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Fred in Bed
Third Love
United Kingdom
63 Posts |
 Posted - 22/10/2004 : 15:32:31
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I have nothing better to do so I thought I'd share this.
I was at a low ebb in the summer and I was on the tube just going two stops but a busker stepped on and said, 'Here's one from the Sixties' and started playing and I thought, 'That's a great song, I think I've heard it before somewhere.' I made me feel a little better and when I got into work I typed some of the lyrics into Google to see what the song was. It was 'Alone Again Or' by a band called Love.
Then I remembered another song I'd heard a few weeks earlier that I wanted to find out more about. I'd seen someone I'd never heard of, Arthur Lee, performing a really interesting song on BBC's coverage of Glastonbury and I remembered the lyrics 'I ain't got no papers on you' so I typed that in and how strange, not only was it by the same artist but it was on the same album. Of course, I went out and bought Forever Changes and was just blown away. In just a few short months I've listened to nothing but Love, Da Capo, Forever Changes and Four Sail.
Of course, the downside is that I found out too late to catch any of the gigs in the UK. |
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gordo
Third Love
United Kingdom
91 Posts |
Posted - 22/10/2004 : 16:55:57
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| Next best to seeing Arthur live would be to get yourself a copy of the Forever Changes Concert DVD and turn it up to 11 |
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Lizzyb
Fifth Love
United Kingdom
470 Posts |
Posted - 23/10/2004 : 01:25:10
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Nice story..
yes but (no but)
you are fred in bed which is a little less obvious because tho' it's a favourite of mine it isn't exactly a frequently cited song...
so fill in moe details please. why that one?
I'm interested in what makes a song or a track or a show special
Keep on shining |
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Fred in Bed
Third Love
United Kingdom
63 Posts |
Posted - 23/10/2004 : 13:48:01
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quote:
Nice story..
yes but (no but)
you are fred in bed which is a little less obvious because tho' it's a favourite of mine it isn't exactly a frequently cited song...
so fill in moe details please. why that one?
I'm interested in what makes a song or a track or a show special
Keep on shining
Well, it was the first 'name' reference that came into my head when I had to choose a user name, BUT, it's significant also because when I first heard that song it didn't grab me but I came back to it after a little while and then it got to me, and I've found that a lot with Love's stuff. Tracks I didn't 'get' at first become stand-outs after a while. I first heard Forever Changes and thought 'Wow, there are three or four great tracks on there.' Then they ALL got to me in different ways. Then I heard the other Elektra albums and it was the same kind of thing and the more I heard of each, the more sense the others seemed to make.
I'm glad to say I've yet to hear the later stuff. Sometimes it great to discover something special after the fact because it's all there for you to enjoy at your leisure, as opposed to being there and, say, waiting five years for the Stone Roses to record another album which was the experience of my youth.
Having said that, I can't say the idea of hanging out in LA in the mid- and late-Sixties doesn't appeal to me! |
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Hypnotised Dog
First Love
8 Posts |
Posted - 24/10/2004 : 06:50:17
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Hi Fred in Bed ... great account of your experience. I am happy to hear that Alone Again Or has made it into the playlists of buskers!
Am inspired by what you wrote and I feel the urge to share my experience as well ... hope it's not too indulgent ...
I wrote a folk-rock song in the late 80s (I am not a professional musician, just a closeted one!) and I was then influenced by the Beatles psychedelic era, mysticism, philosophy, etc. The song I wrote was performed by my then-band and ended up in a cassette compilation sponsored by a record label in my country. It was distributed with a music fanzine and the person who reviewed my song suggested that it was something that was in the vein of Arthur Lee and Love. Back then, I had not heard of Love and I soon forgot about the review.
A couple of years later, I was looking out for obscure bands and albums from the sixties to add to my collection. Having already heard the likes of Sgt Pepper, Surrealistic Pillow, Are You Experienced, The Doors (all from 1967!), I came across a rock music encyclopedia (Virgin?) with listings of albums by the Incredible String Band and Love (both of whom I had not heard of before or so I thought for the latter). I remembered the reviewer describing Forever Changes as having it all .. highs, lows, loud, soft, fast, slow and had content that meant something in the year of Sgt. Pepper.
Back then in the late 80s, there were no Love CDs available so I went to a Vinyl Store and found Da Capo as well as an Incredible String album! The store owner played for me 7 & 7 Is and I was sold! Not even owning a record player (I was only into cassettes), I bought the album and ordered Forever Changes. For my listening pleasure, I had to go to a friend's house and have him dub a copy onto cassette. When I finally got Forever Changes, I identified with the songs a great deal. Then I one day I re-read the review of my song and realised what I had missed!
As for my song, I hope to rerecord it one day with my current band and make it part of an album that hopefully will be half as good as Forever Changes!
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Fred in Bed
Third Love
United Kingdom
63 Posts |
Posted - 24/10/2004 : 13:49:45
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| Similar to your forgetting about the reference to Love in your review, HD, as a somtime journalist I interviewed a 'cult' band called Corduroy back in the mid-90s and I asked them about their influences (original question!) and the bass player said he'd always been into psychedelia and his all-time favourites were Love. I remember being surprised because I'd never heard of them and making a mental note to check them out, which of course I forgot all about until nearly a decade later! I guess the time has to be right. |
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Barber John
Second Love
United Kingdom
48 Posts |
Posted - 24/10/2004 : 15:09:18
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Mr Lee has influenced all generations. In the 60's - 'He (Syd Barrett) played 2 records endlessly that summer - The Byrds' 'Fifth Dimension' and Love's debut album. He would later develop a riff from Love's 'My Little Red Book' for his own 'Interstellar Overdrive'.
Taken from 'Crazy Diamond' by Mike Watkinson and Pete Anderson. |
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How Love found me
