Arthur Lee was born in 1945 in that hub of the musical world, Memphis, Tennessee and moved to Los Angeles at the age of five.
An excellent athlete, he was also heavily involved in music from an early age and his first band, ‘The LAGS’, included Johnny Echols, one of Arthur’s long-term collaborators, as it drew on the Stax house band Booker T and the MGs for inspiration. Arthur Lee played Hammond organ in this pre-Love outfit.
Arthur was influenced by the folk revival of the early 1960s that also brought Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to public attention and the seeds of Love were found in another band formed by Lee, ‘The Grass Roots’. It was another Los Angeles band coming out of the folk tradition that convinced Lee that he was working on the correct lines. That other Los Angeles band was ‘The Byrds’ and ‘The Grass Roots’ became ‘Love’.
Arthur Lee and Love
Arthur Lee and Love became regulars on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, playing often at clubs like Bido Lito’s and the legendary Whiskey a Go Go. Both, but particularly the former, were frequented by established and up and coming rock stars with regulars including Jimi Hendrix.
Arthur Lee was the constant in Love with the main other members being Johnny Echols, Bryan MacLean, and Ken Forssi. The first three albums involved two drummers (at different times), Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer and Michael Stuart.
Love’s music was genuinely eclectic and stands up well today. It draws on the garage tradition and ‘Seven and Seven Is’ can easily be mistaken for a classic 1977 punk recording even by aficionados of that genre. The early folk influence remains strong with frequent use of acoustic guitar on the album ‘Forever Changes’. There is a significant use of the staples of the psychedelic era with flanging, inventive use of stereo effects and lyrics which are more poetry than traditional song. There are, however, also more traditional influences with a reworking of Bert Bacharach’s 'My Little Red Book’ and use of Mexican-style brass instruments in the opening track of ‘Forever Changes’.
‘Forever Changes’ remains one of the defining albums of the 1960s and one of the best albums of all time.
Love After Forever Changes
After Forever Changes, Love only recorded one more album before falling apart in the aftermath of the sort of drug misuse that damaged the creativity of so many bands of the 60s, although Arthur Lee revived the name ‘Love’ shortly after. However, the post-Forever Changes band was never as inventive or creative as the early band.
The Revival of Love 2002
The hopes of many fans were realised when Arthur Lee began touring as ‘Love with Arthur Lee’ playing largely tracks from the first three albums. The tours took in the US, Australia, the UK and the rest of Europe. Audiences were very enthusiastic and the performances belied Arthur’s age. There were also a number of performances of the entire Forever Changes album with a full brass section. The revival ended with Arthur Lee’s illness and his premature death from cancer on 3 August 2006.
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