Power of Zeus "The Gospel According to Zeus" 1970***

There's some similarity between this band and my previous presentation: just as The Baroques got picked up by Chicago's Chess label, Power Of Zeus (PoZ) were signed to Detroit's Motown. Both important labels, but not a good fit for them: Chess specialized in blues rather than psychedelia, while Motown was rightfully nicknamed Hitsville U.S.A. for having released a seemingly neverending string of pop-soul smashes, but had no experience with hard rock whatsoever. Now this is Detroit circa '69-'70 we're talking about, some of the heaviest bands of the era were operating in that area: Iggy & The Stooges, MC5, Grand Funk, Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent's Amboy Dukes, Frijid Pink, SRC, The Up, The Frost... imagine how difficult it'd be for PoZ to stand out against such fierce competition. I can't posibly know what they sounded like live, but their LP is relatively tame in comparison with the abovenamed bands, and I suspect the reason is Motown's in-house producers and engineers. Used as they must have been to producing pop hits, I can imagine them freaking out with the loudness and distortion levels emitted by these hard rockers, and trying to tone it down. Remember, Motown was pretty conservative musically - even acclaimed masterpiece What's Going On was initially strongly opposed for breaking the mold, despite Marvin Gaye being one of the label's best selling artists. They also forced the band to change name: they were previously known in the live circuit as Gangrene, a pretty aggressive moniker to say the least. "Power of Zeus" seemed to convey the message that this is a heavy rock band without being offensive. A poem was printed on the back cover (also on the CD inner side) that somehow justified the name change. On the plus side (for some), it is probably thanks to Motown that most songs remain short and punchy: Most of them last between 2 and 4 minutes, the golden standard of commercial radio at the time. Opener "It Couldn't Be Me" would have made for a great single with its guitar/hammond interplay reminiscent of Deep Purple or Atomic Rooster, while "In The Night"'s vocal harmonies give this otherwise heavy tune a West Coast psychedelic aura. This is even more evident on "Green Grass & Clover" with its calm melody and romantic harpsichord. "I Lost My Love" is the first song that bares similarity to Motown's soul sound: at times the vocals even remind me of The Four Tops. It's a very short and rhythmic tune, with killer bass and drums that remind me of Vanilla Fudge. Too bad it only lasts for 2'12''. "The Death Trip" closes Side A  of the vinyl, but if you have it on CD as I do, it just makes for an overlong (8-minute) interlude whose slow and heavy groove disrupts the flow of the record. Not impressed with it. You need an Ozzy on vocals and an Iommi on guitar to make that schtick work. "No Time" is a Zeppelin/Sabbath-like heavy rocker while "Uncertain Destination" is a more 60's psychedelia-type of tune. "Realization" starts off with a groovy beat, cool riffs and organ. Monster solo, too. The vocal harmonies I'm not a fan of, they're one of the weaker traits of PoZ. Lead single "Hard Working Man" is a too-short hard rocker with a nice riff and strong lead vocal, while the CD closes with a longer track called "The Sorcerer of Isis". It is loose and psychedelic, with great guitar solos and drum & bass breaks that get often sampled by hip hop artists. Not many songs can claim to having won the hearts of stoners and rappers alike, but here you have one. At its time, The Gospel According to Zeus failed to find an audience - maybe because of Motown's inexperience with handling rock bands or just because of the awesome competition it had e.g. English hard rock albums released that year include Deep Purple's In Rock, Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath and Paranoid, Led Zeppelin's III, and Uriah Heep's Very 'eavy...Very 'umble. Locally, the competetion included The Stooges' Fun house, MC5's Back In The USA and Grand Funk Railroad's Closer to Home. Just like The Baroques did, PoZ disbanded soon after the release of their sole album, with only singer-guitarist Joe Periano staying in the business for a while, as producer or session guitarist for other Motown acts. Today their fame is rehabilitated, and although they remain a cult band, they're highly regarded -possibly even overrated- by DJs and collectors, with original copies of The Gospel...LP commanding prices upwards of $100. Some time ago, it was even presented on MOJO Magazine's monthly "Buried Treasure" column. But, in my opinion, this is just an interesting album. Certainly worth listening to if you're into early hard rock, but hardly the lost classic it's made out to be.

