Friday, May 20, 2011

LOVE LA's Best Band

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THE DOORS? BLACK FLAG? THE CHILI PEPPERS? NOPE. L.A.'S BEST BAND WAS LOVE.
The more things change . . .
BY JEFF WEISS
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 12:00 pm
Let’s talk greatest Los Angeles bands for a second. Depending how you’re wired, there are roughly a dozen candidates for the throne. If you tend to spend a small but significant minority of your time swallowing spoonfuls of liquid acid on Venice rooftops, the Doors, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield/CSNY and maybe even Sublime make your shortlist. If you’ve rocked a green Mohawk and/or owned a Henry Rollins spoken-word record, you’d probably lean toward Black Flag, X, the Minutemen or the Germs. If your personal hairspray use has emitted enough CO2 to wreak serious havoc on the ozone layer, there’s Van Halen or Guns N’ Roses; if you’re inclined toward Latin music, Los Lobos looms, and if you’re into being wrong, there’s always the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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Love accurately rendered everything that makes L.A. wonderful and everything that makes it warped.


Love accurately rendered everything that makes L.A. wonderful and everything that makes it warped.
Then there’s Love, the least commercially successful and arguably the greatest of the bunch, a band whose reputation rests largely on the strength of one perfect document: 1967’s Forever Changes, perhaps the most quintessentially Los Angeles record there is, a seamless summation of the town’s fun-house angles and myriad complexities. Unlike the aforementioned groups, whose masterpieces tended to be manifestations of particular Angeleno subcultures, Love’s picture of Los Angelesis very much a native vision. Frontman Arthur Lee divines dark prophecies that pull from the pulse of L.A.’s noirish underworld; its Hispanic heritage emerges in plangent pinpoint trumpet blasts from a Tijuana brass band. The sepia tones of the old Sunset Strip spring to life: California blonds in sundresses and flatironed hair, hippies in Day-Globeads and kaleidoscopic color, flailing in long-forgotten nightclubs, starkly contrasting with images of the riots in the streets and the flatfooted fury of the crewcut, pug-nosed Parker police force.

Love’s third effort contained multitudes precisely because the band’s geographically scattered and racially diverse composition mirrored the city of a million scenes. Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols grew up in South L.A., attended Dorsey High, developed a Booker T. & the MGs fixation and were well-known in the local club scene by the time they formed Love in their early 20s. Rhythm guitarist-vocalist Bryan MacLean, the author of “Alone Again Or” and “Old Man,” grew up in Beverly Hills, the son of an architect to the stars. He liked show tunes and counted Liza Minnelli as his first girlfriend (apparently, the two of them used to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” together while sunning themselves poolside). Meanwhile, despite a Sarasota upbringing, Love bassist Ken Forssi had already played on the Surfaris’ “Wipe Out,” the seminal West Coast surf-guitar song. With such inherent tension built in, the only possible outcome was disaster, particularly considering the ravages of heroin addiction, Lee’s megalomaniacal genius and an ill-fated idea to cohabitate a hilltop Los Feliz mansion nicknamed “the Castle,” previously owned by Bela Lugosi.

Sure enough, the initial June ’67 sessions for Forever Changes infamously flamed out when the band’s disarray forced Elektra to recruit session men to record “Andmoreagain” and the Neil Young–arranged “The Daily Planet.” But when they regrouped that September, something changed. According to legend, stirred by the realization of their own expendability, Love played with a newfound sense of urgency and hunger. The quote most frequently cited about Forever Changes is that Lee thought he’d die immediately upon its completion; it’s difficult not to interpret it as an early requiem for the troubled singer-songwriter, who passed away last year from leukemia. Just 22 years old, Lee seemed spooked by revelation. On “A House Is Not a Motel,” he foresees “the news of today [being] the movies of tomorrow.” On “The Red Telephone,” he blithely croons about “sitting on a hillside watching all the people die,” before finishing with a flourish about getting locked up with the key thrown away, foreshadowing the legal struggles that would haunt his future.

But other than the winking homage to the strip of land adjacent to the Whisky a GoGo on “Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale,” Love veered away from any concrete evocation of Los Angeles. Instead, Forever Changes captures the way the city feels,the cadences of its sunny, stuttering locomotion, the halcyon sand-and-surf California of the imagination clashing with smog, stripped resources and stark realities. The undercurrent of fear and alienation sluicing through a city where the stakes seem so high and the odds so stacked. Its timelessness stems from the notion that as much as L.A. changes, it will always retain certain immutable qualities that Love’s music captures: the baroque excess evidenced in the airy strings that buoy Lee’s celestial wail, the furious fusion of styles and sounds, the laidback folk-rock melodies and the latent, orchestral anger.

