Pink Floyd founder, guitarist Syd Barrett loved this song so much he tried to cover it but instead wound up morphing the tune into a completely different song. Check out 'Interstellar Overdrive' and you'll hear his take on this classic.
@kurtmanerz1 ... and how meager and insufficient those checks were, compared to how much talent, sweat and love he put into his music. R.I.P. Arthur. You were a genius.
Burt's edge is to be found on the Tony Middleton singing. rrrrrrrrrrrrIJust got out...rrrrrrrrrrrrandI went...wrrrhithout your precious love I can't go on....
This song started it all in LA summer '66. Owsley and the Dead were in town and acid wasn't illegal yet!!!!! Jerry and the boys were hawking it at Canter's Deli!!! But Love ruled the roost on the Sunset Strip that summer. Great stuff...
The best clip of the original band I think. Arthur's Jim McGuinn fixation came out in his granny glasses - McGuinn's were actually prescription lenses as he was myopic. Great shots of Bryan, whose hair style dates from when he roadied for the Byrds. In UK, when Arthur died most stations played Alone Again Or in tribute - an insult to both men as it was of course Bryan's song.
Strange that you should mention packaging, but yes, packaging of any product requires great thought and careful planning. For example, A. Lee and his granny glasses. Many elderly women of the time who were into Love and such bands, upon seeing the glasses, started bugging store clerks to stock them, and bought them in droves for their grandsons. Just ask Bertha Spector! Cept she was a Mom.
Thank goodness at least at ONE TIME they wore tight pants. I feel sorry for the girls of today who have to contend with guys in those baggy sagging trousers. Uggggh!
Thanks Soulrocket-- I remember this song mostly from being a "brat little brother" (The 45rpm single was prize from my older sister's record collection)...
What a great performance.
(Except by the audience, laughably they all seem to keep time to a different beat!)
I remember hearing the Love version and liking it much better than the version by Manfred Mann, as it was much more edgy.
Love's version was made redundant when I heard the version by The Litter on their album "Emerge" from 1969. Holy crap that version is energetic and frantic! I unfortunately couldn't find a link for it, so you would have to do some digging yourself, if you want to listen to it.
I got turned on to the 1993 compilation 'Psycho-Sonic' from 1993...sounds like the drummer's hitting the skins harder than anyone before or since - a triumph, the best rock drum sound ever.
I love it! Check out the way the black chick looks over at the white chick sitting next to her at 2:03... It's like the white girl is sitting there wondering "am I supposed to be having fun here?" And the black girl is looking at her thinking "are you all right girl?" HA!
The perfect version of this song.I remember Toni Basil had a version of this(on the album that had 'hey,Mikey').I wonder if the mainstream media of the time considered Love a dangerous band:not only were they a multi-racial band,but their main audience seemed to be,also.Probably scary stuff at the time.
I am under the impression that Lee didn't like to travel outiside of his perceived "safety zone", which led to their failure to "market" (bad choice of words...) themselves better. What a shame (may he rest in peace). However, please correct me if someone knows of another reson why they didn't rocket to their deserved superstardom (Jim MOrrison wanted the DOORS to be as big as LOVE - go figure !)
Soon after the group's mid-'60s success, there were many lineup changes, and it wasn't long until Lee was the only original member. Lee had many drug and legal problems over the years, and as late as 1995, there was discussion of bringing back the original lineup intact, but Lee's legal and physical issues interfered, and in late 1996, Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ex-bandmates Bryan Maclean and Ken Forssi both died while Lee was incarcerated, ending any chance of a Love reunion.
I KID YOU NOT! The Sons of Hercules opened for them in San Fran. in the early 90's(I was a roadie) and just before they hit the stage two members of LOVE run in with a bag of money and a gun!
They had just robbed a store, sat at the bar and orderd a drink like nothing! I was shocked, but realized later at that piont that drugs had taken over them. SAD but TRUE.
@vandywilliam I think its cuz of they were too far ahead of their time maybe :) im 22 and just discovered them and find em awsome! and what a voice arthur had!
@vandywilliam Better to have never reached Superstardom, which usually is all lies, deceit and flashpan, and be a true legend/icon with honesty, integrity and eternal. I know cuz I live it and will die it, ON MY OWN TERMS~
I love this song!!!I remember hearing this on the radio when I was a little kid back in the 60's. I also love the fact that in the video they show black and white kids grooving to the music and loving each other,,,the way it should be!!
Johnny Cash is great!I know what the song is talking about!But Johnny Cash has Nothing to do with this Song or Love's need to create their Art!Punk is an Attitude?OF Course it is!!Real Punk is struggling against Opression! Punk is not believing all the lies that we've been told about ourselves and others!If you think & act like the Masses, you're not Punk!If you hate who People say you should hate,Your Not Punk! You are a Follower & you have no real power of your own!Woodstock set the Standard!
Nice Post .. Arthur Lee and Love and Burt meet and greet .. if only they had toured ... same with the Replacements .. they stared punk and did something greater .. didn't tour and threw beer on audiences and make lousy Videos .. they should have known MTV wasn't going to play them .. should have sold out just a bit - yeah I know you don't agree with selling out but there was a world out there that doesn't know Love and The Replacements and they should on on tips of everyone's tongue.
no synth. just pure tone, pure sound...and each girl in my little red book knows your're the one I'm thinking of. Oh won't you please come back...here your name and I start to cry.
pure bliss. glad I lived it live, an glad I can relive it now...
