Arthur Lee (musician)
Encyclopedia
Arthur Lee was the frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
of the Los Angeles
rock band Love
, best known for the critically acclaimed 1967 album, Forever Changes
.
, the son of Chester Taylor, a jazz
cornet
player and Agnes Taylor, a school teacher. He and his mother moved to Los Angeles
when he was five. In 1953 his mother married Clinton Lee, who adopted Arthur and legally changed his name to Arthur Taylor Lee.
Arthur spent his childhood and teenage years in the now historic West Adams District of Los Angeles. He attended Dorsey High School, where he excelled in basketball, and held the record for most points scored in a single game. During his high school years he teamed up with family friend Johnny Echols (also originally from Tennessee) and formed various musical groups.
(future co-founder, guitarist and vocalist of Love), Lee (organ), Allan Talbert (saxophone) and Roland Davis (drums).
As a songwriter, Lee composed the surf songs "White Caps" and "Ski Surfin' Sanctuary". "My Diary" is the first Lee composition that came near to being a hit. It was written for the R&B
singer Rosa Lee Brooks, who performed and recorded it. This recording included Jimi Hendrix
on electric guitar. Lee had seen Hendrix backing up the Isley Brothers.
Lee wrote "I've Been Tryin'" for Little Ray
. "Luci Baines", a song about President Lyndon Johnson's daughter, was performed and recorded with Lee's new band, The American Four. He composed "Everybody Jerk" and "Slow Jerk" for Ronnie And The Pomona Casuals, a band that put out an LP on the Donna label featuring some vocals by Lee.
These early recordings are very rare but have been collected on a 1997 bootleg CD. The American Four however have since been reissued as a 45 and are also available now on iTunes
.
, he felt vindicated since he'd already been writing music that had a similar folk rock
sound. In 1965, The Grass Roots, his folk rock unit eventually changed their name to Love because there was already a signed act called The Grass Roots
. Several other names were considered, including Bryan MacLean
's choice of Summer's Children as well as other such as The Asylum Choir, Dr Strangelove and Poetic Justice and The Love. The name Love was chosen after a club audience voted it as the best choice. According to Barney Hoskyns' 2001 book Arthur Lee: Alone Again Or, Manson Family member and sometime Grass Roots guitarist Bobby Beausoleil
claimed that Arthur had named the band Love in honor of one of Beausoleil's nicknames, Cupid
.
Lee's early appearances were at clubs in Hollywood. He played them all, including the Brave New World, Hullabaloo, Bido Lito's and the Sea Witch. At Bido Lito's, a tiny hole-in-the-wall club located on a cul-de-sac known as Cosmo's Alley, Lee first showed he had superstar potential. The Bido Lito's audience was sometimes dotted by celebrities, including actor Sal Mineo
, and rock stars Mick Jagger
, Brian Jones
, Bob Dylan
and Jimi Hendrix
, who would go on to collaborate with Lee on future recording projects. Lee then got the opportunity to play the larger Whisky a Go-Go on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip
, after which Love received a recording contract by Elektra Records
.
Love's music has been described as a mixture of folk-rock, psychedelic rock
, baroque pop
, Spanish-tinged pop, R&B
, garage rock
, and even protopunk
. Though Lee's vocals have garnered some comparisons to Johnny Mathis
, his lyrics often dwell on matters dark and vexing, but often with a wry humor. The group's cover of the Burt Bacharach
/Hal David
composition "My Little Red Book" (first recorded by Manfred Mann
for the soundtrack of What's New, Pussycat?) received a thumbs-down from Bacharach: Love had altered the former Marlene Dietrich
bandleader's chord changes. Nonetheless, the record was a Southern California
hit and won Lee and Love a spot on American Bandstand
.
Love released three albums with core members Lee, Echols (lead guitar, vocals), Bryan MacLean
(guitar, vocals) and Ken Forssi
(bass). The drum chair revolved between Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer (Love
, "Seven & Seven Is") and Michael Stuart (Da Capo excepting "Seven & Seven Is", Forever Changes). However, it has been reported that Pfisterer found the demanding drum parts on "Seven & Seven Is" so exhausting that he and Arthur alternated takes, with Lee himself drumming on every other take. On Da Capo, Tjay Cantrelli was added on saxophone and flute while Pfisterer was moved to organ and harpsichord. Both were out of the group by the time Forever Changes was recorded.
Love
(1966) included their cover of "My Little Red Book". Side two of Da Capo
(1967) featured just one song — "Revelation". The first side, however, contained six individual songs, including their only single to achieve any success in the Billboard Top 40 chart: "7&7 Is". Forever Changes
(1967) followed, the album a centerpiece of the group's psychedelic
-tinged sound, bolstered by David Angel's arrangements.
Forever Changes is regarded by critics and fans alike as Love's finest recording, and one of the best records of the '60s. Despite this acclaim, the LP sold moderately in its time (reaching #154 on the Top 200 albums, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks, without the benefit of a hit single), although it reached the top 30 in the UK
. Nonetheless, its cult status
grew.
After Forever Changes, the band managed to record one more non-album single ("Your Mind and We Belong Together" b/w "Laughing Stock") which was released in June 1968 and failed to chart. Love then dissolved due to drug and money issues, only to have Lee revive the group name shortly thereafter. The new Love featured a lineup consisting of Lee on vocals and guitar, Jay Donnellan on guitar, Frank Fayad on bass, and George Suranovich on drums despite a few tracks featuring The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
drummer Drachen Theaker on the kit. Lee signed a record deal with Bob Krasnow
's Blue Thumb label during this time, but without mentioning to Krasnow that he was technically still signed to Elektra Records
. Lee had wanted out of his Elektra deal since 1966 (the year the self titled debut was released). Elektra founder Jac Holzman
did not want to let Lee out of his contract because he admired his talents so much, but he also did not want to keep an artist who did not want to be kept, so a deal was worked out between Jac Holzman
and Bob Krasnow
whereby Lee could record for Blue Thumb with Holzman getting choice of ten of the resulting songs to fulfill the Elektra contract of a fourth album. That album would become "Four Sail", Lee's pun on his original title "For Sale". A mere three months after the release of "Four Sail," Blue Thumb records would release their Love album titled "Out Here."
