Artist:Love
Song:Alone Again Or
Album:Forever Changes
Even back in their heyday in the 60s, the psychedelic group Love had a rabid cult following and never had the commercial success of other groups of the era. They've gained respect over the years. The group was started by singer guitarist Arthur Lee (born Arthur Taylor Mar. 7, 1945 in Memphis). When his mom moved to Los Angeles and remarried, his name was legally changed to Arthur Lee. He was hanging around the Los Angeles music scene in the early 60s when he decided to start a band in 1965. Lee and partner Bryan MacLean were going to call the group The Grass Roots but had to change the name to Love. They signed with Elektra but never broke through commercially. The group was in such disarray by the time they were to record Forever Changes that Elektra planned to use session musicians. But Lee & MacLean were able to get it together with producer Bruce Botnick and Forever Changes is now considered one of the great classics of psychedelic rock. MacLean wrote Alone Again Or as a tribute to his flamenco dancer mother and it features strings & horns. The song and Love's legendary status was given a boost when the British punk band The Damned covered Alone Again Or in 1987. Rhino released an expanded version of Forever Changes in 2001. Lee broke up Love in 1968 and continued to issue music under the group name. They were actually Arthur Lee backed by session musicians. Over the years Lee gained respect for his musicianship on the guitar but his erratic behaviour made him impossible to work with. He even went to jail in the late 90s on a gun charge. Arthur Lee toured with a version of Love in 2002 but then he contracted leukemia and died on Aug. 3, 2006 at age 61. Here's Arthur Lee & Love performing Alone Again Or in 2002.
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