This is Punk before Punk knew it wanted to be Punk or knew what Punk was! You Dig! And they are the Coolest! His phrasing, the rhythm, the melody, the drum beat; the agression in the tone of the music . . says it all! Arthur Lee was part of the Original Punk! God Bles Him and Iggy Pop!
sorry, i dont agree! I think the guitar and drums etc can be seen as influential to punk but the song itself?! its a love song! I believe punk is an attitude. I would say people like johnny cash and the who embodied this attitude more than in this song.. Thats just my opinion!
i'm not saying it can't be 'argued' as the first punk song, i'm just saying i don't think it has the content or attitude of a punk song, even if it has aggressive guitar arrangements.
(see 'bloodstains' by agent orange for Lee's influence on punk though!)
Yeah, i can see your point, i suppose you could trace punk back to blues in a way, too. I can't say i have read much about arthur lee but a lad i work with is a huge fan so my education continues! I suppose that i was drawn to this song because it does have hints of punk in a way
In this Washingtonians opinion,and to take nothing away from Love or it's genius Mr.Lee,some of the earliest Punk comes from our very own The Sonics.Check out 'the witch' from 1964!
I love Love, and any credit you want to give them is fine by me ... but if your are searching for punk origins, I think Ray Davis and the Kinkds pre-date Arthur Lee and Love. More punk-like too, with line-up, chopping chords, etc.
This is such a badass tune. I've known it for quite a while now, but it is SO hard to picture Burt Bacharach performing this tune. Love did it the way it was meant to be done.
Great song, great sound. I used to hear this on the radio when I was a kid. I had no idea what the band looked like (I only found out who performed it within the past 5 years).
I've heard Manfred Mann's version (the Bacharach 'sound' is evident), but this is my favorite. It's grittier/sexier; has that garage-feel - and more soul, IMO (if that makes ANY sense at all...).
Wow! It's been ages since I heard this! Thanks so much for posting it! I saw Love when they played at the "Whisky A Go Go" in LA back in 1966, and they were a sensation back then!
35th anniversary tour of Forever Changes (and subsequent tours) before his untimely passing.
This is a great version of "Red Book", but the not-so-surprising part of it is that composer Burt Bacharach (tightass) did not at all care for it, though I'm sure he cared for the royalty checks he took to the bank. He didn't like this, yet he had no problem making a fool of himself for Geico auto insurance commercials.
this is amazing. I have always loved this song, but I only knew it from the night club sequence in the Peter O'Toole film What's New Pussycat- never knew it was Love until now. THANK YOU!
Love was simply too cool for most of the world to comprehend at the time.
Furthermore, Athur Lee was simply too far ahead of his time to be fully recognized. His accomplishments have been obscured over the years. Can anybody reveal a genius that produced such variation in gendre as, for instance, 7 and 7 is, in contrast with Alone Again Or? Arthur, you were from another planet. R.I.P.
Everything you say I concur, but I can imagine Bryan arguing with Arthur this very moment at your inclusion of Alone Again, Or in the Lee repertoire! Love was not just one man's accomplishment. You join a band because you know your limitations. Well, that and it is easier to get girls.
Self-confessed limitation on guitar in the case of Arthur; and yes, Alone Again, or as well as Seven and Seven is were, I belive, in the Maclean repertoire. This group was so great on record, but something was going on at a lot of their concerts -- a disenchanted Lee, a forlorn Maclean, I really don't know. I just know that the click wasn't often there. Of course, it could have been rightful contempt for a crowd that would listen to anything and cheer, like Blue Cheer!
"Alone Again...Or" was written and sung by Bryan, but it was Arthur's incredible guitar work that greatly helped elevate it to the classic gem it became. Bryan was a very good guitarist but anyone who-like myself-has heard the two play will tell you Arthur was the superior axeman. Arthur's playing was marked by his unique innovation of technique and sensitive, emotive quality all his own.
"7+7=" is-as I recall-a song Arthur wrote and sang, not Bryan.
You are correct on 7 + 7 ... I always invert Orange Skies and this, as Arthur did such a fabulous job with the former. Hey, I was just going by what Arthur said himself, but then that could have been becasue he was speaking about Jimi Hendrix. I really dug Love, so let's just all jump into their goove, although (believe me) I witnessed some outstandingly bad performances from them! One of the best recording bands ever. Personally, I place them above the Beatles.
You are gravely mistaken. Arthur wasn't a tenth of the guitarist as Bryan, as he doesn't even have a guitar part on Alone Again Or. Listen to this song on Bryan's solo album "if you believe in", the fingerpicking is more complicated than the Forever Changes version, and there are faster tempo breaks in the rhythm parts.
Got this song on a COD album planning on listening to "Oh Sweet Pea" and there it was, never listened to the other songs, this song sturred up some feelings of what was really going on inside me, played it over and over, all time favorite
ALSO DONE BY A KIWI BAND TO IN THE LATE 1960s THE LA DE DAS THIS BAND CAN,T MATCH THE LA DE DAS WHO PUT OUT THE SAME TUNE THEN HEHEHE GO THE KIWI,s EVEN THERE DRESS CODE CAN,T BEAT THE LA DE DAS ALSO WHAT I AM SAYING HERE IS THE MOD ERA FROM CARNABY STREET ERA 60s STYLE FASHION ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE WELCOMED LOOK FOR ...HOW IS THE AIR UP THERE... SAME PAGE HERE SONG BY THE LA DE DAS
If there is a better album that's been made than Forever Changes, I have yet to hear it. Led Zep4 comes close and also Dark Side of the Moon but Forever Changes will stand the test of time until we die as a race.
