#ken forssi

[spilladabalia]

Love - You Set The Scene

[mitjalovse]

The 60's are not that clear-cut at all. I mean, Love – the band, not the real thing – are probably the group that dealt with the complexities of the period thanks to them being not as successful as they should've ben and also thanks to them having a different perspective. Forever Changes, their masterpiece, serves as a warning, since Arthur Lee, their frontman, felt something was off with the flower power movement. Thus, the platter resembles a chronicle of someone who noticed how all hopes slipped away, yet that person still cherishes the memory of the emotions, which were promised by these hopes. I could be cheeky here and call Forever Changes one of the early examples of the famous Mark Fisher term, though that would have been too much.

[thefrogholler]

Musical Birthday Notes - March 30th

Musical Birthday Notes – March 30th

[rainingmusic]

Love : Alone Again Or 

[van-cortlandt]

Love, 1967

[reluctant-martyrs]

💖Happy Valentine's day💖

[kvetchlandia]

Uncredited Photographer     Love: left to right, Johnny Echols, Bryan MacLean, Arthur Lee [top], Ken Forssi, Michael Stuart, Los Angeles     1967  

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #205 - Love, Forever Changes, 1968

Uno dei versi più belli di quel capolavoro U2 che è One dice che “l’amore è un tempio, la legge più alta”. 25 anni prima un gruppo californiano, per troppo tempo sottovalutato, scelse il nome Love, producendo alcune delle pagine più particolari della musica di quel decennio. Nascono per l’impulso e la fantasia del primo grande chitarrista rock nero di Los Angeles, prima di Jimi Hendrix: Arthur Lee. Funambolico, originario di Memphis, sgargiante nei suoi vestiti emblema del Flower Power, a metà anni ‘60 ha già un bel bagaglio di esperienze: fonda e suona in diversi gruppi e soprattutto produce il primo 45 giri dove compare la futura leggenda Hendrix, My Diary di Rosa Lee Brooks, nel 1962. Fonda i Love a metà anni 60, uno dei primi gruppi interraziali dato che lui e John Echols, chitarra solista, sono neri, a cui si aggiungono Byan Maclean, cantante, Ken Forssi al basso, Snoopy Pfisterer alla batteria. Firmano inaspettatamente per la leggendaria Elektra di Jac Holzman e Paul Rickolt, vanno a vivere in una villa semi diroccata che chiamano “the Castle” a Topanga Canyon e il leggendario direttore creativo della Elektra, William S. Harvey, disegna per loro uno dei primi logo di una band in assoluto, la parola Love con la lettera “O” che ingloba i simboli del maschile e del femminile. Nel 1966 il primo singolo già fa parlare di sè: è una cover di My Little Red Book di Burt Bacharach, che fa da apripista al loro primo album dello stesso anno, Love: è un turbine di elettricità, i suoni che arrivano dalla Gran Bretagna, un po’ di sana pazzia personale, con i primi pezzi mitici, tra cui A Message To Pretty e Signed D.C., spettrale lamento sulla tragedia dell’eroina, probabilmente dedicata a Don Conka, il primo batterista della band. Nel 1967 entrano Michael Stuart e Tjay Cantrelli, ai fiati, mossa che darà importanti conseguenze sonore al loro second disco, Da Capo (1967): dominato dai 19 psichedelici minuti di Revelation, il disco offre ballate solari (Orange Skies primo grande pezzo a firma Maclean), momenti che sanno di flamenco (¡Que Vida! e The Castle, ispirata alla loro villa-comune) e i fiati la fanno da padrone in She Come In Colors. Il disco ebbe un certo successo trascinato dal singolo Seven & Seven Is, che sembra una sorta di proto punk di due minuti scritto 10 anni prima del punk. Il successo è comunque solo discreto, e la band soffre di problemi economici e personali, con molti componenti alle prese con problemi di droga. Eppure appena un anno più tardi, pubblicano quello che è considerato, a buona ragione, uno dei dischi più belli di tutti i tempi: Forever Changes. Harvey con Bob Pepper (illustre disegnatore americano) pensa ad una delle prime copertine che non era una fotografia del gruppo, ma una sorta di “cuore” composto dai disegni dei volti dei membri della band, in pieno stile psichedelico per l’uso dei colori. Il disco, memorabile, è tutto giocato sull’ambizione, quasi filosofica, dei Love, ma soprattutto di Lee, di descrivere le luci e le ombre di quella stagione piena di potenza creativa, con momenti di gioia e presagi di morte, contrasti di speranze e delusioni. Il disco si apre con una delle triadi più belle di sempre nel rock: Alone Again Or, di Maclean, è deliziosa nell’arpeggio iniziale, per poi svilupparsi con un rock flamenco orchestrale, arricchita un intermezzo di fiati mariachi, irresistibile; A House Is Not A Motel è potente e sinistra, tutta costruita in crescendo, dedicata alla tragedia del Vietnam (The bells from the schools of wars will be ringing\More confusions, blood transfusions\The news today will be the movies for tomorrow\And the water's turned to blood); Andmoreagain è una delicata e acustica elegia, una sorta di inno hippie già decadente (And if you'll see Andmoreagain\Then you might be Andmoreagain\For you just wish and you are here\Then you feel your heart beating\Thrum-pum-pum-pum). Ma le meraviglie non finiscono qui: archi classicheggianti e addirittura una spinetta per The Red Telephone (che leggenda vuole ispirata al telefono rosso che avevano nella loro casa a Topanga Canyon), la delicata And Let Live; ci sono momenti quasi di pop bacharachiano in Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale o la bellissima The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This, con addirittura un violino pizzicato. C’è pure il tentativo di scrivere qualcosa alla Dylan (Bummer In The Summer). Si chiude con altri due capolavori psichedelici, The Daily Planet e You Set The Scene (con la deliziosa sezione di archi), per un album che ha una misteriosa carica musicale, evidente anche ascoltandolo solo ora, un capolavoro di psichedelia acustica e sinfonica riconosciuto solo a posteriori. Si perchè le vendite furono modeste e l’anno successivo Lee scioglie la band, ma continua a pubblicare con i Love, nonostante la Elektra li scarichi per puntare su un’altra band niente male, i The Doors: tra le cose più interessanti che pubblicherà, Four Sail nel 1969 e nel 1970, in un disco che si chiama False Start, in un pezzo, The Everlasting First, c’è la chitarra di Hendrix: leggenda vuole che i due scrissero un disco insieme, ma non se ne è mai saputo più nulla. Lee continuerà a scrivere musica, ma niente riuscirà mai ad arrivare ai livelli, magici, di questa perla musicale da riscoprire.

