Tonight: Arthur Lee & Love Tribute at the Roxy
latimesblogs.latimes.com | Apr 29th 2011
See Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYNPWMku5KU
The hoary cliche claims that if you remember the '60s, you weren't there. What
that means for Love, the psychedelic soul kingpins, who remain slept-on 45
years after their seminal self-titled debut, is yet to be determined, but they
certainly left behind a timeless canon. Memory is overrated when you have that
kind of empirical evidence.
The brainchild of South L.A.-raised Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols, Beverly
Hills-raised Bryan MacLean, and Ken Forssi, the bassist on the famed surf-rock
anthem, "Wipeout," Love captured the noirish-sunshine dialectic better than any
local band of the '60s. A staple on the Sunset Strip scene, they were a massive
inspiration on the Doors (it was Lee who reportedly pushed Elektra boss Jac
Holzman to sign Mr. Mojo Rising and company.) Robert Plant, frontman of Led
Zeppelin once declared that Love's "Forever Changes" was one of his favorite
albums of all time.
The group's time in the sun was brief -- a 16-month brisance of lysergic
creativity over 1966 and 1967. During that period, the they released three
classic records and set themselves up to be the next breakout rock group from
the city of Angels. Alas, drug use, aversion to touring and internal turmoil
ripped the group asunder, forcing Lee to carry on with a variety of less-gifted
bandmates. Yet, while the post 1967-era can't match the supernatural height of
"Forever Changes," it remains a sorely underrated body of work. As Randy Lewis
reported last month, High Moon Records is issuing the never-before-released
"Black Beauty" in June.
Lee had planned to put “Black Beauty” out on his Buffalo Records label, but the
company folded before it came out and the tracks were shelved. High Moon will
release the 10 tracks originally planned to be on the album along with bonus
tracks, new liner notes and previously unpublished photos from the period.
Rolling Stone writer David Fricke wrote in a guide to the band’s bootleg
recordings, “’Black Beauty’ might have been received as a strong comeback for
Lee, a turn to steamy R&B with heavy-guitar punch – if it had come out.”
Lee passed away from leukemia five years ago, but for the first time in 30
years, the surviving members of his Black Beauty Band will perform Friday night
at the Roxy in celebration of the new release. According to the news release,
they will "play never-before-heard live versions of songs from the legendary
album, as well as a selection of songs from the Arthur Lee/Love catalog." Lee's
widow Dianne Lee will also speak.
The night will also commemorate High Moon's rerelease of Gene Clark's "Two
Sides to Every Story." The former Byrds son, Kai Clark and his Kai Clark Band
will perform the album in its entirely along with other Clark cuts. For a
Sunset Strip long past its summer of love-era apex, the night serves as a
reminder when the dresses were flower print and all the sunshine was orange. Or
that Love will never die.
Original Page:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/04/tonight-arthur-lee-love-tribute-at-the-roxy.html
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