I read that Burt Bacharach was furious and incensed that his song was destroyed by this band.Now he just laughs about it.That was 66.This is now.Still a great song.
plus there are no rules in music, lee sang in this key on purpose, which makes this song so unique. its part of this dark edge that lee carried though out Loves music. lee was a amazing vocalist with great range. funny how madonna rips his style in "beautiful stranger" and lifts "she comes in colors"
its great that others such as soulrocket posted this clip. if you're gonna judge Love's talent or their version of this song, check out PUNKsir's clip with its restored studio track, its like night and day.
burt bacharach! pah! as if he is remembered for little re book! arthur made it a song! it was more little red riding hood with bacharach!, no people didnt think bacharach was good! he was and is shite! arthur had more talent in his pinky than that ovverated tosser!
ooooo this is so bad! was arthur takin the piss? i love some of this guy's stuff but this is landfill. prob turn in his grave thinkin hes remembered for this.
I couldn't see how this song influenced Syd Barrett to write Interstellar Overdrive but now that I listen to it a couple of times...Thanks for posting--cool song.
And apart from Love being one of the most revered bands of the 60s (especially in LA), groups such as The Doors, Syd Barret's Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and others infinitely more talented than you, being specifically inspired by Love---well let me just say you're in no position to define what is musical value and what isnt.
You still don't get it, do you? Who's talking about my talent? The only relevant critique here is of Love's crap version of this song.
I've given a specific reason why it's crap, ie Arthur singing in the wrong key.
As for my musical taste and the music I listen to, that doesn't need anybody's approval and definitely not the approval of someone obviously tone-deaf.
So you're basically bleeding out of your vagina over the past week because you don't like the version they did of this song on a live recording in 1967? Haven even listened to the album version? Doubtful. And is this suppose to discredit 3 albums of brilliant songs they've written because in your mind they didn't do a cover justice? Do you know how many bad covers I've heard by fucking great bands?? Too many to count.
>>So you're basically bleeding out of your vagina over the past week because you don't like the version they did of this song on a live recording in 1967?
Finally, Doucheberry gets it!
Yay!
...still with the bizarre vilification-as-form-of-persuasion technique, I see but, hey, go figure...
>>Do you know how many bad covers I've heard by fucking great bands?? Too many to count.
...maybe you should have read dincz's original comment a bit more closely before you started typing.
No, you're supposed to focus on the topic, listen to the music, stop obsessing about me and read what I wrote.
I commented on THIS recording of THIS song by THIS group. You must be reading somebody else's post - I said nothing about the album version and I didn't discredit anything except the song on this page (and your ears).
Yes, it's a bad cover and if you want to move on to other stuff, I agree that they did some brilliant songs.
This is simply one recording that IMO isn't horrible. It doesn't make my view of it any less valid than yours because your ears, which are somehow superior because I guess you say so....not that you'll provide any sort of credentials to back that up.
If you enjoy the original so much go comment on that page and spare people your dogmatic bullshit.
This is the Studio version. you believe this is a live performance? rarely anyone performed live on American bandstand. this clip has been floating all over the net for years and the sound track is out of sync and the pace changes frequently. can barely hear Lee's tambourine , barely any bass and lee's voice is completely distorted.
The way I see it, this guy dincz still hasn't put his musical tastes up for critique or scrutiny. And until he does that we really don't have anything to talk about. Theres no winning or losing the arguement and such when someone won't defend or stand by their statements...yet alone support their argument.
All I asked was that he put up some of his tastes for examination...not that he send us nude pics of his mother. He still has yet to either. Theres no argument here.
Have another listen. The band is playing in B minor but Arthur sings the verse in C# minor. He almost gets in key during the chorus but then loses it again.
Whatever value this version may have, it's certainly not musical. Bacharach was definitely not cool but he knew a thing or two about melody and harmony.
I generally don't like to get involved in these kind of things but when you wrote "Bacharach was definitely not cool..." you pretty much blew your assertion that you take music seriously.
I'm ok with having my assertions blown, but I'm not the topic. My point was that being cool (which changes from one decade to the next) often gets confused with being talented.
Love were talented but you'd never guess it from their version of this song. Bacharach's talent is in a different league but he certainly wasn't regarded as cool in the 60's by people in trendy sunglasses.
But if the song is the topic, it becomes totally subjective. And then it really doesn't matter what you or I think. Or, what you and I think is all that matters - but only to you and I. I love it and nothing you or anyone else can say would make any difference. And I'm sure the vice is versa. Also, I don't know how old you are, but I was around then and Bacharach was always well regarded by musicians.
Pink Floyd founder, guitarist Syd Barrett loved this song so much he tried to cover it but instead wound up morphing the tune into a completely different song. Check out 'Interstellar Overdrive' and you'll hear his take on this classic.
spacemonkey1463 2 months ago
Where's the tie dye and headband?Cool stuff
adartse2223 3 months ago
10 people couldnt find there little red book
JuxtaposeMystery 4 months ago
Written by Bert Bacharach.RIP Arthur Lee !
theseventhprotocol 4 months ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Love
pretty fucking hard to find a video of Love on youtube. but tottally worth it.
MarianoJurda 5 months ago
I love black metal and hardstyle..this is good too!