The album titled "Out Here" would feature essentially the same line up as "Four Sail" sans guitarist Jay Donnellan who would later be replaced with Gary Rowles. Lee felt that Donnellan was getting a little too egotistical for his tastes. This new lineup consisted of musicians who were not fans of "Forever Changes," thus a harder edged, almost acid rock/country rock sound was to be the new direction of Love
. During the initial sessions for "Four Sail/Out Here" Bob Krasnow
approached Arthur Lee about the possibility of rounding up the original members of Love. Krasnow felt there was some magic missing with the new line up. Lee obliged him, and started rehearsing and even recording some with original members Johnny Echols, Michael Stuart, and Ken Forssi. Bryan MacLean
had refused to work with Arthur. Heroin proved to be too dominant in the lives of guitarist Johnny Echols and Ken Forssi. Both men were constantly pawning off the rented equipment for drug money and were eventually let go yet again. Love would also tour both "Four Sail" and "Out Here" for what would become their first ever trip to Europe where they were always more popular. This Love however would go on to do a nationally televised performance on Dutch television and would also feature promotional videos for older songs from the Elektra years. Out Here managed to chart at #29 in the UK in May 1970.
The next album to appear from Love would be titled "False Start" and would also be a part of the Blue Thumb label. This album continues on with the heavier sonic direction of acid rock, while featuring more elements of classic R&B. One new member was added to this incarnation of Love, a vocalist/guitarist named Nooney Rickett. The most notable aspect of this album remains the fact that the opening track (titled The Everlasting First") features Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Apparently Arthur ran into Jimi while in England, and they decided to record on Bob Krasnow
's dime. For years there would be rumors that Arthur and Jimi recorded an entire record together but the truth surfaced in 2009 when an acetate from Blue Thumb made rounds and it was revealed that there was only a long jam session (titled Jam on the actual acetate, to accompany "The Everlasting First" and an early version of "Easy Rider"). Accordng to legend, Arthur overheard Bob Krasnow
telling someone that if the "False Start" album did not crack the top 10 he was going to release the band from its contract. Moreover, Arthur made Krasnow give him that in writing. The album would not even grace the top 200 on the billboard charts. Not even the inclusion of Jimi Hendrix
's last recording would save this album. Arthur would break up this version of Love a mere two months after their tour was over.
The post-"Forever Changes" albums were never really well received by fans and critics alike. The sound had changed, and Arthur was being accused of trying to imitate Jimi Hendrix
, especially after his death.
In 1971, Lee was signed to Columbia Records
and spent the better part of the summer recording, all of the songs were deemed unworthy of issue. (The entire Columbia project, along with a handful of demos were released for the first time in 2009 on Sundazed
as "Love Lost.")
, on A&M Records
, featuring a new group of musicians also playing as the band Love. At one point in time they would use the name Bandaid, a name originally suggested by Jimi Hendrix for a briefly considered lineup of himself, Lee, and Steve Winwood
. This album failed to chart. Lee recorded a second solo album in 1973 entitled Black Beauty for Buffalo Records, but the label folded before the album was released.
Lee's next move was to credit the backing group for Black Beauty with the addition of guitarist John Sterling as a new Love for Reel to Real, which was released on RSO Records
in December 1974. Once again, the album went nearly unnoticed.
A new Lee solo album — called just Arthur Lee — appeared on Rhino Records in 1981, featuring covers of The Bobbettes' "Mr Lee" and Jimmy Cliff
's "Many Rivers to Cross" and musicians Sterling on guitar, George Suranovich on drums and Kim Kesterson on bass as well as some of the members from "Reel to Real".
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there were various attempts to reunite the original Love lineup. At the suggestion of guitarist John Sterling who first joined Arthur for the "Reel To Real" album, one such show from the Whisky in Oct. of 1978 was recorded by Sterling on cassette. It featuring Lee and Bryan MacLean with Sterling on guitar, George Suranovich on drums and Kim Kesterson on bass, and was released on Rhino as a live album picture disc entitled Love Live on Rhino Records in 1982. Also in 1982, MCA released Studio/Live, which was a collection of tracks from the early 1970s incarnation of Love coordinated by Rock Lawyer/Journalist Stann Findelle, including never before heard tracks recorded from Bill Graham's Fillmore East.
Save for the "Studio/Live package on MCA, the 1980s were a mostly fallow period for Lee. According to him: "I was gone for a decade. I went back to my old neighborhood to take care of my father, who was dying of cancer. I was tired of signing autographs. I was tired of being BS'd out of my money...I just got tired." Alice Cooper did record a cover version of Lee's "7&7 Is" on a 1981 album, Special Forces
.
Lee did not re-emerge until 1992, with a new album entitled Arthur Lee & Love - Five String Serenade on the French New Rose label. Lee also played gigs around this time in Paris, London and Liverpool with Mick and John Head of legendary Liverpool
bands Shack
and The Pale Fountains
.
In 1993 he played shows in New York
and England
. The following year he released a 45rpm single,"Girl on Fire", backed with "Midnight Sun" — on Distortions Records. He began to tour regularly with a backup band comprising former members of Das Damen, and LA group Baby Lemonade
.
