Love Forever Changes Concert

We all have our favorite bands, I guess...hell, I know!  The Beatles, The Stones...the obvious - but then there are those personal favorites - the ones that seemingly only you, among all your friends, absolutely love, and who probably have/had a sizeable cult following somewhere, sometime.  A couple of mine are Procol Harum, and, the subject of this review, Love.  Love formed in 1965 and had a hit right out of the box with their radical reworking of Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "My Little Red Book".  That first album (1966), simply titled 'Love', along with its follow-up, 'Da Capo', are still two of my very favorite albums today.  I have never tired of them.  Love made some of the sweetest folk-rock/baroque/garage/jazz sounds ever heard.  Sort of a mixture of The Byrds, The Left Banke, Buffalo Springfield, and their own, more melodic take on the sound of the myriad garage bands of the day.

Love's most popular release (and critic's darling), by far, is the classic 'Forever Changes' album (1967).  Their last album to feature most of the original band, 'Forever Changes' was a concept album, and the only Love album to rely heavily on horns and strings.  Although they subsequently released four more albums, Love, the band, and the sound, pretty much fell apart after ' Forever Changes'.  (So popular is this album that it earned a re-release/remaster w additional tracks by Rhino records in 2001.)  Always, from the very beginning in 1965 to the band's demise in 1974, Love, the band, was singer and songwriter Arthur Lee.  And now we can say, with a tear in our eye, that Love IS, today, Arthur Lee!  (The only other Love-r of note was guitarist Bryan MacLean, who wrote and sang the few songs that Lee did not.  Also of note:  the wonderfully talented Maria McKee [another of my personal favorites], about whom I hope to write a piece soon, is Bryan MacLean's half-sister.)

Arthur Lee, after some chicanery, skullduggery, and all around bad form, emerged from prison in December of 2001.  He kept his head on straight and formed a brand new Love (of which he is the only original member.  His backing band is the extremely talented all-things-Love obsessed Baby Lemonade.  This is like deja vu all over again...main-band-man-genius assembles entirely new group, tours with same, and records live version of masterpiece in England...hmmm...Brian Wilson, anyone?!), more properly known as Love with Arthur Lee (gotta get that name recognition out there!).

In 2003, at The Royal Festival Hall in London , Love with Arthur Lee recorded 'The Forever Changes Concert' live, with an eight-piece horn/string section.  Now, I admit, I was pretty put off by this disc when I first saw it in stores (which was only very recently).  I mean, c'mon...this has got to suck the major donkey dick, no?!  It's gotta be some half-assed, tinny-sounding, horribly recorded and mixed one-off to capitalize on Arthur Lee's name, right?  It will only sully my precious memories of the once great band, I fear!  Well, I love Love, and Lee, and I'm a collector, so I bought the damn thing.  Imagine my surprise, my total shock, my utter amazement, when, upon first listen, I heard what I imagine to be the best Love has ever sounded live, even considering the original line-up back in the '60s!  Friends (and especially you Love lovers out there), do not fear this CD!  Do not hesitate, in thinking as I did, before my eyes (er, ears) were opened!  Do not exclaim, as my friend Dave did, "I have the Rhino reissue.  It's all I need.  How good could it be?"  (Boy, was his mind changed, and quick!)

The talent displayed here, the recording quality, that Arthur Lee voice, the seemingly possessed Baby Lemonade, the horns and strings...a note for note perfect, and, dare I say, even better rendition of 'Forever Changes'!  This CD defines the term jaw-dropping!  You simply will not believe how good this bugger is!  Lee speaks little between songs, but when he does, he's cordial and humble (a far cry from the egomaniacal self-destructive Lee of the past).  I have listened to the studio version of this disc, oh, maybe 15 times, give or take, in all previous formats...I have listened to this live version at least 30 times since acquiring it some 3-4 weeks ago!  And I have yet to tire of it one whit!

This set includes 'Forever Changes' in its entirety, and adds live versions of six more Love classics, including "7 and 7 is", "Orange Skies", "She Comes in Colors" and, the last cut on the disc, "August".  This amazing band cuts loose a few times during this set, but the ending of "August", and thus, the album, absolutely catches fire and smokes straight up for a good long time!  You simply must hear it!  Arthur Lee does miss a note here and there (but, so does Brian Wilson), but that voice is unmistakeable and irreplaceable.  He's runnin' on all cylinders and showin' absolutely everyone else how it's done...a man we all thought washed up and a lost cause, and quite honestly, a terribly sad waste.  Good on ya, Arthur!  God bless ya, and thankyou - for getting my heart pounding and my pulse racing again!  This is a phrase that's used alot, I know, but, applied here, it's absolutely true:  It just doesn't get any better!  Search this one out and make it your own!  Me, I'm gonna go listen to mine again...and again...

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Release Date: September 23, 2003
Tracks: 16 - Time: 49:59
Produced by: Mark Linnett & Love
Format: CD
Website: www.lovewitharthurlee.com

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Love:

Arthur Lee - Vocals / Guitar / Harmonica
David Chapple - Bass
David Green - Drums
Mike Randall - Guitar
Rusty Squeezebox - Guitar