Arthur Taylor Lee (born Arthur Porter Taylor ; March 7, 1945 - August 3, 2006) is an American singer-songwriter who became famous as the Los Angeles rock frontman Love band, known broadly as one of the most influential pop groups in the sixties.
Video Arthur Lee (musician)
Initial years
Lee was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 7, 1945 at John Gaston Hospital, to Agnes (nÃÆ' Â © e Porter), a school teacher, and Chester Taylor, a local jazz musician and cornet player. As an only child, Lee is known by the nickname "Po", short for Porter, and raised by additional family members so that her mother can continue her teaching career. With his father becoming his first connection with a musician, Lee was fascinated by music at a young age. He will sing and hum with blues musicians like Howlin 'Wolf and Muddy Waters on the radio. At the age of four, Lee made his debut on stage at the Baptist church, reading a small poem about the red phone.
In the early 1950s, his parents separated when his father "refused or did not give it", said the divorce suit. Lee only remembers seeing his father three times throughout his life. Later, Lee and his mother packed up their belongings and took the train to California, while his father was at work. Lee and his mother lived in Los Angeles permanently in 1952. In 1953, their divorce was granted and his mother married Clinton Lee, a successful construction worker, on April 23, 1955. Lee was officially adopted by Clinton Lee on June 6, 1960, legally acquired his family name, after filing a notice of adoption in 1958. His mother was able to continue his teaching career, allowing the family to buy a new home in the West Adams area of ​​South Central Los Angeles. Following the same school as Lee, the neighborhood is also home to Johnny Echols, who will later become the lead guitarist for Love.
Lee attended Sixth Avenue Elementary School and excelled in athletics but was behind academia. Known as "the hardest child in the neighborhood", Lee was pressured to succeed at school by his great aunt, the former principal, but showed interest in sports, music, reading, and animals. Lee then attended Mount Vernon Junior High, where his interest in music would be faster than his focus on sport.
Lee's first musical instrument was an accordion, which he learned from a teacher. He adapts to reading music and develops good ears and natural musical acumen. Although he was never formally taught the theory and composition of music, he was able to imitate musicians from recording and composing his own songs. Finally, he persuaded his parents to buy him an organ and a harmonica. Graduated from Susan Miller Dorsey High School, Lee's music ambitions found opportunities between the local community and his classmates. In contrast to attending college under a sports scholarship, he strives for a music career. His plan to form the band was under the influence of Johnny Echols, after seeing him perform "Johnny B. Goode" with a five-piece band at a school.
Maps Arthur Lee (musician)
Pre-Love
The first known recording was from 1963. The Ninth Wave was released by her first band, an instrumental outfit called The LAGs, Booker T & amp; MG unit types include Johnny Echols (future co-founder, guitarist, and Love vocalist), Lee (organ), Allan Talbert (saxophone), and Roland Davis (drums).
As a songwriter, Lee composed surf songs "White Caps" and "Ski Surfin 'Sanctuary". "My Diary" was Lee's first composition that was almost a hit. It was written when Arthur was a teenager, about teenage girlfriend Anita Billings. Then the R & amp; B, Rosa Lee Brooks who performed and recorded it for Revis Records. These recordings include Jimi Hendrix on electric guitars. In a 2005 interview, Lee stated that he was looking for a guitarist with feelings like Curtis Mayfield, and Hendrix recommended for a session by label owner Billy Revis.
Lee wrote, "I've Tried" to Little Ray. "Luci Baines", a song about President Lyndon Johnson's daughter, was performed and recorded with Lee's new band, The American Four. He composed "Everybody Jerk" and "Slow Jerk" for Ronnie and Pomona Casuals, the band that released the LP on Donna's label featuring some vocals by Lee. The earliest recordings are very rare but have been collected on the bootleg boot of 1997. However the American Four has been reissued as 45 and is also available now on iTunes.
