July 2012 – Press release for Alvin’s final studio album
GUITAR LEGEND ALVIN LEE
STILL ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM
WITH NEW SOLO ALBUM
Famed Woodstock Ten Years After front man offers sequel to
his 1973 On the Road to Freedom LP with
wide-ranging collection of new songs
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — More than four decades have passed since Alvin Lee stood front and center at the famed Woodstock festival with his band Ten Years After and told half million or so fans, “I’m Going Home . . . by helicopter.”
Forty-three years later, Alvin Lee hasn’t arrived at his destination yet, as the title of his new solo album, Still on the Road to Freedom, available August 27, 2012 on Rainman Records, will attest. “I don’t think I ever will,” he laughs.
Recorded at Space Studios 3 in Spain, Still on the Road to Freedom finds Lee returning to his original inspirations. Longtime band members bassist Pete Pritchard and drummer Richard Newman, along with keyboardist Tim Hinkley, join Lee in a musical travelogue that is a tribute to the roots music that first influenced him.
“I got my start in music listening to my dad’s jazz and blues 78s when I was eight years old,” says Lee, who continues to follow his inspirations. “It’s about the freedom to make music of my own choice without worrying about what other people thought or expected,” he writes in the album’s liner notes.
Still on the Road to Freedom nods to country-blues, embodied by Alvin’s gutbucket harp on “Save My Stuff” (“I was a big fan of Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee”) and the delta stomp “Blues Got Me So Bad” (“My blues name is Deaf Lemon Lee”). He evokes a folksy feel in the stark acoustic “Walk On, Walk Tall,” perfects the sensuous slow blues of J.J. Cale in “Nice and Easy,” and strums south-of-the-border Mexicali rhythms in the instrumental “Song of the Red Rock Mountain,” a song he made up on the spot while testing a microphone and wasn’t able to improve.
Lee continues to explore that creative freedom with the tribal African drums of “Listen to Your Radio Station,” which includes a sample loop from the late Ian Wallace, the gospel organ of “Midnight Creeper” and the surprising funk of the rousing “Rock You.”
The album also features “Love Like a Man 2,” a remake of the song on the band’s 1970 album Cricklewood Green, inspired, according to Lee, by New Orleans R&B player Smiley Lewis’ “I Hear You Knocking,” with a nod towards seminal influence Chuck Berry.
Asked how he’d describe himself, Lee pauses: “A musician . . . who leans towards blues, but likes rock and roll, country, funk, jazz — anything with a guitar in it.”
After all these years, Alvin Lee’s still going home.
Tracks – all written by Alvin Lee:
1. STILL ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM
2. LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO STATION
3. MIDNIGHT CREEPER
4. SAVE MY STUFF
5. I’M A LUCKY MAN
6. WALK ON, WALK TALL
7. BLUES GOT ME SO BAD
8. SONG OF THE RED ROCK MOUNTAIN
9. NICE & EASY
10. BACK IN 69
11. DOWN LINE ROCK
12. ROCK YOU
13. LOVE LIKE A MAN 2 (plus ANA)
Album Reviews
Bman’s Bluesreport:
Alvin Lee... yes the real Alvin Lee, has just come out of the studio and is ready to release a new cd, Still On The Road To Freedom, on August 27, 2012. To say that I am a long time Alvin Lee fan is a tremendous understatement. I was a young kid when I heard Alvin Lee for the first time and it was an eye opening experience. I had never heard such music. The song was I Woke Up This Morning from the SSSH album and it was on an obscure radio station that my older teenaged sister had on in the family car. My musical interests are forever changed. This new recording with 12 new tracks and one remake that is totally unrecognizable from it’s original form shows that lee is still exploring uncharted territory. The first track, the title track, Still On The Road To Freedom, follows a lot of previous jazz/blues influenced rock tunes by Lee and there is absolutely no question that Lee can still sing, write and play with the effort of a feather. Great song. He has undeniable form and tone. By the way, I have been asked before what classic guitar amp tone is.. I mean…identify it I point to SSSH. Some things never change. Listen To Your Radio Station is up next with Lee experimenting with beat and soloing, not at all unlike Jeff Beck. I would never compare the two superstars because they are so different, but I am only stating that Lee on this particular song too to a Beck formula and played great guitar riffs over a solid drum riff…. very cool. (Now don’t buy this and complain it doesn’t sound like Jeff beck…it doesn’t…it sounds like Alvin lee!) Midnight Creeper gets a smooth bass/drum rhythm going and Lee plays guitar and sings over this basic drive pattern. This cd has quite a bit less structure than many of his compositions of the past.It gives Lee a much less structured framework in which to work and is quite tasty if you can set aside your TYA expectations. Save My Stuff catches Lee on harp and doing a polished little blues track but maintaining his basic rock structure as in more recent solo efforts. I’m A Lucky Man explores Lees early country (rockabilly if your prefer) roots … if you really listen you can hear Porter Wagoner as much as Chuck Berry…. that’s what is great about real music… it defines definition and blurs lines. Sound Of The Red Rock captures a unique side of Lee which I have seen. It has a bit of a Spanish flare to my ear and a melody that is very strong. Nice and Easy really captures the style of JJ Cale with the laid back voices and biting guitar work. Back In 69 takes a clue from Bo Diddley but anyone hearing it would definitely peg it for Alvin Lee not only because of his recognizable hooks and distinctive voice but his unmistakable guitar playing. This song features riffs that I have never heard from Lee and is the most experimental track on the cd. I really like it. Rock You see’s Lee tromping around in funky territory. Lee’s voice still sounds as fresh as it did the day that I first heard it. Remarkable. Lee wraps the recording with, as I alluded to before, a remake of one of my favorites, Love Like A Man, but it is really pretty unrecognizable as the same track unless you are really listening. It takes the stance of a heavy bottomed Texas blues with a touch of swing and a rock twist. It’s really quite interesting and then to top it off with Lee using not only signature riffs but multiple pinched harmonics like I never heard from Lee. Alvin Lee’s creative juices are still flowing strong. This recording is not only going to delight the thousands of fans that I encounter each day but will certainly capture many many more. Oh Yeah…and don’t take the cd off too fast…there’s a nice acoustic track at the end of the cd.
