When Ten Years After arrived at Max Yasgur‘s 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York, they were a hardworking British blues-rock band still building their audience. After an electrifying 11 minutes in front of 500,000 fans, they left as legends.
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“Before Woodstock, we were playing to three-to-four thousand a night,” keyboardist Chick Churchill recalled, via Classic Rock. “But afterward, we suddenly started playing to crowds of fifteen to twenty thousand.”
Driven by the explosive performance of their boogie-rock masterpiece, “I’m Going Home,” the turning point has since become recognized as one of the greatest moments of the legendary festival. It also cemented the blistering rock staple as a crowd-pleasing, timeless anthem.
On the last night of the music festival billed as “3 Days of Peace & Music,” which actually stretched across four days, the band shared the spotlight with legends—Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, to name a few. Just a four-piece from Nottingham, they launched into their six-track set, and their euphoric closer transformed them into international superstars.
“A joyous, 11-minute meditation on the blues, [Alvin] Lee shreds and howls, whips himself into a frenzy. But like a good chef, he lets the ingredients simmer before bringing it all to a climactic boil,” American Songwriter wrote about the Woodstock performance. “The lyrics are deceptively simple—yet the more he repeats them, the more effective they become.”
The set was immortalized in the documentary film that followed in 1970. Directed by Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock captured Alvin Lee’s shattering guitar work for millions of movie fans and introduced the band to an even wider audience.
“It put us on the world stage,” drummer Ric Lee said, per Classic Rock. “We managed six songs at Woodstock, but ‘I’m Going Home’ endorsed us because of the film.”
Recorded in 1968 for the live album Undead, “I’m Going Home” showcases the band’s remarkable chemistry. Ric Lee and bassist Leo Lyons lay down a relentless blues-rock groove, Chick Churchill adds swirling organ flourishes, and Alvin Lee unleashes the lightning-fast guitar work that would become his trademark and earn him the moniker “the fastest guitarist in the west.”
“We did Undead in a hurry, so that we’d have it out as we were touring the States,” Ric Lee said. The rushed production paid off. Although the song wasn’t a chart hit, the live Woodstock performance and subsequent film helped establish the band in the U.S. and define “I’m Going Home” as their signature song.
“Woodstock is probably the reason why we’re still working,” ChickChurchillsaid in 2018. “Without it, we’d probably have gone into the tides of history. A wave would’ve broken on the shore, and nobody would remember us. I’m glad it worked out.”
Today, Ten Years After is still at it. Six decades after forming, the band continues to tour and perform. The revised lineup includes Ric Lee, alongside Samuel C. Lees on guitar and vocals, Craig Fletcher on bass and vocals, and Dave Burgoyne on keys and strings.
Related: 1970 Supergroup Hit, Featuring a Legendary Classic Rock Cameo, Became a Timeless Anthem