Alvin Lee, R.I.P.

Did you attend the fabled Woodstock Festival? Not one of the lame remakes, but the original three days of peace and music that turned a tiny upstate New York agricultural town into the center of the universe for a couple of spins of the earth’s axis?

I did—and I was miserable every moment. For starters, my pal Tipper and I drove up from our hometown, Suffern, NY, planning to meet my girlfriend on the grounds. Needless to say, as I wandered-wait, Danny Kaye’s rendition of Frank Loesser’s Anywhere I Wander is floating into my head (“Anywhere I wander, anywhere I roam, till I’m in the arms of my darling once more, my heart will know no home”)-I kept wondering where she was, what she was doing, and with whom.

Meanwhile, the place was filthy, sopping wet, and packed with people who seemed to believe that flailing their arms and legs to music with no apparent sense of time was their life’s true purpose. Worst of all, the sound system was terrible. Even from a distant hill, the high frequencies were excruciating.

Which brings me to Alvin Lee, who died unexpectedly today at the age of 68. The central force behind Ten Years After, whose performance at Woodstock was arguably the apex of the band’s life cycle, Lee was a guitarist and singer who loved the blues and the legends who shaped it. For a while, he stood among them.

He may not have possessed a wealth of original ideas, but he had fast hands and a vocal delivery that matched his playing. He’ll be remembered best for “I’m Going Home,” the Ten Years After number featured in the Woodstock film.

Hope you made it home safely, Alvin. Rest in peace.

3/6/2013