FerchiiJumper 6 months ago
Roky Erickson, Wally Tax,and Arthur Lee, - Outsiders and Savants
tomlinsonmary 7 months ago
The best, the best (lo mejor, lo mejor) para los q no entiendan español
1998Samir 7 months ago
I wonder what Bacharach thinks when he hears that people consider this the definitive version. :-)
ManilaSyndicate 9 months ago 2
Comment removed
ragingbull888 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@ManilaSyndicate he probably soils his diapers.
ragingbull888 7 months ago
@ManilaSyndicate He thinks about the royalty checks he has been receiving for almost 50 years, I imagine...:-)
kurtmanerz1 3 months ago 3
@kurtmanerz1 ... and how meager and insufficient those checks were, compared to how much talent, sweat and love he put into his music. R.I.P. Arthur. You were a genius.
newaccountdebzbd 1 month ago in playlist LOVE & love
I should start wearing an ascot
rocket470 3 years ago
Burt's edge is to be found on the Tony Middleton singing. rrrrrrrrrrrrIJust got out...rrrrrrrrrrrrandI went...wrrrhithout your precious love I can't go on....
lvmfah 3 years ago
even the black guys are clapping like white guys
colintshirt 3 years ago
This song started it all in LA summer '66. Owsley and the Dead were in town and acid wasn't illegal yet!!!!! Jerry and the boys were hawking it at Canter's Deli!!! But Love ruled the roost on the Sunset Strip that summer. Great stuff...
clarkewi 3 years ago
I have the original album. For some reason the song sounds better at double-speed.
youtubbs67 3 years ago
love this one, haven't it in a while
cewduncan 3 years ago
Kewl. I was about twelve when this song came out- it reminds me of a very hot Phoenix summer
pataphysician66 3 years ago
If you aren't from the 60's, then you can't (properly) comment on this video or song..you don't know the context.
liebenderfer 3 years ago
This song totally, totally rocks. Thanks to the movie "High Fidelity" it's getting earplay anew.
telwitcha55 3 years ago
I always found this song to be very interesting in a strange way. Very much a product of the time period.
rdf1947 3 years ago
Not the most elaborite drum set in the world.
bwm3448 3 years ago 2
The best clip of the original band I think. Arthur's Jim McGuinn fixation came out in his granny glasses - McGuinn's were actually prescription lenses as he was myopic. Great shots of Bryan, whose hair style dates from when he roadied for the Byrds. In UK, when Arthur died most stations played Alone Again Or in tribute - an insult to both men as it was of course Bryan's song.
nibs2lou 3 years ago
Arthur Lee, Syd, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, Otis R, all these guys were hearing a different drummer in '66/67.
minutegongcoughs 3 years ago
what a great tune
tallxpro 3 years ago
Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition (first recorded by Manfred Mann for the soundtrack of What's New, Pussycat?)
laylacalif 3 years ago
Such a pretty girl at 2:03. ;-)
NashidBey 3 years ago
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH your joking right?
lukeashmoore 3 years ago
No joke, the black girl is cute to me.
NashidBey 3 years ago 2
Strange that you should mention packaging, but yes, packaging of any product requires great thought and careful planning. For example, A. Lee and his granny glasses. Many elderly women of the time who were into Love and such bands, upon seeing the glasses, started bugging store clerks to stock them, and bought them in droves for their grandsons. Just ask Bertha Spector! Cept she was a Mom.
chuckdee121 3 years ago
jim mcquinn had granny glasses too so did a girl in my class
spacepatrolman 3 years ago
I love this but I can't stop looking at the singers package...l
kittyromp 3 years ago
Classic 60's....and an even more hilarious comment, kittyromp. Made me look. Damn. And I am not gay.
Distillerman 3 years ago
Thank goodness at least at ONE TIME they wore tight pants. I feel sorry for the girls of today who have to contend with guys in those baggy sagging trousers. Uggggh!
laylacalif 3 years ago 2
if you were a showmaker, you would look at his shoes.
RGenu 3 years ago
Thanks Soulrocket-- I remember this song mostly from being a "brat little brother" (The 45rpm single was prize from my older sister's record collection)...
What a great performance.
(Except by the audience, laughably they all seem to keep time to a different beat!)
BFDeihl 3 years ago
I remember hearing the Love version and liking it much better than the version by Manfred Mann, as it was much more edgy.
Love's version was made redundant when I heard the version by The Litter on their album "Emerge" from 1969. Holy crap that version is energetic and frantic! I unfortunately couldn't find a link for it, so you would have to do some digging yourself, if you want to listen to it.
mcnyregrus 3 years ago
One of the most influential bands EVER!!!!!!!!
SYNDICADO 3 years ago
I got turned on to the 1993 compilation 'Psycho-Sonic' from 1993...sounds like the drummer's hitting the skins harder than anyone before or since - a triumph, the best rock drum sound ever.
joetyer 3 years ago
one of the few good things about getting older is that i was able to buy Love albums when they first came out - LOVE LOVE LOVE this band!
shelleysbuttons 3 years ago
naast, the last shadow puppets... naah, nowt beats the real thing, long live to the 60's!
BloodyInsane 3 years ago
I love it! Check out the way the black chick looks over at the white chick sitting next to her at 2:03... It's like the white girl is sitting there wondering "am I supposed to be having fun here?" And the black girl is looking at her thinking "are you all right girl?" HA!
mamatwatty 3 years ago
lol so true xD
BloodyInsane 3 years ago
Pretty compelling track, and by all accounts the definitive version.
Arthur had an unique and amusing way of performing.
ManilaSyndicate 3 years ago
The perfect version of this song.I remember Toni Basil had a version of this(on the album that had 'hey,Mikey').I wonder if the mainstream media of the time considered Love a dangerous band:not only were they a multi-racial band,but their main audience seemed to be,also.Probably scary stuff at the time.
mandingoviking 3 years ago
This is how a song should be SHORT & TO THE POINT
kingofpunk1967 3 years ago
By Sounds Incorporated in the UK?
bernrobinsonbsr 3 years ago
I read that Burt Bacharach was furious.I'm sure he's mellowed out.Funky cover of Hal David lyrics and Burt Bacharach music.
