By Paul Freeman [2004 Interview]

Arthur Lee, originally from Memphis, but raised in Los Angeles, grew into one of the most distinctive singer-songwriters of the 60s and 70s. With the band Love, he created music that continues to inspire and influence.

The band Love, with an eclectic sound that combined psychedelia, folk-rock, jazz, flamenco, punkish energy and more esoteric elements, became an L.A. favorite by 1966. Signed to Elektra, they hit the charts with an off-beat version of the Bacharach/David "My Little Red Book." Their cult masterpiece album, "Forever Changes," came in 1967. It appears on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The band soon fell apart. Drugs hastened the group's demise. Lee led various versions of Love over the years, recording and performing. He also released a solo album. Rhino released an expanded version of "Forever Changes" in 2000.

From 1995 to 2001, Lee spent five-and-a-half years in prison. He had received an eight to 12-year sentence for firing a handgun into the air at his apartment. He had already spent time behind bars for arson and had been charged with other offenses. Eventually the federal appeals court reversed the firearms charge, finding the trial's prosecutor was guilty of misconduct. By the time Lee was released, original Love members Bryan MacLean (vocals, guitar and the other key creative force besides Lee) and Ken Forssi (bass) had died. MacLean, 52, suffered a heart attack. A brain tumor felled Forssi, 54.

Lee earned acclaim for his subsequent tours, delivering live performances of "Forever Changes," often with an orchestra he had assembled. He basked in the rediscovery of Love's music.

Then, in 2006, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Lee passed away on August 3, 2006, back in Memphis. He was 61.

We had an opportunity to interview him in advance of a San Francisco performance. Exhausted after long sessions in the studio, a weary Lee spoke with Pop Culture Classics in 2004.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
Long night?

ARTHUR LEE:
Oh, man, it's been three days. Three days in the studio, basically trying to mix down one song. I got an orchestra, you know. And I don't know, I'm pretty particular about perfection. So I'm kinda tired, man [chuckles].

My drummer said to me yesterday, "You know, Arthur, the guys nowadays, the music nowadays, it's not perfection and stuff." Well, if it's not that, then I'm in the wrong business. That's how I feel about it. I want mine right. I started the garage band stuff a long time ago. That's what he's talking about. I like Beethoven myself.

PCC:
Certainly in the "Forever Changes" album, listeners can hear that you were striving for perfection back then.

LEE:
Yeah, well, I didn't make it [laughs]. I'm never satisfied. I came as close to being satisfied with the mix on this, "Rainbow in the Storm" is the name of the song. We're going to play that on the upcoming shows with my orchestra.

PCC:
How far along are you with the new album?

LEE:
We have like seven songs that we've attempted, but I threw them back. I threw a bunch of them back. I just needed to get my feet wet in the studio again and all that. You know? And I just think it can be done better. We're spending a lot of money for this perfection [laughs]. But I like my stuff right. There's no point in doing anything, if it's not going to be right. That'j just the way I feel about it. But I told these guys, I said, "You know, nine out of ten ain't bad." It's not. Nine out of 10 attempts. But, uh... I forget what I was saying. I'm pretty tired, dude.

Oh, oh, but I told them that the good thing about doing a song that didn't turn out quite right was, Jimi Hendrix -- You ever heard of "Electric Ladyland"? You know, it took him over a year to do that album. Yeah. That was the good thing about us not doing so well on one song [laughs]. I couldn't be in the studio a year with my mother, man. Or God and his disciples or somebody. You know? That just ain't me. Uh-uh. In there and outta there, that's the way I like to do it. A year? To do what? Hear a damn guitar or what the...? I don't know.

PCC:
But that must make it tough, when you want perfection, but you don't like being in the studio very long.

LEE:
Well, I tell you, if you've got your shit together at home, that's when you can go out and play in the streets and then it's still a chance. You might get hit by a car. But if you don't have your stuff together at home, then what are you doing in the studio? I try to iron out everything before I get there. That's what I'm talkin' about. It should be A,B,C. That's how I look at it.

PCC:
The new material, does it seem like it's extended from the "Forever Changes" era or is it taking off in entirely new directions?

LEE:
No, you know what I did, when I was in the joint, man, I didn't listen to anybody. I wrote all the songs with no guitar, no... I've written so many songs until I felt that I could do it in my head. And this next album you're going to hear, it's going to be everything that was in my head, without touching an instrument -- orchestration, all of that. It was something to do. You know what I mean? I think I did pretty good.

PCC:
It must have been an escape, in a way.

LEE:
Of course, that's what I'm talking about. I wrote a book, as well. The book is the same title as one of the new songs. The book is called "Rainbow in the Storm: The Book of Love, Part I, by Arthur Lee." I've got a couple publishers interested. My punctuation is not that great. I working with this guy, telling the story to him, and he's helping me out a lot and he's telling me this would be a good book for universities and kids and stuff, how a guy did do something with his life, through music. Especially a black guy. I had never thought of it like that. Into the music that I'm in and the things that I do in my life with music. Mine is not exactly R&B.

