Ssssh. 1969 Album

Ten Years After

For me, TYA's unabashed peak. First side is perfect, highlighted by the hard-charging "Stoned Woman" and their head-banging take on the blues standard "Good Morning Little School Girl". The second half of this record is no slouch, either – if it's slow drawn-out heavy blooze you want, look no further than "I Woke Up This Morning" - and anyway, goes to show you there was way more than Led Zeppelin around in '69 if you wanted a prime slice of psycho-blues crunch. And the cover is iconic, although I read somewhere the other guys resented Alvin because it was only his face on the cover. Oh well, can't win' em all, and not long after this, TYA records started slipping in quality.