74sodapop 3 years ago
It's difficult to believe that this Los Angeles group never reached super-stardom. But some of us remember, anyway.
vandywilliam 3 years ago 6
I am under the impression that Lee didn't like to travel outiside of his perceived "safety zone", which led to their failure to "market" (bad choice of words...) themselves better. What a shame (may he rest in peace). However, please correct me if someone knows of another reson why they didn't rocket to their deserved superstardom (Jim MOrrison wanted the DOORS to be as big as LOVE - go figure !)
squeaktoy66 3 years ago 2
Soon after the group's mid-'60s success, there were many lineup changes, and it wasn't long until Lee was the only original member. Lee had many drug and legal problems over the years, and as late as 1995, there was discussion of bringing back the original lineup intact, but Lee's legal and physical issues interfered, and in late 1996, Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Ex-bandmates Bryan Maclean and Ken Forssi both died while Lee was incarcerated, ending any chance of a Love reunion.
vandywilliam 3 years ago
I KID YOU NOT! The Sons of Hercules opened for them in San Fran. in the early 90's(I was a roadie) and just before they hit the stage two members of LOVE run in with a bag of money and a gun!
They had just robbed a store, sat at the bar and orderd a drink like nothing! I was shocked, but realized later at that piont that drugs had taken over them. SAD but TRUE.
SYNDICADO 3 years ago
@vandywilliam I think its cuz of they were too far ahead of their time maybe :) im 22 and just discovered them and find em awsome! and what a voice arthur had!
Trojanen89 3 months ago
@vandywilliam Better to have never reached Superstardom, which usually is all lies, deceit and flashpan, and be a true legend/icon with honesty, integrity and eternal. I know cuz I live it and will die it, ON MY OWN TERMS~
KirkWagen 1 month ago
I love this song!!!I remember hearing this on the radio when I was a little kid back in the 60's. I also love the fact that in the video they show black and white kids grooving to the music and loving each other,,,the way it should be!!
RGS59 3 years ago
RIP Arthur Lee! I still luv his "Vindicator" LP!!!
starboybillysynth 3 years ago
how f**king radical!!! A L was sooo far ahead of his time!!!!
gl1200phil 3 years ago
thanks , brother we got to stick together on this one!
radioclash9 3 years ago
Johnny Cash is great!I know what the song is talking about!But Johnny Cash has Nothing to do with this Song or Love's need to create their Art!Punk is an Attitude?OF Course it is!!Real Punk is struggling against Opression! Punk is not believing all the lies that we've been told about ourselves and others!If you think & act like the Masses, you're not Punk!If you hate who People say you should hate,Your Not Punk! You are a Follower & you have no real power of your own!Woodstock set the Standard!
radioclash9 3 years ago
Nice Post .. Arthur Lee and Love and Burt meet and greet .. if only they had toured ... same with the Replacements .. they stared punk and did something greater .. didn't tour and threw beer on audiences and make lousy Videos .. they should have known MTV wasn't going to play them .. should have sold out just a bit - yeah I know you don't agree with selling out but there was a world out there that doesn't know Love and The Replacements and they should on on tips of everyone's tongue.
11xzxzxz 3 years ago
And Soul Asylum's Runaway Train is on too many lips so selling out can be a good turn to take..
11xzxzxz 3 years ago
no synth. just pure tone, pure sound...and each girl in my little red book knows your're the one I'm thinking of. Oh won't you please come back...here your name and I start to cry.
pure bliss. glad I lived it live, an glad I can relive it now...
ranchroper1974 3 years ago
This is Punk before Punk knew it wanted to be Punk or knew what Punk was! You Dig! And they are the Coolest! His phrasing, the rhythm, the melody, the drum beat; the agression in the tone of the music . . says it all! Arthur Lee was part of the Original Punk! God Bles Him and Iggy Pop!
radioclash9 3 years ago 2
sorry, i dont agree! I think the guitar and drums etc can be seen as influential to punk but the song itself?! its a love song! I believe punk is an attitude. I would say people like johnny cash and the who embodied this attitude more than in this song.. Thats just my opinion!
Fucking great song though!
cra83 3 years ago
it was originally written as a love song
but lee doesnt sing it like that
this version is angry
and yes, it can be argued that this is the very first punk song ever performed
brabon1 3 years ago 2
i'm not saying it can't be 'argued' as the first punk song, i'm just saying i don't think it has the content or attitude of a punk song, even if it has aggressive guitar arrangements.
(see 'bloodstains' by agent orange for Lee's influence on punk though!)
cra83 3 years ago
the sex pistols took "im not your stepping stone" by the monkees and turned it into a punk anthem...i dont think content matters that much
punk is more of an attitude....and i think it was lee's attitude that does make him a punk pioneer
this song still gets covered...and its lee's arangement that is the one that is used...that is saying alot
and i believe that this and "7 and 7 is" were the first punk songs ever written
brabon1 3 years ago 2
Yeah, i can see your point, i suppose you could trace punk back to blues in a way, too. I can't say i have read much about arthur lee but a lad i work with is a huge fan so my education continues! I suppose that i was drawn to this song because it does have hints of punk in a way
cra83 3 years ago
In this Washingtonians opinion,and to take nothing away from Love or it's genius Mr.Lee,some of the earliest Punk comes from our very own The Sonics.Check out 'the witch' from 1964!
mandingoviking 3 years ago
Allready have mate! The sonics are an amazing bad, i get what you're saying
cra83 3 years ago
The Sonics had the best rock drum sound ever. The 1993 compilation 'Psycho-Sonic' was the perfect introduction for me.
joetyer 3 years ago
I love Love, and any credit you want to give them is fine by me ... but if your are searching for punk origins, I think Ray Davis and the Kinkds pre-date Arthur Lee and Love. More punk-like too, with line-up, chopping chords, etc.
phddddd 3 years ago
Syd Barrett used this melody in Interstellar Overdrive.
avialableman 3 years ago
Far from it, my friend. Listen closely and maybe, if you can play guitar, try playing both of them.
