Ssssh was artist/ten-years-after-mn0000020050">Ten Years After's novel unloosen at the fourth dimension of their incendiary functioning at the Woodstock Festival inwards August, 1969. As a result, it was their maiden of all hitting album inwards the U.S., peaking at publish xx inwards September of that year. This recording is a primer of British blues-rock of the era, showcasing artist/alvin-lee-mn0000011620">Alvin Lee's guitar pyrotechnics together with the band's propulsive beat section. As amongst most of artist/tya-mn0000020050">TYA's work, the lyrics were throwaways, precisely the music was hot. Featured is a lengthy comprehend of artist/sonny-boy-williamson-mn0000036031">Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," amongst reworked lyrics leaving piddling doubtfulness every bit to what the vocalizer had inwards heed for the championship character. Also included was a 12-bar blues vocal amongst the ultimate generic blues championship "I Woke Up This Morning." Ssssh marked the commencement of the band's two-year run of popularity on the United States of America album charts together with inwards the cloak-and-dagger FM-radio scene.
When Ten Years After released ‘Ssssh,’ their 3rd studio album (and 4th overall, counting the alive ‘Undead’) inwards August of 1969, the British quartet had no persuasion that their still-nascent career was nearly to accelerate into overdrive through a serendipitous laid of circumstances — inside together with beyond their control.
In damage of the former, the novel album represented an unconditional improvement upon the ofttimes tentative together with unfocused releases that preceded it past times dispensing amongst unopen to of the myriad psychedelic distractions of the solar daytime inwards club to crystalize the definitive blues-rock direction that would larn the signature Ten Years After sound.
The opening ‘Bad Scene’ alternated betwixt frantic boogie together with breath-catching breaks, earlier the ease of side ane began addressing ring leader Alvin Lee’s wide-ranging suspicions nearly the reverse sexual activity amongst growing intensity. First came the relatively tame together with slippery, bite-sized ‘Two-Time Mama,’ together with thus the to a greater extent than forceful, fierce, together with fuzz-laden ‘Stoned Woman,’ together with finally a fittingly lecherous comprehend of Sonny Boy Williamson’s ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’ that duly evolved into an extended instrumental jam.
Side 2 opened inwards a to a greater extent than relaxed, almost pastoral fashion via the acoustic guitar-driven, piece of cake edifice ‘If You Should Love Me,’ earlier segueing into the rather Mod-ish ‘I Don’t Know that You Don’t Know My Name’ (showcasing Chick Churchill on pianoforte together with Ric Lee’s tribal bongos), the mumbling, stumbling groove of ‘The Stomp,’ and, wrapping things up, unopen to other gut wrenching, virtually proto-metallic reading of a classic blues grind — this fourth dimension Lightnin’ Hopkins’ ‘I Woke Up This Morning.’
As for circumstances beyond the band’s control: the same calendar month of ‘Ssssh’s’ unloosen works life Ten Years After performing a career-making laid at the historic Woodstock Festival, together with the resulting publicity together with acclaim seat them on the map, boosting the novel album all the agency to No. xx on the Billboard 200 together with No. 4 dorsum habitation inwards the U.K.
What’s more, fifty-fifty the music fans who initially failed to recognize the significance of TYA’s Woodstock appearance amidst the sheer hype surrounding megastars similar the Who, Janis Joplin together with Hendrix (or had missed out on the event, altogether), eventually “got the memo” when the festival’s official soundtrack LP emerged the next year, carrying the band’s sizzling boom through ‘I’m Going Home’ every bit a highlight.
By then, the men inwards Ten Years After were already busy promoting their adjacent album of era-defining blues-rock, ‘Cricklewood Green,’ amongst many to a greater extent than creative together with commercial benchmarks even thus ahead, waiting to solidify their legacy for the ages. But y'all could brand rigid representative that this golden current began amongst ‘Ssssh’ together with the one-of-a-kind circumstances surrounding it’s arrival.
Track listing
All songs composed past times Alvin Lee, except where noted.
"Bad Scene" – 3:30
"Two Time Mama" – 2:02
"Stoned Woman" – 3:30
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 7:01
"If You Should Love Me" – 5:27
"I Don't Know That You Don't Know My Name" – 2:02
"The Stomp" – 4:35
"I Woke Up This Morning" – 5:30
Personnel
Alvin Lee – guitar, vocals
Leo Lyons – bass
Ric Lee – drums
Chick Churchill – organ
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