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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
 Posted - 27/11/2012 : 14:14:03
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....thanks for this, rw! An interview long before Love was recorded in book form.
LOVE STORIES:
Kevin Delaney Interviewed by Kim Cooper & Margaret Griffis
SCRAM: A Journal Of Unpopular Culture
http://www.scrammagazine.com
Arthur Lee’s Love was one of finest bands of the sixties, but for a variety of reasons they’ve been neglected by the oldies/ nostalgia industry. The rock section of your local book emporium holds a half-dozen tomes celebrating the dubious poetics of Jim Morrison, but so far there’s no book on the far-superior Love. That seemed about to change some months back, when news reports began circulating about a young journalist named Kevin Delaney who’d moved to L.A. to track down Love and their associates. I was curious to learn what he’d found, so I wrote to ask for an interview. Kevin replied that he’d be happy to sit down and talk, but that a Love book was no longer in the works. The institutional racism that hobbled Love in their lifetime seems still to be at work: no major publisher is willing to give Kevin an advance to complete his research. Margaret Griffis and I met Kevin for bagels and juice in Hollywood’s Fairfax District one Sunday in April. This is a story of obsession and thirty-year-old mysteries. Free Arthur Lee.
Scram: So, how did you get into Love?
Kevin Delaney: (Opening a folder and showing us a color xerox) I got into it through this illustration, the cover of Forever Changes. I saw it in a book when I was around seventeen, when I was just getting into rock and roll. This was around 1990, so my experience prior to that was the eighties; eighties Top 40 radio. I had no interest in pop music at all! But once I started to find this sort of stuff, it was like a whole new world was opened to me. They had polled a bunch of rock critics on the best albums. There was Sgt. Pepper and Revolver, and even I knew those. And then there was this. I think it was #17.
Scram: A lot of critics pick it.
Kevin Delaney: But I’d never heard of it before. Love. And just to see the logo, it just looked so weird and trippy, and this illustration I just thought was out of this world. It was reproduced real small and black and white, and I wanted to get the record so I could have the illustration. I found it on CD, which I couldn’t believe. It was actually really neat, because they still had the cardboard longboxes at the time, and this image was right on the longbox. It was kind of a bonus that the music was pretty good, too. So I got really interested in this mysterious band that nobody knew about, and yet they put out such great music.
Scram: So after Forever Changes you picked up the other records.
Kevin Delaney: Yeah, I just fell in love with this album, and obviously then I wanted to get the others. I didn’t know that anybody else even knew of this group. It was totally my own little thing. At that time I don’t think many people cared about them. In the years since then there’s been a resurgence of interest, with the box set, and Bryan’s solo CD that came out. So I was just a little fan, basically.
Scram: And at some point you decided you wanted to be more than that, you wanted to document the group.
Kevin Delaney: I said (overly dramatic voice) “I want to be more than a fan! I wanna have a real relationship!” (laughter)
Scram: So what did you do?
Kevin Delaney: I was sitting on my futon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I’m from, and — well, two things really made me wanna do more with the group. I wanted to do something. I’m the kind of person, I’m not content to just observe things, I always wanna be a part of it. That’s gotten me into a lot of trouble, I might add. Actually, it was Bryan’s CD — have you heard If You Believe In?
Scram: Yeah.
Kevin Delaney: That really intrigued me, because again it was this person who I only knew through a few songs on the records, and then to hear all of this other stuff that he had done that had been hidden away for so many years! That really fascinated me. I love that these tapes were found in his mother’s garage. Then what actually started me working on this book project was, Arthur did an album in 1974 called Reel to Real, which is a very funky, kinda soul-influenced record. There were some songs on there that had an amazing bass player. I thought, “Who is this guy? He’s incredible!” I looked at the credits, and the songs that I really liked — he used two different bass players, but the songs I really liked used this guy Robert Rozelle on bass. So I started checking on the internet. I’m a researcher; I love to find obscure things. I’d never heard of this guy before, and as far as I could tell he never played on anything of any real note. It’s not like he went on to something great, or I should say he didn’t go on to be really famous. But lo and behold, I found someone with that name on the internet. I emailed him and asked “Are you the guy who played bass on this album?” And he wrote me back and said “Yeah, that’s me. How’d you find me?!” Because I had found him, I thought I’d like to do something with him, I didn’t know what. Maybe I can write an article and interview him. And he was very agreeable to it. There’s a Love fanzine called The Castle, and I said I’d like to do an interview for it with him. So we did that, and again I was in Pittsburgh at the time. I had no intention of moving out here, but Robert and I had several phone conversations—
Scram: He lives out here?
Kevin Delaney: Yeah. And we were talking about a lot of stuff. He was surprised at how knowledgeable I was about this record. He’d played with Arthur Lee for a long time, but as far as that record was concerned it was just one thing that he did, and he was really surprised that I knew so much about it. Robert really started telling me a lot of stories. There was some amazing stuff — and remember this is all from the seventies, this wasn’t even the sixties!
Scram: I don’t think Arthur ever slowed down, though. The stories go all the way up until he went to jail.