Cronopul 3 years ago
actually, he did.
afrokid12 3 years ago
This is such a badass tune. I've known it for quite a while now, but it is SO hard to picture Burt Bacharach performing this tune. Love did it the way it was meant to be done.
fadguru 3 years ago
In yer Face! Burt Bacharach HaHa Long Live Love, an entire level of the foundation of modern music. yeah!
enorbet2 3 years ago
wow!!! i can barely remember this but i do! Still sounds good and gritty and revolutionary..at least to someone over 50!!
gl1200phil 3 years ago
I always wanted to know which was the song that sound in the credits of High Fidelity. Now I know.
LesterStone 3 years ago
THIS is REAL rock and roll, baby!
Kids who wnat to be in a band should be made to watch this over and over and over...
RIP Arthur! You were he baddest Mother-fucker in the world.
you WERE rock and roll, baby!
Waldenpunk 3 years ago 3
The last shadow puppets played it last night in Paris'Olympia. Awesome show. Awesome song!
ParisMelancholy 3 years ago
Great song, great sound. I used to hear this on the radio when I was a kid. I had no idea what the band looked like (I only found out who performed it within the past 5 years).
I've heard Manfred Mann's version (the Bacharach 'sound' is evident), but this is my favorite. It's grittier/sexier; has that garage-feel - and more soul, IMO (if that makes ANY sense at all...).
auntieskip62 3 years ago 2
As my Dad´s mste moved to Australia in the late 80´ies, he gave me Da Capo & Forever Changes.
Since then I´m A Believer!
ForARide 3 years ago
Wow! It's been ages since I heard this! Thanks so much for posting it! I saw Love when they played at the "Whisky A Go Go" in LA back in 1966, and they were a sensation back then!
androidstar 3 years ago
this shit is REAL..... ARTHUR was bad enough to make a fuckin' elephant fly man.......
nedmanxxx 3 years ago
so glad this is posted...
i have the vinyl of this..
so cool..
oh yea....what other version of this is there?
jonrickly 3 years ago
Can't say this is my favorite version of the song...
supremeking1230 3 years ago
I'm so glad Arthur got the chance to do the
35th anniversary tour of Forever Changes (and subsequent tours) before his untimely passing.
This is a great version of "Red Book", but the not-so-surprising part of it is that composer Burt Bacharach (tightass) did not at all care for it, though I'm sure he cared for the royalty checks he took to the bank. He didn't like this, yet he had no problem making a fool of himself for Geico auto insurance commercials.
isidro7667 3 years ago 2
fuckin brilliant!
masterbaker1 3 years ago 2
Surprisingly: Burt Bacharach, Hal David composers
laylacalif 3 years ago
Toni Basil remade this on her first (debut) album, Word of Mouth.
atrocchia 3 years ago
In late '67 LA, Love was the barometer.
rocheambo 3 years ago 7
ARTHUR LEE"S GLASSES ARE SO RAD!!!
soulrebel027 3 years ago 3
Genious song, among the greatest songs of the 60s.
AnarchoMojo 3 years ago 7
I looove Love. suprised to see theres not more of their tracks on here
onthinice766 3 years ago
OMG I love you SoulRocket! I actually found Love on here!!1 Im serious I love you! Hahah! xxxxxxxxxxxxx
stacyblue1980 3 years ago
hahah nice one. lurve you back, hanna. danny.
soulrocket 3 years ago
What a visual contrast. Love were already looking like hippies, and the audience members were all still wearing suits. Amazing.
threeby8887 3 years ago 2
There was a good version which was filmed from THE AMERICAN BANDSTAND, but the video is no longer available. BURN YOUR DISCS before it's too late!!
Nikolaii257 3 years ago
Buy the Forever Changes DVD
dennisisms 3 years ago 2
this is amazing. I have always loved this song, but I only knew it from the night club sequence in the Peter O'Toole film What's New Pussycat- never knew it was Love until now. THANK YOU!
giles422 3 years ago 2
It wasn't. Completely different version.
dincz 3 years ago
Bryan MacLean looks like a 13 year old girl.
timberlanes1972 3 years ago
Always been a fan, always will.
Thanks Arthur!
Your music will always be playing somewhere, forever great, Forever Changes.
RIP
robortz 3 years ago
Love was simply too cool for most of the world to comprehend at the time.
Furthermore, Athur Lee was simply too far ahead of his time to be fully recognized. His accomplishments have been obscured over the years. Can anybody reveal a genius that produced such variation in gendre as, for instance, 7 and 7 is, in contrast with Alone Again Or? Arthur, you were from another planet. R.I.P.
glaetze 3 years ago 6
Everything you say I concur, but I can imagine Bryan arguing with Arthur this very moment at your inclusion of Alone Again, Or in the Lee repertoire! Love was not just one man's accomplishment. You join a band because you know your limitations. Well, that and it is easier to get girls.
phddddd 3 years ago
So phdddddd, your point is that "Alone Again Or" was Bryan's song, not Arthur's? ...and the limitations thing...? Explain a bit.
titostacos 3 years ago
Self-confessed limitation on guitar in the case of Arthur; and yes, Alone Again, or as well as Seven and Seven is were, I belive, in the Maclean repertoire. This group was so great on record, but something was going on at a lot of their concerts -- a disenchanted Lee, a forlorn Maclean, I really don't know. I just know that the click wasn't often there. Of course, it could have been rightful contempt for a crowd that would listen to anything and cheer, like Blue Cheer!
phddddd 3 years ago
"Alone Again...Or" was written and sung by Bryan, but it was Arthur's incredible guitar work that greatly helped elevate it to the classic gem it became. Bryan was a very good guitarist but anyone who-like myself-has heard the two play will tell you Arthur was the superior axeman. Arthur's playing was marked by his unique innovation of technique and sensitive, emotive quality all his own.