In 1995, Rhino Records released the compilation Love Story, a two-disc set with extensive liner notes which chronicled the period 1966–1972, and reignited interest in the band. In fact, the original Love planned to reform and tour in promotion of the compilation, but Arthur's legal troubles got in the way.
meant Lee was forced to serve a prison term, having previously been convicted on "a couple of assault
and drug charges" in the 1980s. While in prison Lee refused visitors and interviews. Former bandmates Bryan MacLean
and Ken Forssi
both died while Lee was incarcerated, ending any speculation as to a full-fledged Love reunion.
One bright spot for Lee was the inclusion of two Love tracks, "My Little Red Book" (from Love) and "Always See Your Face" (from Four Sail), on the soundtrack of John Cusack
's adaptation of Nick Hornby
's High Fidelity
. (Lee's songs have been heard in other films as well, notably "7 & 7 Is" in both 1990's Point Break
and 1996's Bottle Rocket
).
On December 12, 2001, Lee was released from prison, having served 5½ years of his original sentence. A federal appeals court in California reversed the charge of negligent discharge of a firearm, as it found that the prosecutor at Lee's trial was guilty of misconduct. After Lee was freed, he put together a new incarnation of Love and planned a Forever Changes
35th Anniversary Tour, to kick off at the Royal Festival Hall
in London.
The Make-Up released a song calling for Arthur Lee's release, called "Free Arthur Lee."
, North America
and Australia
. Arthur Lee and The Love band (aka) Baby Lemonade, who first performed with Lee in May 1993 at Raji's, began performing the Forever Changes
album in its entirety, often with a string and horn section. A live CD and DVD of this material was released in 2003.
Johnny Echols joined the new group for a special Forever Changes
35th Anniversary Tour performance at Royce Hall, UCLA, in the spring of 2003. Lee and the band continued to tour throughout 2003 and 2004, including many concerts in and around hometown Los Angeles, notably a show at the outdoor Sunset Junction festival and a headlining date with The Zombies
. Echols occasionally joined Lee and the group on the continuing and final tours of 2004 to 2005.
Because of Arthur Lee's illness (acute myeloid leukemia
), the details of which were not known by the band at the time, he could not participate in the final tour in July 2005. Since no one knew of his illness, Arthur's decision to forgo the final tour was met with angry, confused reactions. The remaining members of the band, along with Echols, continued to perform at the venues of the last tour (July 2005) without Lee, under the name The Love Band.
At the end of September 2005 Lee moved to Memphis, Tennessee
, where he planned to continue to make music and continue the name Love. Joining him was to be drummer Greg Roberson (Reigning Sound, Her Majesty's Buzz, Compulsive Gamblers) to put together a new lineup in Memphis, which was to include Adam Woodard, Alex Greene (The Reigning Sound, Big Ass Truck), Jack "Oblivian" Yarber, Alicja Trout
, and Johnny Echols
from the original Love line-up. Ultimately Arthur's ill health prevented this from happening.
In April 2006 it was publicly announced that Lee was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia
. A tribute fund was set up shortly after the announcement, with a series of benefit concerts to be performed to help pay medical bills. The most notable of these concerts was produced by Steve Weitzman of SW Productions at New York's Beacon Theater on June 23, 2006, and featured Robert Plant
, Ian Hunter
, Ryan Adams
, Nils Lofgren
, Yo La Tengo
, Garland Jeffreys
, Johnny Echols
(Love's original lead guitarist) and Flashy Python & The Body Snatchers (featuring Alec Ounsworth
of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
). Robert Plant
, backed by Ian Hunter's band performed 12 songs, including five Led Zeppelin
songs and five recorded by Love in the 60s ("Seven And Seven Is", "A House Is Not A Motel", "Bummer In The Summer", "Old Man" and "Hey Joe").
Lee underwent several months of aggressive treatment, which included three bouts of chemotherapy
, followed by a stem cell transplant on May 25, 2006 using stem cell
s from an umbilical cord
blood donor; Lee was the first adult patient in Tennessee to receive this treatment. His condition worsened, however, and Lee died on August 3, 2006, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, with his wife Diane at his side.
, who had known and written about Lee ever since his early days on the Sunset Strip
.
In Lee's absence, many current artists such as Nicole Atkins
, Golden Animals, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
, The Dears
, Siddhartha, Names and Faces, The Brian Jonestown Massacre
, Apollo Heights
, Stuart Murdoch
of Belle & Sebastian
, and Yo La Tengo
cite his music as a major influence.
Robyn Hitchcock
's 1993 song "The Wreck of the Arthur Lee" was written as a tribute to the singer.
Arthur Lee is mentioned in the song "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken
", by Lloyd Cole & the Commotions.
Arthur Lee is the subject of the song "Byrds Turn to Stone" (originally titled "Mr Lee") by Liverpool band (and former Arthur Lee backing group) Shack
.
Rival Schools
and Quicksand
frontman Walter Schreifels
paid tribute to Arthur Lee on his 2010 solo album An Open Letter To The Scene with a track titled "Arthur Lee`s Lullaby".
In June 2010 the biography Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love by author John Einarson, with extracts from Arthur Lee's own memoirs, was released by Jawbone press
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
of the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
rock band Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
, best known for the critically acclaimed 1967 album, Forever Changes
Forever Changes
Forever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
.
Early years
Lee was born Arthur Taylor in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, the son of Chester Taylor, a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
player and Agnes Taylor, a school teacher. He and his mother moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
when he was five. In 1953 his mother married Clinton Lee, who adopted Arthur and legally changed his name to Arthur Taylor Lee.