Kevin Delaney: Oh god, the seventies got really crazy! Libel lawsuit material crazy. (laughter)
Scram: But you’re gonna tell us all those stories later, right?
Kevin Delaney: Maybe...
Scram: As long as you say “allegedly,” it’s all right.
Kevin Delaney: Right, “he allegedly—”
Scram: “I’ve heard rumors...”
Kevin Delaney: “Supposedly, I don’t know this is true—” (laughter) Robert knew some people, and he was saying, “You gotta call this woman, because she was a part of the whole thing too, you gotta call this guy, you gotta call Melvin, who played guitar on the album. And so as with a lot of things — and I’ve since learned how to keep this in check — I’ll think “Oh, I wanna do an article for a little fanzine—” and next thing I know I’m working on the screenplay, I’m doin’ the novel—
Scram: You were sucked in! It’s like you opened the tap, with these people who haven’t talked about this in years.
Kevin Delaney: That was what was so exciting about it! So I decided to move to L.A. for a couple different reasons. Some people have made it seem like I only came here to do the book, which was a big part of it, but mostly I just wanted a change. I wanted to get out of Pittsburgh and live somewhere else. I really like L.A. I’d been here before.
Scram: Listening to all that Love couldn’t have hurt. It’s a very seductive image.
Kevin Delaney: Yeah, it was somewhat. So I came out here, and I didn’t know anybody.
Scram: When did you come?
Kevin Delaney: I came in December of ‘97, a few days before Christmas. I mean, I didn’t have any friends here, but I knew Robert. And I just started working like a maniac on finding these people. I guess the big one was Bryan MacLean. I got to know him. I spent a lot of time working on it, and it was really neat, as a fan, to get to know him.
Scram: Were you basically doing this full-time, or were you doing other things?
Kevin Delaney: Well, I was an actor in Pittsburgh, and I worked it out that I did some TV commercials that would be running after I moved, so I had residuals! (laughter) I was like the alcoholic on welfare, with just no responsibilities at all! And the only problem with residuals is that they eventually run out, and then you’re kind of left, like, “Oh my god, what am I gonna do? I have no job, I have nothing!”
Scram: But you have a lot of tapes, of the people you’d talked to, right?
Kevin Delaney: Right, I have a lot of tapes and a whole bunch of friends, but not too much money in the pocket. It was an interesting learning experience. It was one of the most rewarding ways to get yourself totally financially devastated! Some other people blow it all on the lottery, or drinking or drugs — I got to meet all my heroes! That was good enough for me.
Scram: How did you meet Bryan MacLean?
Kevin Delaney: I got in touch with a writer who had interviewed him, Matthew Greenwald, because he was doing what little bit of press Sundazed was arranging for the If You Believe In CD. Matthew gave me Bryan’s phone number. So I called Bryan on the phone. This was not long after I had arrived. I was living in this little dump of an apartment up on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in North Hollywood, and I didn’t even have a sheet on my bed, and I thought “I don’t believe this; I’m talking to Bryan MacLean on the phone!” How much better could my trip to L.A. be? This guy I totally admire and and love and never thought I’d ever be talking with. The thing with all of these people is that they’ve been so out of the spotlight for years, there’s something almost unreal about it, like these are characters from a novel or something. You don’t think these people exist today. And here I was talking to Bryan on the phone, and he was totally, completely against any kind of book!
Scram: Why is that?
Kevin Delaney: Well, I don’t know, really. And I don’t even know if he really was totally against it. He was acting that way, but I can say now, now that I know he’ll never read this, that he was totally obnoxious. (laughter) And I just kept on. He was trying to convince me that nobody cared about Love. Why would he talk about this? He had no interest in opening up this old part of his life.
Scram: But he had just allowed his old tapes to be released.
Kevin Delaney: Right, but I think that was different, because that was his music, his songs. He was against the idea of going into the whole story.
Scram: Do you think that was his religious convictions, just being offended by the decadence of Love?
Kevin Delaney: No, I think he was testing me, basically. Because about eight months later, after a lot of hounding and begging and crying— (laughter)
Scram: You just wouldn’t give up!
Kevin Delaney: He finally just said, “Man, I gotta get this kid off my case!” (laughter) “This kid’s gonna kill me!” He wanted to make sure it was gonna be really good. And we also became friends, and I think he wanted me to get to know him. Maybe it had to do with him doing the press for If You Believe In, when everyone was asking him all about the sixties. It’s like, “Hello — I’m a human being — I’m alive now.” And yet all anybody cared about was the Bryan MacLean from Love in the sixties. So we became friends, and that gave me the opportunity to get to know him as a person, which is what I think he really wanted. He made it clear that he didn’t want to delve into this right away. He always kind of left the door open, that was it. When I say he was against it, he was seemingly against it but he let me know that there was maybe a possibility of it happening. (laughs)
Scram: If you really wanted it. Do you think if he had been totally opposed, without suggesting that there was an opening, that you would have backed off and left him alone?