"7+7=" is-as I recall-a song Arthur wrote and sang, not Bryan.
Babyhowdy233 3 years ago
You are correct on 7 + 7 ... I always invert Orange Skies and this, as Arthur did such a fabulous job with the former. Hey, I was just going by what Arthur said himself, but then that could have been becasue he was speaking about Jimi Hendrix. I really dug Love, so let's just all jump into their goove, although (believe me) I witnessed some outstandingly bad performances from them! One of the best recording bands ever. Personally, I place them above the Beatles.
phddddd 3 years ago 2
You are gravely mistaken. Arthur wasn't a tenth of the guitarist as Bryan, as he doesn't even have a guitar part on Alone Again Or. Listen to this song on Bryan's solo album "if you believe in", the fingerpicking is more complicated than the Forever Changes version, and there are faster tempo breaks in the rhythm parts.
jaysonvalentine 3 years ago
But Maclean wasn't near the songwriter Arthur was. He wouldn't have written lyrics like on Between Clark and Hilldale, or A House Is Not A Motel.
exile103 3 years ago
great find thanks for sharing. Austin Tx has a cover band called FOREVER CHANGES . they do the whole album plus this one and some other favs.
ticticboom 3 years ago
Got this song on a COD album planning on listening to "Oh Sweet Pea" and there it was, never listened to the other songs, this song sturred up some feelings of what was really going on inside me, played it over and over, all time favorite
mariamannieo 3 years ago
ALSO DONE BY A KIWI BAND TO IN THE LATE 1960s THE LA DE DAS THIS BAND CAN,T MATCH THE LA DE DAS WHO PUT OUT THE SAME TUNE THEN HEHEHE GO THE KIWI,s EVEN THERE DRESS CODE CAN,T BEAT THE LA DE DAS ALSO WHAT I AM SAYING HERE IS THE MOD ERA FROM CARNABY STREET ERA 60s STYLE FASHION ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE WELCOMED LOOK FOR ...HOW IS THE AIR UP THERE... SAME PAGE HERE SONG BY THE LA DE DAS
AOTEROA
NEW ZEALAND
DAVE PENETANA.
howlinblues 3 years ago
most underated band ever.This band made the most brilliant music of the 1960's.
metubeony0utube 3 years ago 2
I miss the man.Forever Changes???? Forever! R.I.P brother.
Flunder 3 years ago 2
If there is a better album that's been made than Forever Changes, I have yet to hear it. Led Zep4 comes close and also Dark Side of the Moon but Forever Changes will stand the test of time until we die as a race.
MrCrapakaEliRoth 3 years ago 3
This is the first time I have ever seen the original Love on film. Thanks a lot.
bigboxbobby2 3 years ago 4
I read that Burt Bacharach was furious and incensed that his song was destroyed by this band.Now he just laughs about it.That was 66.This is now.Still a great song.
74sodapop 4 years ago 2
Jim was very influenced by this guy I hear.
Snotra 4 years ago
Very cool chord structure. Very creative.
Snotra 4 years ago
plus there are no rules in music, lee sang in this key on purpose, which makes this song so unique. its part of this dark edge that lee carried though out Loves music. lee was a amazing vocalist with great range. funny how madonna rips his style in "beautiful stranger" and lifts "she comes in colors"
JunebugBpt08 4 years ago
aha i'm glad that someone else noticed the madonna ripoff. pretty funny if you ask me, especially when you take the music video into consideration...
groovy, baby, yeah!
skipperthomas 3 years ago
How did Madonna rip him off?
titostacos 3 years ago
its great that others such as soulrocket posted this clip. if you're gonna judge Love's talent or their version of this song, check out PUNKsir's clip with its restored studio track, its like night and day.
JunebugBpt08 4 years ago
Happy Birthday Arthur
gibsone0215 4 years ago
burt bacharach! pah! as if he is remembered for little re book! arthur made it a song! it was more little red riding hood with bacharach!, no people didnt think bacharach was good! he was and is shite! arthur had more talent in his pinky than that ovverated tosser!
shaneshaky1 4 years ago
i had some shades JUST like his!!!! what a band!!
2kath51 4 years ago
kinda sounds like thin lizzie,,,, dont cha tink>>>>> see ya,,, dimun.
dimun555 4 years ago
ooooo this is so bad! was arthur takin the piss? i love some of this guy's stuff but this is landfill. prob turn in his grave thinkin hes remembered for this.
bledrahn 4 years ago
bledrahn, look you friggin rump ranger every word you say makes you a bigger moron than the last. So shut the fuck up.
bokadude 3 years ago
Not sure what yr problem is - but please start taking the tablets again.
bledrahn 3 years ago
I was just a young 16 year old English kid in New Orleans when this came out and it certainly left it's mark on me. Thanks for the post.
suzforu 4 years ago
I like the Manfred Mann version much more. Even I like his voice.
monkmann 4 years ago
this posting scene for this video is a trainwreck.
SCLOGSE 4 years ago
I'm still really depressed that he's dead what an amazingly talented musician and individual
R.I.P.
thegoodusernameman 4 years ago 2
This album has influenced so many rock musicians over the years, and it continues to do so now.
