This will be a rather short diatribe, as my posts go. It's just that I feel like Frank Sinatra in that movie where he comes back from wherever he was and goes to his hometown and no one recognizes him.
Actually, it's not like that. I recognize people all the time and I run into friends, acquaintances, and far-flung kin (and I fling them again, if need be) and that's the great part about living in The Biggest Small Town On Earth. Just yesterday at Giant Food I ran into a fellow from my class in high school. We both admitted to putting on a few pounds and letting our hair gray gracefully.
No, the lack of recognition I decry is for the great band LOVE, whose legendary 1967 album Forever Changes
was recently released in expanded form, with alternate versions, outtakes and extra cuts. I feel terrible that the genius behind the band, Arthur Lee, died in August 2006 without ever receiving the acclaim that should rightly have come to him. I believe they are the best band ever because they fold so many types of music into one...rock, soul, blues, mariachi, classical - all there. Their three first albums, LOVE, Da Capo, and Forever Changes were revered by my buddies and me all through high school, and then when the band dissolved in a late-60's haze of drug troubles, crimes and misdeeds, their public support waned with everyone I know but me. Stubborn to the end, I urge you to visit http://love.torbenskott.dk/default.asp andhttp://lovearthurlee.com/ and check it out. I am also available to proselytize for the band at any venue you choose. Ask any friend of mine - I WILL play their music at the very slightest drop of a hint.
Because I never know when I'll find another convert to the cause, someone to discuss the band's lyrics, their exquisite musicianship, Arthur's vocal stylings, the whole magilla. Peggy no longer makes me listen to them with headphones only! That's progress, right?
4 comments:
Mark, thanks for this tribute to a band and a performer I confess I'd never heard of. Took the full tour of the vids--the music is intereseting, the moreso because Lee was one of the very few African-Americans in that particular scene (Hendrix being the only one who reached a big audience).
I couldn't begin to list all the music I've learned about via peoples' blogs. For years I had been asking "how do you learn about new music?" The answer is: blogs!
I definitely enjoy listening to Love now! Thanks for bringing them into my life. So fun to share, isn't it? Now, if I could only get you to listen to Yanni! HA!
Ralph - Hendrix worked with Arthur Lee and there are reports afloat that he played on a cut or two on the first Love album. Arthur is said to have moved Love into a more melodic direction because he knew he could not compete head-to-head with Jimi in a who's-the-best-guitarist competition. Thanks for checking them out. I learned about Nellie McKay from listening to Prairie Home Companion; you never know where the next source of great shared music will be found. I hope you will love Love or, at least, like Love!
Peggy: I love you with all my heart and soul, but you'll see George Bush show up for Air National Guard duty before you see me at a Yanni concert.
Agree, Nellie McKay is amazing--one more I need to explore more thoroughly. Thanks for the reminder.
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