Love

Love emerged from Los Angeles early in 1966 – one of the first groups to show what was to come from the West Coast.

They were also one of the few groups from there to equal the hard, driving sound of British groups like The Yardbirds.

Love released three albums up to November 1967 – Love, Da Capo and the superb Forever Changes. By 1967 they were the hippest band in Los Angeles after The Byrds.

And while the latter’s hit-making phase was coming to an end, Love were ill-equipped to take their place: they were ethnically mixed, with two black front men playing music unlikely to appeal to a black audience; songs stretched out for entire album sides, and their drug use had spiralled.

By the close of summer, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix were stealing their kudos.

It was two years before a fourth album, Four Sail, appeared, and by then only Arthur Lee remained from the original line-up.

Linchpin Arthur Lee was one of the drug casualties of the hippie era, a position made more poignant by the fact that he was eventually incarcerated for firing a magnum .44 at his noisy neighbours.

Lee was arrested on 10 June 1993 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. He was released after six years.

Arthur Lee 
Vocals, keyboards, guitar
John Echols
Guitar
Bryan MacLean 
Guitar, vocals
Ken Forssi 
Bass
Alban ‘snoopy’ Pfisterer
Drums, keyboards
Michael Stuart
Drums
Tjay Cantrell
Saxophone, flute
Jay Donnellan
Guitar
Frank Fayad
Bass
George Suranovich
Drums
Drachen Theaker
Drums