Love (band)
| Love | |
|---|---|
 Love, Da Capo-era. Left to right: Alban Pfisterer, Arthur Lee, Ken Forssi, Bryan Maclean and John Echols. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
| Genres | Folk rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock, baroque pop, R&B |
| Years active | 1965 - 1974, sporadically thereafter |
| Past members | |
| Arthur Lee Bryan MacLean Johnny Echols Ken Forssi Michael Stuart Alban Pfisterer Johnny Fleckenstein Paul Martin Don Conka Tjay Cantrelli Jay Donnellan Frank Fayad George Suranovich Drachen Theaker Gary Rowles Noony Ricket |
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Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee and the group's second songwriter, guitarist Bryan MacLean. One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected different influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk and psychedelia.
Their musical reputation largely rests on two albums issued in 1967, Da Capo and Forever Changes.
Contents |
History
1963-1966
Lee, who had lived in Los Angeles since the age of five, had been recording since 1963 with his bands, the LAG's and Lee's American Four. He had also produced a single, "My Diary", for Rosa Lee Brooks in 1964 which featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar.[1] A garage outfit, The Sons Of Adam, which included future Love drummer Michael Stuart, also recorded a Lee composition, "Feathered Fish". However, after viewing a Byrds performance, Lee determined to join the newly minted folk-rock sound of the Byrds to his primarily rhythm and blues style. Soon after, he formed The Grass Roots with guitarist Johnny Echols (another Memphis native), bassist Johnny Fleckenstein and drummer Don Conka. Byrds roadie Bryan MacLean joined the band just before they changed their name to Love, spurred by the release of a single by another group called The Grass Roots.
Love started playing the L.A. clubs in April 1965 and became a popular act. At this time, they were playing extended numbers such as "Revelation" (originally titled "John Lee Hooker") and getting the attention of such contemporaries as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. The band lived communally in a house once owned by horror actor Bela Lugosi, and their first two albums included photos shot in the garden of that house.
1966-1968
Signed to the Elektra Records label, the band scored a minor hit single in 1966 with their version of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book." In the meantime, Lee had dismissed Conka and Fleckenstein, replacing them with Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer and Ken Forssi (from a post-"Wipe Out" lineup of The Surfaris). Their debut album, Love, was released in May 1966, and included "Signed D.C" and MacLean's "Softly To Me." The album sold moderately well and reached #57 on the album charts.
In August, 1966, the single "7 and 7 Is" became their highest-charting at #33. Two more members were added around this time, Tjay Cantrelli (aka John Barberis) on woodwinds and Michael Stuart on drums. Pfisterer, never a confident drummer, switched to harpsichord.
Their musical reputation largely rests on two albums issued in 1967, Da Capo and Forever Changes. Da Capo, released in January of that year, included rockers like "Stephanie Knows Who" and "7 and 7 Is," and melodic songs such as "¡Qué Vida!" and "She Comes in Colors." Gone were the Byrds influences and jangly guitars, replaced by melodically airy art-songs with predominantly jazz and classical influences. Some critics derided it as a one-side album, with the six songs on Side One contrasting markedly with the lack of focus displayed on the other side, which was devoted entirely to the 19-minute "Revelation." Cantrelli and Pfisterer soon quit the band, leaving it as a five-piece once again.
Forever Changes, released in November 1967, is a suite of songs using acoustic guitars, strings and horns that was recorded while the band was falling apart as the result of various abuses. Producer Bruce Botnick originally planned to record the entire album with session musicians backing Lee and MacLean but after two tracks had been recorded in this way the rest of the band were stung into producing the discipline required to complete the rest of the album in only 64 hours. Writer Richard Meltzer, in his The Aesthetics of Rock, comments on Love's "orchestral moves," "post-doper word contraction cuteness" and Lee's vocal style that serves as a "reaffirmation of Johnny Mathis." Forever Changes included one modest hit single, the MacLean-written "Alone Again Or", while "You Set the Scene" went on to receive airplay from some progressive rock radio stations. By this stage, Love were far more popular in the UK, where the album reached #24, than in their home country, where it could only reach #154. Love did, however, have a strong following in the U.S. at the time among critics.
