DCC Archive LOVE Story

For those who are interested,here's some stuff on the great band LOVE,seems their old drummer Michael Stuart has released his autobio,this info is from an excellent Bryan Maclean website
http://www.bryanmaclean.com/

If you ever wondered about the story of the back cover photo on Forever Changes it's at the end of this excerpt

Oct '01, A Book On Love Finally See's Release!!!....
Michael Stuart-Ware, Love's drummer on the brilliant Da-Capo & Forever Changes albums has written and released a book about his recollections of his time with Love. It's on CD rom accessible through your word processer. In July this year, Michael spoke to Mark Norris of Blue Dog Press and gave his reasons for writing the book, "In August of '98, Kevin Delaney interviewed me in L.A., for a book he was writing on the group. We spent a day together and hung out with Bryan for a while. I drove Kevin up into Laurel Canyon and Beechwood and showed him the houses we used to live in. I told him a lot of stories. He had a tape recorder going the whole time and, knowing Kevin, I bet he still has the tapes up on a closet shelf someplace. Kevin's a very intelligent guy and a talented writer, so his book would have been dynamite. But a few months after the interview, he e-mailed me that he was abandoning the project because he couldn't find a publisher. Funny thing is, the day of the interview, as we drove around, I couldn't help but think, 'Well, hey, man, if this dude wasn't writing the book, I could probably do it.'
Pegasus Carousel is the name of the book and it's available from the website of the same name, pegasuscarousel.com
The book costs $20 in the US and $25 elsewhere in the world, which includes all shipping and taxes. You also get 12 photos of Michael and his 60's bands. So what are you waiting for? Go and order your copy now!!!!
Here's a couple of excerpts from the book to wet your appetites!
All text copyright Michael Stuart-Ware/Pegasus Carousel 2001. All Rights Reserved.

