| Arthur Lee (musician) |
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Arthur Lee, like Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys , is an L.A. musician who achieved greater popularity in England than in the U.S.A. . Lee was born either Arthur Lee Porter or Arthur Taylor Porter, on 7 March , 1945 , in Memphis, Tennessee . The family moved to Los Angeles , California when Lee was young. He says he was exposed to and inspired by all kinds of music. He has often been compared to Syd Barrett and Roky Erickson . Barrett, early on in his brief pop star phase of his life, freely let it be known that Love was an influence on his band, Pink Floyd . PRE-LOVE His first known recording is from 1963 ; "The Ninth Wave" by his first band, the instrumental outfit called The LAG's, a Booker T & The MG's type of unit which included Johnny Echols, the future guitarist and vocalist for the original line-up of Love. The LAG's also included Lee ( Organ ), Alan Talbot ( 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 was somewhat of 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 Jimi as a session man backing up the Isley Brothers . It is quite possible that this is the first appearance of Hendrix on vinyl and, indeed, the first known Hendrix recording session. "I've Been Tryin'" was written for Little Ray. "Luci Baines", he performed and recorded with his new band, The American Four. "Everybody Jerk" and "Slow Jerk" he composed for Ronnie And The Pamona Casuals, a local band, which did put out an LP on the Donna label featuring lead vocals by Lee himself. Unfortunately, these early recordings are very rare but have been collected on a 1997 Bootleg CD , which contains very little information. LOVE Lee said when he first heard member and sometime Love Guitarist Bobby Beausoleil claimed that Arthur had named the band Love in honor of one of Bobby's nicknames, Cupid. Stylistically, Lee pioneered the psychedelic black man archetype, anticipating Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone in terms of music, fashion and attitude. Love's music is difficult to categorize and has been described as R&B , Protopunk , Psychedelic Rock and Garage Rock . It can be disturbing to many listeners because Lee's lyrics and delivery can highlight some of life's darker and stranger aspects. Love released 3 classic albums with their core members Johnny Echols (lead guitar), Bryan MacLean (guitar, also composed a few of Love's tunes), Ken Forssi (bass) and Michael Stuart (drums), although the latter did not appear on the first record. These are the self-titled "Love" (1966), the hardest rocking one, including the punky cover of Bacharach/David composition "My Little Red Book", of which the original composers are said to not have been too glad. "Da Capo" (1967) is often cited as featuring the first song to cover an entire LP side, the B side, to be precise, although Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" appeared in 1966. This feat aside, the song is a weary jam, effectively severing the album's length in half. The first half, however, contains six immaculate gems, including the ground-breaking single (and their only one to achieve any success in the charts) "7 & 7 Is", with its furious drumming and thunderous bass riff. The actual length of the album is about 17 minutes, not counting the second side. The last album released by the original line-up was "Forever Changes". The band Love went through several changes of personnel. For critics and fans alike, the 1967 LP "Forever Changes" is regarded as not only their finest recording but one of the best albums of the sixties. Despite this acclaim, most of it retrospective, the LP sold poorly. Nonetheless, its cult status grew. Unfortunately the band's music became somewhat eclipsed by Arthur Lee's behaviour. His erratic behaviour, frail physical and mental health fuelled a rock myth which, like Brian Wilson, Roky Erikson and Syd Barrett possibly served to keep the memory alive. After "Forever Changes", Arthur Lee split-up the band, only to reform it, this time with a new lineup and a harder-edged sound. This version of the band released two albums: "Four Sail" in September 1969, and the two-record set "Out Here" in December of the same year. Neither record made the top 100 in the US, though "Out Here" hit #29 in the UK in May of 1970. December of 1970 saw the release of the album "False Start", which charted in the bottom regions of the top 200, but is notable for featuring a duet with Jimi Hendrix entitled "The Everlasting First". SOLO CAREER In July of 1972, Lee released his first solo alum "Vindicator" on A&M Records, featuring a new group of musicians called "Band-Aid", 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 create yet another Love lineup for the "Reel to Real" album which was released on RSO Records in December 1974. Once again, the album went nearly unnoticed. A new Lee solo album appeared on Rhino records in 1981, the eponymously titled "Arthur Lee", which featured covers of The Bobbettes "Mr. Lee", and Jimmy Cliff 's "Many Rivers to Cross". Throughout the 70s and 80s, there were various attempts to reunite the original Love lineup. One such show from 1978 featuring Lee and Bryan Maclean was released as a live album entitled "Love Live" on Rhino Records in 1982. Also in 1982, MCA released "Studio/Live", which was a collection of tracks from the early '70s incarnation of Love. The '80s were a mostly fallow period for Lee. According to him, "I was gone for a decade. I went back to my old neighbourhood 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". Lee didn't re-emerge until 1992 with a new album entitled "Arthur Lee & Love" on the French New Rose label. In 1993 he played his first shows in New York and England in nearly twenty years. 1994 saw the release of a 45 rpm single on Distortions Records, the single "Girl on Fire", backed with "Midnight Sun". He began to tour regularly with a backup band consisting of former members of Das Damen, and L.A. 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. PRISON In the fall of 1996 Arthur Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegal possession a firearm. Lee had apparently threatened a neighbour with a gun. No one was injured and no property destroyed in the incident, but due to California's "Three strikes and you're out" law, Lee was guaranteed a prison term, having been convicted on "a couple of assault and drug charges" in the '80's. While in prison Lee apparently refused visitors and interviews. In all he served a nearly five year sentence, and was released in December 2001. Sadly, the original Love lineup would never be able to reform as Maclean and Forssi both died while Lee was incarcerated. REDEMPTION 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 Europe and North America. The band began to perform the "Forever Changes" album in its entirety, often with a sting and horn section. A live CD and DVD of this material saw release in 2003. Arthur Lee left the band Love in August 2005. The remaining members continued the tour as the 'Love Band'. It became known in April 2006 that Lee is being treated for Acute Lymphoblastic 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. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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