Arthur Lee (b. Arthur Taylor Porter, Memphis, 3/7/45; some sources say 1944) formed Love in 1965 with himself (lead vocals, harmonica, occasional guitar/bass/piano/drums), Johnny Echols (lead guitar), Bryan Maclean (rhythm guitar, occasional lead vocals; also half-brother of Lone Justice's Maria McKee), John Fleckenstein (bass), and Don Conca (drums). Fleckenstein and Conca left prior to recording the eponymous debut album, and were replaced by Ken Forssi (bass) and Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer (drums, although Arthur Lee played drums himself on most of the tracks). The single, My Little Red Book (a moody, alienated deconstruction of a minor Bacharach/David tune), was a huge West Coast hit and peaked at #52 nationwide.
For the second album, Da Capo, Pfisterer had moved to harpsichord and organ, former Sons of Adam drummer Michael Stuart took over drumming duties, and Tjay Cantrelli (real name: John Berberis) joined on flute and sax. A single cut by the original lineup but included on Da Capo, "7 And 7 Is", peaked at #33 nationwide in the fall of 1966, the only appearance of any Love single or LP in the U.S. Top 40.
Pfisterer and Cantrelli were gone by the time of Forever Changes, the final album by the original lineup. All but ignored critically and commercially in its day, it has since acquired classic status; it was recently voted #11 in Mojo magazine's critics' and listeners' polls of the top albums of all time. It is noted net.crank Andrew Rogers' second-favorite album of all time, right behind Laura Nyro's Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.
The Forever Changes lineup returned to the studio to record a final single, Your Mind And We Belong Together b/w Laughing Stock in early 1968, after which Lee fired the others and re-emerged that August with a new lineup: Lee, Jay Donnelan (lead guitar), Frank Fayad (bass), and George Suranovich (drums).
The reconstituted Love signed with Blue Thumb, but still owed Elektra one final album; they cut 27 tracks (with Drachen Theaker occasionally substituting for Suranovich) in a makeshift studio built in a warehouse. Elektra got first pick of the tracks, and released 10 of them as Four Sail in August, 1968; Blue Thumb released the remaining 17 as the double album Out Here only four months later. Lee fired Donnelan for "doing something with his mouth that he shouldn't have", replacing him with Gary Rowles (who appeared on one track from Out Here).
Noony Ricket (harmony vocals and rhythm guitar) joined for the next album, False Start. (The booklets accompanying the Rhino Love Story and the Raven Comes In Colours compilations both claim that this reunited one of Lee's pre-Love bar bands, the VIPs, but private e-mail from Gary Rowles refutes this.)
Lee released a solo album, Vindicator, in 1972; this was to have been followed by Black Beauty the following year, but the record company folded and it was never officially released. Lee revived the Love name for Reel To Real in 1974, and continued to tour as Arthur Lee and Love (usually backed by the L.A. band Baby Lemonade) until his incarceration.
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