Arthur spent his childhood and teenage years in the now historic West Adams District of Los Angeles. He attended Dorsey High School, where he excelled in basketball, and held the record for most points scored in a single game. During his high school years he teamed up with family friend Johnny Echols (also originally from Tennessee) and formed various musical groups.
Pre-Love
His first known recording is from 1963. The Ninth Wave was released by his first band, the instrumental outfit called The LAGs, a Booker T & The MG's type of unit which included Johnny EcholsJohnny Echols
Johnny Echols is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has played in bands with performers such as Little Richard, Billy Preston and Jimi Hendrix, and was the guitarist on many recording sessions with Miles Davis...
(future co-founder, guitarist and vocalist of Love), Lee (organ), Allan Talbert (saxophone) and Roland Davis (drums).
As a songwriter, Lee composed the surf songs "White Caps" and "Ski Surfin' Sanctuary". "My Diary" is the first Lee composition that came near to being a hit. It was written for the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer Rosa Lee Brooks, who performed and recorded it. This recording included Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
on electric guitar. Lee had seen Hendrix backing up the Isley Brothers.
Lee wrote "I've Been Tryin'" for Little Ray
Little Ray
Little Ray also known as Ray Jimenez, was an East Los Angeles, Chicano rock and brown-eyed soul musician, prominent in the 1960s who sang up tempo Rhythm and Blues. Little Ray was born in Delano, California. His first record was “There’s Something On Your Mind.”Little Ray sang briefly with Thee...
. "Luci Baines", a song about President Lyndon Johnson's daughter, was performed and recorded with Lee's new band, The American Four. He composed "Everybody Jerk" and "Slow Jerk" for Ronnie And The Pomona Casuals, a band that put out an LP on the Donna label featuring some vocals by Lee.
These early recordings are very rare but have been collected on a 1997 bootleg CD. The American Four however have since been reissued as a 45 and are also available now on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Love
Lee said when he first heard The ByrdsThe Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, he felt vindicated since he'd already been writing music that had a similar folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
sound. In 1965, The Grass Roots, his folk rock unit eventually changed their name to Love because there was already a signed act called The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots
The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted between 1966 and 1975 as the brainchild of songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri.In their career, The Grass Roots achieved two gold albums, one gold single and charted singles a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they...
. Several other names were considered, including Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
's choice of Summer's Children as well as other such as The Asylum Choir, Dr Strangelove and Poetic Justice and The Love. The name Love was chosen after a club audience voted it as the best choice. According to Barney Hoskyns' 2001 book Arthur Lee: Alone Again Or, Manson Family member and sometime Grass Roots guitarist Bobby Beausoleil
Bobby Beausoleil
Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Beausoleil is a convicted American murderer and associate of the Charles Manson "Family" who is serving a life sentence. He killed music teacher and fellow associate Gary Hinman on July 27, 1969, and has been imprisoned since his arrest for that crime...
claimed that Arthur had named the band Love in honor of one of Beausoleil's nicknames, Cupid
Cupid
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
.
Lee's early appearances were at clubs in Hollywood. He played them all, including the Brave New World, Hullabaloo, Bido Lito's and the Sea Witch. At Bido Lito's, a tiny hole-in-the-wall club located on a cul-de-sac known as Cosmo's Alley, Lee first showed he had superstar potential. The Bido Lito's audience was sometimes dotted by celebrities, including actor Sal Mineo
Sal Mineo
Salvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. , was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause...
, and rock stars Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, who would go on to collaborate with Lee on future recording projects. Lee then got the opportunity to play the larger Whisky a Go-Go on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
, after which Love received a recording contract by Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
.
Love's music has been described as a mixture of folk-rock, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, baroque pop
Baroque pop
Baroque pop, Baroque rock, or English baroque, often used interchangeably with chamber pop/rock, is a pop and rock music subgenre which originated in the mid-1960s in the United Kingdom and United States...
, Spanish-tinged pop, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, and even protopunk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
. Though Lee's vocals have garnered some comparisons to Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, his lyrics often dwell on matters dark and vexing, but often with a wry humor. The group's cover of the Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
/Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
composition "My Little Red Book" (first recorded by Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
for the soundtrack of What's New, Pussycat?) received a thumbs-down from Bacharach: Love had altered the former Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
bandleader's chord changes. Nonetheless, the record was a Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
hit and won Lee and Love a spot on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
.
Love released three albums with core members Lee, Echols (lead guitar, vocals), Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
(guitar, vocals) and Ken Forssi
Ken Forssi
Kenneth Raymond Forssi, known as "Kenny" early in life and then "Ken" , was an American musician. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest child of Raymond B. and Lola G. Forssi. When he was about 9 years old, his family moved to Siesta Key, on the Florida west coast, and then, shortly moved on...
(bass). The drum chair revolved between Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer (Love
Love (Love album)
Love is the eponymous debut by the Los Angeles-based rock band Love. Twelve of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966...
, "Seven & Seven Is") and Michael Stuart (Da Capo excepting "Seven & Seven Is", Forever Changes). However, it has been reported that Pfisterer found the demanding drum parts on "Seven & Seven Is" so exhausting that he and Arthur alternated takes, with Lee himself drumming on every other take. On Da Capo, Tjay Cantrelli was added on saxophone and flute while Pfisterer was moved to organ and harpsichord. Both were out of the group by the time Forever Changes was recorded.
Love
Love (Love album)
Love is the eponymous debut by the Los Angeles-based rock band Love. Twelve of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966...
