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UPDATE: The Estate of Arthur Lee has launched an official
website for Arthur, "Keeping the Legacy Alive."
Please visit LoveArthurLee.com
for photos, video, unique recordings and more in this ever-building
archive.
Thank you for the Love and the Music.
Photographed
with love by Ronnie Haran Mellen
Arthur
Lee (1945-2006)
It is impossible to sum up Arthur and his music in one
statement, or how to put
Arthur's music or what it meant to me into words. Lyrics
of abstract depth, a
voice with an angelic quality one minute and menacing
the next... an unlimited
number of voices. Musical surprises and music that has
been unequaled up until
now... it never will be. Arthur was a genius, a complicated,
unique person. I
compare Arthur more to a great painter who understood
the use of color and
texture and knew how to vary his pallete to create whatever
he saw in his mind.
I want to share part of a poem by Diana Darby who knew
and loved him, as we all
did.
I
see him
softly humming purple orchestras
in his head.
The notes trapped beneath
his skin,
like the cancer.
I see him
drifting in and out of
the day
coming in colors
like the tide.
The bloody water
bringing in new life
and taking out the old.
The
following is a note I sent out to friends late last
night:
Arthur Lee died peacefully at Methodist Hospital in
Memphis, a little after four
in the afternoon Aug 3, 2006 with his wife Diane by
his side. His death comes
as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability
to bounce back from
everything, and leukemia was no exception. He was confident
that he would be
back on stage by the fall.
When
I visited with him recently, he was visibly moved by
the stories and
pictures from the NYC benefit concert. We watched the
DVD of the great House Of
Blues concert from '03, and he told me how much he appreciated
Baby Lemonade's dedication to his music. He was truly
grateful for the outpouring of love from friends and
fans all over the world since news of his illness became
public.
Arthur
always lived in the moment, and said what he thought
when he thought it.
I'll miss his phone calls, and his long voice messages,
but most of all I'll
miss Arthur playing Arthur's music.
-
Mark Linn
There
is a BBC
news piece online: (among many others,
there are more links on the Love
website) with 10+ pages of quotes from
fans... this one is especially great:
"At a time when America was dancing to the sunshine
vibes of flower power,Arthur
Lee lifted the lid on the whole hippy movement and particularly
LA life to
reveal something altogether seamier and disturbing.
While the music of Love's eternally fascinating, classic
album Forever Changes was at times breathtaking in its
beautiful arrangements many of the lyrics dealt with
the menacing undercurrant of death, ageing, and social
isolation. Arthur was America's foremost musical visionary."
-Mike B. Ace, Belsize Park, London
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A
Love Society EXCLUSIVE!
Vinyl Single on Color Wax
Click
to enlarge
ARTHUR
LEE: STAY AWAY
b/w YOU I'LL BE FOLLOWING
Announcing
the release of never-issued 1965 pre-Love demos
Stay Away by the American Four b/w You I’ll
Be Following by the Grass Roots, two pre-Love combos
that included Arthur Lee and on guitar, the great
Johnny Echols. Johnny contributed boss interview
notes to our 45 which boasts an insanely cool unknown
photo of the American Four (sportin’ Beatle
wigs). This limited first pressing is on wild marble
colored wax- no two records the same - THEY COME
IN COLORS that run a swirly rainbow gamut! These
colored wax singles are available only at the tribute
shows or on this benefit website, with proceeds
going directly to Arthur.
|
Limited
Edition
Silkscreened Poster.
Click
to enlarge
6/23/06
For The Love Of Arthur Benefit Concert at NYC's
Beacon Theatre.
Arthur
Lee: by Tom Sheehan
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|
 MAY
20, 2006
New York Times
A
few weeks ago, Steve Weitzman, a New York concert
promoter, heard that Arthur Lee, the singer and
songwriter of the 1960's psychedelic-rock band Love
- never big stars, but much admired by critics and
other musicians - had leukemia, and he began to
put together a benefit concert to help cover Mr.
Lee's medical expenses. A date of June 23 at the
Beacon Theater in Manhattan was set, and the roster
quickly began to fill up: Ryan Adams, Ian Hunter,
Yo La Tengo, Nils Lofgren and Garland Jeffreys have
already been confirmed. But one of the most enthusiastic
volunteers was Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. He
said he would happily sing with anyone, and then,
Mr. Weitzman said, "he said something I never
imagined Robert Plant would say: 'Is it O.K. if
I do any Led Zeppelin songs?' " The answer
was a vigorous yes.