**** for It Couldn't Be Me, In The Night, No Time, I Lost My Love, The Sorcerer Of Isis (The Ritual Of The Mole)

*** for Green Grass & Clover, Uncertain Destination, Realization, Hard Working Man

** for The Death Trip

The Baroques "Purple Day" 1995 (comp) 1967-68(rec)****

When random selection brought this one out, I tried to remember how long it's been since I last heard it. I certainly haven't listened to it since we moved to The Netherlands 11,5 years ago. I just packed my records and CD's in crates and shipped them along. Why, if not to listen to them? Well, that is a dangerous question. If I answer it, I'd have to stop collecting records and probably seriously downsize my collection to something more manageable - because what is the reason of buying a record/CD if you're only going to listen to it every 15 years, as in this case? And it's not as if I didn't like this compilation either. I remember being quite happy with it when I bought it - of course at the time I was obsessed with garage/psychedelic 60's. It just takes too long for a CD to return to the stereo because there are always too many new albums to listen to and too little time.

Well, this is what I know about The Baroques: they came from Milwaukee, and were originally known (or, more precisely, unknown) as The Complete Unknowns - a typical garage band until, sometime in the late '66, they changed their name to The Baroques and jumped upon the psychedelic bandwagon as one of its first passengers. By '67, every label in the country wanted in, and The Baroques were lucky/unlucky enough to get picked up by an important one: Chess Records -home of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Didley, Howlin' Wolf, and the whole Chicago blues scene- was looking to expand into new directions. Unfortunately they were so intrinsically identified with blues that pop/rock radio stations ignored them, while "black" radio DJ's didn't know what to make out of the unfamiliar sounds of The Baroques. Thankfully the band had already built a great live reputation, and were also helped along by the controversy surrounding debut single "Mary Jane" which was perceived to be pro-drug and was banned from radio stations bestowing them an air of infamy but also ultra-hipness. Certainly both sides of the single were amazing: both the folk rock A side and the heavier garage fuzz B side "Iowa, a Girl's Name". The compositions have strong melodies, fuzz guitars and baroque keyboards - piano rather than organ which was more common at the time. Both songs were included in their sole 1967 album for Chess, included here in its entirety. Of the rest, "Seasons" is a nostalgic ballad, while "Musical Tribute to the Oscar Meyer Weiner Wagon" starts off as one but evolves into a noisy freak out jam. "There's Nothing Left to Do But Cry" and "Love in a Circle" are a couple of folk rockers with nice harmonies, "Rose Colored Glasses" and "Bicycle" are upbeat and quirky, and "Purple Day" a slow psychedelic ballad. These 9 tracks comprise their 1967 eponymous LP, but the CD isn't even halfway finished: the compilers added a bunch of rare and previously unreleased stuff. The oldest predate the album by a few months: these include early versions "Iowa" and "Oscar Meyer" and an excellent instrumental called "Baroques Theme" featuring nice piano and harmonica. Then there's 9 more tracks possibly recorded with a second album in mind - unfortunately Chess dropped them, disappointed with their lack of success. Only the last 2 songs were (self) released as a single: "I Will Not Touch You" is dark Floyd-ish psychedelia, while "Remember" is a gentle ballad with an oriental melody. Both excellent, while of the rest there are only 2 tracks at the same level: the waltzy "At the Garden Gate" and mid-tempo "Beckwith" with nice jazzy flute. "Tangerine Sunset" is a 12-minute psychedelic jam with cool flute and drums solos, while "Death of an Onion" is a collage of "nightmarish" cacophonous noise - the sole misstep in this excellent compilation. File under "Lost  psychedelic gems of the 60's".