It's a shame that's there's still so people out there who don't know who Arthur Lee really was.
roomsixproductions 4 years ago
I don't know what you're all fighting about, but this is a great cover, IMO. No nasty replies, please!
feelingverypink 4 years ago 2
dude if you were'nt around in the 60s stoned on acid when this song came out....you wouldn't understand.....it's a classic
for burned out hippies like me
abanduni 4 years ago
I couldn't see how this song influenced Syd Barrett to write Interstellar Overdrive but now that I listen to it a couple of times...Thanks for posting--cool song.
feelingverypink 4 years ago
you have to smoke a garbage can full of weed for it to work lol
Linqua2112 4 years ago 2
dude if you were'nt around in the 60s stoned on acid when this song came out....you wouldn't understand.....it's a classic
for burned out hippies like me
abanduni 4 years ago
Sensitive huh? dincz has got a point. Love were good but not on this song.
xavbron 4 years ago
And apart from Love being one of the most revered bands of the 60s (especially in LA), groups such as The Doors, Syd Barret's Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and others infinitely more talented than you, being specifically inspired by Love---well let me just say you're in no position to define what is musical value and what isnt.
doucheberry 4 years ago
doucheberry wrote:
"and others infinitely more talented than you"
You still don't get it, do you? Who's talking about my talent? The only relevant critique here is of Love's crap version of this song.
I've given a specific reason why it's crap, ie Arthur singing in the wrong key.
As for my musical taste and the music I listen to, that doesn't need anybody's approval and definitely not the approval of someone obviously tone-deaf.
Click on my name, listen and discuss.
dincz 4 years ago
So you're basically bleeding out of your vagina over the past week because you don't like the version they did of this song on a live recording in 1967? Haven even listened to the album version? Doubtful. And is this suppose to discredit 3 albums of brilliant songs they've written because in your mind they didn't do a cover justice? Do you know how many bad covers I've heard by fucking great bands?? Too many to count.
doucheberry 4 years ago
>>So you're basically bleeding out of your vagina over the past week because you don't like the version they did of this song on a live recording in 1967?
Finally, Doucheberry gets it!
Yay!
...still with the bizarre vilification-as-form-of-persuasion technique, I see but, hey, go figure...
>>Do you know how many bad covers I've heard by fucking great bands?? Too many to count.
...maybe you should have read dincz's original comment a bit more closely before you started typing.
:)
schwirl 4 years ago
You twats still on here runnin your mouths? Can you fill it with dogshit and end this?
doucheberry 4 years ago
err, that was the end
hence the use of 'finally'
temper temper
:)
schwirl 4 years ago
So what you can pick out a few notes that don't please you....am I supposed to be impressed here?
doucheberry 4 years ago
No, you're supposed to focus on the topic, listen to the music, stop obsessing about me and read what I wrote.
I commented on THIS recording of THIS song by THIS group. You must be reading somebody else's post - I said nothing about the album version and I didn't discredit anything except the song on this page (and your ears).
Yes, it's a bad cover and if you want to move on to other stuff, I agree that they did some brilliant songs.
dincz 4 years ago
This is simply one recording that IMO isn't horrible. It doesn't make my view of it any less valid than yours because your ears, which are somehow superior because I guess you say so....not that you'll provide any sort of credentials to back that up.
If you enjoy the original so much go comment on that page and spare people your dogmatic bullshit.
doucheberry 4 years ago
This is the Studio version. you believe this is a live performance? rarely anyone performed live on American bandstand. this clip has been floating all over the net for years and the sound track is out of sync and the pace changes frequently. can barely hear Lee's tambourine , barely any bass and lee's voice is completely distorted.
JunebugBpt08 4 years ago
And I forgot to add
You Cunt.
doucheberry 4 years ago
Well, you've got me there.
dincz 4 years ago
The way I see it, this guy dincz still hasn't put his musical tastes up for critique or scrutiny. And until he does that we really don't have anything to talk about. Theres no winning or losing the arguement and such when someone won't defend or stand by their statements...yet alone support their argument.
All I asked was that he put up some of his tastes for examination...not that he send us nude pics of his mother. He still has yet to either. Theres no argument here.
doucheberry 4 years ago
Have another listen. The band is playing in B minor but Arthur sings the verse in C# minor. He almost gets in key during the chorus but then loses it again.
Whatever value this version may have, it's certainly not musical. Bacharach was definitely not cool but he knew a thing or two about melody and harmony.
dincz 4 years ago
Ha ha ha, that's funny. I didn't know people really took such quibbles seriously. Do you own a comic book store in Springfield?
Maceojazz 4 years ago
Yeah, I take music seriously. Please give me your approval.
dincz 4 years ago
I generally don't like to get involved in these kind of things but when you wrote "Bacharach was definitely not cool..." you pretty much blew your assertion that you take music seriously.
RP50 4 years ago
I'm ok with having my assertions blown, but I'm not the topic. My point was that being cool (which changes from one decade to the next) often gets confused with being talented.
Love were talented but you'd never guess it from their version of this song. Bacharach's talent is in a different league but he certainly wasn't regarded as cool in the 60's by people in trendy sunglasses.
dincz 4 years ago
But if the song is the topic, it becomes totally subjective. And then it really doesn't matter what you or I think. Or, what you and I think is all that matters - but only to you and I. I love it and nothing you or anyone else can say would make any difference. And I'm sure the vice is versa. Also, I don't know how old you are, but I was around then and Bacharach was always well regarded by musicians.
RP50 4 years ago
A pity these guys couldn't work out the chords. This is rubbish.
dincz 4 years ago
Fuck you. these guys oould piss more talent than you or anyone else in your entire bloodline that have ever lived.
doucheberry 4 years ago
Thanks for your kind remarks. I wasn't comparing them with me but with talented musicians I have heard.
I'm pleased that your ears are easily satisfied. Enjoy.
dincz 4 years ago
And what pleases your ears by chance? If its anything of any kind of substance I'm willing to bet half were influenced by this group.
Please post your musical tastes so I can return the favor and pick it apart.
doucheberry 4 years ago
I'm really very happy with my taste and don't need any help with it. Thanks anyway for the offer.
dincz 4 years ago