That’s why Rhino can reissue Forever Changes for the second time this decade, with the only new material on this latest edition a few unreleased acoustic demos, a half-assed cover of “Wooly Bully” and a much-vaunted alternate mix practically indistinguishable from the original. It really doesn’t matter. What does is the accuracy with which Love rendered everything that makes this city wonderful and everything that makes it warped. So that even today, with their Los Angeles a faded memory, few greater joys exist than slipping Forever Changes into your CD player on a bright spring morning after a cold, clean rain, when Los Angeles glows with a gold and green tint.

Start at the intersection of Sunset and César Chávez, let the rich metal rain of “Alone Again Or” dazzle you, horns scattering in synchronicity with the Mariachi strains buzzing off of Olvera Street; angle past the band’s old stomping grounds in Los Feliz. Let the album loop through Beverly Hills, the platinum light flooding your car, careening past the salmon-colored walls of the Beverly Hills Hotel, only blocks away from MacLean’s childhood home. Ride this strange bullet out all the way to the beach, where if you’ve looped it just right and the traffic gods have smiled on you, you might just hear the fragile fatalism of “You Set the Scene” slap up against the roaring waves of Sunset Beach — with the tacit understanding that not everything changes.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A GOOD READ

Son of the source
Jonathan Wilson and California as muse
Kandia Crazy Horse


California my way: Pacifica in all her roaring glory; "Bluebird"; Gene Clark suffering for his art at the Troubadour; Arthur Lee perched atop Laurel Canyon as dark magus of the Sunset Strip; "Free Huey!"; George Hunter and the Charlatans giving birth to the '60s in Frisco and Virginia City; redbones holding it down at Alcatraz; Barry White's boudoir epics vs. War's low rider country-funk; r.i.p. Nudie Cohn; surf-and-skate as spiritual practice and Third World coalition builder at street level; "We'll Get By"; Mary Ellen Pleasants; Sly Stone's pop hoodoo; "¡Viva Cesar Chavez!"; the Watts Towers as organic temple and pan-African signifier; Iron Eyes Cody; the impenetrable alien secrets of Joshua Tree; Citizen Kane; Country Joe McDonald in a helmet ripping "Section 43" at Monterey; Jack London's and Charles Manson's erudite racism; rebellions yielding the "black Woodstock," Wattstax; Skid Row tacos; alas, poor Ishi; is Mount Shasta really an Atlantean portal?; "Snakes on Everything"; RTX; a great big wave looming to wash away Neil Young and his spindly wood home from Topanga Canyon; Chet Helms, my hero; really tall red trees — and the glossy harmonies of the Mamas & the Papas, much beloved favorites of my mother before she left upon her starship. Their masterpiece "California Dreamin'" was on my mind as Indian summer gave way to autumn and the 40th anniversaries of polarized cosmic events such as the man on the moon, Woodstock, the Manson murders, the late Michael Jackson's pop debut unfolded apace.
Harvey Kubernik, a keenly clued-in and cosmically sensitive Pisces born in Hollywood, just dropped this season's key entry chronicling that era and its ever-lingering aftereffects: the fine Laurel Canyon study Canyon of Dreams (Sterling, 384 pages, $29.95). Much of what made California north and south such a prime destination to escape the limits and cruel lacunae of Manifest Destiny in the 1960s went down in the postwar boomtowns of San Francisco and Los Angeles and their ex-urban satellites. Kubernik focuses on the tall tales of L.A . He reveals how the creativity, social experimentation, and mystery yearning of the denizens of canyons on L.A.'s west side changed America as it was teleported on the airwaves and on the backs of freaky-deak human hosts. The elite and cult acts that largely power Kubernik's fables — Gene Clark; Arthurly; Gram Parsons; Lowell George; John and Michelle Phillips; the magicians of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — have left towering sonic, sartorial, and spiritual legacies. Yet Kubernik is not mired in the misty mountain-hopping of yesteryear — he's keen enough to close Canyon of Dreams with a portrait of one of that halcyon era's most important heirs: Jonathan Wilson.

Y'all can ken whether Wilson deserves to be the coda of Kubernik's book when his Emerald Triangle Tour featuring Jonathan Rice, Farmer Dave Scher, and local light Andy Cabic rolls into town. Yet the evidence is there in his extant albums — 1998's The Ballad of Hope Nicholls (by his former band, North Carolina's Muscadine); 2007's Frankie Ray, and 2008's Gentle Spirit — and his myriad contributions to the projects of friends. I can hear, see, and most important, feel some measure of all that makes California utopian, the South home, and America an ideal worth fighting for, despite their respective horrors, in Wilson's music.

