Leo Lyons born November 30, 1943 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Leo became a professional musician at the age of 16 and as a founder member of the band Ten Years After has been an on-stage eyewitness to some of the most pivotal moments in Rock and Roll history. From 1963 to 1966, as well as playing and managing The Jaybirds, Leo worked as a session musician, toured as a sideman with pop acts of the day, appeared in a play in Londons West End and played a residency with poll winning British Jazz Guitarist Denny Wright. In 1967 with a name change to Ten Years After, a residency at London’s famous Marquee Club and a debut album out on Deram Records, the band were soon to build up a huge following in Europe. Fillmore West and Fillmore East founder Bill Graham heard a copy of the band’s first album and immediately sent a letter offering to book Ten Years After into his historic venues in San Francisco and New York. They were also one of the first rock groups to be part of the Newport Jazz Festival. At Newport and on tour TYA performed with Nina Simone, Roland Kirk, Miles Davis and other jazz legends barnstorming across the US. In August of the same year their now legendary encore “ I’m Goin’ Home” was captured on film at The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, exposing their jazz blues rock amalgam to an even larger audience of movie goers who were blown away by the intensity of the band’s performance when the academy award winning documentary was released. Their ten-minute appearance in the film is an acknowledged highlight and established Ten Years After a place in rock history. The band’s albums are still available and all have reached Gold or Platinum status.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 03:48:43 +0000
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