Cheap Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love Discount Review Shop
Love, is a band that has had a lot of myth, lore and rumor surrounding it. "Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love" separates the fact from the fantasy and legend sticking to the bones of Love due to the years, if not decades of fan conjecture in the face of silence from Arthur Lee. Author John Einarson does this with meticulous research and interviews with family, friends, and bandmates of Arthur Lee from his earliest days to his death in 2006. Einarson also incorporates the manuscript of an unfinished autobiography Lee was working on after he left prison.
"Forever Changes" focuses on Lee/Love's heyday in the mid 60's when Lee's band Love was the undisputed heaviest band on L.A.'s Sunset Strip. They were at the forefront of the folk-rock music scene. Love was the first house band at the Whisky a-go-go, and Arthur Lee may have been the sartorial model for hippies of the later 60's. Lee certainly thought Jimi Hendrix had adopted his mode of dress after meeting him.
Lee and Love (the two are indistinguishable) were one of the first bands signed by Elektra records Jac Holzman. A record deal that culminated in Lee/Love's artistic and critical success with the album "Forever Changes." Lee/Love were at the top of L.A.'s music scene. Jim Morrison commented that the early goal of The Doors was to be as big as Love. Just as the other bands were breaking nationally Lee and Love faltered. Why did the other bands succeed? And why didn't Love not reach a national audience? A lot of that does fall to Lee. He did little national touring, he had contentious relationships with record companies, money disputes with bandmates and a mercurial habit of changing the lineup of the bands.
"Forever Changes" doesn't fall into the trap that other rock books have, of not paying enough attention to or glossing over what came after their halcyon period. You come away from reading Forever Changes feeling that you have a good idea of Lee's life after he was "the prince of Sunset Strip."
Lee was influential and admired in the Los Angeles music scene that he boasted friendships with Jimi Hendrix, who Lee met in a recording session when Hendrix was still doing session work. The Doors, who succeeded Love as house band at The Whisky and Lee also recommended them to Jac Holzman. Both The Doors and Hendrix make special guest appearances in the book. Towards the end of his life Lee discovered that he had admirers in Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, and Robyn Hitchcock.
The first thing you notice after receiving your copy of "Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love" is that it's an absolutely gorgeous book. It's cover and pages are high quality paper and the pictures are high gloss and has a high tactile quality, it`s a book you`ll find yourself leafing through again and again.
Einarson's use of Lee's autobiography is spot on. The manuscript is used sparingly but intelligently. The passages used are like a laser light on the subject at hand, and capture Lee cutting to the heart of the matter and shedding light on what may have been heretofore muddied by myth. Lee's voice stands out from Einarson's surrounding narrative and has the feel of listening to a tape recording of Lee as he describes the times, events and the L.A. scene.
"Forever Changes" is one of the best rock biography's I've read . When I started reading "Forever Changes" I wasn't a Lee/Love fan but Einarson's writing pulled me right in and made me care about Lee and his life.
I'm not one to recommend a publisher or their whole catalog but Jawbone Press is publishing high quality books in both content and the actual physical book. If you're a rock fan I would highly recommend other Jawbone Press books such as "Return of the King: Elvis Presley's Great Comeback (Genuine Jawbone Books)" and "Becoming Elektra: The True Story of Jac Holzman's Visionary Record Label" as well as checking their catalog for other books that may be of interest. I've made a space in my bookcase for Jawbone Press books.
Cheap "Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love" Discount Review Shop