6/23
NYC Beacon Theatre
Benefit Concert Coverage!
|
|
 JUNE
26, 2006: Live Review: Robert Plant, Ryan Adams
Do It For Love at Arthur Lee Benefit Concert
Robert
Plant ended his headlining hour at “We’re Doing
It for Love” – a benefit for Arthur Lee, the ailing
singer-songwriter of the pioneering Los Angeles band Love,
at New York’s Beacon Theater on June 23rd – with
“Ramble On” from Led Zeppelin II. It was a perfect
finale, a thrilling folk-rock gallop with Plant singing of
those “days of old, when magic filled the air”
with the same excited, forward motion he heard as a teenager
in Love’s classic mid- and late-Sixties albums. Most
of the acts on the bill played at least one Love or Lee song:
Nils Lofgren (pictured) put Stratocaster electricity into
the flamenco diamond “Alone Again Or,” from 1968’s
Forever Changes. Garland Jeffreys sang “My Little Red
Book” acapella, reading the lyrics from – what
else? – a little red book. Yo La Tengo flashed their
encyclopedic-geek credentials by pulling out “Luci Baines,”
an homage to then-President Lyndon Johnson’s daughter,
written and recorded by Lee in 1964 with his pre-Love band
the American Four. (“Written” is stretching it;
the song was “Twist and Shout” with new lyrics.)
But Plant
– working with a band of New York-based players, on
two days’ rehearsal – truly came for the love
of Lee (who is battling leukemia in a Memphis hospital and
has no medical insurance). Plant mixed psychedelicized Zeppelin
(“In the Evening,” “What Is and What Shall
Never Be”) with a genuine-fans’ selection of vintage
Love, including the delicate Forever Changes ballad “The
Old Man” (Plant acknowledged its writer, Love’s
late, often overlooked guitarist Bryan MacLean) and a Zeppelin-ized
reimagining of “Seven and Seven Is” from 1967’s
Da Capo (with a surprise tease of Neil Young’s “Cowgirl
in the Sand”). Plant gave extra credit where credit
was due by bringing original Love guitarist Johnny Echols
out to reprise his leads on “A House Is Not a Motel”
and “Bummer in the Summer.” But Plant is a catholic
classicist. He followed a dynamic march through Buffalo Springfield’s
“For What It’s Worth” with a rowdy duet
with Mott The Hoople’s Ian Hunter, also on the show
– the pair of them making like a heavy-glam Everly Brothers
on “When Will I Be Loved.” Plant also showed off
his big love of Elvis Presley with a startling, credible croon
through “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.”
 There
were some false notes on the long way (four hours) to Plant’s
midnight set. Flashy Python and the Body Snatchers –
a mix of members from Dr. Dog and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,
with a bad-Sixties name – sounded like an under-rehearsed
side project. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals played raw, hard
urban-prairie rock: fine in itself but out of joint with the
evening’s context. And singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw,
apparently shoehorned onto the bill for no other reason than
he was in town that day, was a prolonged irritant, mangling
Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” with
exaggerated faux-soul. If he’d been there, Lee, legendary
for his cantankerous manner and dictatorial quality control,
would surely have kicked DeGraw off the stage in mid-woah.
But the
late payoffs – Lofgren’s long guitar-solo revel
in Bruce Springsteen’s “Because the Night”;
Hunter’s serving of classic Mott – were worth
the wait. And Plant’s dedication to the occasion, in
performance and song selection, affirmed why Lee is an artist
worth celebrating and aiding. Near the end of his version
of “Hey Joe,” Plant took a detour into “Nature
Boy,” the pastoral ballad made famous by Nat King Cole,
repeating the last lines like both prayer and hurrah: “The
greatest thing you’ll ever learn/Is just to love and
be loved in return.”
The best
way to do that is while Lee is still here. For donation information
and updates on Lee’s condition, go to thelovesociety.com.