Love
Lee said when he first heard The Byrds, he felt justified because he had written music that had the same folk rock sound. In 1965 Grass Roots, a folk-rock unit, changed their name to Love because there was already a signed action called The Grass Roots. Some other names are considered to include the choice of Summer Kids Bryan MacLean as well as others, such as the Asilum Choir, Dr Strangelove, Poetic Justice, and Love. Love's name was chosen after the club's audience chose it as the best choice. According to Barney Hoskyns 2001's Arthur Lee: Alone Again Or, a member of the Manson family and sometimes Grass Roots guitarist Bobby Beausoleil claims that Arthur has named the band Love to honor one of the nicknames of Beausoleil, Cupid.
Lee's early appearances were at clubs in Hollywood, including Brave New World; Clamor; Bido Lito; and Sea Witch. At Bido Lito's, a small club on the wall located in a cul-de-sac known as Cosmo's Alley, Lee first showed his potential superiority. Bido Lito's audience is sometimes decorated with celebrities, including actor Sal Mineo, and rock stars Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix, who will continue to collaborate with Lee on the upcoming recording project. Lee then got a chance to play the larger Go-Go Whiskey on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip, after which Love received a recording contract by Elektra Records. Love received many air games in Los Angeles, and performed several times in 1967 at the Cheetah nightclub in Venice, CA..
Love music has been described as a mixture of folk-rock, psychedelic rock, pop baroque, Spanish wing pop, R & amp; B, garage rock, and even protopunk. Lee has been considered the "first punk rocker" but is not flattered by this phrase because he thinks the term punk means "being a bitch or something like that." Although Lee's vocals have garnered some comparisons to Johnny Mathis, the lyrics often dwell on dark and annoying things, but often with wry humor. The group cover of Burt Bacharach/Hal David's "My Little Red Book" (first recorded by Manfred Mann for the What's New soundtrack, Pussycat?) Received a thumbs up from Bacharach: Love has changed the chord changes of the song. Nevertheless, the record was a Southern California hit and won Lee and Love a spot on American Bandstand .
Love (1966) inserted the cover of "My Little Red Book". "Emotion", an instrumental song from the album, was used in the 1969 opening credits of Medium Cool . The second side of Da Capo (1966) shows only one song, "Revelation". The first side contains six individual songs, including their only single to achieve success on the Billboard Top 40 chart: "7 and 7 Is". Forever Changes (1967) followed, the album became the centerpiece of the psychedelic-tinged sound of the group, supported by David Angel's arrangement.
Love released three albums with core members Lee, Echols (lead guitar, vocals), Bryan MacLean (guitar, vocals), and Ken Forssi (bass). The drum chairs range from Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer ( Love , "7 and 7 Is") and Michael Stuart (all songs in Da Capo except "7 and 7 Is" Forever Changes ). Pfisterer reportedly found a demanding drum part on "7 and 7 Is" so exhausting that he and Arthur Lee took turns taking. Da Capo also includes Tjay Cantrelli, which was added to the saxophone and flute while the Pfisterer was transferred to ancient organs and pianos. Both are out of the group when Forever Changes are recorded.
Forever Changes is considered by critics and fans just like Love's best record, and one of the best rock notes is not only the 1960s but all time. Despite this praise, the LP sold moderately in its time (reaching # 154 on the top 200 albums, and staying on the charts for 10 weeks, without the benefit of hit singles), despite reaching the top 30 in the UK. Nevertheless, his cult status grew. In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the 40th 'Forever Change in the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. It was incorporated into National Recording Recordings in May 2012.
After Forever Changes , the band managed to record another single non-album single ("Your Mind and We Belong Together" b/w "Laughing Stock") released in June 1968 and failed on the chart. Love then dissolves due to drug and money problems, only to Lee revive the group name soon afterwards. The new love featured a lineup consisting of Lee on vocals and guitar, Jay Donnellan on guitar, Frank Fayad on bass, and George Suranovich on drums although some songs featured The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Drachen Theaker. Lee signed a recording contract with Blue Thumb Bob Krasnow label during this time, but without mentioning to Krasnow that he is still technically signing a contract with Elektra Records. Lee wants to get out of his Elektra deal since 1966 (the year of self-titled debut was released).
