Cricklewood Green
Cricklewood Green is a hard one for me to give a neutral view on as it’s representative of a style of rock music I’ve come to dislike but that I know remains popular with plenty of other people. Inevitably that leaves me looking like a contrarian.
Ten Years After were a big band in 1970, partly as a result of their appearance at Woodstock but also because they worked hard and toured relentlessly. That made them experienced players and a very tight band with a good reputation.
And yet this album doesn’t convert me to their charms, and that’s because everything is a vehicle for Alvin Lee’s soloing on his favoured Gibson ES335 guitar. Lee was dubbed “Fastest guitarist in the West” as though that were somehow a good thing (and it isn’t even true: John McLaughlin was and remains faster when he wants to be and was/is considerably more versatile and accomplished). I’m happy to concede I would have been impressed by this stuff in the seventies, for the most part, but I’m not now. This remains remains Graham Anthony Barnes from Nottingham trying to sound American, and the Americans, such as the Allman Brothers Band, did it better.
Diddly-diddly-diddly-diddly goes the guitar and it all gets a bit dull. Me and My Baby is more interesting but it’s still primarily a vehicle for lead guitar. 30,000 Miles Beneath My Brain is Mick’n’Keef’s Sympathy For the Devil in disguise.
I’ve a feeling I would have enjoyed seeing Ten Years After in this incarnation live, especially if the other band members got a chance to stretch out a bit. I get why Cricklewood Green remains popular 50 years after its release, but it isn’t for me. I won’t judge you if you think differently.
I listened on Spotify, and it’s available on YouTube.
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