Kevin Delaney: Oh yeah. I wouldn’t pressure anyone into doing something they didn’t want to do. He was more trying to convince me that this was ridiculous and I was wasting my time, and most of the other guys were probably dead anyway. One time, after we’d started doing the interviews, he called me up. I’d been talking about Johnny Echols, the guitar player, who has not been heard from in years. I mean the guy has vanished! All kinds of writers have been trying to find him. And Bryan calls me up for some reason, and he says, “I think Echols is dead.” I said, “Why?” “I dunno, I just think he is.” I said, “Well, that’s not that much to go by, y’know?!”
Scram: You can check the social security index—
Kevin Delaney: Well, actually we did! That’s a whole ‘nother story. I hired a private investigator. It was the only time I’ve ever done that. For everybody else, I just busted my behind to find them. Echols was a guy I just could not find. I didn’t know if he was dead; I didn’t know anything about him. I did get his social security number, though, off a session sheet. (Laughing) And I hired this private investigator.
Scram: How’d you find a P.I.? The phone book?
Kevin Delaney: Oh yeah, you know, it’s a fairly routine thing. They find people, deadbeat dads who don’t pay their child support and whatnot. And this guy is saying to me — it was comical! — he was saying, “I’ve been in business for thirty years, I have never failed once. I will guarantee—” I said, “But what if you don’t find him? Do I get my money back?” “Don’t worry about that. I will find him. I have never failed once in thirty years!” I said, “All right, fine, whatever.” He said, “What information do you have?” I have a social security number—” “That’s all I need! If we have a social security number, we’re in!” So I gave him the social security number, and he calls me back about a half hour later, and he says, “Uh... do you have any more information on this guy.” “Why?” He says, “Well, uh, I checked a couple databases here—” “What, wasn’t the social security number good?” “The social security number is good, but he’s not using it! The last time it’s been used is 1978.” So I gave him some more information, and he called me back and forth, and he ended up trying to convince me that Arthur Lee and Johnny Echols were the same person! (Laughter) I said, “You gotta be out of your mind. Are you kidding me?’’ He asked me “Well what can you tell me about this guy?” I said, “All I really know is he was a guitar player in a band called Love, and he was in Los Angeles in the sixties. I don’t know where he is today.” “Who else was in this band?” “Well, the leader was a guy named Arthur Lee.” He asks “Is Johnny Echols white?” I said, “No, he’s bi-racial, he’s part black and part white.” “Uh huh. And is Arthur Lee white?” “Arthur Lee is also mulatto.” And he goes, “Ah ha!” (Laughter) I said, “No no no no no!” He goes, “What instrument did Arthur Lee play?’’ “He played guitar.” “And what instrument did Johnny Echols play?” I was like, I don’t believe this, he’s trying to convince me that they’re the same person. He’s like, “But how do you know?!” I said, “Oh my god!” Needless to say, he was not able to find Johnny Echols!
Scram: Did you get your money back?
Kevin Delaney: I didn’t pay him anything. When he delivers the information you send him a check. But the story has a happy ending. About three weeks ago, real early one Sunday morning, I’m lying in bed, the phone rings, and I think, “Oh, I’ll just let it go.” And I got up a little bit later, checked my phone messages — and Johnny Echols called me up! He had read in Rolling Stone about Bryan MacLean’s death, wanted to find out about it, saw my name in there and just looked me up in the phone book.
Scram: Where is he?
Kevin Delaney: [gives an off-the-record response; sorry fans. But at least we now know that Johnny Echols has not yet joined the choir invisible.] He seemed to really trust me, I think maybe because of the relationship I had with Bryan, and he was interested, too, in doing an interview, which I’m really excited about. We haven’t done that yet. Even though I’m not doing the book anymore, I thought—
Scram: Oh, you might as well.
Kevin Delaney: Oh, yeah! Why not? Just as a fan. After we’d talked about Bryan, I said “Johnny, I got to tell you, there’s a million questions I’ve got to ask you!” He’s really been kind of like the mystery man. It was neat to have heard from him. So actually, I’ve talked to all the guys — except for Ken Forssi, who died — from the original band now.
Scram: How did you talk to Arthur?
Kevin Delaney: He called me up, too.
Scram: Collect?
Kevin Delaney: Yeah, of course. From prison. And it’s a total hassle, because there’s a beep going throughout, and he’s in a room where there’s fifteen other guys waiting to use the phone. And we can only talk fifteen minutes at a time, and every two minutes this voice breaks in (mock officious): “This is a collect call from the California State Correctional Facility.” It’s not exactly prime interviewing atmosphere...
Scram: Can you go up to talk to him?
Kevin Delaney: He doesn’t want visitors. He was another one that had no interest in it at all until maybe about two months ago, and all of a sudden he was totally gung ho, and wanted to be part of it. What he wanted to do was to write out his parts. The book was an oral history, so it’s stories from people, arranged in chronological order, and he wanted to write out all his stuff himself. I thought that was great. I was thrilled to have him be a part of it. Of course I had no way of calling him, so it was mostly whenever he decided to call me that we’d talk.
