Richard "Ric" Lee (born 20 October 1945) is an English drummer 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

Lee was born in

Mansfield 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 tow ...

, Nottinghamshire, England. Was a founding member of his first band, The Falcons. He was also a drummer for Ricky Storm and The Mansfields, which he was persuaded to leave in August 1965. Soon he took over drumming duties for

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 ...

, with guitarist

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 ...

, and bassist

Leo Lyons Leo David William Lyons (born 30 November 1943) is an English musician, who was most notably the bassist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Biography Leo Lyons was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in November 1943 and became a professi ...

. In 1966 they arrived in London, where a keyboardist,

Chick Churchill Michael George "Chick" Churchill (born 2 January 1946) is an English keyboard player of the late 1960s to 1970s blues rock band Ten Years After. Career Churchill began playing the piano at the age of six and studied classical music until he wa ...

also joined the band. In 1968, the band auditioned at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

in London under the name The Blues Yard, but quickly became the successful outfit,

. With this group, Lee played at

rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...

s including

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

in 1969 and the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

on 29 August 1970 as well as appearances 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 hi ...

, The Miami, Atlanta and Texas Pop Festivals. When Ten Years After disbanded in 1976, Lee formed March Music/Fast Western Productions undertaking

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

, management and

record production A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and signed acts such as the

Incredible Kidda Band The Incredible Kidda Band (aka The Kidda Band) were a British power pop band formed in Nuneaton on 10 February 1976, and composed of Alan Hammonds (guitars, vocals), Graham "Kidder" Hammonds (percussion, backing vocals), Dave 'Legs' Lister, (le ...

. He was rumored to be potential replacement in 1980 for deceased

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove,J ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

, but the band decided to disband in honor of their band-mate. In 1994, Lee formed The Breakers with an old friend, Ian Ellis (ex-

Clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

) and together they wrote and produced their first studio album "MILAN", which was released in July 1995. Along with tours of the UK and Europe, The Breakers were guests with Bryan Adams and Bonnie Raitt, on NBC Super Channel's "Talking Blues" programme that aired in Europe in March 1996. In 2000, Ric Lee joined

Kim Simmonds Kim Maiden Simmonds (5 December 1947 – 13 December 2022) was a Welsh musician who was the founder, guitarist, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the blues rock band Savoy Brown. Simmonds has led Savoy Brown since its inception ...

and Nathaniel Perterson in

Savoy Brown Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band) were an English blues rock band formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they ...

for a European tour. In 2011, Lee formed the 'Ric Lee Blues Project' which was later renamed 'Ric Lee's Natural Born Swingers' for their 2012 album release ''Put a Record On''. The band featured Bob Hall of

, Danny Handley from

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

and British session bassist Scott Whitley who has worked with many major acts from around the world. The album received substantial airplay on European and internet radio. Handley and Whitely have left the band.

John Idan John Idan is an American guitarist and vocalist from Detroit, best known for his work with the Yardbirds, the McCarty Band, and his own bands, the John Idan Group and the Top Topham – John Idan Band. Career John Idan, who is originally fr ...

, known for his work with the reformed Yardbirds, joined the band on guitar and vocals. Ten Years After continued touring after Alvin Lee's death (on 6 March 2013) with a lineup featuring originals Chick Churchill and Ric Lee plus two new members: guitarist/vocalist

Marcus Bonfanti Marcus Bonfanti is a British blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released three albums and one EP, and works both as a solo musician and, since 2014, as the frontman for the British blues rock group Ten Years After. His most recent ...

(British Blues Awards winner) and bassist

Colin Hodgkinson Colin Hodgkinson (born 14 October 1945, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s. Career Hodgkinson played in several bands, but was even more prolific as a sessio ...

. This incarnation released its first studio album, ''A Sting in the Tale'', in 2017. Lee's autobiography ''From Headstocks To Woodstock'' was published by Grafika in May 2019. He has two children and lives in the

Derbyshire Dales Derbyshire Dales ( ) is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 71,116. Much of it is in the Peak District, although most of its population lies along the River Derwent. The borough borders ...

References

External links

Biography
1945 births Living people 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians English rock drummers English record producers English music publishers (people) English songwriters English rock musicians English blues musicians Blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians People from Derbyshire Dales (district) People from Mansfield Musicians from Nottinghamshire Ten Years After members Decca Records artists Deram Records artists Columbia Records artists Chrysalis Records artists Capitol Records artists 20th-century drummers 21st-century drummers Chicken Shack members {{UK-drummer-stub