A iimited-edition box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ten Years After’s first release includes an album of previously unheard material, which was discovered by Alvin Lee’s widow.
Ten Years After: 1967 - 1974 includes the band’s first nine albums, all digitally remastered for the first time, along with The Cap Ferrat Sessions, which contains five tracks laid down in 1972 – but were later forgotten.
Drummer Ric Lee says: “We recorded in the south of France using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, in a villa in Cap Ferrat.
“Each of the instruments were recorded in a different room – the drums were in the ballroom. Between our engineer, Chris Kimsey, and me, we managed to get one of the best drum sounds on any Ten Years After recording.
“The tracks were originally planned for the Rock & Roll Music To The World album, but due to vinyl restrictions of the time, they weren’t included.”
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Kimsey was 21 years old when he first worked on the Cap Ferrat tracks – but 45 years later, and with a career that includes collaborations with the Stones, Bad Company and Peter Frampton among his credits, he went back to work on them.
“Alvin and the band were incredibly creative and abundant during that period,” Kimsey says. “These rediscovered recordings were not rough demos or rehearsals, but completed masters that did not make the album.
“Mixing this in 2017 I began to study the parts, the playing, the response of each musician. It was amazing – it’s what all great recordings are made of.”
Ten Years After: 1967 - 1974 is released on November 10 and limited to 1500 copies worldwide. It’s presented in a hardback box and comes with sleeve notes running to 10,000 words, written by early band champion Chris Welch. It’s available for pre-order now via a Pledge campaign.
Ten Years After: 1967 - 1974 contents
Disc 1: Ten Years After
Disc 2: Undead
Disc 3: Stonedhenge
Disc 4: Ssssh
DIsc 5: Cricklewood Green
Disc 6: Watt
Disc 7: A Space In Time
Disc 8: Rock & Roll Music To The World
Disc 9: Positive Vibrations
Disc 10: The Cap Ferrat Sessions
- Look At Yourself
- Running Around
- There’s Somebody Calling Me
- There’s A Feeling
- Holy Shit