Scram: Does he still want to write that out for you, now that the book’s on hold?
Kevin Delaney: I don’t know. I’d been in touch with a former girlfriend of his, and I’d made the decision that I wasn’t gonna do the book anymore. I mean, I can’t, I physically can’t do this book anymore, and I told her and she told him about it. It was impossible to talk, so he says “Just write me a letter and tell me what’s going on.” So I wrote that I’m not doing the book anymore, and I haven’t heard from him since.
Scram: When’s he due out? Was it an eight year sentence?
Kevin Delaney: Who knows? He was sentenced to twelve years; he’s already done two or three. They said he has to serve at least 80% of that, but who knows? Killers get out after a ride on a merry-go-round. I don’t know.
Scram: Do you anticipate holding on to your material and doing the book at some future date?
Kevin Delaney: Oh yeah. Oh, it’ll get done, don’t worry.
Scram: Great!
Kevin Delaney: The main thing was, I wanted to get the word out about the book being on hold. A lot of people were really excited about it, waiting for it. Although this is probably gonna piss a lot of fans off, I’m really intrigued by the idea of holding onto this stuff for twenty or thirty years, and locking it away. It’s the untouched stuff. I mean, I’ve got all kinds of information nobody else has!
Scram: So you have to interview everybody who wants to be interviewed for the book now, because they might die.
Kevin Delaney: Well, I’ve pretty much already done that! I’ve interviewed over fifty people, everyone from band members to fans to groupies. My rule for interviewing was you either had to have seen the original band live or you had to know one of the members. If you fit either of those criteria I wanted to interview you. And I really got hooked up big time with the internet — still, I’ve got eyes and ears all over the world. I got some amazing interviews with peripheral people who had great stories to tell.
Scram: What are some of the more interesting interviews that you did?
Kevin Delaney: Well, I’d have to respond on a totally personal level. Definitely all the guys in the band. Finally, after eight months of getting to know Bryan MacLean, when he finally said that he wanted to be part of it. And then to come to the realization — wow! this is Bryan MacLean from Love, I totally forgot! (laughter) This guy has a million amazing stories to tell! He told me things he’d never told anybody before, new insights, new perspectives on things. And one thing I was really shocked at was how many times he would mention Arthur and his current situation. He would wonder what he did to contribute to it. In other words, Arthur being the kind of person who would do things to get himself in trouble, things that are so anti-social, things that are just not right. And Bryan, I think, was really kind of tormented by how he had very abruptly left the band, and maybe he thought that Arthur felt abandoned. And so that was incredible. Actually, they were all — I was just amazed at how even people who said they had nothing to tell me had amazing things to contribute. There was one woman — this was really weird — I was looking through a book of photography from the sixties, by a guy named Baron Wolman. Great photos. There was a section in there of groupies, and there was a picture of a woman named Catherine James, a picture of her and her little baby. And I don’t know why, but I looked at this picture and I just thought, “That woman has a story to tell me!” I had no idea who she was, even if she was alive, but I said, “That woman has a story to tell me.” And I thought, well, I’ll put her on my list of people to find. So, Pamela Des Barres called me up one night — I’d interviewed Pamela for the book — and she says, “I want you to come over for dinner at my house. Just a little thing, me, someone else, and my friend Catherine.” And I said, “What’s Catherine’s last name?” She said, “James.” I said, “I’ll be right over!” (laughs) Catherine came late, we were in the middle of eating dinner, but sure enough, it’s her. And when she walked in I almost fell out of my chair! After dinner everyone was clearing plates, and I just scooched up next to her, and said, “So, Catherine, y’know I’m doing this book about Love and the guys in the band; did you have any involvement with them?” She says, “No. I lived in L.A. for a while, but I moved to New York in ‘66, so I wasn’t even in town by the time the band was together.” And I thought, “Oh, well, that’s pretty weird. Those cosmic forces, what the hell?” “You didn’t have any involvement with the band at all?” She says, “No... I mean, other than Bryan, before he was in the band. He was just a little kid then, playing at this coffee house.” I said, “Tell me more!” Turns out, she knew Bryan when he was just starting out. So, needless to say, the tape recorder was whipped out, the interview was had on the spot, and I got about fifteen minutes of stuff I’d never heard of before, and it was pretty amazing! So that was a neat one. And Bob Pepper was incredible — and again, this is all personal for me, because I love his work so much. I was collecting his artwork. And he was one of those people, too, everyone was saying he was dead! I accepted that, I never questioned it, until one day I was walking along and thought “What if he’s alive?” And I found him in New York. I was so thrilled when I got him on the phone, it was like logic went out the window! I literally hung up the phone and started packing my bag. [holds up the Forever Changes art] I just was fascinated, because he told me how he did this, how they sent him photos of the band members and he blew them up on a Lucite machine and was arranging them, and he was torn between making it a white or a black background — and I love that kind of stuff, because I think, “Wow, what if it was a black background?” The album would have such a different look to it. And also David Angel, who did all the horn arrangements, was another really rewarding interview. He had never been interviewed, and yet his name is on the albums. He orchestrated this album, which is one of the first records with strings and horns on it, and I’m thinking why hasn’t anyone talked to this guy before?! It’s a totally revolutionary thing that he did.