New York, N.Y., with its epic filth, noise, and madding crowds, was not so kind to Wilson when he made the inevitable leap from North Cackalack. Still, he excavated a great artifact of the artist-as-young-man from the experience: Frankie Ray.

With the move to California, that recording's odes to heartbreak and alienation gave way to shimmering hymns to nature arrayed across no less than four unreleased song cycles and counting. Gentle Spirit simply displays Wilson as revelation, but it was his cover of an innocuous Madonna hit (first offered to Michael Jackson) from the mid-1980s that truly convinced me of his indelible gifts. He transfigures "La Isla Bonita" beyond recognition — it starts out as an Allman Brothers outtake and slowly, steadily evolves into a 3-D spaghetti western, then a metallic, mountain-ringing treatise of electric guitar evangelism. His forthcoming covers album, I'm Covered, OK?, should make plain the wonders of his rare gift for interpretation.
To quote the once-mighty Pointer Sisters as they backed Wilson's fellow underrated North Carolina maverick Betty Davis: "Y'all got to believe, believe in sumthin' ... Why not believe in me?" This grandbaby of a Southern Baptist preacher from southwest Georgia would never steer your ears or asses wrong. I was once accused by a former editor of dancing around my keyboard as I wrote (and what's wrong with that?). I don't; I have "spells" like Harriet Tubman, like Joseph Smith in the upstate New York woods, or Edgar Cayce's automatic writing — as with this piece. Yes, I want to convert you, get you onboard the underground smellroad to Glory. I follow the Spirit and my black ass — and the loose booty's hollerin': make pilgrimage with Jonathan Wilson and 'nem up the coast if you're magical and mystical friends of the road.

THE EMERALD TRIANGLE TOUR

Mon/2, 8 p.m. (doors at 7:30 p.m.), $15

The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

www.independentsf.com

Monday, May 02, 2011

LOVE FAMILY TREE

Rock Prosopography 102
a lengthy footnote to 'Rock Prosopography 101 blog'
Saturday, December 11, 2010
LOVE FAMILY TREE - PERFORMANCE LIST

This story is the work of Bruno Ceriotti. Help in putting this together has been provided by Johnny Echols, Alban 'Snoopy' Pfisterer, Bobby Beausoleil, Michael Stuart-Ware, Ed Toussaint, Michael P Selinsky, Bill Walton, Gerard Daily, Chris Simondet and Mark Smigel, to whom I'm most grateful.


THE AMERICAN FOUR #1 (aka THE WEIRDOS #1) (ca. FEB 1964 - MAY 1964)
1) Arthur Porter 'Po' Taylor (aka Arthur Lee) vocals, organ, rhythm guitar
2) Johnny 'Iceberg Slim' Echols lead guitar
3) John 'Fleck' Fleckenstein bass
4) John Jacobson drums


ca. February - ca. April 1964: Cappy's, Los Angeles, CA

ca. February - ca. April 1964: Beverly Bowl, Montebello, CA
The band played in this bowling alley as house band, six days a week, for several months. Sometimes they were billed as 'The Weirdos'.


THE AMERICAN FOUR #2 (aka THE WEIRDOS #2) (MAY 1964 - APR 1965) / THE GRASS ROOTS #1 (APR 1965 - JUL 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) John Fleck
4) Don Conka drums


ca. May 1964 - ca. January 1965: Cappy's, Los Angeles, CA

ca. May 1964 - ca. January 1965: Beverly Bowl, Montebello, CA
The band played in this bowling alley as house band, six days a week, for several months. Sometimes they were billed as 'The Weirdos'.

ca. February - ca. March 1965: California Club, 1759 West Santa Barbara Avenue, South Los Angeles, CA
Supposedly future Love’s flautist and sax player Tjay Cantrelli sat-in with The American Four a couple of times. Also on the bill were The O’Jays and The Isley Brothers, both with Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Arthur Lee remember (wrongly?) that Jimi Hendrix played there with The Furies (???). Footnote: Jimi Hendrix picked up Johnny Echols guitar.

April - July 1965: Brave New World, 7207 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA
The Grass Roots played there as house band six days a week.


THE GRASS ROOTS #2 (JUL 1965 - AUG 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) John Fleck
4) Don Conka
5) Robert Kenneth 'Bobby' Beausoleil six-string rhythm guitar


July - August 1965: Brave New World, 7207 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band six days a week.