***** for Mary Jane

**** for Iowa a Girl's Name, Seasons, Rose Colored Glasses, Musical Tribute to the Oscar Meyer Weiner Wagon, There's Nothing Left to Do But Cry, Bicycle, Love in a Circle, Iowa #2, Oscar Meyer #2, Baroques Theme, At the Garden Gate, I Will Not Touch You, Remember

*** for Purple Day, Sunflowers, Beckwith, Tangerine Sunset,

** for Death of an Onion, Flying Machine, Hand

Frank Zappa "Zappa Picks - By Larry LaLonde Of Primus" 2002(comp)***

This is one of many FZ compilations I have in my collection. I know that multiple comps are a messy way to get into an artist's work, with all the inevitable overlapping tracks and stylistic changes between different eras and evolutional stages in their life. Usually what I do is first get a good best-of comp (minimum 15 tracks). Then I go for the classic individual releases: the ones that combine great reviews and biggest sales. If I really like an artist, I work slowly through their complete discography. But that's not the way to go with Zappa: Allmusic lists 35 four or five-star albums, and some of his best-known songs aren't even included. At my pace, and with Zappa's extreme productivity, there's no way I'm getting all his "essential" albums in this lifetime. So I pick up comps ("Oh look: Here are a couple of great songs that I don't have, plus a few plain good ones, There are also 4-5 that I do already have, and 4 or 5 that I haven't heard yet. It's not too expensive, let's get it!").

Of all the Zappa compilations in my collection, this is probably the most idiosyncratic (which is, in any way, a word that perfectly fits this artist). Rykodisc, the label that has (or had?) the rights of the FZ catalogue, is renowned for the meticulous work they do on reissues and anthologies. Their first attempt to anthologize this material was in the old and tried "greatest hits" manner. That compilation, called Strictly Commercial, is of course brilliant and will be presented here later. But it's hardly representative, since FZ was anything but commercial. So they opted to ask musicians to compile their own favorites. The series (called Zappa Picks) didn't get further than 2 volumes, this one which is compiled by Primus's Larry LaLonde and another compiled by Jon Fishman Of Phish. These are a completely different beast to Strictly Commercial. FZ is famously a musician's musician, which accounts for the inclusion of many complex, experimental, almost impossible to play, instrumentals. On the plus side, LaLonde mixes it up a bit by including different styles and by mixing songs into a continuous medley that displays all the schizophrenic qualities of FZ's individual albums. Next to the instrumentals ("Five-Five-Five", "Alien Orifice", "Echidna's Arf", "Black Page No.2", the rocking "On The Bus", Hot Rats' jazzy "Little Umbrellas", and the synth-heavy "G-Spot Tornado" from the appropriately named Jazz From Hell), there are a few conventional rockers with smoking hot guitars and funky overtones ("Camarillo Brillo", "Fine Girl", "Wind Up Workin' In A Gas Station", "Doreen") and others combining rock, disco, avant-garde and general silliness ("St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast", "Wild Love", the comical/sleazy "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt"). "Dog Breath" is a sample of the early psychedelic days containing comedy, pop, doo-wop, jazz, opera and the kitchen sink. "Sofa No. 2" is a pretty tune whose charm Zappa tries to mask with a splash of weird German pseudo-operatic vocals, "Evelyn, A Modified Dog" is a short poem reading over some nice piano backing, and "Village of the Sun" (about his hometown) the closer he gets to a heartfelt nostalgic ballad. According to the liner notes "Dumb All Over" was LaLonde's initiation to FZ, and what a powerful introduction it is: the hollow funky beat, scorching guitar, distorted vocal, and one of Zappa's best lyrics, a scathing rejection of organized religion and of fanatics on all sides. This is not my favorite version of the song though: I prefer the live one because the lyrics are more intelligible. Finally, you may want to ask whether this works well as an introduction to Frank Zappa. The answer is Yes, if you want to acquaint yourself with all the facets of his work and experience his glorious madness head-on; some of his discography's highlights are present, and LaLond made sure there's a lot of variation and a nice flow to the compilation. On the other hand, to the untrained ear (including mine) a couple of selections may seem overloaded to the point of cacophony. So if you're a song-oriented person who likes simpler, conventionally structured, tunes this is not where you want to start. Go straight for Strictly Commercial. You won't be disappointed.

