Love's Forever Changes took its place in my all-time Top 5 AT first listen, sometime in late '88, and has remained there despite my going through various stages in musical taste. The two albums that preceded it were also early favorites that I listened regularly at the time. I realize now that I haven't heard any of them recently - for years probably, but that doesn't matter. These songs are etched in my brain. Over the years, I collected almost everything I could find by Arthur Lee and Love, but the rest only contained occasional glimpses of their genius. You'd read about long out-of-print albums like Vindicator and Real to Reel, or unreleased ones like Black Beauty, and, even though logic tells you they can't be much better than their readily available early work, you can't wait to get your hands on them and pick them apart to find the hidden treasure within. Some tracks from Black Beauty saw a bootleg release in the 90's, but it took many more years for these recordings to be officially released - a limited run of 5,000 vinyl copies, followed by a limited Deluxe CD reissue two years later. My copy is Nr. 2107. It's a beautiful issue on 180gr vinyl with a multicolored booklet (28 big format pages) containing contemporary photos and notes on the creation of the album. At the time, Lee had gone through multiple incarnations of Love, and even released a solo album (Vindicator) with little success. He nevertheless kept on soldiering, looking for the kind of bandmates who could realize his new musical vision: less folk and psychedelia, more hard rock and funk. He settled on an all-black lineup, the first such band for him - hence the, kindof on the nose, album title. The first two tracks "Young and Able (Good and Evil)" and "Midnight Sun" present us with a mixture of hard rock, blues and soul. Hendrix-like lead guitar courtesy of Melvin Whittington and passionate, unusually shouty, lead vocals serve to distinguish them from previous Arthur Lee compositions. "Can't Find It" is a nice ballad with a Southern rock feel, while "Walk Right In" (played as a medley with older Love track "Always See Your Face") is a throwback to Love's early folk-rock style. "Skid" is a pleasant soul tune, while Side B opens with a surprising calypso ditty called "Beep Beep". "Stay Away" is a dark garage rocker followed by "Lonely Pigs", an ironic country-ish ballad aimed at the LAPD. "See Myself in You" is a nice country soul number, and the album closes like it started, with a funk rocker featuring heavy fuzz guitar, called "Product of the Times". Unlike other "lost albums", the production is clean and punchy, thanks to an old friend of the band: Paul Rothchild, best known for his work with The Doors. Comprising elements of soul, folk, and hard rock, Black Beauty didn't really belong to any of those categories. This fact, along with the lack of a strong lead single, suggests to me that, even if it was released at the time, it wouldn't have succeeded in revitalizing Lee's career. We'll never know for sure, as the company which was supposed to release the album went under. As a result, the recordings were shelved for 40 years and master tapes were lost. The source used for this release was a relatively clean acetate given by Lee to future collaborator John Sterling. Semi-forgotten, it gained legendary status as interest in Lee's work started growing again during the 90's and 00's. And, while not exactly a hidden treasure, it's probably the best post-60's Love LP. It'd be interesting to see the band continue in this style and build on what they've achieved here, but -true to form- Lee enlisted yet a different Love lineup with whom he released a softer soul LP called Reel to Real. If you, like me, love Love, you'd better snatch one of the last remaining vinyls. The Deluxe CD edition on the High Moon label is also excellent, while there's a recent British CD reissue, too. Both CD releases contain the same bonus tracks: three live recordings, a song from a movie soundtrack, and an interview with Arthur Lee.
**** for Young and Able (Good and Evil), Midnight Sun, Can't Find It, Skid, Stay Away, Product of the Times
*** for Walk Right In, See Myself in You
** for Beep Beep, Lonely Pigs
No comments:
Post a Comment