[grapevynerendezvous]

Love - Da Capo

Love released their second album, Da Capo, in the same year as their first one, 1966. It was recorded in five days, and released in November. It was preceded by the release of the single 7 and 7 Is b/w No. Fourteen, which was an outtake from their first album. 7 and 7 Is was recorded in June and hit the stores in July, topping out at No.33 on the Billboard Top 100. That song was then included on Da Capo, which after its’ release reached No.80 on the Billboard Top 200.

The band consisted of five members when 7 and 7 Is was recorded, but was up to seven by the time they recorded the album. The five existing band members when the eponymous Love album was recorded were founders Arthur Lee vocals and guitar, Johnny Echols vocals and lead guitar, plus Bryan McLean vocals and guitar, Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer drums, and Ken Forssi bass. While recording  7 and 7 drummer Pfisterer had a particularly difficult time with the frantic rhythm. After about 30 takes he was intermittently replaced by Lee, who continued to teach Pfisterer how to play the parts. It’s said that it took over seventy takes to get it done. Both Lee and Echols stated that Pfisterer is the drummer on the released version. Something that made the song particularly memorable was an explosion, toward the end, of a nuclear bomb. The use of this in the song is an example of what is called musique concrète; the utilization of recorded sounds in a music composition. The song then shifts to a peaceful bluesy fade to conclusion. According to Bruce Botnick, the sound for the explosion was “taken from a sound effects record”. ”He speculated that it was a recording of a gunshot slowed down.”

Once that was completed, musicians added to Love were Tjay Cantrelli (born John Barberis) on woodwinds and Michael Stuart on drums. Snoopy switched over from drums to harpsichord and organ. The now seven-piece band recorded the balance of Da Capo from September 27 to October 2 at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood. The producer was Paul Rothchild who had just finished with The Doors first album a few days before, but Da Capo was released two months before The Doors album. The two sides of the Love record couldn’t have been more different. The six songs on side one varied in style and delivery, and among them was what critic Robert Christgau called, “the perfect rocker”, 7 and 7 Is. Side 2 had one song, which was simply a long jam.