***** for Dumb All Over, Little Umbrellas, Sofa No. 2

**** for Five-Five-Five, Camarillo Brillo, Fine Girl, St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast, Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt, On the Bus

*** for Alien Orifice, Evelyn, A Modified Dog, Wild Love, Dog Breath, Echidna's Arf (Of You), Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station, Black Page No.2, Doreen

** for G-Spot Tornado, Village of the Sun

The Pipettes "We Are The Pipettes" 2006***

Apparently the Pipettes were conceived by their guitarist Monster Bobby as "an experiment in band-making" - which accounts nicely for their name, both a laboratory instrument and a reference to The Ronnettes, one of the girl groups from pop's golden era whose sound The Pipettes were determined to modernize. Bobby assembled a band of male backing musicians (nicknamed "The Cassettes") who stay in the shadows while the 3 female vocalists steal the spotlight. Fortunately he didn't go all Phil Spector on them and try to mastermind it all from the backstage, but instead he let them function as a true rock band: All (boys and girls) share the songwriting credits, although the lyrics are always written from the girls' perspective - usually a bit on the naughty side, reveling in a role reversal of the classic boy/girl pop narratives: these girls deride guys for thinking they could be more than an "One Night Stand" on the eponymous upbeat number, or for being bookish and not interested in having sex with them on "ABC". And they also do have a song called "Sex", but don't get me wrong: this isn't some kind of female Mötley Crüe - more like a PG-rated version of 60's girl pop that recognizes that girls are entitled to have some fun, and to be independent, even kind of naughty if they so feel like. The music strikes a perfect balance between retro and now-pop: the girls' harmonies, polka-dot dresses and dance moves come straight from the early 60's, just like the old-fashioned strings and brass arrangements. The beats on the other side -even when they pay tribute to Motown, as in the album's highlight "Pull Shapes"- have a frenzier, more danceable quality, incorporating everything that came later, be it ABBA, Bananarama, or electro-pop. And while it's the faster, more manic, numbers that stayed with me ("Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me", "One Night Stand", "Dirty Mind"), others may be drawn to the ballads ("A Winter's Sky", "I Love You") with their seductive vocals and sugary strings. Truth be told, at least 10 of the album's 15 songs (including bonus track "Really That Bad") could have been singles: they're hooky as hell, melodic, danceable, lots of fun, and never overstay their welcome with most of them clocking under 3 minutes - the complete CD duration stays well below 40 minutes. Opener "We Are The Pipettes" stands out from the rest with its early B52's sci-fi schtick. It sounds a bit silly at first, but after listening to the whole CD a couples of times it comes through as an original, zany, entertaining, moment inside a more calculated whole. Because, although it'd be unfair to say the songs all sound the same, they mostly seem to follow the same recipe. Like the abuse of a special effect in a movie: impressive at first, but every time it's used it loses some of its power and the green screen magic behind it threatens to get exposed. I guess that's the one fault of The Pipettes: A brilliant idea, impeccably executed, yet still there's something artificial about them. Compare them with their organically-grown 80's counterparts The Go Go's, and you'll see what I mean. 