Scram: Did you find that anyone had ever been to see most of these people before?
Kevin Delaney: No! I was shocked at talking to writers who couldn’t believe how many people I had found. They’d say, “You talked to that guy? I’ve been looking for him for years!” Well, I did put a lot of effort into finding these people, but—
Scram: The internet makes a huge difference, if people tried to find them in the early nineties and gave up—
Kevin Delaney: It wasn’t even so much through the internet. A lot of people did not want to be found, which was an interesting situation I’d be in, because after I’d found them I’d have to convince them to be part of this. It was mostly through personal contacts, finding a lot of these peripheral people, and then those people helped me get in touch with the people who were in the band.
Scram: You must find it hard to let go, after this being the center of your life for years.
Kevin Delaney: (laughs) No, I’m thrilled to get rid of it, really! It was like this 8000 pound spider that was weaving a web around me! I got totally sucked into it. This started out with some guy — I liked his bass playing — I’ll do a little article, right? Next thing I know I’m—
Scram: It’s because you’re an enthusiast! You have to watch out what you like.
Kevin Delaney: Well, I’m not as enthusiastic as I used to be! (laughter) I’m finally at the point where I can listen to the music again, it’s not a traumatic experience. (laughter) I’d listen to the records and I’d just see these credit card bills!
Scram: And that’s the story of the Love biography up to the present. So, Kevin, what’s next for you?
Kevin Delaney: Hyping myself as an actor, voice-over artist — basically whoring myself in any way I possibly can.
Scram: You’re in the right town.
Kevin Delaney: Oh, yeah. It’s Whoresville USA. I did a lot of really wacky **** back east, and so I’m giving it a go here. I do a lot of writing — I write for Rolling Stone Online, Launch Online — actually I’m trying to get out of the music aspect of things, because I’ve been totally branded as this sixties nut, and I’m not at all.
Scram: Is Love the only sixties band you like?
Kevin Delaney: No. I like good music, and I do like a lot of bands from the sixties, but I’m not a collector. Some people are really ridiculous about it. I just like the music. I don’t know what’s next. I don’t talk about the future anymore.
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Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 27/11/2012 14:18:03 |
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2012 : 16:26:18
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I guess I wasnt making it up after all.
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2012 : 16:42:38
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That Love was the greatest rock BAND ever... So you agree now.
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2012 : 16:57:38
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Just joking of course. For Love is about LOVE.
For some reason YOU seem to find something negative in everything about Love the band...guess it is true for some that "LOVE is about hate" (that old quote we've often read...). So sad. For all but one HERE...LoVE IS about LOVE!
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2012 : 19:41:25
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quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
Just joking of course. For Love is about LOVE.
For some reason YOU seem to find something negative in everything about Love the band...guess it is true for some that "LOVE is about hate" (that old quote we've often read...). So sad. For all but one HERE...LoVE IS about LOVE!
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy
i have yet to say a single negative thing about Love "the band". the only negativity i read here is towards AL and now, myself.
the truth is not negative or postive its just the truth.
like john lennon said, just gimme some truth.
Signed RW said i was making up my post, now we see that he was full of shxt. |
Edited by - waxburn on 27/11/2012 21:49:49 |
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sometimesmylifeissoeerie
Fourth Love
198 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2012 : 21:46:26
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Thanks for posting this interview. I wonder if KD shared his interviews with Einarson?
If not, his book would be much more informative on Bryan and the more subjective side of the band. Anyone know when he wants to put the book out?
This interview was probably done around 2000, right? |
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SignedRW
Fifth Love
USA
280 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 00:21:32
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As I recall, I'm certain that John Einarson did confirm to me having contacted Kevin Delaney about the possibility of Kevin sharing some of the information that he had gathered, originally intended for his own stillborn book project. Kevin struck me as a good guy, certainly a genuine fan, (and happily, a fan without any evident troubling personal issues that would suggest seeking professional help) who was dedicated enough that he undertook this massive, near all consuming task of recounting the Arthur/Love story as accurately and honestly as possible. Undeterred by the fact that he did not appear to have had any previous experience in the field, what he did manage to accomplish before realizing that he had to walk away was highly commendable, I've always thought. He first contacted me in late 1997, possibly early '98, and we spoke on a number of occasions over the next year and a half or so. The reason that I located this Kevin interview from "Scram" and passed it along to L.K. to post, was, aside from thinking that many here on the board would find it interesting, to make the point that in our "You get what you pay for" world, that the private investigator whom Kevin engaged, (ultimately for a well deserved fee of zero) came back to him with the theory that Johnny and Arthur were one and the same. So for anyone to suggest that Johnny Echols was so far off the grid that even a private investigator wasn't able to locate him, might perhaps want to take a breath, step back, and more closely examine the qualifications of said P.I., rather than concluding that the subject being "searched for" by this "professional private investigator" is either impossible to locate, or better yet, doesn't exist. Just sayin', y'know? Last I heard, regarding Kevin, he was still in SoCal, employed at Universal Studios, and hustling entertainment industry voice over work, a pretty crowded, competitive field, that I am actually fairly familiar with. I hope he's doing well; I liked him, and I also really hope that at some point the work that he put into his project is made available to those fans like ourselves, to whom it would definitely be of great interest. My guess is, we'll see both "Black Beauty" and "Gethsemene," (which, by the way, I never personally believed to be anything more than part of the lore and legend of Love, until Johnny made it clear that the project itself was real; at least an interesting mystery that could very well have grown out the legend of it's existance) before we see any of Kevin's work made available to the public. I like to never say never, though, because you just never know. And my suggestion to the troubled, angry Don Quixote types, noble defenders of the self created myth, find yourself a Sancho Panza; there's help for you out there somewhere....