SELECTED EXCERPTS FROM "PEGASUS CAROUSEL"
When Arthur wasn't wearing his signature one combat boot and one bare foot, he wore a pair of black Gestapo boots that buckled up the side, skin-tight black Levi's, short silk scarf around his neck and black leather jacket, an outfit that helped convey the attitude that was such an important part of his on stage persona. It worked, too. The fans loved it. Especially the boots. He always left them unbuckled because he was a free spirit and nobody could make him buckle them up if he didn't want to. But, as Kenny and I pulled up and stopped in front of Arthur's house, on that first day of rehearsal, I noticed the Gestapo boots sitting in the carport next to the garbage cans, neglected and already beginning to collect dust. We got out of the car and, Arthur's front door having been left wide open, we walked inside. "Hey, Arthur, you here, man?," Kenny yelled. Arthur emerged from a back bedroom wearing a pair of "Hush Puppy" style, suede loafers and neatly pressed slacks. "Hey, Kenny, did you remember the orange juice?," he asked. "Yeah, Arthur. Got it right here." He held the bag up. Arthur took it, opened it, and drank from the carton. In a few minutes Snoopy came in from his place downstairs, then, before long, Bryan, from a separate unit he rented, also downstairs. About ten minutes later, Johnny and Tjay arrived in the same car. For an hour, or so, we sat around and smoked hash and listened to the first "Cream" album, and Cat Stephens, and talked music. Then, Arthur picked up his black Gibson. "Well, I may as well show you guys some of the tunes I've written for the new album. I call this first one, 'Stephanie Knows Who.' It's in three-quarter time, about a girl Bryan and I both had a little experience with. Right, Bryan?," he laughed, but Bryan ignored him, removing his own guitar from its case and beginning to pick, absent-mindedly. Then Arthur played the song all the way through. It sounded remarkably like Tom Jones performing, "What's New Pussycat." "I call the next tune, 'Que Vida.'" He started it with a finger-picking configuration, followed by a strumming kind of "bossa nova" rhythm. He sang the lyrics in a pure, clean style. Beautiful, really. Then, he played, "She Comes In Colors," a swinging song with a jazz feel. Then, "The Castle," an elegant, orchestral-renaissance number. And, again, the high, pure, beautiful vocal style. I wondered if the disappointment was showing on my face. It was all so sophisticated, like his new wardrobe...I was ready to keep rockin' for a little while, too. And, as Arthur played each song that was to appear on "Da Capo," I began to realize just how thoroughly LOVE was about to abandon the hard rocking folk style that established the huge underground fan base that had bought the first album. I suppose I had simply assumed that the stuff that would comprise, "Da Capo," would bear, at least to a certain extent, a vestige of similarity to the previous material that had met with such universal acceptance. If this was the new direction the group was taking, I, for one, was going to miss the old style. I really loved the violent and powerfully unique product LOVE had embraced in the past and had become known for. I kept waiting for something off the new album to kindle a spark of recognition, but, so far, nothing. "Wait a minute. Don't press the panic button," I told myself, "Ronnie said Arthur was breaking new ground on this album, so he could have some more stuff up his sleeve. Something he hasn't shown us yet. Something a little more exciting. Maybe, maybe not. It didn't really matter, because, in fact, Arthur WAS breaking new ground. Just because I wanted to keep rockin' that didn't mean that's the way it was supposed to be. Arthur was the song writer, the guiding force. I just played the drums. Besides, in the context of what was going on in the world of "popular" music at that time, this material was unique and innovative; it was new and different and exotic. It was something the music critics and the more sophisticated fans could appreciate. Our regular fans? Not so sure. It was jazz-rock. Sort of. Truth be told, it defied category. Again. Arthur set his guitar down, "We'll go over 'Orange Skies,' tomorrow. I want to give Tjay a chance to practice the flute part first. That's it for side one. Side two is gonna be something the fans have never heard before. It's gonna be different, man. The whole side will be one long John Lee Hooker jam. Nobody's ever done anything like it. We'll each take a long solo. It'll cook, man. It'll blow their minds." "Woops," I thought. "Did he say, 'each take a long solo?'" Because, personally, I was never crazy about drum solos. Especially the ones that go on and on. Never liked listening to them, even as a kid, when I thought I was supposed to enjoy all that whacking, banging, crashing and booming. Most of the time, they just didn't sound good to me, so I never learned to do it. Sorry. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "percussion," as, "The striking together of two bodies, especially when noise is produced"... Sure, there's room for drum solos in certain situations. Short drum breaks used to tie stanzas together? That works. The sensitive, heartfelt solos, born of genius like the ones Elvin Jones takes on "A Love Supreme?" Nothing finer. I'm not talking about that. But the John Lee Hooker jam was a rockin' boogie, not jazz, by any stretch of the imagination... However, I could tell that Arthur had planned "Da Capo," to include a drum solo and I didn't have quite the seniority to argue the point, this being my first day, and all. So, a drum solo it would be. But the further we explored the list of material, I almost began to get the impression that this album was being used as an interlude, a breather. There simply wasn't a lot of intensity in these songs. They had the feel of music that was merely being recorded as a part of an agenda, a master plan to perhaps fulfill an obligation, something to take up time and space while Arthur worked out the nuts and bolts formula for a future, more important effort. Whatever. I had to keep pluggin'. *******