**** for Pull Shapes, Why Did You Stay?, Dirty Mind, Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me, One Night Stand

*** for We Are the Pipettes, It Hurts to See You Dance So Well, Judy, A Winter's Sky, Tell Me What You Want, Because It's Not Love (But It's Still a Feeling), Sex, ABC, I Love You, Really That Bad

t.A.T.u. "200 km/h in the Wrong Lane" 2002**

I bought this CD on a sale recently for €1, together with a bunch of albums I missed out on in the 00's. All these albums were best-sellers at the time, most of them had at least a couple of songs on heavy rotation on the radio - people were listening to the radio not so long ago, I swear! No streaming services at the time, no Spotify, and no youtube! Back then, the only way to watch your favorite videoclips again was to stake them out on MTV, and press REC on your VCR the moment they begin playing. When I saw this CD on sale, I thought it was worth picking up if only for "All The Things She Said", rightfully one of the biggest pop hits of the 00's - plus I was curious to hear how they'd approach their Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now".

Ever since The Monkeys, there have been many made-up pop groups put together by shrewd music business executives, so in this respect there's nothing special about the formation of t.A.T.u.: this Russian producer conceived of a teen girl group and started by conducting auditions for singers. Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, the two girls that won the audition were 14 and 15 years old at the time. Shapovalov (the producer) had a specific marketing strategy on his mind, which centered on provocation: He named the band t.A.T.u., telling the press that it means "Ta Lyubit Tu", or "This [girl] Loves That [girl]" trying to promote them as a "teen lesbian couple" and sexualizing their image by presenting them in short skirts and fetish-like schoolgirl uniforms, having them kiss on video clips and public appearances, and pose as if they were doing a soft porn photoshoot. This would have been controversial in any case because of the homoeroticism and (especially) their age - by the time of their international debut 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, they were still just 17. But it wasn't only the puritans who were enraged: the fact that it was all a ruse, that the girls were neither romantically involved with each other nor gay, made many critics cry sexploitation. When I read the story it reminded me of how Hollywood producer Kim Fowley formed The Runaways in the 70's. They were also just 16 when he marketed them in a way that was too sexual for their age. But Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherry Currie and the rest were no mere dummies. Fowley may have masterminded the group and their public image, but he also nurtured their talent, encouraging them to play their own instruments and write their own songs. One may argue that there's a degree of sexploitation with all teenage pop stars anyway, but it's targeted at their age peers while with  t.A.T.u. one gets the impression the marketing was targeted at teen pop fans and dirty old men equally. Anyway, all these antics served their purpose of putting the band on the spotlight, but also managed to divert attention from the music. Was it really necessary? Judging from lead single "All The Things She Said", not at all: the infectious chorus, urgent tempo, and mix of alternative rock and synth pop scream "hit potential" from afar. Kudos must go to British producer Trevor Horn, who made the most of the mediocre songs and thin Lolita vocals by stressing the hooks and dressing the tunes in a modern techno/dance sound with just a hint of 80's new wave. The second big hit here is opener "Not Gonna Get Us", an upbeat number with electronic beats and alternating sweet and shrilly vocals. The girls are going for a "teen rebels" sound but on this album they sound more like spoiled brats. Their singing deficiency becomes painfully obvious in the Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now": where the lyrics cry for teenage melodrama, they are betrayed by the unemotional squeaky vocals. Another track featuring awful singing (with heavily accented English, to boot) is "Malchik Gay". "Show Me Love" fares better: the chorus mimics "All the Things She Said" with the title repetition etc, but featuring a more rhythmic electronic beat. "Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)" is in similar style, both OK for their genre. "30 Minutes" is slow and atmospheric trip-hop style, while "Stars" is interesting because of bringing together mismatched elements: its melodic pop is augmented by a folkish instrumental solo, and interrupted by some Russian-language rapping. Somehow it works. To boost the duration to CD length, the producers added Russian versions of "Not Gonna Get Us" ("Нас Не Догонят"/Nas Ne Dagoniat) and "All the Things She Said" ("Я Сошла С Ума"/Ya Shosla S Uma) as well as a couple of useless remixes of "Show Me Love" and "30 Minutes". I'm not sure whether the  two Russian songs are new recordings or they are taken from the band's debut proper 200 Po Vstrechnoy, recorded in 2000. That album got them noticed in Eastern Europe, but with international release 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane t.A.T.u. stroke gold. Whether due to Trevor Horn's excellent production work, or Shapovalov's provocative marketing antics, it sold millions of CD's abroad, becoming Russia's biggest pop export ever while the girls graduated to sex symbols - especially in Eastern Europe, where they still have fans. The rest of the world forgot about them pretty quickly: after winning 3rd place on next year's Eurovision contest they all but disappeared from view. Maybe their producers should have invested more in singing and songwriting lessons, rather than promotional tricks. So yes, this CD rightly belongs in the bargain bin where I found it - but at least, timeless single "All The Things She Said" has earned  t.A.T.u. a place in pop history.