(1966) included their cover of "My Little Red Book". Side two of Da Capo
Da Capo (Love album)
Da Capo is the second album by American rock group Love, released in January 1967 by Elektra Records. The bulk of Da Capo was recorded between September 27 and October 2, 1966. "7 and 7 Is" was recorded on June 20, and had been released as a single in July of 1966 backed with "No. Fourteen", an...
(1967) featured just one song — "Revelation". The first side, however, contained six individual songs, including their only single to achieve any success in the Billboard Top 40 chart: "7&7 Is". Forever Changes
Forever Changes
Forever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
(1967) followed, the album a centerpiece of the group's psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
-tinged sound, bolstered by David Angel's arrangements.
Forever Changes is regarded by critics and fans alike as Love's finest recording, and one of the best records of the '60s. Despite this acclaim, the LP sold moderately in its time (reaching #154 on the Top 200 albums, and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks, without the benefit of a hit single), although it reached the top 30 in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Nonetheless, its cult status
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
grew.
After Forever Changes, the band managed to record one more non-album single ("Your Mind and We Belong Together" b/w "Laughing Stock") which was released in June 1968 and failed to chart. Love then dissolved due to drug and money issues, only to have Lee revive the group name shortly thereafter. The new Love featured a lineup consisting of Lee on vocals and guitar, Jay Donnellan on guitar, Frank Fayad on bass, and George Suranovich on drums despite a few tracks featuring The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown is a psychedelic rock album by Arthur Brown and his band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, released in 1968. Considered a classic of the late-1960s psychedelic scene and a significant influence on progressive rock, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown includes covers of...
drummer Drachen Theaker on the kit. Lee signed a record deal with Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow is a leading music industry entrepreneur. His early career included working as a promotions man for James Brown and sales representative for Decca Records. In the early 1960s, Krasnow founded MK Records, which released the novelty record "," a parody of the 1960 presidential campaign...
's Blue Thumb label during this time, but without mentioning to Krasnow that he was technically still signed to Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Lee had wanted out of his Elektra deal since 1966 (the year the self titled debut was released). Elektra founder Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman was the founder, chief executive officer and head of both Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Biography:He founded Elektra Records in his St. John's College dorm room in 1950 and Nonesuch Records in 1964...
did not want to let Lee out of his contract because he admired his talents so much, but he also did not want to keep an artist who did not want to be kept, so a deal was worked out between Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman was the founder, chief executive officer and head of both Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Biography:He founded Elektra Records in his St. John's College dorm room in 1950 and Nonesuch Records in 1964...
and Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow is a leading music industry entrepreneur. His early career included working as a promotions man for James Brown and sales representative for Decca Records. In the early 1960s, Krasnow founded MK Records, which released the novelty record "," a parody of the 1960 presidential campaign...
whereby Lee could record for Blue Thumb with Holzman getting choice of ten of the resulting songs to fulfill the Elektra contract of a fourth album. That album would become "Four Sail", Lee's pun on his original title "For Sale". A mere three months after the release of "Four Sail," Blue Thumb records would release their Love album titled "Out Here."
The album titled "Out Here" would feature essentially the same line up as "Four Sail" sans guitarist Jay Donnellan who would later be replaced with Gary Rowles. Lee felt that Donnellan was getting a little too egotistical for his tastes. This new lineup consisted of musicians who were not fans of "Forever Changes," thus a harder edged, almost acid rock/country rock sound was to be the new direction of Love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
. During the initial sessions for "Four Sail/Out Here" Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow is a leading music industry entrepreneur. His early career included working as a promotions man for James Brown and sales representative for Decca Records. In the early 1960s, Krasnow founded MK Records, which released the novelty record "," a parody of the 1960 presidential campaign...
approached Arthur Lee about the possibility of rounding up the original members of Love. Krasnow felt there was some magic missing with the new line up. Lee obliged him, and started rehearsing and even recording some with original members Johnny Echols, Michael Stuart, and Ken Forssi. Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
had refused to work with Arthur. Heroin proved to be too dominant in the lives of guitarist Johnny Echols and Ken Forssi. Both men were constantly pawning off the rented equipment for drug money and were eventually let go yet again. Love would also tour both "Four Sail" and "Out Here" for what would become their first ever trip to Europe where they were always more popular. This Love however would go on to do a nationally televised performance on Dutch television and would also feature promotional videos for older songs from the Elektra years. Out Here managed to chart at #29 in the UK in May 1970.
The next album to appear from Love would be titled "False Start" and would also be a part of the Blue Thumb label. This album continues on with the heavier sonic direction of acid rock, while featuring more elements of classic R&B. One new member was added to this incarnation of Love, a vocalist/guitarist named Nooney Rickett. The most notable aspect of this album remains the fact that the opening track (titled The Everlasting First") features Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Apparently Arthur ran into Jimi while in England, and they decided to record on Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow is a leading music industry entrepreneur. His early career included working as a promotions man for James Brown and sales representative for Decca Records. In the early 1960s, Krasnow founded MK Records, which released the novelty record "," a parody of the 1960 presidential campaign...
's dime. For years there would be rumors that Arthur and Jimi recorded an entire record together but the truth surfaced in 2009 when an acetate from Blue Thumb made rounds and it was revealed that there was only a long jam session (titled Jam on the actual acetate, to accompany "The Everlasting First" and an early version of "Easy Rider"). Accordng to legend, Arthur overheard Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow
Bob Krasnow is a leading music industry entrepreneur. His early career included working as a promotions man for James Brown and sales representative for Decca Records. In the early 1960s, Krasnow founded MK Records, which released the novelty record "," a parody of the 1960 presidential campaign...
telling someone that if the "False Start" album did not crack the top 10 he was going to release the band from its contract. Moreover, Arthur made Krasnow give him that in writing. The album would not even grace the top 200 on the billboard charts. Not even the inclusion of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's last recording would save this album. Arthur would break up this version of Love a mere two months after their tour was over.