The next morning, ten o'clock sharp, I called Arthur. He told me that the offices of the group's attorneys, Schlessinger and Tabor, were located in The Crossroads of the World business complex, on Sunset. You couldn't miss Crossroads of the World. A small bunch of professional bungalows that was built in the Old Hollywood architectural tradition of round corner stucco, accented with the translucent crystal blocks, so popular during the 1940's and '50's, in a style now called "art deco." But you couldn't miss it because of the rotating world globe, which had been erected near the center and high above the development, clearly visible from several blocks away, proclaiming the spot "The Crossroads of the World." Crossroads was as much a landmark as it was a location. The name? I don't know, I guess it might have been because that part of Hollywood is usually cursed with a lot of gridlock. We met around eleven, and Arthur introduced me to Tabor. Portly dude with a mustache, dressed in a dark suit. Schlessinger wasn't there that day, or any other, throughout our association, so he could have been made up, for all I know, just to make the name of the law firm sound better. I mean, just, "Tabor?" No, that doesn't make it, but "Schlessinger and Tabor?" Sounds cool. Very impressive. "Here's what's happening, man," Arthur began. "Elektra Records is brand new to the popular music industry. A year ago, they were just a novelty label. They had, like, fifteen volumes of sound effects and a couple of folk groups, that's all. In fact, that's where we got the explosion at the end of 'Seven and Seven Is.' It's a gunshot, recorded and then slowed down a hundred times, or something. They have some other ******** I want to use on 'Que Vida,' by the way, a jingle bells and a cork popping. But anyhow, we're their very first rock band and they've been sort of learning on us, using us as their guinea pig." "They don't know what the **** they're doing," Johnny interjected. "Their promotion and distribution is too weak to handle a major group, like us." He reached for Arthur's pipe and put a new match to it.. Arthur continued, "But, Jac Holzman just signed these new guys, The Doors. So, now that we're not their only rock band, anymore, I'm hoping they'll listen to reason and be grateful for what LOVE has done for the label, and that they'll let us out of our contract. That's why we're going over there now, to talk about it." Let's see..., I think he said we were going from gunshots and explosions, to jingle bells and popping corks? "Do they know what the meeting's about?," I asked, taking a hit off the hash pipe. "Nope." "This ought to be fun," I thought. Before Elektra built their new West Coast corporate offices on La Cienega (in the later sixties), the company did business out of a place that looked a little like a small re-vamped two-story apartment complex, just down the street from Crossroads of the World, on Sunset. In fact, it was so close, we were there, already. Arthur pulled into the lot and we got out of the car. "Don't forget the album, man," Arthur instructed. "Got it right here," Johnny held it up. The three of us took the elevator to the second floor, and when the doors opened we were greeted immediately by the company rep with whom Arthur had scheduled the meeting. He introduced me to the rep, who shook my hand and welcomed me to the label. "Glad to have you with us, Michael. Come on, guys. Let's go out on the terrace. Hell, it's a nice day, no reason at all to sit inside." He gestured through the sliding doors, to some chairs scattered around a glass-topped metal table, on a patio overlooking Sunset. Arthur joked around with the rep a little, to throw him off his guard, and then he got right to it. "Listen, man," Arthur said, leaning forward and suddenly turning serious. "There's something we have to discuss with you. It's about our future." A look of concern swept across the Elektra rep's face. "What do you mean, Arthur? What's wrong?" "Well," Arthur continued, "we're really disappointed in the lack of promotion and distribution the company gave our first album. I mean, I have friends in Tennessee that have never even heard of us, much less heard any of our songs on the radio, because I don't think the disc jockeys have heard of us either. We've lost confidence in you guys. We just don't think Elektra will ever have the size or the resources to do for this group what needs to be done to put us on top. The company is too small, man. We've decided we want to do what ever we have to do to get out of the remainder of our contract with Elektra. Tell us what needs to be done, man. We want out." Then Arthur leaned back in his patio chair and lit the cigarette he had been fishing out of his pocket during the last few words of the speech. The company rep appeared stunned. Johnny seized the opportunity. He removed the group's first album from its cardboard cover, held it up and, using both hands, snapped it in half. "Look, man, you can't do that with albums manufactured by other companies." He tossed the two halves on the table in front of the rep. Then, sneering derisively, "Elektra uses cheap materials." If Arthur's speech and Johnny's demonstration were designed to shame the Elektra guy into agreeing to set us free, the plan proved woefully inadequate, because by now, having regained his composure, he smiled a fatherly smile and said, "Guys, there's no way the company can erase the contract. You've known from the beginning that we're not big, like a Columbia, or a Capitol or an RCA, and granted, our distribution isn't what it will be someday. But we always have, and always will, put your welfare and success above all else, and the company will do everything in its power to promote the group and get it the international attention it deserves. No matter how many rock bands we manage to sign, Elektra will always have the highest regard for LOVE. You guys are very important to us, and I'm sure I speak for Jac when I say, we will not let you out of your contract prematurely, under any circumstances. You have to record the remaining three albums you owe the company, and that's final." But he smiled, diplomatically, one more time at the end, to show there was no hard feelings. That's just the way it was. Actually, his tone of voice and his demeanor was so calm and quiet, and his response was so measured, that the traffic noise from the street below drowned out an occasional word, here and there. But we got the message, loud and clear. Arthur fixed him with a glare for about ten seconds, and then he got up from his patio chair, shook the rep's hand with a half-hearted hand shake, and, turning to Johnny and me, grumbled, "Come on, we'll be late for rehearsal." Then we all stood up and the rep shook Johnny's hand, "It was nice seeing you again, Johnny," he said. He meant it, too; you could tell. And as we walked back toward the elevator, he shook my hand again, and again told me how glad they were to have me with the label. Then we left. It was a nice try, I guess. ******