**** for All the Things She Said

*** for Not Gonna Get Us, Show Me Love, 30 Minutes, Stars, Я Сошла С Ума, Нас Не Догонят, Show Me Love (extended)

** for How Soon Is Now?, Clowns (Can You See Me Now?), Malchik Gay, 30 Minutes (Remix)

Ducks Deluxe "Ducks Deluxe" 1974****

According to received wisdom, pub rock kept the "flame of original rock'n'roll" alive during the dark prog era of "bloated" concept albums with symphonic ambitions - at least until punk rock came to remind us of the simple values of rock'n'roll. Nonsense, I say! Prog and punk? They're apples and oranges! As for rock'n'roll? Cherries! Because exactly how are Richie Valence and Johnny Rotten similar? That said, I've found out that I quite like this pub rock thing. It's not a homogenous genre: there are different combinations of rockabilly, R&B, country, garage rock, even reggae, involved. What all these bands have in common is simpler song structures, the element of fun, and lack of pretention and self-importance which was often evident in 70's mainstream rock. The immediacy of their approach worked best in small venues like pubs, which gave this "genre" its name in contrast to the "arena rock" - even though some of those stadium rockers (e.g. The Rolling Stones) weren't musically a world away from pub bands like Ducks Deluxe, meaning that pub rock wasn't as revolutionary as music critics imply.

 

One thing's for sure, punk rockers were listening. The laddishness of pub bands like Dr. Feelgood spoke to them at least as much as their energetic music, while the absence of outlandish glam costumes (prog and glam being the era's dominant music trends) made it easier to think of them as "one of the guys". Suddenly it once again seemed possible for anyone to pick up a guitar and form a band, no "rock star quality" needed. Something that always struck me as odd, though, was how these British pub rockers seemed totally enamoured of the American culture: from their love for the American roots sounds of country, soul, and rockabilly, to their lyrics. In this album too, references to middle America abound. Check "Daddy Put The Bomp", a country-ish tune which somehow reminded me of  Creedence's "Lodi", with its references to New Orleans, and lyrics like"My daddy was a preacher...My mommy Texas lady". Same goes for the roadlust exhibited in opener "Coast to Coast", a raucous garage rocker written by Nick Garvey, and reminiscent of The Flamin' Groovies - maybe not coincidentally, as he once served in the Groovies' road crew. It's followed by another wild rocker, a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown". Martin Belmont wrote and sings lead on a soul ballad called "I Got You", as well as on the more satisfactory folk rocker "Heart On My Sleeve". He shares lead vocals and songwriting credits with Garvey on the fast R&B rocker "Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite", while Garvey sings lead on "Nervous Breakdown", sped-up Stones cover "It's All Over Now", and his own composition "Please, Please, Please" - also reminiscent of The Stones, circa Between The Buttons. The rest of the songs feature Sean Tyla on lead vocals. These include the propulsive proto-punk "Fireball", soulful R&B "Falling For That Woman", laid-back funk "Too Hot To Handle", and "West Texas Trucking Board" - the latter reminded me of Them's cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". All in all, Ducks Deluxe is an excellent debut whose timeless songwriting is both a throwback to the 60's and a precursor of new wave artists like Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Martin Belmont did end up playing in Parker's backing band The Rumour, while Nick Garvey co-founded successful new wave band The Motors, and Sean Tyla fronted the Tyla Gang. So, while Ducks Deluxe broke up after only one more album (1975's Taxi To The Terminal Zone), at least their legacy lived on in those other bands. The band's two LP's were never re-released on vinyl, but they have been bundled together for a CD reissue, plus there are some compilations going around, both in vinyl and CD form. All well worth checking out, probably among pub rock's finest hour - next to Dr. Feelgood, of course.