The post-"Forever Changes" albums were never really well received by fans and critics alike. The sound had changed, and Arthur was being accused of trying to imitate Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, especially after his death.
In 1971, Lee was signed to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and spent the better part of the summer recording, all of the songs were deemed unworthy of issue. (The entire Columbia project, along with a handful of demos were released for the first time in 2009 on Sundazed
Sundazed Records
Sundazed Records is a record label based in Coxsackie, in the Catskills of New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s.Label founders Bob Irwin and his wife Mary started the label in 1989...
as "Love Lost.")
Solo career
In July 1972, Lee released his first solo album, VindicatorVindicator (album)
Vindicator is the first solo album by Arthur Lee, formerly of the rock band Love, released in 1972.-Track listing:#"Sad Song" – 2:20#"You Can Save Up to 50%, But You're Still a Long Ways from Home" – 0:17#"Love Jumped Through My Window" – 2:56...
, on A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, featuring a new group of musicians also playing as the band Love. At one point in time they would use the name Bandaid, a name originally suggested by Jimi Hendrix for a briefly considered lineup of himself, Lee, and Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
. This album failed to chart. Lee recorded a second solo album in 1973 entitled Black Beauty for Buffalo Records, but the label folded before the album was released.
Lee's next move was to credit the backing group for Black Beauty with the addition of guitarist John Sterling as a new Love for Reel to Real, which was released on RSO Records
RSO Records
RSO Records was a record label, formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood in 1973. The "RSO" stands for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair...
in December 1974. Once again, the album went nearly unnoticed.
A new Lee solo album — called just Arthur Lee — appeared on Rhino Records in 1981, featuring covers of The Bobbettes' "Mr Lee" and Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences...
's "Many Rivers to Cross" and musicians Sterling on guitar, George Suranovich on drums and Kim Kesterson on bass as well as some of the members from "Reel to Real".
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there were various attempts to reunite the original Love lineup. At the suggestion of guitarist John Sterling who first joined Arthur for the "Reel To Real" album, one such show from the Whisky in Oct. of 1978 was recorded by Sterling on cassette. It featuring Lee and Bryan MacLean with Sterling on guitar, George Suranovich on drums and Kim Kesterson on bass, and was released on Rhino as a live album picture disc entitled Love Live on Rhino Records in 1982. Also in 1982, MCA released Studio/Live, which was a collection of tracks from the early 1970s incarnation of Love coordinated by Rock Lawyer/Journalist Stann Findelle, including never before heard tracks recorded from Bill Graham's Fillmore East.
Save for the "Studio/Live package on MCA, the 1980s were a mostly fallow period for Lee. According to him: "I was gone for a decade. I went back to my old neighborhood to take care of my father, who was dying of cancer. I was tired of signing autographs. I was tired of being BS'd out of my money...I just got tired." Alice Cooper did record a cover version of Lee's "7&7 Is" on a 1981 album, Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
.
Lee did not re-emerge until 1992, with a new album entitled Arthur Lee & Love - Five String Serenade on the French New Rose label. Lee also played gigs around this time in Paris, London and Liverpool with Mick and John Head of legendary Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
bands Shack
Shack (band)
Shack are an English band formed in Liverpool in 1987. Originally Shack consisted of Mick Head , his brother John Head , Justin Smith and Mick Hurst.-The Pale Fountains:...
and The Pale Fountains
The Pale Fountains
The Pale Fountains were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1980, and composed of Mick Head , Chris McCaffery , Thomas Whelan and former Dislocation Dance trumpeter Andy Diagram .-Career:...
.
In 1993 he played shows in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The following year he released a 45rpm single,"Girl on Fire", backed with "Midnight Sun" — on Distortions Records. He began to tour regularly with a backup band comprising former members of Das Damen, and LA group Baby Lemonade
Baby Lemonade
Baby Lemonade is a band in the neo-psychedelic genre formed in Los Angeles. Their 1998 album Exploring Music was produced by Darian Sahanaja of The Wondermints. The group was Love founder Arthur Lee's backing band prior to his incarceration, and after his release from prison in 2001 until his death...
.
In 1995, Rhino Records released the compilation Love Story, a two-disc set with extensive liner notes which chronicled the period 1966–1972, and reignited interest in the band. In fact, the original Love planned to reform and tour in promotion of the compilation, but Arthur's legal troubles got in the way.
Prison
In the autumn of 1996, Arthur Lee was sentenced to 12 years for illegal possession of a firearm. Lee was convicted of negligent discharge of a firearm. California's three strikes lawThree strikes law
Three strikes laws)"are statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions. These statutes became...
meant Lee was forced to serve a prison term, having previously been convicted on "a couple of assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
and drug charges" in the 1980s. While in prison Lee refused visitors and interviews. Former bandmates Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean
Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
and Ken Forssi
Ken Forssi
Kenneth Raymond Forssi, known as "Kenny" early in life and then "Ken" , was an American musician. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest child of Raymond B. and Lola G. Forssi. When he was about 9 years old, his family moved to Siesta Key, on the Florida west coast, and then, shortly moved on...
both died while Lee was incarcerated, ending any speculation as to a full-fledged Love reunion.
One bright spot for Lee was the inclusion of two Love tracks, "My Little Red Book" (from Love) and "Always See Your Face" (from Four Sail), on the soundtrack of John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
's adaptation of Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.-Life and career:Hornby was...
's High Fidelity
High Fidelity (film)
High Fidelity is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack and the Danish actress Iben Hjejle. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the name of the lead character...