Alvin…great to have you back!
BlindedBySound – General Jabbo
In 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair catapulted Ten Years After and their young guitarist, Alvin Lee, into the spotlight. Seemingly overnight, the band went from playing clubs to arenas and, by 1973, Lee had had enough of the lifestyle and of being expected to produce hits. He was tired of being just product. That year, he released his first solo album along with Mylon LeFevre, the star-studded On The Road To Freedom. Now, nearly 40 years later, Lee is back with a sequel of sorts, Still On The Road To Freedom.
The album leads off with the title track, building slowly from an acoustic intro as Lee adds layers of fine guitar work to the song. With its bird chirping sounds and blend of acoustic and electric guitars, the track fits in stylistically with Lee’s late 60s/early 70s heyday. Lee invokes a swamp groove on the next track, “Listen To Your Radio Station,” which adds some modern production touches before going into a jazzy interlude. While the combination may seem odd on paper, it works well for the track.
Tim Hinkley’s organ adds a Booker T. and the M.G.’s feel to the bluesy “Midnight Creeper” with Lee adding tasteful, understated leads to the song. Lee invokes the Bo Diddley Beat in “Back in 69,” a humorous ode to how the hippies of the 60s had to grow up and face real life. Lee’s solo blends Billy Gibbons with some jazz before the song veers off into a brief funk break. Lee’s playing throughout has shown no signs of age as he easily switches between musical styles. “Down Line Rock,” for instance is a 50s-styled instrumental rocker that is just screaming for some Jerry Lee Lewis piano breaks.
Lee revisits his old band with a cover of “Love Like a Man,” now titled “Love Like a Man 2.” While similar to the original, the new version has a decidedly harder edge to it with Lee’s guitar in particular showing more bite than before.
Lee has followed his own muse for many years now and is still putting out excellent music. His latest release shows that he is Still On The Road To Freedom.
Boomerocity – Randy Patterson:
It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than forty years ago since Alvin Lee rocked out a crowd a half a million strong with his band, Ten Years After, at the historic Woodstock festival and, as he was leaving the stage told them, “I’m Going Home . . . by helicopter.”
As they say in the glorious south, Lee hasn’t gotten back to the house yet and he sings about exactly that on his new solo album, Still on the Road to Freedom, returning him to his musical roots.
This album is a royal treat on so many levels: melodically, lyrically, musically and just the fact that Lee is still producing great and memorable music. He’s joined on the album with bassist Pete Pritchard, drummer Richard Newman (Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott, Mark Knopfler) as well as keyboardist Tim Hinkley (Humble Pie, Bad Company, The Who, Thin Lizzy).
“I got my start in music listening to my dad’s jazz and blues 78s when I was eight years old,” says Lee, who continues to follow his inspirations. “It’s about the freedom to make music of my own choice without worrying about what other people thought or expected,” he writes in the album’s liner notes.
There’s no freakin’ way that one can pick a favorite off of this 13 tune treasure trove of inspired music. However, I’ll randomly pick three:
Love Like a Man 2 is a remake of the song on the band’s album, Cricklewood Green, inspired, according to Lee, by Smiley Lewis’ I Hear You Knocking. This tune alone is worth the price of the entire CD. No foolin’!
The title cut, Still on the Road to Freedom, would have fit in quite nicely into Lee’s performance at Woodstock. Gutsy, bluesy, fluid. This song will have you slapping the repeat button until it can’t be slapped any more, it’s that good.
Finally, Listen to Your Radio Station, cool and funky with some great African drum work backing up Lee’s silky smooth guitar work. This song could have been times longer than it’s recorded two minutes and twenty-four seconds and I still wouldn’t think it was long enough. I’d love to catch Alvin performing this tune live at one of his gigs and watch him take it as far as it will go.
You have to have this CD in your collection whether you don’t remember being at Woodstock or just wish you had. This disc will wind up being on your “desert island” list of albums you can’t ever live without.
July 2012 – Compilation Release “Best of Alvin Lee”
Review by Pete Feenstra
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