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 05:42:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Signed RW
As I recall, I'm certain that John Einarson did confirm to me having contacted Kevin Delaney about the possibility of Kevin sharing some of the information that he had gathered, originally intended for his own stillborn book project. Kevin struck me as a good guy, certainly a genuine fan, (and happily, a fan without any evident troubling personal issues that would suggest seeking professional help) who was dedicated enough that he undertook this massive, near all consuming task of recounting the Arthur/Love story as accurately and honestly as possible. Undeterred by the fact that he did not appear to have had any previous experience in the field, what he did manage to accomplish before realizing that he had to walk away was highly commendable, I've always thought. He first contacted me in late 1997, possibly early '98, and we spoke on a number of occasions over the next year and a half or so. The reason that I located this Kevin interview from "Scram" and passed it along to L.K. to post, was, aside from thinking that many here on the board would find it interesting, to make the point that in our "You get what you pay for" world, that the private investigator whom Kevin engaged, (ultimately for a well deserved fee of zero) came back to him with the theory that Johnny and Arthur were one and the same. So for anyone to suggest that Johnny Echols was so far off the grid that even a private investigator wasn't able to locate him, might perhaps want to take a breath, step back, and more closely examine the qualifications of said P.I., rather than concluding that the subject being "searched for" by this "professional private investigator" is either impossible to locate, or better yet, doesn't exist. Just sayin', y'know? Last I heard, regarding Kevin, he was still in SoCal, employed at Universal Studios, and hustling entertainment industry voice over work, a pretty crowded, competitive field, that I am actually fairly familiar with. I hope he's doing well; I liked him, and I also really hope that at some point the work that he put into his project is made available to those fans like ourselves, to whom it would definitely be of great interest. My guess is, we'll see both "Black Beauty" and "Gethsemene," (which, by the way, I never personally believed to be anything more than part of the lore and legend of Love, until Johnny made it clear that the project itself was real; at least an interesting mystery that could very well have grown out the legend of it's existance) before we see any of Kevin's work made available to the public. I like to never say never, though, because you just never know. And my suggestion to the troubled, angry Don Quixote types, noble defenders of the self created myth, find yourself a Sancho Panza; there's help for you out there somewhere....
is it possible for you to post normally, or at least semi coherently, instead of rambling on like someone who is missing a couple of marbles? whats with the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza stuff?
Are you on the sauce?
Maybe you should go back and read the interview again if you think JE was easily accessible. they couldnt even print was he was actually up to> LOL
only those that think that Getheseme is not something JE cooked up after reading the internet or the castle, and that never existed, is the one that needs a few lessons in common sense.
its been seven years and counting, there will be multiple excuses why it wont come out, and i still have that 100 dollar bill that says not only that it wont, but that it never existed.
im almost thinking that a bunch of people here have been promised points, to work up the story.
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Edited by - waxburn on 28/11/2012 05:58:32 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 14:20:35
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Please! This getting out of hand. waxburn. We all a love Love.
I don't understand how you feel the only way to defend your imagined attacks on Arthur, is that you must thereby trash the rest of Love, especially Johnny & Michael. It's pretty clear to everyone else here that every member (except Snoop) loved Arthur...warts and all..though Arthur loved Snoop. More importantly, Arthur was a friend of theirs, and a musical genius, and they all have said so, many times.
There is nothing in the original post from Johnny (which I am regretting that I posted more each day because of your negativity towards Johnny (I have since apologized to Johnny for it....I hope the rest of you forgive me for all this crap going down here)--what's with your bile directed at him. So he chose to distance himself from the LA music scene and all the drug and bad vibes he experienced there; many of which Johnny readily admits were self imposed ...as he said "chasing the dragon".) Many artists moved away from that scene after disgust with themselves and the interaction they had with the darker side of that scene.
So Johnny didn't leave a forwarding address! Once he read that someone was searching for him, he immediately called Kevin. So did Arthur.