THE GRASS ROOTS #3 (AUG 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Johnny Fleck
4) Don Conka
5) Bobby Beausoleil
+
6) Bryan MacLean vocals, six-string rhythm guitar


August 1965: Brave New World, 7207 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house, six days a week, sometimes with former The Byrds's roadie Bryan MacLean filling in for Bobby Beausoleil, because at that time the band was just thinking to replace Bobby with Bryan. When they tried out Bryan, Bobby was not on stage, So although they were in the same room together, they never played on stage at the same time as some sources wrongly claimed. They were considering using two rhythm guitars but never did, and after the try-outs they let Bobby go.


THE GRASS ROOTS #4 (AUG 1965 - OCT ??, 1965) / LOVE #1 (OCT ??, 1965 - NOV 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Don Conka
4) Johnny Fleck
5) Bryan MacLean


August - October 1965: Brave New World, 7207 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band six days a week.

October 1965 - November 1965: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band.


LOVE #2 (NOV 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Don Conka
4) Bryan MacLean
5) Michael 'Mike' Dowd bass


November 1965: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band.


LOVE #3 (NOV 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Don Conka
4) Bryan MacLean
5) Doug bass


November 1965: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band.


LOVE #4 (NOV 1965)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Don Conka
4) Bryan MacLean


November 1965: Bido Lito's, 1608 N Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
The band played there as house band.


LOVE #5 (NOV 1965 - JAN 23, 1966)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Don Conka
4) Bryan MacLean
5) Kenneth Raymond 'Kenny' Forssi bass
+
6) Alban Pfisterer (aka Snoopy) drums


November - December 1965: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band, sometimes with Snoopy filling in for Don Conka, because the latter was somewhere, high on LSD. One night Jac Holzman of 'Elektra Records' saw the band (with Snoopy) there and after the show signed the band for his label.

January ? - January 2?, 1966: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band, sometimes with Snoopy filling in for Don Conka, because the latter was somewhere, high on LSD.

January ?-?, 1966: The Trip, 8572 West Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA with Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The band, with Snoopy on drums, filling in unbilled for the advertised The Byrds for a couple of gigs. At one of this show guitarist David Crosby of The Byrds sat-in with Love during the song: 'John Lee Hooker'.


LOVE #6 (JAN 24, 1966 - AUG 2?, 1966)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Bryan MacLean
4) Kenny Forssi
5) Snoopy


January 2? - March 2?, 1966: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA
The band played there as house band. One night, right before the show, Kenny Forssi, Johnny Echols and their friend Billy Doherty (bass player of The Lost Souls) were talking outside the club when, at some point, they were approched by a guy who looked like an “Hells Angels” that, even without saying a word, put in the hands of Kenny, Johnny and Billy, some flyers and then disappeared. This flyers promoted a show somewhere in L.A. called “Acid Test” and performed by a band that nobody knew at that time called The Grateful Dead. Ah, by the way, the “mysterious” guy who gave them the flyers was the great late Grateful Dead's keyboardist Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan (!!).

February 22 - March 10, 1966: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, CA with The Leaves
Love were advertised from February 22 but may not have played until February 25.

March 10-11, 1966: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA

March ??, 1966, Bido Lito's, 1608 N Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA with Sons Of Adam

April 8-9, 1966: Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Boulevard at Fillmore Street, Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA with The Sons Of Adam, The Charlatans "A Dance Concert"
The band was billed as 'The Love' on the poster.

May 12-14, 1966: Brave New World, 1644 North Cherokee Avenue, Downtown Hollywood, CA with The Doors
The club closed sometime after this shows.

May 20-22, 1966: Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street at Van Ness Street, Polk Gulch, San Francisco, CA with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band (20-21), Big Brother and The Holding Company (21) "Hupmobile-8 A Freewheeling Vehicle"
The Sunday (22) show was cancelled due to poor tickets sales.

May 28 - June 1, 1966: Whisky a' Go-Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Stree, West Hollywood, CA with The Doors

June 11, 1966: Earl Warren Show Grounds, 3400 Calle Real, Santa Barbara, CA with Neil Diamond
Only 765 people were in attendance (!!).

June 18, 1966: 'American Bandstand', ABC-TV, ABC Television Center, Los Angeles, CA with Steve Alaimo (broadcast date)
The band lip-synched: 'A Message To Pretty' and 'My Little Red Book'.

June 23, 1966: 'Where The Action Is', ABC-TV, ABC Television Center, Los Angeles, CA with Keith Allison, Gene Pitney, Steve Alaimo (broadcast date)
The band lip-synched: 'My Little Red Book'.

