50 Years of Love & Arthur Lee "Da Capo" "Forever Changes" "Love" & more: Album-By-Album Thread

Reel To Real was the only Arthur Lee /Love album i bought real time.
Be Thankful For What You Got.

 

I feel like Elektra missed out by not including Willow-Willow. Sound/vibe-wise it def belongs on this record.

 

I've told this story before on the forum. Make of it what you will:
I saw Lee perform with Baby Lemonade as 'Love' in 2004 (I think) in NYC's Town Hall. He said, "Man, I've never ever, ever, once tired heroin in my life. That's stuff will mess you up." To which the crowd gave a thunderous applause of approval. When it died down Lee mischievously added, "I like cocaine though."

 

He seemed to live for the one liner and I'm not surprised in the least bit. He doesn't always use a filter when he speaks! I saw him 2 years earlier at the Bowery Ballroom-the only time I saw Love live, and Lee was his typical self. He got thunderous applause, then before starting any songs, he said 'I have a sore throat'; I thought he was going to bail right there. Then he said 'we'll try to get through it', and he did and got stronger vocally as he went along.

Then he started noticing cameras and just like 45 years earlier, he was telling off fans-"no filming, no video", that happened 3 or 4 times but he continued to play songs after and remained focused mostly. Eventually he got security to remove a guy whose chops he was busting about a camcorder. Remember, they still had the big camcorders so he could easily see it was pointed at him. Once that guy was gone, he seemed a lot happier. It was a great show and I should have seen him in 2004 as well.

 

I think I'd feel the same way and, to be honest, the more I read, the more I can't agree with a lot of his life philosophy. I understand the circumstances of how he eventually got in major trouble, but sometimes we invite trouble and his views didn't always agree with the law. He only had one manager that was willing to butt heads with him-the one from the '67, '68 tour after Ronnie Haran left. Once he was let go in '68, Arthur was his own manager and look what happened. He needed guidance, meds, andmore-again.

If you see any of the footage from the 2002-2005 live tours, he had a gun gesture he would do-he did it 5 or 6 times at my show, where he'd hold his finger like a gun in the air. He does it on the DVD of the "Forever Changes" concert but just on that line "shoot him with my pistol, I've got it in my hand, because he's on my land". But at other shows, he continues to send that subliminal message that maybe he felt guilt or something.

Anyway, the experience of being with Mr. Lee, actually working musically with him, and on items from his prime with Mr. Hendrix, that is an unforgettable experience-I'm glad you did it, glad he liked you enough to not turn on you as well. So the only time Hendrix worked with Lee was in March 1970 in the UK (actually also on the '64 'My Diary')and there were some jams, "The Everlasting First" that appeared on "False Start", and "Ride That Vibration" was rumored to have Jimi on it, but either he didn't play on it, or it was mixed out. That song apparently scared Jimi-the line "ride that vibration like a 6-foot grave, don't let it bring you down"

You're providing light on Arthur's darkest period the 80's, and though he's commented that he did an album with Jimi, there's not really any proof other than the 2 songs, and some jams. And no, nothing else from that session was ever released-"False Start" had no bonus tracks on reissue.

Fantastic info, thanks Mr. Hoffman!

 

Fully agree, great info re Arthur's years in the wilderness. I would dearly like to know when the songs from the early nineties were composed. Met Arthur in Stockholm in 1996 and 2002, there was a definitely a shadow hanging over him, he was quite intimidating. A few years back, there was an acetate from False start sessions with Jimi Hendrix being sold on ebay containing The Everlasting First, Ezy Rider, take 1 and 2, and jam called "Loon", but False start is hopefully many pages away in this thread.

 

I only saw Arthur once, in Roskilde in 2002 with the Swedish strings and horns. It was a fine concert with Arthur doing a really professional job. I remember the band was rehearsing the orchestral ending of You Set The Scene up until the curtain opened, so there was obviously a lot of care put into that tour. It was worth walking around in piss, rain and mud for 4 days, though the stoned Danes shouting out all FC lyrics during the concert was a distraction.

