Love Like A Man

"Love Like a Man," as with all of the songs on the Cricklewood Green album, was written by frontman Alvin Lee. It's the sixth and longest track on this, their fifth studio album. This was also their only UK Singles' chart hit. Ten Years After is best known for their US Billboard hit "I'd Love To Change The World," which was their only hit stateside.

Can you say "catchy hook"? If you didn't know this song before, you'll certainly be humming that opening hook all day afterwards. It comes back after the epic instrumental bridge in the middle. This doesn't come by accident - Alvin Lee started playing at the age of 13.

Recognize a bit of British blues-rock influence, almost like Deep Purple? The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll points out that Ten Years After were part of the British blues revival movement of the late-'60s/early-'70s. Ten Years After pioneered blues revival in England alongside Cream, early Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, the Climax Blues Band, and Savoy Brown.

Don't be fooled by Ten Years After's one-hit status (on two continents); they also played at Woodstock and the Newport Jazz Festival. Alvin Lee, the beating heart of the group, split off to play solo or in collaboration with other artists a few years after "Love Like a Man." Perhaps the most notable example of this was when he sort-of formed a supergroup to record the album On the Road to Freedom in 1973, in collaboration with George Harrison (Beatles), Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi (Traffic), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), and Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones). So that's practically a who's-who of British rock in '73! Oh, and gospel artist Mylon LeFevre was there, too.