Arthur Lee 1945-2006

[michael]

Arthur Lee, who forged a legacy as one of rock's great visionaries and forbidding eccentrics while reigning briefly with his band Love as princes of the mid-1960s Sunset Strip, died Thursday of leukemia in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital. He was 61.

Mark Linn, a longtime friend, said Lee learned in February that he had leukemia and spent most of his remaining months in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy and an experimental umbilical cord blood treatment.

Some of you are probably too young to remember them, but if you like the experimentation and eclectic style of Kate, then you would like what Arthur did with Love. He was a maverick and incredibly inspirational. Love's album, "Forever Changes" is ranked 40th on Rolling Stones greatest 500 albums of all time. Robert Plant actually cited him as an influence in his acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. I'll have to add him to my Pandora web radio. I forgot how good he was until now. Shame on me. Rest in Peace, brother.

[Gelid]

A great loss for music lovers, Arthur Lee was an original and a true talent, in every sense of the word.

Michael, after reading your post above I searched on iTunes, never hearing anything by him before. I downloaded "Five String Serenade". Not a stinker on it!
From the dreamy title track, to the Hendrix-like "Seventeen", the lovely "You're The Prettiest Song", to the gritty blues "Passing By", all are done authentically in their styles. Like very few artists are, Arthur was a musical chameleon able to play a wide array of musical styles with conviction. A great loss indeed.

[Kevin2]

I just looked/listened to a Love song on youtube and quite liked it. I'm not sure that I've ever heard them before.

[michael]

Thanks Kevan and Grimm. I think when an artist passes, what they would like most is that their art is passed on to someone else. It's their legacy. The fact that you both heard him/them for the first time makes me feel good. The only real hit Love had was "My Little Red Book," which is played on oldies radio, but is not really indicative of their style. There's been a couple of covers. If you go to this website-- www.wfmu.org/Comics/signed1.html--you can hear (and see) "Signed D.C.," in my humble opinion, the best song ever recorded about drug addiction. You'll never hear more feeling in a song. Hendrix recorded with them, too. He was special.