 

Pre-Internet.
Any info Love/Lee source came from fanzines..Zigzag did a article i believe.

 

They did a lengthy somewhat bitter interview with Snoopy in the 70s when he was in the UK.

 

I have The Castle fanzine with lyrics /chords issue.

 

Was looking for a Best LOVE Album ( poll)thread. My choice would be Forever Changes.

 

'FOUR SAIL' TOUR 1969

February 28 – Avalon Ballroom: San Francisco, CA
March 1- Avalon Ballroom: San Francisco, CA
March 2- Avalon Ballroom: San Francisco, CA
April 23- Whiskey a Go-Go: West Hollywood, CA
April 28- Whiskey a Go-Go: West Hollywood, CA
May 30- Rose Palace: Santa Monica, CA
May 31- Rose Palace: Santa Monica, CA
*June 21- Newport ’69 Festival: Devonshire Downs, North Ridge, CA
July 2-July 6- Whiskey a Go-Go: West Hollywood, CA
July 17- Hullabaloo (Aquarius Theatre): Los Angeles, CA
August 1- Portland Masonic Temple: Portand, Oregon
**August 2- Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum: Oakland, CA

August 15-18-WOODSTOCK, New York-declined

***August 23- Vancouver Pop Festival: Vancouver, Canada
September 13- Balboa Park: San Diego, CA
Summer 1969-Shrine Auditorium, CA

ONE NIGHT ONLY-THE ORIGINAL LOVE LINEUP
Sometime in Autumn- Santa Monica Civic Center, Santa Monica, CA

December 31-Grand Olympic Auditorium: Los Angeles, CA
_____________________________________________________________
*Newport '69-Love's first appearance at a major music festival with headliners. They performed the 2nd day of 3, a Saturday in a lineup with the following artists: Albert Collins, Brenton Wood, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Charity, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Burdon and War, Friends of Distinction, Jethro Tull, Lee Michaels, Steppenwolf and Sweetwater.

**Jay Donnellan was late for this date, one with Blood Sweat and Tears on the bill-they had a contract stipulation that had BS&T always listed as the headliner. They agreed that Love missed their opening slot, but they could wait to be the final performance after BS&T set, but Arthur was too pissed and the band left without playing. Eventually Jay Donnellan was fired from Love by Lee because of this.

***Vancouver Pop Festival-Another big pop festival, this one after the week after Woodstock. Love played the 2nd of 3 days: other artists included The Grateful Dead, Chicago, The Rascals, Little Richard, Taj Mahal, The Guess Who, The Chambers Brothers, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Alice Cooper.

 

Is this thread going to cover the Live in England 1970 disc included in the Blue Thumb Records three-disc set?

 

Great question, I probably should have addressed this already, but yes, what I thought we could do if it's alright with everyone is to go through "Out Here", then "False Start", then the live 1970 3rd disc of the Blue Thumb Recordings set followed by Love Lost, and so forth. Even though it was just released, the live disc fully takes place in 1970 and might be better discussed in its original context.

 

Great. Glad to hear Love Lost will be covered as well. Love (!) that disc.

 

The major pop festivals Love played in 1969: the Newport '69 festival has a mostly accurate lineup listed on the original poster while the Vancouver Pop Festival's lineup-though listed on the poster, some did not perform due to 'problems with paid attendance' according to Wikipedia. I'd have to further research why many big acts didn't perform but Love supposedly did perform.



Quote from Jay Donnellan

Jay Donnellan: I don’t think Arthur liked airplanes very much. Also with the r__neck condition of the United States at that time, he didn’t like to get involved in all of that. I’m sure that was part of it. I don’t think he thought there was much money to made out on the road. And there were so many great gigs in and around Southern California. All he had to do was get in his car and drive to the show.

I was at his house and an agent phoned him. I remember hearing Arthur say, ‘Naw F- it, I don’t want to go to New York for one gig!’ I later found out that the ‘one gig’ was Woodstock.