As we packed our instruments up after the final rehearsal before the, "Forever Changes" sessions were to begin, Arthur walked into the room loading the hash pipe. "Don't anybody leave. Ronnie's on her way over to take the picture for the liner note side of the album, right now. We're gonna use my back deck." So, we sat and smoked and listened to music for a while, and before long, Ronnie arrived. Johnny put on his white Cossack hat and lit a fresh joint, and we all strolled out onto the back deck. "You guys stand over there against the far railing," Ronnie directed. "That's where the light's the best." Johnny turned inward, toward the rest of us and placed his hands together, as if in prayer. As I stepped back, my foot brushed against a white Mexican-style vase, containing a bouquet of dead flowers. It fell over and broke in half. Arthur looked down, then he bent over and picked up the two halves. Grasping the top half of the vase with the dead flowers by the handle in one hand, and the bottom half in the other, he looked up at Ronnie, "Take the picture." ******

And More

April '01, Unseen Love Footage!!!!
SWEET AS KANDY - Amazing lost footage found!
A remarkable cache of priceless videos featuring a long-lost US 60's TV show has been uncovered in a vault in Southern California. The find contains 18 complete episodes of the cult West Coast pop show, The Kandy Klub, and features never-repeated footage of luminaries such as Love, the Electric Prunes, the Standells, the Seeds, the Chocolate Watch Band, and Left Banke, to name six. The Kandy Klub tapes were found by US computer programmer Chuck Blair while clearing out offices within the defunct station, KPER, at Hilcrest, California. Blair's business associate, veteran local broadcaster Larry 'Salsa' Dean, spooled through the tapes and identified the find as the majority of the show's 26-week run, broadcast between January and June 1967. Dean recalls that the programme was "staffed by student volunteers" and that it was the only time Love ventured that far out of LA. They serve up storming versions of "7 and 7 Is" and "My Flash On You", and in a post-performance interview, hostess Cherry Suite asks about their favorite colour, prompting Arthur Lee's enigmatic response: "A my love, B my love, so hard to choose!" When The In-Komplete Kandy Klub gets its planned video/DVD release, viewers might ponder why the band were only filmed from the waist up. Dean explains that, "Lee and drummer Don Conka were both rolling joints and the floor manager was having kittens!" With no logging details on the original boxes and no existing station files, it's hard to establish just what else was screened on The Kandy Klub. What we do have to lokk forward to is a 6-video/4-DVD set, which will come complete with a hefty booklet written by Dean, and period packaging including a Cherry Suite poster and key-fob bearing the show's K-shaped candy bar logo.


An email from Johnny Echols ???

Tuesday 12/04/2001 1:24:58am
Name: Johnny Echols
Homepage: http://
E-Mail:
Referred By: E-Mail
City/Country:
Comments: I have decided to come in from the cold, in an attempt to obviate the inclinations of certain individuals
who would manufacture ********, for some unknown purpose. I have never robbed, nor have I been charged with robbing doughnut shops or any thing else for that matter. In 1969, when I could nolonger deal with Arthurs back stabbing, and betryal I quit the group,
moved to New York where I de-toxed from
heroin at Berstien Institute. I then
moved own to my first Love, playing jazz
with the likes of Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis, Paul Horn, and others...[Anyway I thought I would at least attempt to set the record straight, for those who would care to know what really happened]

 

AWSOME!! If Steve did De Capo and Forever Changes I'd die a happy man. Great news about the lost footage. Now if only that hoarded '68 SB featuring one of the last gigs by the original line up would surface Oh yeah, while we are at it the 3/70 Olympic Lee/Hendrix session would look good in my CD tower too

Chris

 

Whaaatt!! Where on earth did you hear about that??? Tell me more !!!!

 

I spoke with someone that was involved with putting togather some early 90's live Arthur releases (Electrically Speaking.) He said that the '68 SB definately exists but is not in circulation. I don't know the date or venue but it's certainly the original line up. I really hope that they played some of the rumoured 'Gethsemanie' tracks (whatever they are.) Do you like the sound of the FC reissue. I think it's an improvement but it's a little bright for my taste. Is the recent UK only CD reissue of the first LP remastered?

