Leo David William Lyons (born 30 November 1943) is an English musician, who was most notably the bassist of the

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

Biography

Leo Lyons was born in

Mansfield, Nottinghamshire Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market town ...

in November 1943 and became a professional musician at the age of 16. In 1962, along with band-mate

Alvin Lee Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Early life He w ...

, his band

The Jaybirds Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

performed at

The Star Club is an influential Japanese punk rock band that was formed in Nagoya in 1977 and has been based in Tokyo since 1987. The band has had a long career with numerous lineup changes, all centered on vocalist Hikage. Biography The Star Club was the ...

in Hamburg, Germany. Lyons was also hired to play in the club's house band, along with

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

. Simultaneously, he performed at the

Top Ten Club The Top Ten Club was a music club in Hamburg's St. Pauli district at Reeperbahn 136, which opened on 31 October 1960 and kept its name until 1994. In 1961, the Beatles performed 92 times at the Top Ten Club. History At the beginning of the 2 ...

with featured guitarist

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

. (not to be confused with Alvin Lee) In 1963, The Jaybirds returned to England, securing their first recording contract with legendary record producer

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...

. From 1963 to 1966, Lyons both played in and managed The Jaybirds. Simultaneously, Lyons worked as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, toured with pop acts of the day, appeared in a play in London's West End, and played a residency in an exclusive London nightclub with British jazz guitarist

Denny Wright Denys Justin Wright (6 May 1924 – 8 February 1992), known professionally as Denny Wright, was a British jazz guitarist. A session musician for many years, Wright frequently acted as arranger and "fixer" for recording sessions. He was a proli ...

. In 1967, The Jaybirds changed their name to Ten Years After. The band established residency at London's famous Marquee Club, and published a debut album on

Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings w ...

. The hard-working band built a large following in Europe. After Fillmore West founder Bill Graham heard a copy of the band's first album, he immediately sent a letter offering to book Ten Years After on an extended tour in the United States. As part of Ten Years After, Lyons was one of the first rock performers at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

. In August 1969, the band's encore performance of “I’m Going Home” was captured on film at The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, exposing their jazz, blues, and rock amalgam to larger audiences of moviegoers through the

concert film A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

.From 1969 to 1975, the group toured consistently. Lyons estimates the band performed for more than 75,000 new fans each week. In 1975, Lyons worked in record production at

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

as a studio manager for the

Wessex Studios Wessex Sound Studios was a recording studio located at 106a Highbury New Park, London, England. Many renowned popular music artists recorded there, including Sex Pistols, King Crimson, the Clash, Theatre of Hate, XTC, the Sinceros, Queen, Talk Tal ...

in London. Building on these experiences, Lyons built two commercial studios. As a producer, Lyons worked with a broad variety of musicians, including

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

Waysted Waysted were a British heavy metal band, formed by former UFO bassist Pete Way and the Scottish rocker Fin Muir (Ian Muir) in 1982. Recruiting Frank Noon (formerly with Def Leppard), Ronnie Kayfield and Paul Raymond, Waysted signed to Chrysal ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

and Linda Thompson, and many others. During the 1990s, Lyons released two albums with his band, Kick. Lyons also worked as a staff writer for Nashville publishers Hayes Street Music, moving to Nashville in 1998. In 2003, Ten Years After reformed, and Lyons toured with the group for the next decade. In 2010, with TYA guitarist/singer Joe Gooch, he formed Hundred Seventy Split. At the end of 2013, Lyons and Gooch resigned from Ten Years After. Lyons continued releasing albums as part of Hundred Seventy Split. The group is actively touring, and they perform TYA songs along with original material. Lyons is married with two adult sons. As of 2019, Lyons resides in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales.

References

External links

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Leo Lyons Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Leo 1943 births Living people 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English record producers English songwriters English rock musicians English blues guitarists Blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians People from Mansfield Musicians from Nottinghamshire Ten Years After members Decca Records artists Deram Records artists Columbia Records artists Chrysalis Records artists EMI Records artists 20th-century bass guitarists 21st-century British guitarists 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters