Photo: Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images
Arthur Lee marked history with his Californian group ‘Love’, with a rebellious temperament he knew how to leave his mark on the music of the years 61.
Lee was marked by the altruism of the post-war generation who had decided to change the world with their actions. He was the one in charge, before Jimi Hendrix with his colorful clothes, to define himself as the first black hippy, quite a challenge for a conservative society.
‘Love’ never managed to achieve the success of bands contemporary like The Byrds, The Doors or Jefferson Airplane, but this did not prevent their pioneering and visionary vision of the fusion of flok with rock and psychedelia from gaining the status of band of worship.
In 1966, ‘Love’ released their self-titled album with songs full of energy , melancholy or harmonies without equal, “My Flash on You”, “Can´t Explain” and “No Matter What You Do” were some of them.
Along with Lee were guitarists John Echols and Brian Maclean , plus bassist Ken Forssi and drummer Alban “Snoopy” Pfisterer recorded “7 is 7 is,” a wild hard-rock powerhouse.
In January 1967, they are joined by Tjay Cantrelli, in charge of saxophone and flute, and a new drummer, Michael Stuart, to record a new album “Da Capo” that has gems like “Oranges Skies”, “’¡Que Vida!”, “She Cames in Color” and “Revelation”.
But their best album was the third, “Forever Changes” (1967), which had amazing guitars, crystal clear orchestrations and Lee had his voice at its best. Over time this was considered one of the greats of the 60.
After the album, the band disbanded and Lee was left as the only original member. “For Sail”, “Out Here” and “False” came out but none achieved the success of the first productions.
In the 80 the world forgot about ‘Love’, but the new generation of 90 and the reissues brought him back.
Lee had a complicated life, which forced him to pay five years in prison between 1996 and 2001, after this it seemed that the lights were shining again for the artist, but leukemia turned them off on August 3, 2001, when I only had 61 years.
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