Instrumentally the band explored new concepts on Da Capo, some rarely seen in rock music up to that time. This included harpsichord, and the use of classical music, in what could be termed “baroque pop”. They explored jazz-driven jams and use of sax and flute blended into garage rock, folk-rock, psychedelia, blues, R&B and punk rock, not that all those had actually been defined yet.

Concerning the new band members, Michael Stuart (later Stuart-Ware), was playing drums with Sons of Adam in Los Angeles. The leader of that band was Randy Holden, an unsung guitar god in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Stuart made a point of seeing Love play live at a club called Bito Lito and appreciated them for their “distinctive raw energy”, as he called it. Having had a jazz background, Stuart was surprised when he joined up with Love, just after they had recorded the single 7 and 7 Is, “to discover the album was geared to have a kind of “jazz rock” flavor.” Tjay Cantrelli (born John Barberis) departed Love, after being its’ reed player, by the end of 1967. In the early ‘70s he was in the band Geronimo Black fronted by drummer Jimmy Carl Black of Mothers of Invention fame. On the band’s eponymous album, Cantrelli is the credited composer of two songs plus co-writer of two others. In the early ‘80s he was also associated with Black’s band, Grandmothers. Not much is known about Cantrelli’s life or career other than his stints with these bands. According to several sources Cantrelli/Barberis died in 1985.

TRACKS

Greeting the ears in the first cut is Pfisterer’s harpsichord proclaiming the rocker, Stephanie Knows Who. Immediately announcing a new direction for the band, they ripped through hard psychedelic rock with a flute-driven jazz interlude. While in most of Da Capo Arthur Lee vocalizes in softer tones, on Stephanie Knows Who he sings in a harsh style, similar to much of their first album. The song, written by Lee, is about a mutual friend of his and Bryan MacLean, for whom both had affections for.

Orange Skies comes next and is an immediate shift to the aforementioned softer tones. Sung by Arthur Lee, but written by Bryan MacLean, the song is the first he had ever written. Done so at the time he was a roadie with The Byrds, MacLean said he based the melody on a section of Roger McGuinn’s guitar arrangement of The Bells of Rhymney. It is built with jazz shadings using Latin rhythms, with a somewhat fanciful air about it. Critic Matthew Greenwald points out an influence of “Broadway musicals (such as Oklahoma and Carousel)”, as well similarity “to Stevie Wonder's My Cherie Amour.”

With the pop of a cork the mellowness continues into the next track, as does the latin jazz influence, this time a bossa nova rhythm. ¡Que Vida!, (What is Life, in Spanish) is the stated title, but the working title is With Pictures and Words. Several sources indicate that the melody is based on the Bacharach/David song Lifetime of Loneliness. Lyrically composer Lee speaks not only of life, but of death and reincarnation as well. The melody flows freely throughout, but as Matthew Greenwald indicates, “although the chords always resolve, they go in surprising directions. He also felt this was a "true groundbreaking composition for Arthur Lee”. Another pop of the cork and ¡Que Vida! finishes with quiet rustling sleigh bells leading into the crashing guitars of Seven and Seven Is. That song was addressed above. ¡Que Vida! was released in March 1967 as a single, b/w Hey Joe (off of the Love album), but didn’t reach the Billboard Hot 100.

Incorporating Bryan MacLean’s Spanish-style fingerpicking, flowing harpsichord ala Pfisterer, and precision percussion work by Michael Stewart, The Castle is, in effect, a mini-suite. Whether physical or in the mind, the theme of travel is something Arthur Lee explored in songs like this at the time. He does this for just over a minute into the song after which the rest of the journey winds through creative instrumental twists and turns. The ending note rests on a precipice, but not quite landing where one might expect.

The final number on side one has been suggested to possibly be “the best song Lee ever wrote” by Richie Unterberger. Arthur was inspired to write She Comes in Colors by a Love fan named Annette. According to bandmate Johnny Echols, “Annette came to shows “wearing these outrageous gypsy clothes.” The whimsical flute played throughout by Tjay Cantrelli, gives a flowing, almost airborne feel to it. The baroque pop meets folk-jazz melody incorporated many “strange chords”, per J. Emerson in his book Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and His Book of Love. Johnny Echols considered it the most difficult song on the album to record because of that. She Comes in Colors was released as a single b/w Orange Skies in December 1966. While it got significant airplay in Los Angeles and several other localities it failed to break into the Billboard Hot 100.

