We're talking about the heart-rending hit of the Ten Years After group, the song “I'd Love to Change the World”
“I'd Love to Change the World” is a song by the British band Ten Years After. The song was written by Alvin Lee. The song is the lead single from the band's 1971 album A Space in Time. It became the band's only top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 40, and was also a top ten song in Canada.
The history of the song I'd Love to Change the World by Ten Years After
Let's start with the meaning of “I'd Love to Change the World.” This composition takes an in-depth look at topics that were considered significant problems in the world in 1971: overpopulation, economic inequality, environmental pollution, war. Alvin Lee often emphasized in subsequent interviews that the song still remains relevant despite the passage of time. Alvin Lee said:
“I would like to change the world, but I don’t know how to do it, so I leave it to you. I'm just saying that the world really needs a change. I would love to do it, but I don't have the talent. I don’t think I can change the world.”
Ten Years After drummer Rick Lee on the relevance of “I'd Love to Change the World”:
“He would like to change the world, but he can’t do anything about it. It's not really that different from what's going on nowadays, is it?”
“We are all trying to make changes, but it is extremely difficult due to the large number of people on Earth and the inefficient use of resources. We need to act in the coming years, otherwise our children will have nothing to look forward to due to climate change. I believe that the lyrics reflect events both today and in the 1970s, including the Vietnam War.”
The band recorded “I'd Love to Change the World” at a renowned studio in Barnes. Rick wasn't feeling well for a while and waited until Alvin (guitar and vocals), Leo Lyons (bass) and Chick Churchill (keyboards) recorded their parts first.
Rick Lee on recording “I'd Love to Change the World”:
“I put the drums on this track after they had already recorded the melody. I was ill. While I was away, they decided to record “I'd Love to Change the World.” Alvin performed this on his acoustic guitar. Later they turned it into electric. We were in the same London studio where The Rolling Stones recorded.
I enjoyed the sound there because of its natural atmosphere. You have to understand that there were no click tracks in those days. Today they want everything down to a click track, so you only have to play one bar and then they use Pro Tools to cut and paste. Metallica does this. Lars Ulrich is a great drummer, but all he's ever played on records is one bar, and it's used throughout the entire track they make.
Anyway, I show up and they ask me to play drums on this track that they've already finished. I said, “Of course I’ll try.” So I listen to the fluctuations in the tempo of the song. I thought it was pretty cute. But how do you add drums to something like this? I couldn't figure out what the meter was because it varies from verse to chorus in this song. But it only took me three takes! The drum kit was next to the window of the control room, located four steps below.
I will never forget Alvin outside the window encouraging me and giving me a thumbs up. I see it now. His face sparkled with a smile. And I barely heard him shout through the window: “Yes! You did it!” I’ve always taken pride in that.”
The song was released as a single before the release of the band's sixth album, A Space in Time, on the initiative of music director Clive Davis, who signed the band to a contract with the Columbia label. Rick recalls: “Clive said, 'Sign with Columbia and I'll give you a gold album.' And he was right."
“It was Clive Davis. After we worked at London Records, he signed us to Columbia. He invited us into his office and said: “I will give you a gold record. But for this we need a single.” We recorded our sixth album, A Space in Time, in 1971 with this song, which he turned into a hit single, making the album go gold, as he promised.”
The song “I'd Love to Change the World” spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and peaked at number 40. It also remained on the Billboard 200 for seven weeks, peaking at number 17. With the release of the Woodstock documentary in 1970, the song rocketed into the musical stratosphere.
“We started playing a lot more shows on AM radio frequencies rather than FM. As Alvin said, we were sort of an underground band. But after the hit “I'd Love to Change the World,” we were looking at 20,000 seats, like Madison Square Garden.”
The band did not perform the song live while Albert Lee was in the lineup, as he felt that trying to recreate it on stage would be "too restrictive."