These are the facts as presented by Arthur AND the band. ARTHUR composed songs. He HAND picked and enlisted the RIGHT bandmates who he felt would be able to translate his visions into finished studio compositions-knowing he couldn't do it by himself. ARTHUR said that Johnny was the best guitar player in LA at the time; that Michael was the best drummer in LA, and he actively wooed Michael until Michael saw the light and joined. Arthur actively wooed Kenny--Kenny's bass chops were very well known by his LA peers already. And Bryan was brought to Love for what he could offer with his connections and crowd, beyond his looks and talent.
Arthur NEEDED his handpicked bandmates as the only way to flesh out his visions & genius---and as long as they were able to (and the drugs hadn't taken over), that incarnation of Love was one of the best versions of any band-lineup in the history of rock.
The fact that Arthur's bandmates are honest enough to say their own drug addictions tore the band apart, and to express their sadness that Arthur struggled with his addictions most of his life, only adds to their humanity. They express sadness that much of Arthur's (and their own) talents were spent on drugs and alcohol.
No one is attacking Arthur.
You are reading something that isn't there in our posts, in Michael's book. I've never heard Michael express anything but respect and love for Arthur; and an honest portrait of his own experience & time with Arthur. Sure he sued for (and won) his due share of royalties---who wouldn't. The "books" needed straightening out. Arthur liked control over the money and was always fighting one band mate or another about handing over the money owed them. Hey, we love Arthur, because he always came round and would give anyone the shirt off his back, after he got over that small part of himself that was in the way.
OK...one more final rant. Don't ever trash our friend RW here again, you twit. If you can't see what he was saying, the missing marbles are yours, my friend.
RW has become a dear friend and I will defend to the end, his honor from those like you who would say such things.
So I implore, again, though I'm sure you won't hear me...PLEASE STOP THIS MADNESS about some imagined attack on Arthur. We all love him here, Johnny especially! Attack me. I'm throwing myself out there. But don't attack RW...he was only defending me & Love.
The history of Arthur and Love is out there...nothing new or spurious. The TRUTH is not an attack.
Peace and LoVE to you, waxburn...and I mean it truly!
Any way, waxburn...you keep my heart beating and the fires burning. It's all meant to express in the best way, our passion for Love, as is yours also, I believe.
cheers all!
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 28/11/2012 14:24:27 |
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 15:52:48
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What negativity? I didnt make any of this up, its common sense, its on the internet, and if anyone has any problems with it they should take it up with Delaney, not me.
I disagree that AL "needed" his bandmates, as there were many different members of Love prior and after FC and AL did just fine.
i dont go around calling people crazy and calling them Don Quixote and Sancho Panza for stuff they didnt even write in the first place.
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 16:18:21
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Fine? There were no band members of note before 60's Love and nothing to match FC after. It was all about Love the BAND and he couldn't do it quite as well without them. That's is a fact and obvious with any listen.
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
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DaveyTee
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
238 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 17:37:22
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Look, this is all becoming really rather nasty and not what this board should be all about. Waxburn believes what he believes, the rest of us believe something different. None of us are going to change our minds. Can we leave it like that?
DT
But I Can't Understand
Why We Let Someone Else
Rule Our Land
Cap in Hand. |
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 17:42:26
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quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
Fine? There were no band members of note before 60's Love and nothing to match FC after. It was all about Love the BAND and he couldn't do it quite as well without them. That's is a fact and obvious with any listen.
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy
so all the musicans who played with AL were no good, except for the you know whos? now thats a bit negative. thats the revisionist position that has gained currency, now that AL isnt here, and which is nonsense in my opinion.
Besides, isnt part of the doctrine that Bryan basically was a pretty boy and that JE 'arranged' his cotton candy songs? I read some of this stuff in total disbelief.
needless to say, I disagree, I am of the opinion that each album would have sounded just like they did, no matter who played on them.
its not like AL intended Out There or Four Sail to sound like FC. |
Edited by - waxburn on 28/11/2012 20:48:33 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 18:15:00
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quote:
Originally posted by waxburn
quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
Fine? There were no band members of note before 60's Love and nothing to match FC after. It was all about Love the BAND and he couldn't do it quite as well without them. That's is a fact and obvious with any listen.
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy
so all the musicans who played with AL were no good, except for the you know whos? now thats a bit negative. thats the revisionist position that has gained currency, now that AL isnt here, and which is nonsense in my opinion.
needless to say, I disagree, I am of the opinion that each album would have sounded just like they did, no matter who played on them.
its not like AL intended Out There or Four Sail to sound like FC.
I didn't say they weren't good...they were great. For me every lineup was great, but none matched the sound I happen to love of the first three albums. Despite their talents AL never came up with another FC...or are you saying all those albums are just as great as FC? They are albums that any band would die to record as well, but FC is at the pinacle, and I DO believe that saying ANY lineup could have done as well to be a gross insult.
You still haven't adressed that there would be no "OLD Man" or "Alone Again Or", and wouldn't that have made FC less...AND there would be no "You Set The Scene" without Kenny, at all. Unnecessary tracks?
Can't you admit there was SOME value in their participation that would be lessened if they were not there in the studio? It would not be the masterpiece it was.