**** for Coast To Coast, Nervous Breakdown, Please Please Please, Fireball, Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite, Heart On My Sleeve, Falling For That Woman, West Texas Trucking Board, Too Hot To Handle

*** for Daddy Put The Bomp, I Got You, It's All Over Now

Love "On Earth Must Be" 2004****

Arthur Lee's 21st century comeback was one of the most amazing and unexpected in show business - I count myself very lucky to have witnessed it. I had fallen in love with the music of Love when I first heard it in my late teens. Their tunes, the lyrics, and Arthur's voice really moved me - both their acclaimed masterpiece Forever Changes and their simpler garage folk debut rank among my all-time favorites. But I never expected to see them live: rumors were that Lee was a lost cause, his talent was totally spent, and his behavior was too erratic for any labels/concert organizers to bother with him. He was almost forgotten by the mid-80's but the 90's saw his popularity rise steadily, so that he was able to tour again and release a pretty decent album (to be presented here sometime, along with the rest of his discography). Until, that is, the American penal system decided to make an example out of him: he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the "negligent discharge of a firearm", which basically means shooting in the air. Who could imagine that a victimless offence could carry a heavier penalty than, say, voluntary manslaughter? Well, that's what you get in California under the "three strikes law" - especially if you happen to be black, as many observed at the time. He was released on December 2001 after serving 5,5 years - not so much because of the support movement by a handful of musicians and fans, but because the judge who convicted him was found guilty of judicial misconduct, leading to a lot of his decisions getting overthrown. Lee immediately contacted Baby Lemonade, the neo-psychedelic band that had backed him during his first attempt for a career revival in the 90's, and they started touring the world again. This is when I first had the chance to see them, summer 2002 in an open air double bill with Porcupine Tree as headliners. I came to the gig apprehensively: yes, Arthur Lee and Love had produced some of my favorite records, but -even in the 60's- they never had a great live reputation, plus the man had been out of commission for years. Well, I've seen hundreds of gigs but this counts as one of the best ever: I've never seen someone so exhilarated to be on stage and to be able to perform his songs in front of an audience. When he sang those lyrics from "Red Telephone" you really felt chills up your spine "They're locking them up today/They're throwing away the key/I wonder who it will be tomorrow, you or me?...We're all normal and we want our freedom". One could feel the "love" flow to and from the audience, and it seemed that happy endings are indeed possible. Next year the band were back, this time augmented with horns and strings, to play their masterpiece Forever Changes the way it was meant to sound, replicating the ornate studio arrangements. If the 2002 tour was the unlikely resurrection of an underground legend, the Forever Changes Tour was the victory lap: High-profile media coverage, big venues, and a live CD/DVD in the works. Once more, the enthusiasm was palpable. The third, and last, time I saw Artur Lee and Love was in 2005. This time they relied more on their experience and musical affinity rather than some sense of elation. After 4 years touring together, Lee and Baby Lemonade had morphed into the new Love, and arguably better than the originals were: not burdened by drug problems, clearly in love with the material, the younger guys happy to be playing alongside one of their heroes. As a bonus, Johnny Echols from the original band was there to provide another link with the past, and he obviously had great chemistry with both Lee and the other band members. For this occasion I had come together with my girlfriend to share my excitement about the band with her. At the time I thought she was unlucky to have missed the first two magical concerts, but in the light of what happened next, she -and everyone else who witnesses Love during those last years- was very lucky indeed. 3 months later, Arthur Lee and Love would cut their tour short and part ways. The general assumption was that this was due to a relapse to Lee's old quirks which had hindered the original band's progress, plagued his solo career and driven him to prison. Some kind of unnamed health issue was also mentioned. He never publicly acknowledged its seriousness, and was busy making plans for a new Love line-up featuring members of fellow Memphis residents The Reigning Sound. It later transpired that the man was sick with leukemia, and only had a few months to live. He never played again, and finally died on August 3rd, 2006 at the age of 61.  Had the judge's decision not been overturned, he probably would have died in prison and be remembered as just another psychedelic casualty like Syd Barrett. Fortunately that didn't happen. Instead, these last 4 years as an active musician (2002-2005) have reconnected him with his audience, fed his legend, and brought him the international acclaim he so richly deserved and which had eluded him the first time around.

