Alvin Lee - Alvin Lee & Co.: Live At The Academy Of Music, New York, 1975 (2017)

Alvin's blistering performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 is considered by many as the pinnacle of his career. The eleven-minute number 'I'm Going Home' was to become Ten Years After's signature song and was prominently featured in the Woodstock movie released the following year. However, feeling increasingly confined within the band's musical style, Alvin was soon looking for new challenges to express his creative versatility. For his first project, he recorded the studio album 'On The Road To Freedom' with gospel singer Mylon LeFevre. Shortly after (in response to a dare by a friend) he assembled a nine-piece band for a one-off performance at London's legendary Rainbow Theatre on March 22, 1974. The show was released in November 1974 as the double live album 'In Flight' by Alvin Lee & Co. Alvin was so pleased with this new musical direction that decided to take the show on tour. The band included two musicians from the Rainbow show (Ian Wallace - drums and Mel Collins - sax and flute; both Ex-King Crimson), two former members of Stone The Crows (Ronnie Leahy - keyboards, and Steve Thomson - bass), as well as Brother James - percussion, and backing vocalists Donnie Perkins and Juanita Franklin. Rehearsals took place in October and November 1974, and shows in Denmark, Sweden,Germany and the UK were followed by a string of appearances in the States; including an evening at the Academy of Music in New York (later to be renamed the Palladium), on January 18th, 1975. This event was chosen to be recorded on state-of- the-art equipment of its day, and a few of those songs were later broadcast on the 'King Biscuit Flower Hour'. After rediscovering the original 16-track master tapes in his personal archive in 2012, Alvin arranged to transfer and professionally mix these recordings with all mod-cons, thus benefiting from combining the forte of both eras. The result is a collection of jazzy, funky and mellow performances; thirteen selected tracks played by a world class band made up of talented musicians at their peak with Alvin leading expertly through tasteful guitar work and outstanding vocals.