I & a host of others believe each song is essential to the whole of Forever Changes that is the greatest album of all time for many....and they would easily acknowledge all the parts of Love as essential to the central genius of Arthur Lee. Ask Jac or Bruce or David...all will speak of the greatness of the whole and that neither Arthur nor Bryan were as good without each other...that creative tension was magic.
After that it was Arthur Lee & Love...Arthur with a backing band. The original Love was a cohesive unit that made the best music possible. Can't you admit there was something special & irreplaceable about that lineup? That's all I'm saying.
Believe me, I love Four Sail & Out Here & the rest (and if not for FC, Da Capo & s/t I would say they were right up there with the best of the best), but FC is an unattainable goal for even the best of the best-- oh so special because of the unique chemistry of LOVE.
Can't you admit that in any way at all??? That just maybe some of the magic was there because of LoVE--all of LoVE?? That they added just a little, just a bit, of what no one else could to FC, please?
Even the two the Wrecking Crew did was partly overdubbed with the real Love (in parts) to soften the staid perfection of the Crew...they couldn't give it the raw EDGE that was Love's trademark.
The firing was a ploy to wake up the band...and they woke up!
Didn't they add just a little? Three songs are a LITTLE , right?!
SOMEONE HELP ME HERE?!! Is this madness to only my ears?
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 28/11/2012 18:18:12 |
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waxburn
Old Love
USA
735 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 19:29:09
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quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
quote:
Originally posted by waxburn
quote:
Originally posted by lemonade kid
Fine? There were no band members of note before 60's Love and nothing to match FC after. It was all about Love the BAND and he couldn't do it quite as well without them. That's is a fact and obvious with any listen.
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy
so all the musicans who played with AL were no good, except for the you know whos? now thats a bit negative. thats the revisionist position that has gained currency, now that AL isnt here, and which is nonsense in my opinion.
needless to say, I disagree, I am of the opinion that each album would have sounded just like they did, no matter who played on them.
its not like AL intended Out There or Four Sail to sound like FC.
I didn't say they weren't good...they were great. For me every lineup was great, but none matched the sound I happen to love of the first three albums. Despite their talents AL never came up with another FC...or are you saying all those albums are just as great as FC? They are albums that any band would die to record as well, but FC is at the pinacle, and I DO believe that saying ANY lineup could have done as well to be a gross insult.
You still haven't adressed that there would be no "OLD Man" or "Alone Again Or", and wouldn't that have made FC less...AND there would be no "You Set The Scene" without Kenny, at all. Unnecessary tracks?
Can't you admit there was SOME value in their participation that would be lessened if they were not there in the studio? It would not be the masterpiece it was.
I & a host of others believe each song is essential to the whole of Forever Changes that is the greatest album of all time for many....and they would easily acknowledge all the parts of Love as essential to the central genius of Arthur Lee. Ask Jac or Bruce or David...all will speak of the greatness of the whole and that neither Arthur nor Bryan were as good without each other...that creative tension was magic.
After that it was Arthur Lee & Love...Arthur with a backing band. The original Love was a cohesive unit that made the best music possible. Can't you admit there was something special & irreplaceable about that lineup? That's all I'm saying.
Believe me, I love Four Sail & Out Here & the rest (and if not for FC, Da Capo & s/t I would say they were right up there with the best of the best), but FC is an unattainable goal for even the best of the best-- oh so special because of the unique chemistry of LOVE.
Can't you admit that in any way at all??? That just maybe some of the magic was there because of LoVE--all of LoVE?? That they added just a little, just a bit, of what no one else could to FC, please?
Even the two the Wrecking Crew did was partly overdubbed with the real Love (in parts) to soften the staid perfection of the Crew...they couldn't give it the raw EDGE that was Love's trademark.
The firing was a ploy to wake up the band...and they woke up!
Didn't they add just a little? Three songs are a LITTLE , right?!
SOMEONE HELP ME HERE?!! Is this madness to only my ears?
________________________________________________
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy
I dont know if FC would have been as good without the bryan songs, instead with a couple of extra Arthur tracks. maybe disentangle the 1 back into three. besides wasnt bryan according to the new doctrine a pretty boy who had to have his parts played and songs 'arranged' by.............guess who.
the story of 3 into one, did arthur actually state that kenny made them into one , or is that info from one of the usual suspects. because if its from the latter im not going to take it as gospel.
the WC has already proved that playing the sound in AL mind wasnt so difficult. i dont see why someone else who played with Arthur later coiuldnt have done it.
Jac and Bruce know full well what the reality is. |
Edited by - waxburn on 28/11/2012 22:30:40 |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2012 : 22:35:30
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last I heard from Johnny (in response to a video posting of me covering Thats the Way It Goes on his Facebook group)
"At some point this will be released with several other tunes we did with "Baby Lemonade." I played a pretty decent guitar solo on "Love is like a bowling ball." I have no clue as to when they will be available..."
Pretty cool that Johnny and Snoopy and Bryan (posthumously) have music for people to hear. I'm certainly expecting Gethesemene's release before Black Beauty's! |
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Bryan & Love Stories/Interview with Kevin Delaney
