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With its devotion to '50s rock and blues coupled to a manic, if decidedly middlebrow performance tack, Ten Years After could seem positively Jurassic, even by late-'60s standards. This collection culls magnificently recorded performances (kudos to Hendrix/ELP engineer Eddie Kramer) from a February 1970 weekend stand at the Fillmore East, capturing the band at its post-Woodstock performing peak. The running times of most of the tracks (three-quarters of which clock in at seven-plus minutes) will tip listeners to the show's jam-heavy take on covers of Sonny Boy Williamson (an ominous, revamped "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"), Willie Dixon (a slow, 16-minute burn through "Help Me"), and Chuck Berry (atypically economic romps of "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Roll Over Beethoven"). But with the band's own primordial originals (the titles "Skooby-Oobly-Doobob" and "Extension on One Chord" speak for themselves) there's an elemental, effusive--and, dare we say it--Ramones-like stoopidity to the tracks. Even Alvin Lee's trademark fret-burner "I'm Going Home" is hard to resist. This set perfectly captures one of the era's hardest working bands in a concise, double-disc time capsule.
--Jerry McCulley
Album Details
UK live compilation for the British blues-rock quartet. Featuring 12 tracks recorded during two nights at the legendary venue, September 27th & 28th 1968. Highlights include, 'Spoonful' & 'The Hobbit'. 2001.
