Ssssh was Ten Years After's novel liberate at the fourth dimension of their incendiary surgical physical care for at the Woodstock Festival inwards August, 1969. As a result, it was their foremost hitting album inwards the U.S., peaking at set out twenty inwards September of that year. This recording is a primer of British blues-rock of the era, showcasing Alvin Lee's guitar pyrotechnics together with the band's propulsive beat section. As with most of TYA's work, the lyrics were throwaways, simply the music was hot. Featured is a lengthy encompass of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," with reworked lyrics leaving footling doubtfulness every bit to what the vocalizer had inwards postulate heed for the championship character. Also included was a 12-bar blues vocal with the ultimate generic blues championship "I Woke Up This Morning." Ssssh marked the kickoff of the band's two-year run of popularity on the the States album charts together with inwards the cloak-and-dagger FM-radio scene.
When Ten Years After released ‘Ssssh,’ their tertiary studio album (and 4th overall, counting the alive ‘Undead’) inwards August of 1969, the British quartet had no sentiment that their still-nascent career was most 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 oftentimes tentative together with unfocused releases that preceded it past times dispensing with roughly of the myriad psychedelic distractions of the hateful solar daytime inwards gild to crystalize the definitive blues-rock direction that would choke the signature Ten Years After sound.
The opening ‘Bad Scene’ alternated betwixt frantic boogie together with breath-catching breaks, earlier the residuum of side ane began addressing ring leader Alvin Lee’s wide-ranging suspicions most the contrary sexual activity with growing intensity. First came the relatively tame together with slippery, bite-sized ‘Two-Time Mama,’ together with thence the to a greater extent than forceful, fierce, together with fuzz-laden ‘Stoned Woman,’ together with finally a fittingly lecherous encompass 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, slow 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, roughly 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’ liberate flora Ten Years After performing a career-making laid at the historic Woodstock Festival, together with the resulting publicity together with acclaim set them on the map, boosting the novel album all the means to No. twenty on the Billboard 200 together with No. 4 dorsum abode inwards the U.K.
What’s more, fifty-fifty the music fans who initially failed to recognize the significance of TYA’s Woodstock appearance with 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 nail 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,’ with many to a greater extent than creative together with commercial benchmarks nevertheless ahead, waiting to solidify their legacy for the ages. But yous could brand potent example that this golden menstruum began with ‘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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