PCC:
It's an autobiography?

LEE:
It's an autobiography... with a very important message in there. The book is about the message, really. And my life is secondary to what has happened to me in my life. And I explain what I'm talking about in the book. It's pretty good.

PCC:
So ultimately there is a positive message?

LEE:
Positive. There has never been a more positive book [laughs]. I wouldn't have written this book, if I didn't think it was worthwhile to some ears, some minds. It's very enlightening, because something happened in my life and I wanted to share it with the world. Yeah, that's what's happening.

PCC:
Is this relating to what you gained through music?

LEE:
No, no, no, no. God spoke to me, man. In front of someone else, too. No knock on the door, no nothin'. I went through a bunch, a bunch of changes. He stopped everything in my body. Stopped Everything. Everything. Took over. It was a trip, man.

PCC:
And when did this take place?

LEE:
It happened in '95.

PCC:
So that helped you get through everything since then?

LEE:
No, I didn't know what he was talking about. I took what he said the wrong way. He said, "Love on Earth must be." And I thought I was the chosen one or something. You know? I went about it wrong. I received the message, but I didn't know how to work it. That's not all. He showed me that he's in control of all of this.

And people can only see materials. No matter how smart they are, when they look for something, all they can see are material things. You know what I mean? You can't see the wind and you sure can't see the spirit. And that's what is important. The spirit is God... in my opinion. Most important thing.

These guys think they're so smart, calling God "a force." Well, I'm not there anymore with that. I know God is. I just put it in there like it came to me. It's really something, because I always wanted to know if it was God. And here I'm walking around with his name and all of this stuff -- I feel that "Love" is God's name. That's how I look at it.

It's not that I'm so religious. I'm not a fanatic. I'm not a Baptist or a Catholic. None of that stuff. Something happened to me and I thought it should be told. It can help a lot of kids out, man... if they believe me. I don't expect anybody to believe me, because I wouldn't believe anybody if they told me that stuff. I'd think they were f-ckin' cuckoo or nuts. You know? I'd just keep walking. "Yeah, man, yeah, right." But that actually happened to me.

PCC:
But it's worth putting out there for those who are willing to consider it?

LEE:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why would I choose a subject like that? Why would I choose God? [Laughs]. Why would I choose God to talk about? Why would I do that? I mean, if I'm going to tell a lie, I'd tell a lie to make some money or something [chuckles]. I wouldn't pick him to talk about.

PCC:
All the new excitement and enlightenment, does that enter into the new music?

LEE:
Well, that's a difficult question. Well, all my music has been like from the heart. Just about all my music has been from the heart, I would say. It's how I feel. I write about what I see. I don't write too much about "I want you, I need you, ooh, baby." You listen to my music and you hear what's going on around you... sometimes.

PCC:
So the new music is about what's going on in the world?

LEE:
That's what I'm talking about. The same thing that was going on when I wrote "Forever Changes," 35 or something years ago, it's the same thing happening now. News today will definitely be a movie for tomorrow. Right? Wars and all of that -- it's a never-ending thing. So I wrote about what I saw.

PCC:
"Forever Changes" had dark overtones...

LEE:
I think the darker the better, myself [Laughs]. What's fascinating to me with "Forever Changes" and the lyrics and everything, some people said, "You know, you're ahead of your time with this shit." And maybe people are ready for it now. Here we are in 2004 and I'm really grateful to be talking about this now. Grateful, grateful. I'm having the time of my life with music and performing and playing. I think I'm doing better now than ever.

I really love doing what I'm doing now... without all the bullshit on the side, with the keeping up with the Joneses and The Beatles and The Stones and all that shit. I mean, I'm just doing my thing now. If they like it, cool, let's party. If you don't, go to another club or something, that's cool.

PCC:
Back in those days, was it somewhat of an inspiration to try and keep up with things like "Sgt. Pepper's"?

LEE:
No, I never gave "Sgt. Pepper's" a second thought, when it came to my music. That wasn't an influence. That all came from me. That's my music. Uh-uh. I wasn't trying to keep up. I didn't mean it like that. I meant with drugs and shit like that, man. I didn't mean music. I meant trying to be a star and all that kind of that stuff... and trying to outdo this and outdo that. I can do my thing now and people seem to like it.

It's cool. I asked this lady once, "You know, you keep calling me down here at these Jimi Hendrix birthdays and Jimi Hendrix this and that." I said, "Why do you keep calling me?" And she said, "Well, you're the only one left." [Laughs]

PCC:
All that was going on back in the 60s...

LEE:
I've talked about Jimi and all the people I knew in those days, the way I saw them. I don't think the 60s, anything like that, has been written the way I wrote it. There's been The Doors movie and... I got The Doors on Elektra Records.