The final track of the album takes up side two. At just under nineteen minutes its’ length extended past the few other long tracks out there by seven or eight minutes. Revelation had developed into a concert showcase for the band. Originally titled John Lee Hooker, it is a blues/R&B jam that takes up the vast majority of the track. The brief intro however, is the Giga from J.S. Bach’s Partita No.1, which reprises for a slightly longer time at the conclusion. The early stages of the jam hold promise, but that only lasts about five minutes before it devolves into less exciting territory. Arthur Lee said that they did the long jam “so the musicians could express themselves.”  What transpired is a run through by each musician, voice, guitar, harp, sax, bass, drums all bookended by harpsichord. As seems to be with many things, some say it’s “tedious” (Richie Unterberger) and some say, “I like 'Revelation', what of it?”, according to a RateYourMusic reviewer ‘acidballroom’. Generally Revelation gets panned, but it’s not the worst thing that ever happened on record.

There are those who say that if Revelation had been shorter, while concentrating on its best features, it may have been better received. In any case, long songs or jams, while not appealing to everyone, started being recorded more often. Longer tracks in general were appearing more as well. Radio, particularly the increase in FM availability, helped albums increasingly become the greater source over singles for the buying public. To this end Revelation was assuredly one of the very earliest examples.

Of the the three or four songs that exceeded ten minutes in length at that time, The Rolling Stones’ Goin’ Home, which was recorded for their artistic breakthrough album, Aftermath, was the true herald of what was to come. Goin Home, ‘only’ 11:35 in length, was recorded at RCA studios in Los Angeles in the midst of a Stones tour. Interestingly there has been some dispute about the relationship between it and Revelation. Tracks for Aftermath were laid down in December 1965 and March 1966. The record was released in April, seven months before Love’s Da Capo. Yet while the Stones were in LA they made the rounds of a few clubs. As Arthur Lee put it on the back cover of the 1980 Best of Love compilation by Rhino Records, “The Rolling Stones saw us play (Revelation) at the Brave New World, and they recorded a long song on their next album. After our album came out, I got the blame for copying them!”

Overall, the album fell just short of a masterpiece. The six-song first side is, at the very least, a full psychedelic potpourri. One could say that overall, the music hits just about everything but country music and the kitchen sink. The general consensus seems to be that some of the songs written by Arthur Lee (along with Orange Skies by Bryan MacLean), are the best, or among the best they’ve done. The follow-up, Forever Changes, is indeed considered among the best rock records ever issued. Still, at least some of the songs on Da Capo’s side one can stand toe-to-toe with many from Forever Changes. The decision to record Revelation had a definite impact on the fate of the album. However, the fact that the band chose not to tour mostly beyond the LA area may have caused the most damage to sales. This being true not only for Da Capo, but with all three of their first records and the singles issued from them as well. They did find their way up to San Francisco and thereabouts resulting in stronger popularity for their music in the wider Bay Area. —————————

My impetus for getting Da Capo was two-fold. I was quite excited about the single “Seven & Seven Is” being included in the album: the other being a nineteen minute song on one whole side. It was about the time I purchased it that I had started going to the record store conveniently located in the shopping center across from my high school. Usually along with my good buddy Dave, I spent many a day after school there, listening to records through earphones on the store’s turntables. Da Capo’s first side was immediately intriguing, while the second side seemed passable. Of course I never even came close to listening to that whole side and undoubtedly missed some of the less appealing aspects of it until listening to it at home.

I was struck by the eclectic nature of the material in Da Capo, which I was personally attracted to. It became pretty simple to listen to songs on side one, and just not flip it to side two. I believe I probably listened to those other songs more often that way. Looking back, I am pretty sure I only listened to Revelation a few times. It wasn’t until I got the CD years later that I did so once again, but that was about it for awhile. Once I began writing my original blog three years before this update, I listened to it in more depth than ever before. That turned out to be quite worthwhile because I finally was able to absorb the good things about the jam.

It’s fair to say that Da Capo is likely my favorite half album, because I truly consider the six songs on side one among the best ones I know, For most albums it’s rare to find all songs to be fully acceptable. With six out of seven songs, the rate of  eighty-five percent favorability would make it a pretty incredible record, and well, Da Capo is.

