The 1960's produced no shortage of idiosyncratic, quirky bands. Bands that never quite transcended cult status, bands who produced work that stands among the best of the decade but remains little known, bands who never rose above the underground, bands who still elicit positive responses from those hearing them for the first time.
![Love [Promotional Picture]](http://img32.echo.cx/img32/8333/lovepromopic5xo.gif)
Love, from Los Angeles, would have to be considered one of the absolute best of such bands.
In 1966, Love was one of the first wavers in the L.A. psychedelic scene that also produced the Doors; The Byrds, also from L.A., were at their peak creatively at the same time and played on many of the same bills. On the surface, Love can almost be described as an unlikely cross between the two; it featured a Byrdsy folk-rock at the core of much of its music, and dabbled in darker psychedelic sonics, like the Doors. But that was merely one of their dimensions; into this stew they also tossed some jazz, blues, flamenco, garage band hard rock, and orchestral pop. The result were three magnificent albums well known to collectors and aging Angelenos, but not to the public at large. They are deserving of rediscovery.
![Love [Concert Poster]](http://img32.echo.cx/img32/8854/loveconcertposter9oy.gif)
Fronted by charismatic yet enigmatic leader Arthur Lee, who was black, they were one of the very few interracial rock groups. Lee, at the age of 20, had already been hustling in the local music scene for a couple of years when he formed Love in 1965. He had released a couple of singles on his own that went nowhere, including one on Selma, "Luci Baines"/"Soul Food" as The American Four, and had also produced a single for Rosa Lee Brooks that featured little-known sessionman Jimi Hendrix. The band was originally named the Grass Roots, but ceded that name to another L.A. band of the same name, opting for Love instead. On L.A.'s Sunset Strip they played alongside some of the biggest names of the 60's, and quickly developed a devoted following.
Lee was a gifted songwriter, with an understanding of many musical styles. He became the band's chief songwriter, with guitarist Bryan Maclean contributing a couple of songs per album.
They were signed by Elektra records, which specialized in folk and was keen to break into the rock business (they would later sign the Doors). Their first release for the label, Love, appeared in 1966 and earned praise for its melding of Byrds-like folk rock and Stones-ish hard rock. The best example of this is the single, the Burt Bacharach/Hal David penned "My Little Red Book", which remains a top-tier psychedelic punk record; it was a local smash, and charted at #52 nationally. "Signed D.C." was an explicitly anti-heroin song, most likely about original drummer Don Conka, who left the band prior to the Love sessions. The album, which mainly consisted of Lee originals, was a moderate success nationally, reaching #57.
Article comments
1 - Jon Sobel
Great informative mini-history of a band I knew very little about, thanks!
2 - Eric Olsen
super job uao, love the is feature (no pun intended) - very frustrating band Love, greatness and a lot of filler. Teh reissues a few years back reminded me how overproduced much of it was. "Alone Again Or" and "7 and 7 Is" are two of my favorite songs, period. I love the Damned's version of "AAO" also
3 - Vern Halen
I used to hear rumours that Lee cut an entire album eith Hendrix, but it was all tied up in red tape. Anybody know if there's anything to this juicy tidbit?
4 - HW Saxton
Vern, I don't know too much about this
but I'll offer what I know.On Love's LP
"False Start", Jimi H. was supposed to
appear on several cuts.His(Jimi Hendrix)
playing CAN be heard on the Love tune:
"Everlasting First". But because of many
contractual and/or other legal reasons
his(JH's)contributions were either just
rerecorded over or just completely mixed
out of the session entirely.Why? is any
one's guess.But its most definitely both
Jimi and Arthur playing on "Everlasting
First".The LP is on Blue Thumb Records
and ended up being released in 1971. It
is not too hard to find if you don't
mind digging around in dusty old used
record stores(MY favorite hobby)and the
likes. It's not their best work but it
shows a pleasant and new direction for
Arthur and the band.I wish that I could
offer more info but that's all I got for
you. Hope it helps.
HW Saxton
5 - Evan
From: Black Gold - The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix
The Arthur Lee and Love False Start Session
"Although Hendrix is credited with playing on "Everlasting First," there is still more unreleased material from this session, as Lee revealed in a BBC radio interview on July 4, 1980. "We did a long jam as well as we did 'Everlasting First,'" Lee said. "We did about three versions of that. We did 'Ezy Ryder'... and a couple of other things." Crawdaddy magazine (June 1970) reported that 'Ezy Ryder' was once planned as a 1970 Love single on the Blue Thumb label, but was canceled.
I asked Lee what had become of these "lost" tapes. "The last I've seen of the audiotapes was when I gave the master reels to Bob Krasnow, who was then president of Blue Thumb Records," Lee responded. "I asked him to hold them for me and I never got them back. He was the one who was all jazzed about Jimi and I being together." Lee added that he had hoped to start a new band with Hendrix at the time.
STATUS: The 1970 Lee-Hendrix jams remain unreleased. False Start was released in December 1970 on LP (BTS 22) and later on compact disc (MCAD-22029). At one time, it was rumored that Hendrix played guitar on "Slick Dick" and "Ride That Vibration," two additional tracks from False Start, but the guitarist is Love band member Gary Rowles. Black Beauty, a bootleg of Love studio recordings, erroneously identified Hendrix as the lead guitarist."
----------------------------------------
Date: March 17
Event: False Start Recording Sessions
Performer(s): Jimi Hendrix, Love
Song(s): Unknown
Location: Olympic Studios, London, England
In 1970, Arthur Lee asked Hendrix to be guest artist on the Love album False Start. During my interview with Lee in 1992, he stated that the recording session was videotaped: "Someone just told me that the session was videotaped, and they have seen the tape."
STATUS: Missing. So far, no videotape of this recording session has surfaced."
6 - Shark
Great stuff, thanks for the work you put into this.
PS: Forever Changes was great.
7 - Vern Halen
Thanks, everyone. Maybe the great lost whatever will show up one day.....
8 - Tron
If you ask me, Four Sail has aged better than Forever Changes and is the superior album... But, someone decided that Forever Changes was THE Love album (because it has strings?), and all the critics fall in line. Even De Capo is better, imho...
9 - bertolotti
expecting rain - bob dylan