June 25, 1966: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA with The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Lovin Spoonful, Chad & Jeremy, Percy Sledge, The Sunrays, Neil Diamond, The Leaves, Sir Douglas Quintet, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, The New Motown Sound "Beach Boys Summer Spectacular"
The show was promoted by Irvin Grantz and radio station KRLA. The attendance figure is 12,400 and the box office gross is 51,000 dollars. The Beach Boys net 16,000 dollars for the show, while the rest of the bands split the remaining 12,000 dollars after venue rent, police fees, and Irving Grantz are paid. About that show Johnny Echols remember: “I won a hundred bucks from Percy Sledge.... He thought he could play poker, he tried to bluff Iceberg Slim with a pair of fives. That's a non starter!”.

July 3, 1966: Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Boulevard at Fillmore Street, Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA with Grateful Dead, Group B "Independence Ball"

July 15-16, 1966: Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street at Van Ness Street, Polk Gulch, San Francisco, CA with Big Brother and The Holding Company
The shows were cancelled but the reason/s are unknown to me.

July 22, 1966: Rollarena, East 14th Street, San Leandro, CA
There certainly would have been other local acts on the bill, but they are unknown to me.

July 23, 1966: Strand Theater, 10th Street, Modesto, CA with Them, The Immediate Family, The Grassroots, The Ratz, The Canadian Fuzz, The Nimitz Freeway, Peter Wheat & The Breadmen

August 5-6, 1966: Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Boulevard at Fillmore Street, Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA with Everpresent Fullness

August 10-21, 1966: Whisky a' Go-Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Stree, West Hollywood, CA with The Doors
The band was originally advertised from August 10-27. Arthur Lee and Love’s manager Ronnie Haran convinced Jac Holzman of 'Elektra Records', to sees The Doors during the Wednesday (10) show.

August 19-20, 1966: Marigold Ballroom, Fresno, CA

August 27, 1966: Longshoremen's Hall, 400 North Point, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA

Summer 1966: Fifth Estate (?), northwest corner of Curry Road and Scottsdale Road, Tempe, AZ
Love turned down an invitation to play there because Arthur Lee said: "Tempe, Arizona? It's so fucking hot there".

unknown date, 1966: It's Boss, 8433 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA

unknown date, 1966: Pierside Pavilion, 300 Pacific Coast Highway, Downtown Huntington Beach, CA


LOVE #7 (AUG 2?, 1966 - DEC 2?, 1966)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Bryan MacLean
4) Kenny Forssi
5) Snoopy keyboards, organ, harpsicord, tamburine
6) Paul Michael Stuart-Ware (aka Michael Stuart) drums
7) John Barberis (aka Tjay Cantrelli) sax, flute


October 19-30, 1966: Whisky a' Go-Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA with Sons Of Adam (19-21, 23-30), Buffalo Springfield (22)

November ?-?, 1966: Hullabaloo, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Downtown Hollywood, CA with The Seeds
Two-days shows: the first night a film crew filmed the band first set but the video footage remain unreleased, while the second night guitarist Randy Holden of The Other Half (and also Michael Stuart's former bandmate in the Sons Of Adam) filling in for Johnny Echols, because the latter was sick with the flu.

November 2?, 1966: grand ballroom, U.C.L.A. (University of California in Los Angeles), 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA "UCLA Homecoming Dance"

November 23, 1966: Civic Auditorium, 135 West San Carlos Street, San Jose, CA with The Leaves, Chocolate Watch Band, The Giant Sunflower, The Tijuan Rejects, Ray Columbus

December 2-4, 1966: Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Boulevard at Fillmore Street, Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA with Moby Grape, Lee Michaels

December 9, 1966: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA with The Turtles, Gene Clark, The Seeds, The Standells, The Count Five

December 23, 1966 Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 East Green Street, Pasadena, CA "Folk Rock Festival"

December 2?, 1966: Dallas Convention Center, 650 South Griffin Street, Dallas, TX

December 2?, 1966: 'unknown title', ?-TV, Dallas, TX
The band lip-synched: 'My Little Red Book'. The show was taped live in the afternoon and broadcasted that same evening.


LOVE #8 (DEC 2?, 1966 - JAN ??, 1967)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Bryan MacLean
4) Kenny Forssi
5) Michael Stuart
6) Snoopy


December 31, 1966: Teenbeat Club, 4416 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV with Scatter Blues

January ?-?, 1967: LaCave (?), 10165 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH with unknown group (two nights)

January 6-7, 1967: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA


LOVE #9 (JAN ??, 1967 - AUG 1968)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Johnny Echols
3) Bryan MacLean
4) Kenny Forssi
5) Michael Stuart


February 11, 1967: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose, CA with Mojo Men, Chocolate Watch Band "Big Abe’s 158th Birthday Party"
Love were the main attraction of the show, so, as usual, they should have been the last to perform, but for a reason unknown to me, something must have happened in the backstage right before the show, so finally they played first, as opening act (!!).