I feel fortunate to have finally seen Arthur Lee play a few of these songs in person. After he had been released from prison when his 1996 weapons conviction was reversed, he renewed his relationship with the band Baby Lemonade. They had become his back up “Love” band in the early ‘90s before his arrest and conviction. In 2003-4 they did a Forever Changes tour in Europe and the U.S. When they played Great American Music Hall in San Francisco CA, on January 16, 2004, I was front and center. After completing the entire Forever Changes album live, they played some selections from the Love repertoire, which included Orange Skies and Seven and Seven Is. Within three years Arthur Lee died of leukemia. More recently Baby Lemonade joined forces with one of the Love founders, Johnny Echols, forming Love Revisited. I’ve seen them three times now, and on all occasions those two songs were included in the show. Great stuff, but the big thrill still remains the opportunity to have seen the amazing Arthur Lee in person.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_(band)

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Love-band

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/love-mn0000314600/biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Capo_(Love_album)

https://psychedelicsight.com/no-37-loves-da-capo/

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/love-da-capo/

https://www.allmusic.com/album/da-capo-mw0000195829

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/love/da-capo/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-05-me-lee5-story.html

https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/love-hurts-6401143

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-bryan-maclean-1044305.html

http://blues.gr/profiles/blogs/drummer-michael-stuart-ware-of-the-sons-of-adam-love-talks-about

Michael Stuart-Ware book https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/pegasus-epitaph-the-story-of-the-legendary-rock-group-love

Tjay Cantrelli (John Barberis) died 1985 https://culture.fandom.com/wiki/Love_(band)

https://books.google.com/books?id=Ho5XDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT212&lpg=PT212&dq=john+barbieri+(tjay+cantrelli)&source=bl&ots=l0JhXoR2S3&sig=ACfU3U0x71ysvfzrWKNgu8iItLTVctPiSA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiitqzV6_fpAhURLK0KHWu5AE0Q6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=john%20barbieri%20(tjay%20cantrelli)&f=false

SF/Central Valley shows http://www.chromeoxide.com/love.htm

http://poisgoneforever.blogspot.com/2011/05/love-family-tree.html

https://www.love-revisited.com/about-2/

https://www.discogs.com/artist/48410-Love

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVTsf1XlOneXNytPQnrcL-sg3fjackHIA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lee_(musician)

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-lee-mn0000932220/biography

http://arthurlee.phpwebhosting.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Echols

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article/9244/Interviews/Love-Interview-with-Johnny-Echols

https://www.culturesonar.com/a-piece-of-love-an-interview-with-johnny-echols/

http://www.classicbands.com/LoveInterview.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_MacLean

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bryan-maclean-mn0000525687/biography

[spilladabalia]

Love - My Little Red Book (1966)

"Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Manfred Mann in the fall of 1964, My Little Red Book was later made highly successful by Arthur Lee and his band Love; the bass line and guitar riff served as an inspiration for Syd Barrett, who later adapted it for Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive." - Mike Munrows.

[mitjalovse]

The 60's were musically much more complex than many give them credit for. Some of the most known bands of the period already show us that, even when they're overused as the signifiers of the era. However, some groups didn't reach the success of their contemporaries, yet they became similar to them, i.e. the markers of the 60's, later on. Love is one such outfit, because their mix of baroque pop and psychedelic rock did not find much footing in the charts back then, until it got recognized for being the mirror to all the madness that surrounded them. Love is melancholic in comparison to their peers, you can sense a deep pain in their compositions. Listen to this song, Arthur Lee's words present a struggle which is at odds with musical backing, making it quite intriguing.

[rockandrollpicsandthings]

Love, Los Angeles 1967

Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean, Johnny Echols, Ken Forssi and Michael Stuart

[saturdaysradio]

Music Birthdays - Thursday, March 30th

Happy Birthday to Robin Pecknold, Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Lene Lovich, and Eric Clapton! Remembering Sonny Boy Williamson and Ken Forssi.

[aaronmartinrpm]

Forever Love

Growing up I debated in my mind frequently which 1960's Los Angeles band was the coolest, most authentic and interesting. It's easy the conclusion I've come to is...Love.

This band sums up the true sound of L.A. in the 60's. It's all here-jangly folk, garage rock, jazz rock, flamenco to orchestrated flourishes and full on guitar freak outs.  All blended together in a natural way.

I am writing this on what would have been Arthur Lee's 74th birthday. I can guarantee there is a good mix of Love being played in the background.

The gateway into the masterpiece that is Forever Changes begins with the Bryan Maclean song Alone Again Or. It fades in with an uplifting beautifully picked acoustic by Maclean then later followed by some beautiful weaving between him and Johnny Echols who added some nice lead flamenco playing. Lee sings harmony with Maclean during the chorus.