The founder of Elektra, Jac Holzman, did not want to let Lee out of his contract because he admired his talent, but he also did not want to create an artist under contract who did not want to stay, so a successful deal that allowed Lee to record for Blue Thumb with Holzman got his choice from ten songs were produced to fulfill Elektra's contract of the fourth album. The album will be Four Sail (1969), Lee's words in the original title "For Sale". Just three months after the Four Sail release, Blue Thumb records released their Love album, Out Here , using the remaining tracks from the session.
Here features the same musicians as Four Sail with the addition of Gary Rowles, who plays on one song. Lee feels that Donnellan is a bit too selfish for his taste. The new lineup consists of musicians who are not fans of Forever Changes, resulting in a louder rock sound. During the initial session of Four Sail/Out Here , Krasnow approached Lee about the possibility of collecting original Love members. Krasnow felt there was a lost magic with a new lineup. Lee obliged him, and started practicing and even recorded some with original members Echols, Forssi, and Stuart (MacLean has rejected it).
Heroin proved too dominant in the life of Echols and Forssi. Both men were constantly mortgaging rental equipment for drug money and finally released again. Love also toured Four Sail and Out Out for their first trip to Europe, where they were always more popular, and went on to do a nationally televised show on Dutch television. also featuring promotional videos for old songs from Elektra's years. Here successfully charted at # 29 in the UK in May of 1970.
The next album that appears from Love is False Start (1970) which continues with the sonic direction of heavy acid rock, in addition to displaying the R & amp; B classic. One new member was added to this incarnation of Love, a vocalist/guitarist named Nooney Rickett. The album opening song, "The Everlasting First", featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar.
Lee met Hendrix while in England, and they decided to record at the cost of Bob Krasnow. Over the years there have been rumors that Arthur and Jimi recorded all the records together, but the truth came in 2009 when an acetate from Blue Thumb made the rounds and it was revealed that there was only a long hours session (entitled "Jam" on the actual acetate, to accompany the The Everlasting First and an earlier version of Hendrix's song "Ezy Rider"). According to legend, Arthur hears Bob Krasnow telling someone that if the album False Start did not break the top 10 he will release the band from his contract. Moreover, Arthur made Krasnow give it in writing. The album did not even reach the top 200 on the Billboard charts.
In 1971, Lee signed a contract with Columbia Records and spent the better part of the summer record; all songs are deemed unfit for publication (the entire Columbia project, together with some demos, was released for the first time in 2009 on Sundazed Records as "Love Lost").
Solo Career
In July 1972, Lee released his first solo album, Vindicator , at A & amp; M Records, featuring a group of new musicians who also played as the band Love. At one point in time, they will use the name Bandaid, a name originally suggested by Jimi Hendrix for his brief lineup of Lee, and Steve Winwood. This album failed to map. Lee recorded a second solo album in 1973 titled Black Beauty for Buffalo Records, but the label was folded before the album was released. Lee contributed the title song for the blaxploitation film 1974 Thomasine & amp; Bushrod . Lee's next step was to credit the support group for Black Beauty with the addition of John Sterling guitarist as the new Love for Reel to Real (1974). Again, the album is almost unnoticed.
A new Lee solo album, called only Arthur Lee , appeared on Rhino Records in 1981, featuring a cover of The Bobbettes â € Å"Mr. Leeâ € and Jimmy Cliff â € Å"Many Rivers to Crossâ € and musicians Sterling (guitar), George Suranovich (drums), and Kim Kesterson (bass), as well as some members of "Reel to Real".
