2 Quotes & Sayings By Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee is a British singer and guitarist, who plays guitar with the band Ten Years After. He was born in Hendon, Middlesex on 13 April 1942. He was one of the original members of the group along with guitarist Jimmy Page, drummer Simon Kirke and singer Robert Stigwood. Lee's distinctive guitar style is rooted in blues, R&B and country music. His playing is highly influential on the sound of heavy metal music; after moving to London in 1963, he became part of the emerging London blues-rock scene, working regularly at the Marquee Club alongside Jimi Hendrix and Alexis Korner
During this period he met David Bowie, who would later become his bandmate in Ten Years After (and also sometimes play drums). As part of Ten Years After, Lee was first widely known as the lead guitarist on their album Psychedelic Shack (1967), which included the hit single "Rainbow's End". The album sold over three million copies worldwide. The psychedelic rock band Iron Butterfly also recorded "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for their 1969 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.
This song would become one of Lee's most recognizable songs for many years. After leaving Ten Years After in 1970, Alvin played on several solo albums under his own name ("Alvin Lee & Friends", "Alvin Lee", "Alvin Lee & Graham Bond Organisation") and collaborated with former bandmate David Bowie on 1973's Young Americans. He continued to tour with Bowie, playing keyboards on his famous 1973 Ziggy Stardust tour. His performance on the track "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" from Young Americans brought him wide acclaim as a keyboard player.
He would go on to record several more albums with Bowie ("The Idiot" (1974), "Young Americans Live" (1974) and "Scary Monsters" (1980)). He also toured regularly with Bowie through 1976, contributing to all of his albums except Scary Monsters which featured Trevor Bolder singing backing vocals instead of Alvin. He would later rejoin Bowie for several tours during the 1990s and 2000s, both as an occasional guest and permanent replacement for David Campbell (who died in 1999). Lee has been a guest musician on albums by artists such as John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers and has appeared on shows such as Top Of The Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test performing hits like I