In interviews conducted during his post-prison renaissance (2002-2005) Arthur Lee often teased about having new material and about recording an album with the new incarnation of Love (AKA the neo-psychedelic band Baby Lemonade). And while I knew he wasn't the most reliable person in the world, I really wanted to take him at his word and hoped he still had another good album in him. As it is, the great outpouring of songwriting genius that was Forever Changes was followed by a series of sympathetic but somewhat patchy albums 1969-1974, some live recordings, and just two more studio LP's in the course of the next 3 decades. As I mentioned in my lengthy prologue, Arthur Lee and Love were still a great live experience at that point, but the songwriting muse had left long ago. Which makes this short EP a real treat: with the exception of a rare 1994 7' single, this is the only studio recording of the tightest and longest-running Love line-up. Even more importantly, these are Arthur's very last recordings - 15 years after his passing, it's safe to assume that if there was anything left in the vaults it'd have appeared by now. "Rainbow In The Storm" is a great opener in the ornate style of Forever Changes: same kind of arrangement, with Lee sounding eerily like his 23-year old self. "All I Want Is You" is a pleasant upbeat number - at the time I thought it was a new song, but it later appeared in a live bootleg from the 90's, so I guess it had been sitting on the shelf for more than a decade. "Love Me Again" is -surprising as it seems- a reggae/ska song, and "Message To Pretty" a faithful recreation of a gorgeous folk rock ballad from Love's 1966 debut. The closing "Feathered Fish" is a big gift to old fans: this scorching garage rocker was written by Arthur Lee sometime prior to 1966 and given away to his friends in a band called Sons Of Adam (their drummer Michael Stuart would soon join Love, while singer-guitarist Randy Holden would go on with Blue Cheer). Collectors had been trying to find the "original" Love version forever, but it turns out they had never recorded it, not even as a demo. I'm not sure whether they even ever played it live, maybe they thought that it was too similar to their other garage dynamite "7 + 7 Is". Artur did play it with Love/Baby Lemonade sometime in the 90's, but that version wasn't officially released, although it later surfaced on a bootleg. Which makes this 2004 recording the only official version of "Feathered Fish" by its writer. The playing on all tracks is very good, as is the recording quality. Too bad it didn't get picked up by a record label and given a wider release: the band pressed it on CD-R and sold it at their gigs (I got it at the aforementioned 2005 show). Maybe a few copies reached the stores, but I don't think there are a lot of them around. Given that the paper label is glued on the CD-R and that the glue is known to affect CD-Rs negatively over time, many of these CD-Rs have began to deteriorate - or so I'm told, my own copy still plays well. Hopefully it'll get a good quality repress sometime, ideally on vinyl. The historic value of these recordings is huge, while the artistic one is not to be faulted either.

**** for Rainbow In The Storm, Message To Pretty, Feathered Fish

*** for All I Want Is You, Love Me