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, there were various attempts to reunite the original ranks of Love. On the advice of guitarist John Sterling who first joined Arthur for Reel To Real , one such show from Whiskey in October 1978 was recorded by Sterling on a cassette. It featured Lee and Bryan MacLean with Sterling (guitar), George Suranovich (drums), and Kim Kesterson (bass), and was released on Rhino as a live album live image disc titled Love Live (1980) on Rhino Records. In 1982, MCA released Studio/Live , a collection of songs from the early 1970s of the Incarnation of Love co-ordinated by rock/journalist Stann Findelle, including never having heard the songs recorded from Fillmore East by Bill Graham.
Apart from the Studio/Live package at the MCA, the 1980s was a period that Lee mostly did not use. According to him: "I've been gone for a decade, I'm back in my old neighborhood to take care of my dad, who is dying of cancer, I'm tired of signing autographs, I'm tired because I'm going to get out of my school. tired. "Alice Cooper recorded a cover version of" 7 and 7 Is "Lee on the 1981 album, Special Forces .
Lee did not reappear until 1992, with a new album titled Arthur Lee & amp; Love - {Five String Serenade} on the French New Rose label. The title track, "Five String Serenade", was later recorded by Mazzy Star and Jack White of the White Stripes. The album also featured a new artist he discovered from San Francisco, Keith Farrish aka Demian X Diamond. He performed live around this time in Paris, London, and Liverpool. In 1993 he played shows in New York and England. The following year he released a 45rpm single, "Girl on Fire" which was supported by "Midnight Sun", on Distortions Records. He began touring regularly with a backup band consisting of former members of Das Damen, and LA Baby Lemonade group. In 1995, Rhino Records released a compilation of Love Story , a two-disc set with extensive liner notes that recorded the period 1966-1972, and revived interest in the band. In fact, the original Love plans to reform and tour the compilation campaign, but Arthur's legal issues prevent this.
Prison
At the end of 1996, Lee was sentenced to 12 years for the lunturnya firearms that were negligent. The law of three strikes in California meant Lee was forced to serve a prison term, having been jailed for two years for burning, and charged with drugs, driving, and assault.
Lee denied that he had fired his weapons, and visited fans of Doug Thomas who denied involvement when police responded later admitted to the act. Lee was not represented competently in court; the one year delayed analysis of the gunpowder residue test results in negative results. If he pleaded guilty, Lee would be sentenced to nine months in prison but he fought the case and lost. With an increased indictment based on previous criminal convictions and unintentional allegations of domestic violence in the same period, the court gave an example to him: 12 years, 85 percent of the time served: about 9 years.
In prison Lee denied visitors and interviews. "I thought I would beat this case, so why would I want to broadcast it? It is very embarrassing for me."
Former bandmates Bryan MacLean and Ken Forssi both died while Lee was locked up, ending speculation about a full Love reunion.
On December 12, 2001, Lee was released from prison, after serving a 5 1/2 year sentence from his original punishment. The federal appeals court in California overturned the allegations of negligence from firearms, finding that prosecutors at Lee's trial were guilty of mistakes.
Next year
After Lee was released from prison, he collected the new Love incarnation and planned a 35th Anniversary Tour, to start at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The Make-Up released a song calling for the release of Arthur Lee, called "Free Arthur Lee".
Two Love songs, "My Little Red Book" (from Love ) and "Always See Your Face" (from Four Sail ), are included in the John Hornet's John Cusack adaptation soundtrack High Fidelity . Lee's songs have been heard in other films as well, especially "7 & 7s" in the 1990s Point Break and 1996's Bottle Rocket .
Last year
In 2002, Lee began to tour in earnest with the name "Love with Arthur Lee". This new phase of his career met with great success, and he appeared to an enthusiastic audience and critical acclaim throughout Europe, North America and Australia. The Incarnation of Love consists of members of Baby Lemonade band, who first performed with Lee in May 1993 at Raji's. The band started doing the album Forever Changes overall, often with string and horn sections. Live CDs and DVDs of this material were released in 2003.
