33 1/3 Part 23
Love -’Forever Changes’ (Elektra, 1967)
When Arthur Lee died in 2006, within a few weeks of me starting this blog, I was kicking myself. I wasn’t -and still am not - an authority on his work, but he had been touring this album live, even bringing it to Edinburgh, and I hadn’t made it to seeing him.
Like quite a few of the albums in this series, this is an album that I came to slowly. I remember several people telling me how good it was - including the friend who’d told me about Jeff Buckley and Sticky Fingers. I heard the Damned’s cover ‘Alone Again Or’ without having heard the original to compare it to. Arthur Lee was feted by Michael Head when NME briefly courted Shack. Eventually, I took the £5 plunge in Fopp one afternoon in Edinburgh, a couple of months after I arrived in Edinburgh.
The nearest I had to compare it to was Calexico and Giant Sand. From its’ cover onwards, this conjured up a different world as it appeared in 1967. This is not the anti-hippy bluster of The Velvet Underground in New York, nor what the west coast were up to. Nor does it have any connection with the ‘are we English eccentrics this weeks or revolutionaries?’ of The Beatles, Stones and Kinks in England.
For what it’s worth this is my favourite album of 1967 (yes, above St. Pepper and the Velvets’ debut). I fell in love with it head over heels from that first listen in autumn 2001, and I feel that like a sonic onion, I’m still unwrapping it all these years later. It has been said that it’s the first sign from California that all was not well; that the hippy dream could not last, that it would turn to ashes. Did Lee forsee Altamont and the Manson murders? The assasination of Martin Luther King? Or - as in the case of the chilling ‘The Red Telephone’ that nuclear armageddon was still just a step away. ‘Standing on the hillside/watching all the people die.’ ‘If you want to count me/count me out’ he warns.
And of course, there’s the opening ‘Alone Again Or.’ One of the greatest songs ever written, and certainly one of the very best album openers ever written. There’s so many stars here, the guitars, Lee’s vocal, the brass…give me this over ‘If you’re going to San Francisco Wear Some Flowers In your Hair.’ It should have been a no.1 hit, then again, even The Beatles had to compete with Engelbert Humperdinck in 1967 according to the history books.
From here on in, I started to investigate pre-punk music more. I’ve listened to other Love albums - but I’m still mesmerised by this all these years later. Forty-two years old? This is truly timeless. If Brian Wilson had tried to better this, he really would have suffered in torment.
Love -’Alone Again Or.’ mp3
Another excellent choice Ed, this is one of my favourite albums of all time.
Result! Thank you : )
Noooooooooooo did you ever get happy drunk and think I’ll play this? new clothes?
gosh!
This is a work of genius. There are 2 albums in my life that I have bought repeatedly for other people, this is one of them. With Forever Changes, it was simply a case of fellow music loving friends that simply HAD to hear it. It has stood the test of time incredibly well and without doubt would be my desert island disc. In fact, I need to go and listen to it now. Thanks Ed, top drawer choice again. PS. Did the Bunnymen Mk II mp3’s I e-mailed to you, reach you okay?
Cogstar - er, ’scuse Me?
Mike B - many apologies, did get those Bunnymen mp3s. Sorry I didn’t write back, I thought I had *blushes*. Glad you like this album, it is pretty damn essential.
truly great album
Sorry Ed, it was a half drunken post, the explanation is that I’ve tried about 10 times to really like this album because everybody says it’s so good. It just leaves me cold and I think there is a touch of emporors new clothes going on.
Don’t worry I’ve made a note not to post nonsensical drunken stuff in future, I just couldn’t sleep after seeing Airborne Toxic Event last night.
sorry.
Lemmy’s favourite album, I read somewhere. And who are we mere mortals to disagree.
Cogstar -worry not, I thought booze might have been involved!
Artog - surprised, but hey…
When I started listening to things again after a long long break a friend (who was largely responsible for making me start again) insisted I went to see Love with him. It was my first gig in about 12 years - it was magnificent just to see every head and hippy in the tri-state gathered together in one place but even more magnificent to see the band - although they looked less like ‘a band’ than any group of musicians I’ve ever seen (’call casting and get them to send us four guys who would never talk to each other ever’) but they were all individually astoundingly good, and were astoundingly good together, and Arthur Lee was also magnificent, especially the moment he took off his dark glasses, stared at the crowd and asked us what we were so worried about. Brilliant album.
A twelve year break from gigs? That would have been painful - but what a great way to start again…
Every word true Ed.
There was a ‘with extras’ version released that had outakes and and a couple of different versions on it - well worth seeking out. Give me a shout if you need it.
There are some great cover versions of Alone Again Or around too - Belle & Sebastian used to do it live, and Calexico have a great mariachi version of it. Great post mate.
David - I have it, but thank you! Haven’t heard b&s’s version, though i do have Calexico’s. And there’s a version by the Boo Radleys as well, availbale on the ‘Learning To Walk’ album.
Back in 1977 apart from John Peel I listened to a lot of Radio Caroline. This song was one of their staples and the DJs used to talk in reverential tones about the album.
One Saturday afternoon I was browsing in the local record shop and found the album in the second hand racks. “You sure? said the guy behind the counter as I handed him the X Ray Spex 12″ “Oh Bondage, up Yours” and Love’s album ” Yes” I replied. Fast forward 30 years and guess which record I am still listening to? No offence Poly, but you had no chance against Arthur Lee’s masterpiece.
all the great geniuses are dysfunctional ian curtis thom yorke and arthur lee you can play the i ching with lyrics to this album jim morrison was a fan when the sunset strip was pumpin in 65-66
Tim - agreed. X-Ray Spex had their moments, but this is much more essential.
Shane - Aware they had a lot of big fans. Doors’ debut was another great album in 1967…
[...] Click here to go to 17 Seconds to check Love’s “Alone Again Or” [...]
Ed, I totally understand why you’d be kicking yourself about missing them. I had tickets and got the dates mixed up. I should’ve been watching Arthur Lee but instead was listening to this album whilst getting drunk and thinking about how good it was going to be seeing them. What a class A plum.
aaaargh! In my case I think it was probably financial…