[Photo: Guy Webster - Rock Photography Museum]
By Donzig
Love, a band tragically ignored by the record-buying public during its existence, will get some much-deserved attention with the a singles boxed set Expressions Tell Everything, released for Record Store Day. RSD previously recognized Love with Everybody's Gotta Live, an outtakes compilation from sessions for their last album, 1974's Reel-To-Reel. Now, the prime period of this most innovative group will be introduced to a wider audience. The eight 7-inch vinyl singles included in this generous package represent some of the variety of sounds Love produced in its early years. Also included is a 64-page booklet with histories of each single, voluminous photos, and personal recollections of surviving Love member and lead guitarist Johnny Echols.
The set kicks off with Love's first single, "My Little Red Book", which was the first song on the first side of their self-titled first album from early 1966. Their best-known song, this Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition gets a hard-driving, garage rock / punk treatment from the band (Bacharach is said to have hated this version, but history seems to disagree!). The B-side, "Message To Pretty", represents the softer, sentimental side of band leader Arthur Lee. Together, these two songs show some of his vocal and emotional range as well as the wide variety of music styles on the debut album (which remains my personal favourite). In between these two extremes, you'll also find some psychedelia, a blues-y number and a fair amount of jangly guitars.
A trio of singles follows from Love's late 1966 sophomore effort, Da Capo. "7 and 7 Is", the band's only Top 40 single, hit the charts in the summer of that year. This song is about the hardest the band ever rocked and foresaw the anger and disillusionment of the late 60's before the Summer of Love had even taken place. "Stephanie Knows Who" and "She Comes In Colors" are trippy, baroque rock songs which show the group's increasing sophistication.
The next two singles "Alone Again Or" and "Your Mind And We Belong Together" are from Forever Changes, Love's acknowledged masterpiece. Released in late 1967, the album is Arthur Lee's musical response to The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, and among critics it commands a similar place in the Rock Pantheon. The album, co-produced by Lee, represents a peak of sophistication in production, lyrics, and vocals.
The last two discs from Expressions Tell Everything are "new" singles pressed for this compilation. The first consists of "Que Vida", another fine baroque track from Da Capo, backed with a punk-y, garage-y version of "Hey Joe" from Love, recorded a year before Jimi Hendrix's more famous psych version. The set concludes with a pair of tracks from Love's last great album for Elektra Records, 1969's Four Sail. Recorded by Lee with an entirely new lineup and featuring trippy songs with folk and acid rock influences, it is sometimes ignored even by critics and Love fans. But the A-side of this single "Always See Your Face" (the closing track on the album) and the B-side "August" (the opening track) show that though Arthur Lee had peaked creatively on Forever Changes, he still had something valuable left to say.
For the uninitiated, Expresisons Tell Everything is a very good introduction to Love, a band that deserves their attention. For those already familiar, the excellent packaging and inclusion of two hard to find non-album B-sides, the Byrds-influenced "No. Fourteen" (from "7 and 7 Is") and "Laughing Stock" (from "Your Mind And We Belong Together") make this a worthwhile acquisition. Speaking of B-sides, the fine Da Capo track "Orange Skies" is presented in both mono and stereo in this package. The year 1966 was the last year in which mono releases were common as stereo became near-universal by 1967.
A reminder for new and old fans of Love: all four of their great Elektra albums are currently available on new vinyl pressings. All are recommended for ths musically curious.
Expressions Tell Everything is out tomorrow via New Land.