping the blues flag flying

Louder

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“Zal is really nobody’s guitar hero. Fans say he’s the most underrated player ever; many guitarists rate him amongst the best... but I’ve never heard anyone call him their ‘guitar hero’”: Billy Rankin on lessons learned from the legendary Zal Cleminson

In and out of Nazareth twice, and always loyal to his Gibson ES-335, Rankin had a lifetime's worth of rock stories by his mid-20s

Guitar World

“George gets up and says, ‘Andy was not the first choice. There were seven guitarists and he was the seventh choice’”: Before Andy Fairweather Low joined George Harrison’s band, the Beatle was eyeing up Gary Moore and Alvin Lee

The prolific session player joined Harrison for his 1991 tour of Japan, but it turns out he was rather low on the pecking order when the Beatles legend came to assembling his band

Guitar World

“During the first song at Woodstock the amp blew up. They gave me another. It sounded terrible. I cringe when I think about it”: Harvey Mandel replaced some of guitar’s biggest names – but Keith Richards cost him a spot in the Rolling Stones

The two-hand tapping pioneer on playing with Canned Heat, Jerry Garcia and John Mayall, getting beaten to the Stones gig by Ronnie Wood – and that time he was kidnapped by Alvin Lee and Mick Taylor

Guitar World

"He proceeded to take his trousers off between songs. The police got very twitchy": The chaotic night Led Zeppelin jammed with Ten Years After and the Jeff Beck Group

"My last memory was of Bonham’s hairy backside disappearing, illuminated by a spotlight"

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"This sort of seat-of-the-pants indulgence would never fit the corporate cosiness of today’s major festivals": Ten Years After showcase the solos on Woodstock 1969

Of its time and on vinyl, the six-song set that made Ten Years After US festival titans

Louder

"My first guitar was a beat-up flamenco-style acoustic that my grandmother had in her closet": Slash, Jimmy Page and more remember the guitars that set them on the path to six-string immortality

We dive into some of our classic interviews to rediscover the stories of how famous players got started - featuring Slash, Jimmy Page, Stone Gossard, Albert Lee and more

Guitar World

"Ten Years After are still partying like it's 1967 even though it's 1971": Ten Years After discover a glitch in the blues rock matrix on A Space In Time

The first standalone album on the Chrysalis label, A Space In Time contained Ten Years After's only transatlantic hit, I’d Love To Change The World

Louder

High-energy boogies, guitar and bass showdowns and bizarre cat noises: A beginner's guide to Ten Years After in five essential songs

Five prime cuts from Alvin Lee & Co, the British blues band whose fortunes were transformed by an electrifying performance at Woodstock

Louder

“I got my Telecaster in 2013 and it’s never been cleaned. It’s covered with blood. I like the idea of seeing the work I’ve done”: He’s guitarist for Iceland’s premier power trio The Vintage Caravan – and Óskar Logi Ágústsson’s rig lives up to the name

Inspired to pick up the guitar by School of Rock, classic rock acolyte Ágústsson has been leading The Vintage Caravan since he was 12 years old. He explains what makes fans liken his playing to Alvin Lee, how he wrings his tone from a collection of extremely loud vintage Marshalls…

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