A House Is Not A Motel also starts out on acoustic and has a much different tone then the opening track. A much more menacing feel it captures Arthurs fears about what was happening with the state of America in the middle sixties along with fears of being sent off to fight in Vietnam. All the guys in the group were worried their draft numbers would be pulled at any time. Then end of the track explodes between the sonic explosion of Johnny Echols double lead guitar wall of sound feedback along with drummer Michael Stuarts drums.

And More is from what I've read the only track that features some of The Wrecking Crew on the record. Its rumored to have Hal Blaine on drums and also Carol Kaye on bass. A mellow breezy ballad with nice falcetto from Lee.

Daily Planet is another song that is rumored to feature some of The Wrecking Crew also the one song Neil Young is rumoured to have contributed. Listening to the harmonies it's hard to deny there is a voice that sounds like Neil's in the mix. According to what Michael Stuart wrote in his book Carol Kaye could not get the feel right so Arthur suggested he play the part and it stayed. There is some contradicting statements between Stuart and Echols if it's Hal Blaine on drums or Jim Keltner who Stuart claims played on the track. I personally think its Blaine since he was thee Wrecking Crew drummer at that point and fits his playing style.

Old Man is the second and only other song on the album to be written by Maclean. Another song with a soft acoustic intro with some really creative hi-hat playing by Stuart. It's unknown who the song is written about.

The Red Telephone may reveal more about Arthur's state of mind at that time more than any other track on the record. "Sitting On A Hill Watching All The People Die" is the first lyric delivered in the song. It describes the alienation he felt about society at that time also the safety he felt living in his mansion hidden up in hills of Laurel Canyon. Due to the serious racial tensions of that time Love sometimes had a difficult time touring in certain parts of the country due to them being mixed racially. Also Arthur had it made in LA. He could get top billing at any show in the city, perform on tv, record at one of the top studios, have creative control and make a lot of money. He didn't see much of a reason to play outside California and in reality he didn't have much of a reason too. Although in the end the reluctancy to tour may have cost them a career.

 Maybe The Times Would Be Or Between Clark And Hilldale starts off side two. It's a nice contrast after Red Telephone. Its upbeat, bright with a heavy Spanish feel between the horns and flamenco guitar. Some really nice fills from Michael Stuart. Clark and Hilldale was the neighborhood of LA where a lot of the scene was happening.

Live And Let Live features one of Ken Forssi's finest bass lines. Also some of Arthurs most out there lyrics for example "the snot has caked against my pants, it has turned into crystal." Write the rules in the sky and ask your leaders why." The ending is another intense carefully crafted solo from guitarist Johnny Echols.

The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This starts out similar to Red Telephone but soon shifts into something more melodic and mellow. The horns slowly rise. Every time I hear this song I think of the scene in the Love Story documentary where Arthur is driving along the street where he would walk for miles to deliver tapes to Capital Records and this song is playing while he is telling the story. The spliced up orchestra parts at the end are a stand out on the record and some of the best from that era.

Bummer In The Summer is unique in the way that it can be said Arthur was the first to rap on a record. The unedited version from the Forever Changes box set is a better example then what ended up on the album.

You Set The Scene is the perfect peak and ending to this journey. This song goes right to the core from start to finish. The subject matter is from the times but the message is timeless, This song delves into the deepest most fragile aspects of the human condition and the universe. The feeling at the end of the journey is although its confusing and sometimes dark its beautiful and uplifting at the same time.

[poprock-vinilo]

Love - Forever Changes (1967)

Sello: Elektra ‎– EKS 74013 Formato: Vinilo, LP, Album País: US Fecha: 1967 Género: Rock Estilo: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock

- Arthur Lee - lead vocals, guitar, arranger, producer- Johnny Echols - lead guitar - Bryan MacLean - rhythm guitar, vocals, lead vocals (01,05),  arranger - Ken Forssi - bass - Michael Stuart - drums, percussion, vocals + - Hal Blaine - drums (03,04) - Carol Kaye - bass (03,04) - Don Randi - piano (03,04) - Billy Strange - guitar (03,04) - Neil Young - arranger (04) - Orchestra: Robert Barene, Arnold Belnick, James Getzoff, Marshall Sosson, Darrel Terwilliger (violins); Norman Botnick (viola); Jesse Ehrlich (cello); Chuck Berghofer (double bass); Bud Brisbois, Roy Caton, Ollie Mitchell (trumpets); Richard Leith (trombone); David Anger (orchestral arranger) - Bruce Botnick - producer

wikipedia

PW.- PR.n.V

[gringo60s]

Love 1967