. (Lee's songs have been heard in other films as well, notably "7 & 7 Is" in both 1990's Point Break
Point Break
Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term point break, where a wave breaks as it hits a point of land jutting out from the coastline.The film was a box office success upon...
and 1996's Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket
Bottle Rocket is a 1996 comedy film directed by Wes Anderson. It was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson. As well as being Wes Anderson's directorial debut, Bottle Rocket was the debut feature for brothers Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson, who co-starred with James Caan and Robert Musgrave.The film...
).
On December 12, 2001, Lee was released from prison, having served 5½ years of his original sentence. A federal appeals court in California reversed the charge of negligent discharge of a firearm, as it found that the prosecutor at Lee's trial was guilty of misconduct. After Lee was freed, he put together a new incarnation of Love and planned a Forever Changes
Forever Changes
Forever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
35th Anniversary Tour, to kick off at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in London.
The Make-Up released a song calling for Arthur Lee's release, called "Free Arthur Lee."
Final years
In 2002, Arthur Lee began touring in earnest under the name "Love with Arthur Lee". This new phase of his career met with great success, and he performed to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim throughout EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Arthur Lee and The Love band (aka) Baby Lemonade, who first performed with Lee in May 1993 at Raji's, began performing the Forever Changes
Forever Changes
Forever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
album in its entirety, often with a string and horn section. A live CD and DVD of this material was released in 2003.
Johnny Echols joined the new group for a special Forever Changes
Forever Changes
Forever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
35th Anniversary Tour performance at Royce Hall, UCLA, in the spring of 2003. Lee and the band continued to tour throughout 2003 and 2004, including many concerts in and around hometown Los Angeles, notably a show at the outdoor Sunset Junction festival and a headlining date with The Zombies
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band, formed in 1961 in St Albans and led by Rod Argent, on piano and keyboards, and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group scored a UK and US hit in 1964 with "She's Not There"...
. Echols occasionally joined Lee and the group on the continuing and final tours of 2004 to 2005.
Because of Arthur Lee's illness (acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia , also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute...
), the details of which were not known by the band at the time, he could not participate in the final tour in July 2005. Since no one knew of his illness, Arthur's decision to forgo the final tour was met with angry, confused reactions. The remaining members of the band, along with Echols, continued to perform at the venues of the last tour (July 2005) without Lee, under the name The Love Band.
At the end of September 2005 Lee moved to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, where he planned to continue to make music and continue the name Love. Joining him was to be drummer Greg Roberson (Reigning Sound, Her Majesty's Buzz, Compulsive Gamblers) to put together a new lineup in Memphis, which was to include Adam Woodard, Alex Greene (The Reigning Sound, Big Ass Truck), Jack "Oblivian" Yarber, Alicja Trout
Alicja Trout
Alicja Trout is a Memphis-based American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and artist.She is best known for her work with the synth-heavy Lost Sounds, which she started with Jay Reatard...
, and Johnny Echols
Johnny Echols
Johnny Echols is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has played in bands with performers such as Little Richard, Billy Preston and Jimi Hendrix, and was the guitarist on many recording sessions with Miles Davis...
from the original Love line-up. Ultimately Arthur's ill health prevented this from happening.
In April 2006 it was publicly announced that Lee was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia , also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute...
. A tribute fund was set up shortly after the announcement, with a series of benefit concerts to be performed to help pay medical bills. The most notable of these concerts was produced by Steve Weitzman of SW Productions at New York's Beacon Theater on June 23, 2006, and featured Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, Ian Hunter
Ian Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
, Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...
, Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
, Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
, Garland Jeffreys
Garland Jeffreys
Garland Jeffreys is a part African-American, and Puerto Rican American, singer and songwriter, transversing the musical genres of rock and roll, reggae, blues and soul.-Career:...
, Johnny Echols
Johnny Echols
Johnny Echols is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has played in bands with performers such as Little Richard, Billy Preston and Jimi Hendrix, and was the guitarist on many recording sessions with Miles Davis...
(Love's original lead guitarist) and Flashy Python & The Body Snatchers (featuring Alec Ounsworth
Alec Ounsworth
Alec Ounsworth is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontman of indie rock band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. He is also a member of The Pelican Picnic and Flashy Python...
of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
). Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, backed by Ian Hunter's band performed 12 songs, including five Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
songs and five recorded by Love in the 60s ("Seven And Seven Is", "A House Is Not A Motel", "Bummer In The Summer", "Old Man" and "Hey Joe").
Lee underwent several months of aggressive treatment, which included three bouts of chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
, followed by a stem cell transplant on May 25, 2006 using stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
s from an umbilical cord
Umbilical cord
In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
blood donor; Lee was the first adult patient in Tennessee to receive this treatment. His condition worsened, however, and Lee died on August 3, 2006, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, with his wife Diane at his side.
Legacy
Since Lee's passing, a number of Arthur Lee websites have appeared online. Moreover, Lee was memorialized by both fans and friends. The most notable of these memorials was written by Stuart GoldmanStuart Goldman
Stuart Goldman is a highly controversial journalist, author and screenwriter. A former critic for the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News. He later penned an acid-tinged column for the Los Angeles Reader which earned him the moniker "the journalistic hitman."Goldman's curmudgeonly...
, who had known and written about Lee ever since his early days on the Sunset Strip
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...
.
In Lee's absence, many current artists such as Nicole Atkins
Nicole Atkins
Nicole Atkins is an American singer-songwriter. She has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from the Brill Building era.-Early life:...
, Golden Animals, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
, The Dears
The Dears
-History:The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. Their orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie renaissance...