Johnny Echols joined the new group Forever Changes 35th Anniversary Tour Performance at Royce Hall, UCLA, in the spring of 2003. Lee and the band continued touring throughout 2003 and 2004, including many concerts in and around the hometown Los Angeles, especially performances at the outdoor Sunset Junction festival, San Diego Street Scene, and headlining dates with The Zombies at Ebell Theater. Echols occasionally joined Lee and the group on a continuous tour and late 2004 to 2005. They played a well-received date at Fillmore in San Francisco with full strings and horn sections.
Due to Arthur Lee's disease (acute myeloid leukemia), which details were not known by the band at the time, he was unable to participate in the last tour in July 2005. Since no one knew his illness, Arthur's decision to cancel the final Tour met with an angry and confused reaction. The rest of the band members, along with Echols, continued to perform in places from the last tour (July 2005) without Lee, under the name The Love Band. In late September 2005, Lee moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he plans to continue making music using the name Love. Join him is to be drummer Greg Roberson (Reigning Sound, Her Majesty's Buzz, Compulsive Gamblers) to collect a new lineup in Memphis, which includes Adam Woodard, Alex Greene (The Reigning Sound, Big Ass Truck), Jack "Oblivian" Yarber, Alicja Trout , and Johnny Echols from the original composition of Love. Eventually Arthur's ill health prevented this from happening.
In April 2006 it was announced that Lee was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia. The tribute fund was established shortly after the announcement, with a series of charity concerts to be conducted to help pay for medical bills. The most famous of these concerts was produced by Steve Weitzman of SW Productions at New York's Beacon Theater on June 23, 2006, and featured Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, Ryan Adams, Nils Lofgren, Yo La Tengo, Jeffrey Garland, Johnny Echols (Love's lead guitarist original), and Flashy Python & amp; The Body Snatchers (featuring Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Supported by the band Ian Hunter, Plant performed 12 songs, including four Led Zeppelin songs and five recorded by Love in the 60s ("7 and 7 Is", "Home Not Motel", "Summer Bummer", "Old Man", and "Hey Joe"). A charity concert was held in Dublin, Ireland.
Death
Lee underwent several months of treatment for leukemia, including chemotherapy and experimental stem cell transplants using stem cells from cord blood donors. His condition continued to deteriorate, and he died of complications in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 61.
Legacy
Since Lee's death, a number of Arthur Lee's websites have emerged. In addition, Lee is immortalized by fans and friends. The most famous of these warnings was written by Stuart Goldman, who has known and written about Lee since his first days on the Sunset Strip.
Robyn Hitchcock's 1993 song "The Wreck of the Arthur Lee" was written as a tribute to the singer.
Arthur Lee is mentioned in the song "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken", by Lloyd Cole & amp; Commotions, as well as in the song "Mate of the Bloke", by Half Man Half Biscuit; Lee's name and mystique are in stark contrast to British comic actor Arthur Lowe. His prison term was the subject of "The Prison's Going Down" by former singer Stranglers and guitarist Hugh Cornwell. Lee is the subject of the song "Byrds Turn to Stone" (originally titled "Mr. Lee") by the band Liverpool (and former group supporter Arthur Lee) Shack.
Rival Schools and Quicksand frontman Walter Schreifels pay tribute to Arthur Lee on his 2010 solo album Open Letter to Scene with a song titled "Arthur Lee's Lullaby".
The 2009 Communion album by Swedish band The Soundtrack of Our Lives featured a song titled "The Fan Who Was not There" based on the singer Ebbot Lundberg with Lee.
Directed by Mike Kerry and Chris Hall Heavenly Films succeeded in persuading Arthur Lee to cooperate in filming the British documentary Love Story 109 minutes in 2006, successfully recording a recent interview with reflective Arthur Lee before he was diagnosed with leukemia. The well-produced film successfully brings together interviews with key people from several management ranks of Love and Elektra and studio engineers.
Discography
Note
References
External links
- Official website
- Arthur Lee at AllMusic
- Torben Love Page
- The Love Messageboard
- Arthur Lee's article on BBC News
- The New York Night Train retrospectively
- Arthur Lee in the Search of the Mausoleum
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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