February 14 1967: Hullabaloo, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Downtown Hollywood, CA with Strawberry Alarm Clock, Pubblic Bubble
Arthur Lee asked flute played Steve Bartek of the Pubblic Bubble to sat-in with Love for their entire set.

February 18, 1967: Valley Music Theatre, 20600 Ventura Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA with Canned Heat Blues Band (maybe canceled), Iron Butterfly, East Side Kids, Morning Glory

March 3, 1967: Winterland, 2000 Post Street at Steiner Street, San Francisco, CA with Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Loading Zone, Blue Crumb Truck Factory "The First Annual Love Circus"

March 4, 1967: Earl Warren Show Grounds, 3400 Calle Road, Santa Barbara, CA with Sons Of Adam, Jackie Lee, The Renegades
2714 people were in attendance.

March 21-26, 1967: The Rock Garden, 4742 Mission Boulevard, San Francisco, CA with Big Brother and The Holding Company, C.I.A. (Citizens For Interplanetary Activity)

April 6, 1967: Skating Rink Arena, Modesto, CA with The Doors, Infinity and (possibly) Eisage

April 23, 1967: Cheetah, 1 Navy Street, Venice, Santa Monica, CA with Chambers Bros., Iron Butterfly

Spring 1967: Valley Music Theatre, 20600 Ventura Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA with The Yellow Balloon, Iron Butterfly, International Submarine Band

Spring 1967: Reno Memorial Coliseum, Reno, NV (two nights)

May 19-20, 1967: Winterland, 2000 Post Street at Steiner Street, San Francisco, CA with Moby Grape, P.J. Proby, Young Giants, Carousels "Rock Revolution"

May 22-27, 1967: Bido Lito's, 1608 North Cosmo Street, Downtown Hollywood, CA

June 2, 1967: Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 East Green Street, Pasadena, CA with The Doors, Canned Heat, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
The show was cancelled at last minute, apparently because of a delay in the completion of extensive renovations in the auditorium, which then opens the next night with a concert by The Seeds. However, some argue that in fact the show finally took place and only The Doors cancelled.

June 16-18, 1967: Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey, CA "First Monterey International Pop Festival"
Love turned down an invitation to play there.

June 24, 1967: Valley Music Theatre, 20600 Ventura Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA

July 5-7, 1967: Cheetah, 1 Navy Street, Venice, Santa Monica, CA

July 16, 1967: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA with The Doors
Love turned down an invitation to play there and I think the show was finally cancelled.

September 29, 1967: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA with Spirit, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Linda Ronstadt (Love cancelled at last minute)

December 15-17, 1967: The Blue Law, 19840 South Hamilton Avenue, Torrance, CA with Canned Heat, The Hook (Love maybe played only on day 15)

December 28-30, 1967: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA

March 8-10, 1968: Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street at Van Ness Street, Polk Gulch, San Francisco, CA with Congress of Wonders, Sons of Champlin, Blue Cheer

April 6-14, 1968: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA with Big Brother and The Holding Company, Blue Cheer, Country Joe and The Fish, Steppenwolf, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Canned Heat, James Cotton Blues Band, American Breed, Iron Butterfly, Hook, The Box Tops, Sweetwater, Electric Flag, Sunshine Company and many more "Teen Time USA"
Love played at one of this nine-days event, but I don’t know the exact day.

April 18, 1968: Fillmore Auditorium, 1805 Geary Boulevard, Fillmore District, San Francisco, CA with The Staple Singers, Roland Kirk, Lights by Holy See

April 19-20, 1968: Winterland, 2000 Post Street at Steiner Street, San Francisco, CA with The Staple Singers, Roland Kirk, Lights by Holy See

April 2? or May ?, 1968: unknown college, Catskill, NY

May 3, 1968: Gym, S.U.N.Y. (Stony Brook University in New York), 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY with Janis Ian

May 8-9, 1968: New Generation Club, 52 West 8th Street, New York City, NY

May 1?-1?, 1968: LaCave (?), 10165 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH (two nights)

May 14-16, 1968 Steve Paul's The Scene, 301 West 46th Street, New York City, NY

May 18, 1968: Gulfstream Park, 901 South Federal Highway, Hallandale, FL “Miami Pop Festival" (Love cancelled at last minute)

May 31 - June 1, 1968: Grande Ballroom, 8952 Grand River At Beverly, 1 Block South Of Joy Road, Detroit, MI with Crazy World Of Arthur Brown (31-1), Wilson Mower Pursuit (31), Psychedelic Stooges (1)

June 7-9, 1968: Electric Theatre, 4812 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL with Chicago Slim Blues Band

June 14-15, 1968: Kaleidoscope, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA with Rhinoceros, Taj Mahal, Loading Zone
Supposedly on the Saturday (15) show, former Buffalo Springfield’s Neil Young sat-in with Love during the song: 'Revelation', traded guitar solos with Johnny Echols.