[robert plant photo: http://www.bpfallon.com]
-- David Fricke
|
 July
25, 2006
A Month on the Town: The man who's reviewed 12,000 records reviews
32 shows in 30 days. By Robert Christgau "...Plant
owns any room he enters. He could have fobbed off three Loves,
three Zeps, a solo promo, and "Danny Boy." Instead
he spent two days with the pickup band, rehearsing a set that
honored Lee personally and culturally. The Zeps were early,
the Loves exquisite. "For What It's Worth" led to
a Hunter-assisted Everlys tune (the Elderly Brothers, Weitzman
called them) and "Can't Help Falling in Love." Highlighted
was "Hey Joe"–a perfect Zep-Love link, misogyny
and all. And into the middle of a psychedelic fantasia–based
on his own 2002 revival, not Love's peppy single or Hendrix's
psychodrama–Plant inserted "Nature Boy," an
inspired evocation of Arthur Lee the L.A. eccentric even if
you didn't know its composer was an L.A. longhair when there
were no longhairs and its hit version a turning point for
black pop pathfinder Nat Cole. At 57, Plant no longer had
his high end. But because the music was new and the occasion
felt, he was singing fresh. This wasn't the somewhat automatic
mastery of great Springsteen or Stones. It was a lesson in
charisma full of near misses and intricate meshes, the most
life-affirming thing I witnessed all month. My daughter and
I fought through the rain at 1:30 a.m. just as if we weren't
exhausted."
Click
for full story...
MAY
15, 2006: RYAN ADAMS & NILS LOFGREN ADDED...
New
confirmations!
We are excited to announce that Ryan Adams
and Nils Lofgren have been added to the June
23 benefit concert!
The line-up:
Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, Ryan Adams, Yo La Tengo,
Nils Lofgren, Johnny Echols, Garland Jeffreys, Johnny Echols
and Flashy Python and The Body Snatchers
(featuring Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say
Yeah).
Inquiries,
please contact:
Mark Linn c/o Delmore
Recording Society
Phone: 615.480.6923 | delmores@comcast.net |
MAY
6, 2006: UPDATES
- Yo
La Tengo added to June 23 New York City concert!
- Credit
card donations link is now hot for Arthur Tribute
fund. We have received donations from around the world.
Thank you to everyone, and please spread the love.
- The
doctor has requested that we make a correction. Arthur doesn't
have ALL, he has AML, Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
- Look
for another feature in Rolling
Stone's 1,000th print issue.
|
APRIL
27, 2006:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New
York Concert Date And
Initial Performers Announced!
WE’RE
DOING IT FOR LOVE
A Benefit Concert For Arthur Lee
The first
in a series of benefit concerts for Love frontman Arthur Lee
has been confirmed in New York City. The
show is June 23, 2006 at The Beacon
Theatre. Tickets
are on sale May 12 at noon.
Confirmed
performers include Robert Plant, Ian
Hunter Band, Johnny Echols, Garland Jeffreys
and Alec Ounsworth (Clap Your Hands
Say Yeah), who is organizing an Indie-Rock Supergroup
for the occasion.
Inquiries,
please contact:
Mark Linn
Delmore
Recording Society
Phone: 615.480.6923
delmores@comcast.net |
APRIL
7, 2006
Love's
Arthur Lee Battling Leukemia
~Jonathan Cohen, NY / April 07, 2006, 10:30
AM ET
Love frontman
Arthur Lee is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according
to a post from Los Angeles-based club booker Liz Garo on noted
Love
fan site. Lee has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy
but continued treatment and a possible bone marrow transplant
are looming.
As Lee
is uninsured, friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit
concert for late May or early June. Garo says such venues
as the Avalon, Disney Hall, the Greek Theatre and the El Rey
Theatre are in consideration and that Calexico, Cake and X
have been contacted to participate.
"We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's
songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee and
Love," Garo writes.
Highlighted
by the 1967 masterpiece "Forever Changes," Love
crafted some of the most celebrated rock'n'roll of the psychedelic
rock era. But its legacy languished in the ensuing years due
to Lee's unpredictable behavior and prison stint on a weapons
violation.
After
being released from jail in late 2001, Lee assembled a new
version of Love that enjoyed success touring in Europe and
North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in
its entirety.
Last summer,
Lee's backing band, Baby Lemonade, announced it would no longer
perform with him, citing the "steady decline" of
his "mental and physical health." In recent months,
Lee had assembled a new backing group from his new home base
of Memphis.
But according
to Garo's post, "Baby Lemonade is available to back up
any singer" at the benefit "and there will be a
string section as well."
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