LOVE at the Roxy: Concert Review
by Maya Eslami, hollywoodreporter.com
May 1st 2011
The Bottom Line
Nearly four decades after their first and only recording, Arthur Lee's Black
Beauty band reunited was worth the wait
Venue
The Roxy
West Hollywood
(Friday, April 29)
Fans of the once local band LOVE gathered beneath the red glow of the
Roxy Theater Friday night to witness a rare event: the reunion of the surviving
members of Arthur Lee’s Black Beauty band in anticipation of High Moon Records’
release coming in June.
Craig Hyman, manager of High Moon Records, took the stage before the
band performed, and said that although the boutique record label was based in
New York, the event needed to happen in Los Angeles, the hometown of Arthur Lee
and his LOVE creation. “That’s where their families are from,” Hyman said,
“that’s where the communities are, that’s where they came to be.”
And rightly so. The crowd was littered with fans of all shapes and
sizes, devoted followers of the psychedelic scene of the sixties, older men
with long hair and bell bottoms, tie-dyed shirts underneath blazers, and the
random assortment of young adults curious about a legend that came and went
before their time.
Thirty-eight years ago, Arthur Lee and a lineup of all black musicians
created Black Beauty, a ten track album saturated in rhythm and blues and a
soulful rock and roll aesthetic. The album was finished just as Lee’s record
label went bankrupt, and Black Beauty was shelved indefinitely.
That was until George Wallace, president of High Moon Records,
unearthed it. With his help, and living members Melvin Whittington and Joe
Blocker on lead guitar and drums respectively, Black Beauty was heard live for
the first time ever on the Sunset Strip. The band, joined by bassist Sherwood
Akuna and guitarist John Sterling, performed almost all of the songs from the
album, including an acoustic “Five Finger Serenade,” a whimsical whistled
ballad, and the breathtaking psychedelic whirlwind “Everlasting First,” which
originally featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar and backing vocals. Wallace spoke of
Lee’s style as somewhat genre-less, and the effect of that was seen on stage
throughout the night.
Wallace quoted the legendary Jac Holzman of Elektra Records before
introducing the band. “Jac said, ‘I’ve met only three geniuses in my whole
career in rock and roll: Brian Wilson, John Lennon, and Arthur Lee.’” Lee’s
genius behind the album Black Beauty will finally be heard by the world on June
7, and, needless to say, Holzman’s quote still stands.
High Moon Records is also reissuing Gene Clark’s rare classic, Two
Sides To Every Story, in tandem with the release of Black Beauty on June 7th.
Set list:
Young & Able
Lonely Pigs
Walk Right In
My Reflection
Beep Beep
Stay Away
Skid
Five Finger Serenade
Can’t Find It
Everlasting First
Original Page:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/love-at-roxy-concert-review-183890
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