, Siddhartha, Names and Faces, The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
, Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights
Apollo Heights are an American shoegazer band that was formed in New York City in 2002. Consisting mainly of twin brothers, Daniel and Danny Chavis, they play experimental rock music. They cite AR Kane and My Bloody Valentine as a major inspiration...
, Stuart Murdoch
Stuart Murdoch (musician)
Stuart Lee Murdoch is a Scottish musician, and the lead singer and songwriter for the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian. The majority of his childhood was spent a stone's throw from the birthplace of Robert Burns in Alloway, Ayr until he left school and attended university in...
of Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
, and Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
cite his music as a major influence.
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
's 1993 song "The Wreck of the Arthur Lee" was written as a tribute to the singer.
Arthur Lee is mentioned in the song "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken
Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken
"Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken" is a song by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions later covered by Sandie Shaw in 1986. Shaw had made a comeback two years earlier thanks to Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths and having released a cover of their song "Hand in Glove" discussed making an album with...
", by Lloyd Cole & the Commotions.
Arthur Lee is the subject of the song "Byrds Turn to Stone" (originally titled "Mr Lee") by Liverpool band (and former Arthur Lee backing group) Shack
Shack
A shack is a type of small house, usually in a state of disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack". It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S...
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Rival Schools
Rival Schools (band)
Rival Schools are a post-hardcore band from New York signed to Photo Finish Records, featuring Walter Schreifels on vocals and guitar; Ian Love on guitar; Cache Tolman on bass guitar; and Sam Siegler on drums....
and Quicksand
Quicksand (band)
Quicksand was an American post-hardcore band from New York City founded in 1990 by singer/songwriter Walter Schreifels. Their debut self-titled EP was followed by two major label albums, Slip and Manic Compression...
frontman Walter Schreifels
Walter Schreifels
Walter Schreifels is a rock musician and producer from New York City.In the late 1980s, he played in many New York hardcore bands, most notably Youth Of Today and Gorilla Biscuits . After Gorilla Biscuits broke up, he formed the short lived Moondog...
paid tribute to Arthur Lee on his 2010 solo album An Open Letter To The Scene with a track titled "Arthur Lee`s Lullaby".
In June 2010 the biography Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love by author John Einarson, with extracts from Arthur Lee's own memoirs, was released by Jawbone press
With Love
- LoveLove (Love album)Love is the eponymous debut by the Los Angeles-based rock band Love. Twelve of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966...
(1966) - Da CapoDa Capo (Love album)Da Capo is the second album by American rock group Love, released in January 1967 by Elektra Records. The bulk of Da Capo was recorded between September 27 and October 2, 1966. "7 and 7 Is" was recorded on June 20, and had been released as a single in July of 1966 backed with "No. Fourteen", an...
(1967) - Forever ChangesForever ChangesForever Changes is the third album by American rock band Love, released by Elektra Records in November 1967. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Forever Changes 40th in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
(1967) - Four SailFour SailFour Sail is the fourth album by the American rock band Love, released in 1969.-Background:By mid-1968, Arthur Lee was the only remaining member of the Forever Changes line-up of Love...
(1969) - Out HereOut HereOut Here is the fifth album by the American rock band Love, released in December 1969 on Blue Thumb Records in the United States, and Harvest in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
(1969) - Love Revisited (1970)
- False StartFalse Start (Love album)False Start is the sixth album by the American rock band Love, released in December 1970.-Background:The second and final Love album for Blue Thumb Records saw bandleader Arthur Lee heavily influenced by his friend, Jimi Hendrix, with Hendrix appearing on the opening track, "The Everlasting First",...
(1970) - Dear You (the possible title for the unreleased Columbia recordings, issued in 2009 as "Love Lost") (1971)
- Reel to RealReel to Real (Love album)Reel to Real is the seventh album by the American rock band Love, released in 1975.-Background:The first Love album in four years and the final Love album for nearly twenty years, Reel to Real has only one direct link to any of the previous albums by the group, bandleader Arthur Lee...
(1974) - Love Live (1982)
- Studio / LiveStudio / LiveStudio/Live is an album by the American psychedelic rock band Love. Released in 1982 on MCA Records it was a compilation album of previous studio recordings, plus previously unreleased live recordings from the bands 1970 Bill Graham concerts.-Track list:...
(1982) - Arthur Lee & Love - Five String Serenade (1992)
- Love Story (1995)
- The Best of Love (2003)
- The Forever Changes ConcertThe Forever Changes ConcertThe Forever Changes Concert is the last album released by Love with Arthur Lee. There was a two-CD re-release in 2007 under the name of The Forever Changes Concert & More, which features extra songs, a live video of Alone Again Or, band images and a screensaver.-2003 Track Listing:#"Alone Again...
(2003) - Love Live CD Friday Music (2008)
- Love Lost (2009; recorded in 1971, see above)
Solo albums
- VindicatorVindicator (album)Vindicator is the first solo album by Arthur Lee, formerly of the rock band Love, released in 1972.-Track listing:#"Sad Song" – 2:20#"You Can Save Up to 50%, But You're Still a Long Ways from Home" – 0:17#"Love Jumped Through My Window" – 2:56...
(1972) - Black Beauty (1973) released early fall 2011 High Moon Records
- Arthur Lee EP (1977)
- Arthur Lee (1981)
External links
- Official Arthur Lee Web site
- Torben's Love Page
- The Love Society
- Death as reported on official band webform (no obituary available yet)
- Arthur Lee dead at 61 on musicOMH.com
- Arthur Lee article at BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
- In-depth biographical obituary about Lee and his cultural importance
- Profile of Arthur Lee at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...