1968-2006
MacLean, suffering from heroin addiction, soon left the band, as did all the other members except Lee. MacLean later emerged as a Contemporary Christian artist. Echols and Forssi also experienced the ravages of heroin addiction and disappeared from the scene. Arthur Lee, as the only remaining member, convened a new lineup and continued recording as Love. The reconstituted version of Love, which included Jay Donnellan and Gary Rowles on guitars, Frank Fayad on bass, and George Suranovich on drums, played in a blues-rock style very different from the band's previous line-up. Three albums were released by various permutations of this lineup: Four Sail (1969), Out Here (1969), and False Start (1970). The latter featured a guest appearance by Jimi Hendrix. Arthur Lee released the solo album Vindicator in 1972, followed by a final official Love album, Reel to Real (1974), recorded by Lee and session musicians. Love was finally discontinued in the late 1970s, and various plans to reunite various Love lineups in the following years did not come to fruition. Lee reemerged with the one-off single "Girl on Fire" in 1994.
After spending six years in prison from 1995 to 2001 for firearms offenses, Arthur Lee began to play Love's classic songs in concert by reuniting with the members of Baby Lemonade. In the early 2000s, co-founder of Love and original guitarist Johnny Echols rejoined Lee, in this line-up and performed as "Love with Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols." This reformed group toured for several years, frequently performing Forever Changes in its entirety.
Ken Forssi died of a suspected brain tumor in his home state of Florida on January 10, 1998, at age 54. Bryan MacLean died in Los Angeles of a massive heart attack at age 52 on December 25, 1998, while having dinner with a young fan who was researching a book about the band. Arthur Lee died in Memphis, Tenn., on August 3, 2006, of complications from leukemia at age 61.
In 2009, a reformed version of Love, featuring Echols (he and "Snoopy" Pfisterer are the only living original members), members of Baby Lemonade, and Probyn Gregory of the Wondermints toured the United States and Canada.
Influence
Today, the band's critical reputation exceeds the limited success they experienced during their time, their 1967 album Forever Changes being held in particularly high regard. The band's influence extends beyond the realm of 60s psychedelia to such punk and post-punk bands as Television Personalities and The Jesus and Mary Chain. William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain wore a Love t-shirt in his band's video for "Head On" from their Automatic album. The Damned covered "Alone Again Or" on the album Anything, and the Swedish band The Hellacopters covered "A House Is Not A Motel". Love have also influenced many 1960s-inspired Top 40 UK acts, including The Stone Roses, The Bluetones, Shack, The Stands, Primal Scream and Ricky, whose critically acclaimed mini-album, 'You Set The Scene' was named after a song on Forever Changes.
Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant cites Forever Changes as one of his favorite albums ever.[2] A tribute album We're All Normal And We Want Our Freedom: Tribute To Arthur Lee & Love was released in 1994.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK[3] | US[4] | ||
| 1966 | Love | 57 | |
| 1967 | Da Capo
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80 | |
Forever Changes
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24 | 154 | |
| 1969 | Four Sail
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102 | |
Out Here
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29 | 176 | |
| 1970 | False Start
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184 | |
| 1974 | Reel to Real
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| 1992 | Arthur Lee & Love
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| 2009 | Love Lost
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Live albums
- 1980: Love Live - live, 1978 concert
- 1982: Studio / Live - second side live from a 1970 concert
- 2003: The Forever Changes Concert
- 2003: Back on the Scene - live at My Place, Santa Monica in 1991
Compilations
- 1995: Love Story 1966-1972 - compilation
- 2003: The Best of Love - compilation
- 2006: "Love : The definitive Rock Collection" - compilation
Singles
- March 1966: "My Little Red Book" b/w "A Message to Pretty"
- July 1966: "7 and 7 Is" b/w "No. Fourteen"
- December 1966: "She Comes in Colors" b/w "Orange Skies"
- March 1967: "Que Vida" b/w "Hey Joe"
- December 1967: "Alone Again Or" b/w "A House is Not a Motel"
- June 1968: "Your Mind and We Belong Together" b/w "Laughing Stock"
- 1994: "Girl on Fire" b/w "Midnight Sun"
- 2004: "Love on Earth Must Be EP"
Notes
- ↑ Rolling Stone Magazine
- ↑ Rolling Stone Magazine (May 5, 2005). "Q&A: Robert Plant". http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/robertplant/articles/story/7287549/qa_robert_plant. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ↑ Warwick, 2004. p.659
- ↑ "Love > Charts & Awards". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifoxqe5ldde~T5. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
References
- Warwick, Neil; Jon Kutner, & Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1844490580.
External links
- Love site by Torben Skott
- Complete Love discography - With track listings, personnel and lyrics.
- Love featured on Where The Action Was rock history tour
- Official site of Arthur Lee
- The Boston Phoenix July 2008
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