And I also wrote a song, first time Jimi Hendrix ever played a guitar in a studio, he played on one of my songs called "My Diary." Did you know that? That's a trip. His brother told me, straight to my face, that Jimi Hendrix picked up my first Love album and the clothes and, the dress, the attire I was wearing -- he said, "I think I'll try it this way." Because I knew that guy in like '63, '64. But he didn't look like that. He came around looking like me and I thought he was a hippie and cool and all that, but he was the same guy, trying to make a buck with the dress and shit. My dress!

PCC:
You didn't do much touring or live performing altogether in the early days.

LEE:
Well, you can't very well go out and play, if you don't have a band you can depend on or rely on. That's one thing I'm grateful for now, the band that I have now, I couldn't ask for a better group of guys, as far as business and musicianship. Their hearts and into my music... and I appreciate it. Without the drugs, without too much booze, none of that. Those problems -- that's just dead, you know? With this band. Not with me, but with the band [laughs].

PCC:
But the conflicts within the original Love, did that help in some creative ways?

LEE:
Those were a landmark. Those guys are to be commended. We were the first integrated rock band. The musicianship of each individual was... what could I ask for, something more than what they did? But they just went by the wayside with drugs and shit. You know? That's what that was.

PCC:
But was there something special between you and Bryan [MacLean, the band's guitarist/vocalist], as far as the songwriting balance?

LEE:
I always wanted it to be. But there never really was.That's what I strived for. I used to trip on looking at Lennon and McCartney. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. On the records -- Lennon and McCartney wrote this song, wrote that song. I wanted it to be Lee and MacLean or MacLean and Lee. But we just never could... our behavior patterns were quite, quite distant. He was just another kind of guy than I am. But I think he was a fabulous writer.

PCC:
What made you decide to do "Forever Changes" in concert recently?

LEE:
Gene Kraut, my ex-manager, he started suggested doing this stuff. I had never really performed it on stage with an orchestra and all of that. The more I did it, the more I liked it. It was cool. At first, it was kind of hard. Like I've been a five-piece band member all my life. But hearing the orchestra on stage with the five-piece band was something that I really had to concentrate on.

And I love concentrating on stuff. Like doing this album that I'm doing right now. It's really hard. But that's what I'm here to do -- you know? The harder, the better. But what I've got with this orchestra, it was foreign at first. But now I never want to play on stage without my orchestra. It's like a third arm now. It's cool. I feel good, man.

PCC:
You're part of the current music scene, but do you look back on the 60s...?

LEE:
No, when I finish something, that's it. That's why I never did the "Forever Changes" stuff, because I was onto the next song and the next sound. And I didn't even know I was as popular as I am in Europe and in England and stuff, until I went over there. It's really a trip, man.

We go Manchester, England and they chant it, like a Notre Dame f-cking fight song, my name, for 10 minutes on stage. We got to Spain and I'm looking at these Spaniards, singing all of my songs. As I'm playing on stage, I don't even need to say the words. The whole place is singing the songs. The whole opera house or wherever we're playing, they know the words. And when I try to ask them after the show where I can go to a store, they don't speak any English. But they know all the words to my songs [laughs]. It's a trip, man. Quite flattering.

PCC:
But the 60s was such a unique time in terms of the creativity happening. Do you not look back on that era with affection?

LEE:
Oh, it was the greatest time I've ever had in my life, if that's what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The hippie thing and all of that -- best time I've ever had in my entire life, man. It was a sharing thing. I don't know when these people say "Love and love." and all that, but mine was living that era. And sharing. If I had it, you had it. If you had it and I asked you for it, then I got it. That's the way that we were in L.A. and San Francisco and like that. We were sharing, man. I can't explain it. No doors locked. No bars on the window. None of that shit. I don't know what's going on now.

PCC:
And there were doors opening in terms of the music, people willing to listen to different kinds of things?

LEE:
Yeah, we were innovators. That 60s stuff was innovative. Most of the bands were. It's weird how it all happened at that time period -- Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, you name it, man. Jimi Hendrix -- all those people in one time span in life. My music. All of that. It changed music. Changed it. It was a great time, a great period.

But I tell you, I just never have been satisfied and I just want to do better. Now I've gotten "Forever Changes" off my back [laughs], I'd like to be remembered for something else, or something equally as good. That's what I'm in the studio now for, really. I'm trying to outdo myself here.

PCC:
You want to be remembered for the next album.

LEE:
There you go. And the next one after that.

PCC:
So you tend to look ahead and not waste a lot of time looking back?

LEE:
It's flattering, but I don't want to be all about nostalgia. I don't want to be Little Richard. You know what I mean? Things are still happening in this world that I see to write about. I still love music and I think people are going to get a kick out of my new album. I'm not influenced by anybody with this music. I'm just trying to create something new... although there's nothing new under the sun, I know that. But that doesn't mean you can't try.