donjunio

it's very well done, good job

Well, dear Dave, we're not that far apart. I talked about solar music, in a blinding and tearing sense: the effect perfectly aligns with the lyrics and the imagery evoked by Lee, who, incidentally, was convinced that he would die shortly after the release of "Forever Changes," thanks to the acid. Heroin was flowing like a river in the band's entourage. Apart from the drummer, just before the recording of "FC," the roadie Neil Rappaport also died, and the legend states that it was Lee who provided him with the fatal dose. Then tell me if a line like "Oh, the snot has caked against my pants / it has turned into crystal" isn't a clear allusion to heroin! On the topic of the Stooges, we agree: both served up a street-level perversion, but Iggy Pop was much more direct in his lyrics, bordering on the vulgar. Lee offered a lascivious vision without having to say "I wanna be your dog"! This apparent dichotomy in Arthur Lee's music, in my opinion, makes it unique, and the answer to your question "hippie/non-hippie" will always remain shrouded in mystery, wrapped in the folds of that wonderful album "Forever Changes." By the way: lush means redundant, lush, so a sort of "baroque pop." But that's where the strength of the album lies, in impossible stylistic combinations while maintaining and respecting the syntax of pop. On "Daily Planet," however, I see more of a West Coast, Barrett-like lysergic hint; perhaps it was because it was arranged by Neil Young, who had a great relationship with Arthur... Finally, the link you gave me is the classic monologue of a critic trying to dismantle a myth, like Dave Marsh with Neil Young or Scaruffi with the Beatles. These are physiological and necessary things in criticism, always! Ciao!

Pretazzo is called Marco, if I'm not mistaken.

Dear Marco, let's take "Forever Changes" as an example, which you certainly know very well: you are absolutely right when you describe the music as "harmonious, sunny, ecstatic." This is the Californian blend of the time, and especially before '69 almost all the local bands fit into that mold. However, in my opinion, it was different for Love, or at least there was more than just what you describe. I find that these iridescences, this warm atmosphere that at times seems to tear apart, these baroque and flamenco obsessions are anything but "soft." This is felt both in the moments of greatest orchestral impact, like "The Red Telephone" or "You Set the Scene," and when the rock-jazz deviations are more evident, like the restrained fury of "House Is Not a Motel" or "Live and Let Live." Moreover, you say that this music is "meant to express the most typical feelings of their time ('love' = love, indeed...)." I absolutely disagree! Given that I've mentioned "West Coast Velvet Underground," it's evident that the music of Love is intrinsically more radiant. A sunlight, as I mentioned, that in my opinion is hallucinogenic and blinding, and that especially (this is for me the uniqueness of Arthur Lee) expresses itself while respecting the grammar and boundaries of pop (something that has always made various Scaruffis sneer). This is regarding the sensations of the music: the history and lyrics of Arthur Lee then I believe confirm my theories. First of all, Lee was black, raised in a ghetto, and he was also a heroin addict ("Signed DC" is symptomatic, get it). He was stuffed with LSD. Words like "peace and love" he probably heard in church as a child and never again. In the lyrics of "Forever Changes," darkness and decay are often found, and they give a very particular character to the whole. Let's take a random track: "Live and Let Live." The opening lines are symptomatic. "Oh, the snot has caked against my pants/ it has turned into crystal /there's a bluebird sitting on a branch/I guess I'll take my pistol." The first line is a clear allusion to the awakening of a junkie. The rest of the piece is a paranoid delirium, with allusions to social conflicts and the Vietnam War, all emphasized by the music that finds vent in a wild hint of jam. Another example, "A House Is Not a Motel": when Lee sings delirious lines like "And the water's turned to blood/And if you don't think so, go turn on your tub" or "'the news today will be the movies of tomorrow.' In short, it doesn't seem to me that between these grooves there are those "good vibrations" that the great Brian Wilson prophesied! We are more in the territory of Charles Manson... Even better is to analyze "The Red Telephone" in which immense congeries of movements and baroque intuitions are cut through by lines like "sitting on the hillside / watching all the people die/I feel much better on the other side," then culminating in "They're locking him up today/They're throwing away the key/I wonder who it will be tomorrow/You or me?" which are sinister Orwellian echoes. The same Los Angeles photographed by a piece like "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale," chaotic and spectral, doesn't really seem like a Summer of Love scenario. Not that it was the only one: if you think about it, even David Crosby's "Everybody's Been Burned" or Neil Young's "The Last Trip to Tulsa" showed contemporary visionary insights and paranoia, despite being in a warm West Coast context. Arthur Lee was ultimately the man of impossible juxtapositions: a solar and decadent art at the same time, cultured and self-referential (their fans have always been cult groups: from Yo La Tengo to Jesus And Mary Chain, who in the video of "Head On" show the Reid brothers wearing LOVE t-shirts): The Doors and the Stooges you mention in this context have gained many more followers because they represented decadence in a simpler manner, some with high school poetry, others with street perversion. That's wh

In what sense do you have doubts, pretazzo? The comparison I made is based on a few considerations: the Love were, aside from the first album, just as little known to the general public yet influential on contemporary and later musicians, just like the VU (no need to recall Brian Eno's famous quote). In this sense, the Love extended their influence even beyond the Californian realm: according to what Robert Plant stated, they were for example one of the main influences on Led Zeppelin, for their unique way of blending different styles and maneuvering tension within the same piece, all while respecting pop grammar. Furthermore, both groups were among the first to explore the "dark side" of the Sixties and to drape a veil of decadence over their music. Everything is known about the VU in this regard, but no less effective, in my opinion, were Arthur Lee and company: just think of "Signed DC" on their album, one of the very first pieces where heroin appeared as a subject. These are objective facts: qualitatively speaking, at least for me, the Love have nothing to envy from the VU.

Great review, although I'm a bit perplexed by some phrases. What harm would there be in being a "Californian folkster," excuse me? Then "Only love can break your heart" by Young is anything but a drag; in fact, it’s one of his sunniest songs. As for Stills, not much to say: an excellent, versatile guitarist, and the charismatic leader of Buffalo Springfield (he composed gems like "rock and roll woman" and "bluebird," although he hasn't reached those songwriting heights again, except for a few things in the early CSNY albums). Indeed, Stills and Neil are the classic friend-rivals of rock: for me, they hit their peak in the version of "southern man" on 4 Way Street, where they chase each other with solos. Anyway, "for what it's worth" is from 1966, and the version in the advertisement is terrible. By the way, a few years ago "In Our House" by CSNY was used in a Fiat commercial: Young, who has always opposed using his songs in such operations and is a true exception in this regard (Dylan and Lou Reed don’t exactly have problems with it), demanded that his voice be removed from the backing vocals... incorrigible and cantankerous Neil. Bye!

It is well known that, fortunately, Arthur Lee has been rescued from the oblivion he was in until about a decade ago. I meant forgotten masterpiece, or at least eclipsed by his predecessors, in the eyes of official criticism. Even recently, in a retrospective I read in Rumore, "four sail" was mentioned only in two lines. For the reasons I listed in the review, it is, in my opinion, a remarkable work.

Thank you for the comments: for enrybaxx, it’s definitely not as essential or celebrated an album as the two previous ones, but for me, it’s just as memorable. The musicians accompanying Lee are amazing, and Lee's songwriting is enhanced by them. A forgotten gem.

great

Non hai fornito un testo da tradurre. Per favore, inviami il testo in italiano e sarò felice di aiutarti con la traduzione.