 

More tidbits about the 1969 live shows and the reunion...

Arthur and Johnny Echols both discussed the one Love show with the original lineup reunited (and their final show together ever)-I'm assuming that Bryan was not part in this.

Arthur: This was supposed to be a big thing, the return of Love. I don’t know how much promotion was done, but like before, I had to rent instruments and amplifiers. The guys all promised that they had changed and things were going to be different. It was different all right. When we got out to Santa Monica, there was a plane overhead that had a banner that read “LOVE at the Santa Monica Civic Center”-that made me feel good.
The curtain opened and we started with “7&7 Is”, but in a way I had never heard it before. Johnny sounded like he was playing a ukulele and the rest of the music was just as soft. I screamed ‘what are you doing!’ and Johnny said something like “it’s too loud”. I flipped out, ‘it’s supposed to be loud man, what’s wrong with you’. That turned me off so bad I can’t remember anything else after that. Where we used to get standing ovations, we were getting little courtesy clapping. I was mad. After the gig I was looking for the equipment I had rented and it was gone. I looked everywhere for the guitars, I found them later in a pawn shop in the old neighborhood where Johnny and I grew up. I felt like a fool. Worse than that, my hopes and dreams were let down once again.
****************
Johnny also commented that he was too into drugs to perform properly. Despite some talk of continuing a European Tour, Johnny didn’t want to be a part of it though he said Ken Forssi and Michael Stuart were considering continuing. Bryan is not mentioned so I have a feeling he was not part of this reunion. Johnny mentioned only the 3 of them plus Arthur for that one-off show.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

1969 Tour Reviews:

Jim Bickhart (who provided one of the “Forever Changes” reviews:
I remember seeing the ‘Four Sail’ band at the Aquarius Theatre in LA, the old Hullabaloo. They were solid, I remember, and were a good, hard-rock band, but kind of undistinguished. Before he died, Arthur admitted that what he did with the reconstructed Love was partly adapting to the new musicians’ dislike for “Forever Changes”. While it still had some of his distinctive lyrical and melodical sensibilities, it was a retreat from the adventurous frontier of Love’s third album. I only saw them once, but what I remember about the performance is how competent but unremarkable it was. It sounded like the records, melodic hard rock played by faceless musicians, fronted by a man who was anything but faceless. It was still a little unique, a hard rock band fronted by a black man with eclectic abilities, yet the music didn’t stick in my head.
^^^^^^^^^
John Mendelsohn reviewing one of the Pasadena shows:
“The new Love is better than ever. A gang of surly egotists no more, the group was propelled by founder and only original member, Arthur Lee’s clear and controlled voice. His new sidemen, particularly the lead guitarist (whose playing betrays some jazz experience) are more than competent and play together (which the old group seldom did). The only thing one could complain about was that a few of the old Love favorites lacked instrumentation and voicing. “Orange Skies”, for instance, just wasn’t right without the lovely flute behind the vocals.”

 

Arthur got his **** busted a lot for dissolving the original band, but it wasn't his fault, was it? Not easy leading a band of heroin addicts.

 

Just to confirm, Bryan was not a part of the 1969 reunion. WilliamWes, many thanks for the 1969 tour info. Love did remarkably few shows. According to John Echols, around the time of the Santa Monica reuinion show, they did a few half hearted attempts to make Bryan rejoin the group, but Bryan made impossible demands making the whole thing fall apart again. For anybody interested, the Coston Chronicles (Daniel Coston) have a great interview with Michael Stuart Ware and John Echols from 2012.

 

Anybody here go to this festival.

 

Here's what Jay Donnelalan wrote for my website some years ago about Newport 1969:

storiesofthesixties1 »

 

And a piece from Johnny about Love's populairuty:

Untitled Document »

And more stories about Love that Johnny Echols wrote for my site:

Untitled Document »

 

Cool, that clears up Johnny's alleged work with Miles Davis. Never heard of those recordings before.

 

A House Is Not A Motel" story was mind blowing.