Love On Track

As Love’s most revered album is titled Forever Changes, it’s little wonder that their superior back catalogue encompasses a multitude of genres: folk rock, garage, jazz rock, baroque, psychedelia, soul, funk, and reggae - or certainly Arthur Lee’s does. But who can separate Love from their beleaguered yet brilliant front man? Love On Track explores the many embodiments of his group, with his solo work closely examined at the same time.

   Love were the first rock signing to folk label Elektra and something of this contradiction inhabits their work. From the raw beat of their eponymous debut, to sweetly ruminative songs on Da Capo, to the ultimate comment on the counter-culture in Forever Changes, onto Four Sail’s auguring the hard rocking 1970s, these albums represent Love’s best known work.

   But the book knows the Love story doesn’t end there. There’s the epic double album Out Here, collaborations with Jimi Hendrix, vegetarian protest songs, and a gorgeously romantic revival in Five String Serenade. There are also stops along the way to recall the solo work of Bryan MacLean et al, a new interview with Berton Averre, who played with Lee in the 1990s, and a detailed look at live recordings – the book is a real labour of Love.

Emma Stott is the author of two previous Sonicbond titles: Jimi Hendrix On Track, and The Zombies on Track. She writes about education also, in particular, linguistics and literature; a poet and short story writer too, her last work reimagined The Great Gatsby as a folk horror starring The Rolling Stones –  or at least a band that closely resembles them. She lives in Manchester, UK.