Monday, June 13, 2011

Love - "My Little Red Book" - Elektra, 1966

Can Burt Bacharach rock? Well, this week I'll say "yes" - but only if someone like Love covers him.
Love was an LA based Rock outfit active in the 60's and 70's. I have them under the "garage" tag but they're actually hard to pigeonhole in a specific genre with their diverse sound.
The group coalesced around Arthur Lee, who had been gigging and recording with various bands since the early 60's. Love hit the scene in '65 and quickly became popular. Random tidbit: the band initially lived in a house once owned by horror movie legend Bela Lugosi.
Originally penned by Bacharach, Love had a decent-size hit with today's 45, their first single with Elektra. A few moderately successful albums followed: self-titled "Love", "Da Capo" and "Forever Changes". Unfortunately, drug problems (the Legosi heroin curse?) and internal conflicts started to splinter the band in '68. Several more albums were released with a radically altered lineup. Many of the original members have since passed away or faded into obscurity, but a reformed version has toured as recently as 2009. There is a rumor that a lost album from '73 called "Black Beauty" will be released soon, I believe there are bootlegs already floating around.
And...the clip:

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