July 19-20, 1968: Kaleidoscope, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA with Rhinoceros, Crazy World Of Arthur Brown


LOVE #10 (AUG 1968 - SEPT 1968)
1) Arthur Lee
2) George Paul Suranovich drums
3) Frank Fayad bass
4) James Lewis (aka Jay Donnellan) lead guitar


August 28, 1968: Swing Auditorium, 689 East Street, San Bernardino, CA with Iron Butterfly, Don McCoy (MC), Jim Conniff (MC)

August 29 - September 2, 1968: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA with Black Pearl
Love had been originally booked for the week of September 4-8, but ended up playing the week before exactly.


LOVE #11 (SEPT 1968 - OCT 1968)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) Jay Donnellan
4) Drachen Theaker drums


LOVE #12 (aka #10) (OCT 1968 - AUG 1969)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) George Paul Suranovich
4) Jay Donnellan


November 9, 1968: Shrine Exposition Hall, 665 West Jefferson Boulevard and 700 West 32nd Street, South Los Angeles, CA with Buffington Rhodes, Procol Harum, Chicago Transit Authority

November 15-17, 1968: Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street at Van Ness Street, Polk Gulch, San Francisco, CA with Lee Michaels, Saloom Sinclair & Mother Bear

December 6-7, 1968: The Bank, 19840 South Hamilton Avenue, Torrance, CA with Three Dog Night (6-7), Fair BeFall (6), Middle Earth (7)

February 28 - March 2, 1969: Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street at Van Ness Street, Polk Gulch, San Francisco, CA with Mad River (28, 1-2), Zephyr (28, 1-2), Pulse (28, 1), Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band (2)

April 23-27, 1969: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA with Mondo Santanegro

May 30-31, 1969: Rose Palace, 835 South Raymond Street, Pasadena, CA

June 21, 1969: Devonshire Downs, Northridge, CA with Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jethro Tull, Steppenwolf, Eric Burdon, Buffy St. Marie, Friends Of Distinction, Charity, Sweetwater, Lee Michaels, Albert Collins, Brenton Wood “Newport Pop Festival (aka Newport ’69)”

July 2-6, 1969: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA with Smokestack Lightning

July 7, 1969: Aquarius Theater, 6230 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA with Lonnie Mack

August 1, 1969: Elk's Temple, 614 Southwest 11th Avenue, Portland, OR

August 2, 1969: Oracle Arena & Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA with Blood, Sweat and Tears, Lee Michaels (Love refused to play!!)


LOVE #13 (AUG 1969 - NOV 22, 1970)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) George Paul Suranovich
4) Gary Rowles lead guitar


August 16-18, 1969: Max Yasgur's dairy farm, White Lake, Bethel, Sullivan County, Woodstock Valley, NY "Woodstock Music & Art Fair presents An Aquarian Exposition - 3 Days Of Peace & Music (aka Woodstock or Woodstock Festival')" (Love turned down an invitation to play there)

August 23, 1969: Paradise Valley Resort, 3501 Paradise Valley Road, Squamish, BC, Canada with Alice Cooper, Chicago (C.T.A.), Strawberry Alarm Clock and many more "Vancouver Pop Festival"

September 13, 1969: Balboa Park Bowl, 1549 El Pedro, San Diego, CA with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks

November 2, 1969: McDonough Memorial Gymnasium, Georgetown University, 1201 New York Avenue Northwest, Washington D.C.

November 21 or 28, 1969: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA
Love reunion gig with their “classic” line-up of Arthur Lee, Johnny Echols, Michael Stuart and Kenny Forssi.

December 31, 1969: Grand Olympic Auditorium, 1801 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA with Lee Michaels, Youngbloods, Taj Mahal, Southwind & Wolfgang

January 1-4, 1970: Whisky a' Go Go, 8901 Sunset Boulevard at Clark Street, West Hollywood, CA with Kaleidoscope

February 9, 1970: San Diego Sports Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Boulevard, San Diego, CA with Beautiful Day, Frank Zappa, Sweetwater, Penrod

February 11, 13-14, 1970: Fillmore East, 102 2nd Avenue, New York City, NY with Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Joshua Light Show

February 19, 1970: Speakeasy, 48 Margaret Street, London, UK

February 20, 1970: Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way, New Cross, City of London, UK

February 21, 1970: University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, UK

February 24, 1970: Manchester Polytechnic, All Saints Building, All Saints, Manchester, Greater Manchester, UK

February 27, 1970: Waltham Forest Technical College and School of Art, Waltham Forest, City of London, UK with Skin Alley