Chris

 

Gethsemane is a load of bull,according to an interview I read with Bryan Maclean sometime back,he said he didn't recognise any of the titles attributed to him,he said he knew what he'd written and there was nothing familiar.There's been no paperwork surface about it and no tapes but then again Elektra did lose the multi's to FC.I've also heard that the guy who supposedly engineered the sessions,John Haeny had the question put to him and he had no recollection of doing a LOVE album just the Your Mind And We/Laughing Stock session.I found out that Haeny has been living and working here in Sydney for some years now,he's in charge of audio engineering at a school here.
http://www.aftrs.edu.au/departments/sound/snd_haeny.htm

I've haven't bought FC as I've got it on Love Story and can't be bothered,the UK reissue of the first album I've seen but haven't heard I've heard some people think it's OK,some think it's a little bright(mastered by Bill Inglot),the John Echols interview is great,his story should really be tapped after all the bull that has floated around about the band for decades,Snoopy was the one that I read that said Echols and Ken Forssi were robbing doughnut stalls,he gave an interview to a British rock mag back in about '71 and a lot of this crap seems to have started from it,he seemed pretty bitter in the interview and I'd say he was just getting even.

 

I know that Getshamie was never done in the studio and probably does not exist at all. I'm holding out hope that the '68 SB tape has some post You're Mind and We/Laughing Stock songs played by the original line up.

Chris

 

Hey Chris,here's a gig review from May 8,1968

LOVE MAKES STRONG BLUES ROCK IMPACT
NEW YORK - in its New York debut on Wednesday the 8th May at Generation,LOVE proved an effective blues rock group with folk influences.Despite minor technical problems such as a blown fuse on an amplifier,the West Coast quintet made as strong an impression as they have on their three successful Elektra records albums.
In Arthur Lee,LOVE has a lead vocalist with fine soul style a singer equally at home in a fast lyric as in "BUMMER IN THE SUMMER" or on a slower one such as "ORANGE SKIES".The latter was a departure from the unit's "DA CAPO" album,where guitarist Bryan Maclean takes the vocal.Lee's treatment while starting in a similar plaintive manner,builds to a powerful soul ending.
While Maclean repeatedly demonstrated his guitar skill,"MY LITTLE RED BOOK" gave bassist Kenneth Forssi an opportunity to excel.John Echols,Forssi and Maclean,LOVE has a strong guitar section,while Michael Stuart was a steady force on drums,which he also played well.In one number Maclean took the vocal in folk style,while Lee went to the drums,which he also played well.
Two other top selections followed,also from LOVE albums,were "YOU I'LL BE FOLLOWING" and "SEVEN AND SEVEN IS".The former was a up tempo wailer,while the latter,highly rhythmic,was a good closing number.Lee had another opportunity to wail in "SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING",where Echols also shone.In some of the numbers,Lee alternated between harmonica and vocals.Tuesday was the opening of a two night stint at the Greenwich Village club,which has been closed for a week.It is expected to resume full operations shortly.

Another story from around 1970 written in an Brit music mag.

" Back in the summer of '69 following the long drawn out sessions that produced "FOUR SAIL" and "OUT HERE",Lee's band at the time:Suranovich,Fayad and Donnellan decided to walk out on him over payments due to arguement involving Bob Krasnow of Blue Thumb.In a fix with concerts building up,Lee decided to call up his old guard ie Echols etc.. The reformed LOVE played one gig at the Santa Monica Civic Centre and following their appearance,hocked the borrowed instruments that Lee had obtained for their use,being made to look a complete fool is no fun.End of old band.Having cleared up the financial mess with Krasnow,the Fayad gang came back to Arthur,cap in hand and begged forgiveness.The net result was the 1970 European tour."

True or False ???

 

Thanks for posting that!! Very cool. There isn't that much about Lee and Love on the web.

Chris

 

The first three Love albums are being issued by Sundaze on vinyl from the original analogue tapes. I agree the remastered FC is a bit disappointing a little to bright for my taste. There was a 180gram reissue from germany last year however there was a pressing/packing problem and every copy that I've ever seen had marks on the surface.

I recently was lucky to come across mono pressings of both De Capo and FC and they offer a nice alternative to the stereo mixes.
The remastered 1st album from the UK, offers the complete LP in mono and stereo so in my opinion it's a must have and it is remastered and it sounds better than the FC remastering. Also A&M UK issued Lee's Vindicator album on CD with bonus tracks about 4 years ago.
Sadly, I doubt that Four Sail will ever get a proper CD release. It was released once around 1988 in the UK on the Thunderbolt label. It was a semi-legit release but the sound is substandard. There was a great bootleg that appeared last year with some outtakes and alternate mixes called The Castle. It had a great booklet and is well worth seeking out.