February 28, 1970: The Roundhouse, 100 Chalk Farm Road, London, UK with Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Matthews Southern Comfort, May Blitz, Jody Grind, Stuart Lyon "Roundhouse Spring Festival"

March 3, 1970: Imperial College, London, UK

March 5, 1970: Lanchester Polytechnic, Priory Street, Coventry, West Midlands, UK

March 6, 1970: Leeds Polytechnic, 2 Great George Street, City Centre, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

March 7, 1970: Bath Pavilion, North Parade Road, Bath, North East Somerset, UK (cancelled)

March 7, 1970: The University of Sheffield, Western Bank Norton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK

March 8, 1970: The Greyhound, 151-153 Greyhound Lane Croydon, City of London, UK

March 10, 1970: Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK with Colosseum

March 11, 1970 (?): Rhein-Main-Halle (?), Rheinstraße 20, Wiesbaden, Germany
The show was filmed by a German television troupe.

March 12, 1970: Tivolis Koncertsal, Tietgensgade 20, Copenhagen, Denmark
The show was filmed by a Danish television troupe and a little part of Love performance, plus an Arthur Lee’s interview in the backstage, was broadcasted in Denmark on July 17, 1970 in a TV special titled: 'Love Live Tivolis Koncertsal'.

March 13, 1970: Stockholms konserthus, Hötorget 8, Stockholm, Sweden

March 14, 1970: K.B. Hallen, Peter Bangs Vej 147, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

March 21, 1970: Gym, S.U.N.Y. (Stony Brook University in New York), 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY with James Taylor, Pig Iron (Love cancelled)

May 22, 1970: Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey, CA with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Canned Heat, Gypsy, Lion

June 12, 1970: Municipal Auditorium, 100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, TX with Touch Stone, Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention

June 13, 1970: Braves Stadium, 755 Hank Aaron Drive Southwest, Atlanta, GA with Funk, Inc., Sun Country, Shelly Issacs Sabudi, It's A Beautiful Day, Traffic, Allman Brothers, Mothers of Invention, Mountain, Ten Years After (canceled), Sweetwater (canceled), Ike & Tina Turner (canceled), Albert King (canceled) "Cosmic Festival"
Love was scheduled but did not play.

June 13-14, 1970: Portland Civic Auditorium, 222 Southwest Clay Street, Portland, OR with Ravi Shankar, B.B. King, Delaney and Bonnie, Little Richard, Flying Burrito Brothers, Country Joe & The Fish, Roxy, Nick Gravenites, Albert Collins and the Icebreakers, Big Brother And The Holding Company, Illinois Speed Press, Bo Diddley, Buddy Miles, Eclipse, Notary Sojac, River "Portland Music & Art Fair"

July 18, 1970: The Terrace Ballroom, 464 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT with Blue Mountain Eagle (filling in for Blue Cheer), Fever Tree

November 19-22, 1970: Fillmore West, 10 South Van Ness Avenue at 1545 Market Street, San Francisco, CA with Black Sabbath, James Gang, Lights by Spontaneity
The band was billed as 'Love with Arthur Lee' on the poster. George Paul Suranovich left (again) the band right after this shows.


LOVE #14 (NOV 23, 1970 - DEC 1970)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) Gary Rowles
4) Don Poncher drums


December 4-5, 1970: Fillmore East, 102 2nd Avenue, New York City, NY with Kinks, Quatermass, Lights by Joe’s Lights
The band was billed as 'Love with Arthur Lee' on the poster.


LOVE #15 (aka #13) (DEC 1970 - JAN 1971)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) George Paul Suranovich
4) Gary Rowles


December 17-19, 1970: Boston Tea Party, 15 Landsdowne Street, Boston, MA with Sugar Creek

December 25-26, 1970: Eastown Theatre, 8041 Harper Avenue, Detroit, MI with Alice Cooper, The Frut


LOVE #16 (JAN 1971 - FEB 1971)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) Michael Stuart
4) Gary Rowles


January 24, 1971: Long Beach Arena, 300 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA

January 29, 1971: Valley Music Teatre, 20600 Ventura Boulevard, Woodlands Hills, CA


LOVE #17 (FEB 1971 - DEC 1971)
1) Arthur Lee
2) Frank Fayad
3) Don Poncher
4) Craig Tarwater guitar


February 14, 1971: P.N.E. (Pacific National Exhibition) Coliseum, 100 North Renfrew Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

February ??, 1971: unknown venue, St. Joseph, MO

October 4, 1971: Milwaukee Civic Arena, 400 West Kilburn Avenue, Milwaukee, WI with Grand Funk Railroad