When the Doors were just getting started in the mid-'60s, Jim Morrison's goal for the band supposedly was for it to be "as big as Love."
Love in this case was a fellow Los Angeles band, led by singer/guitarist Arthur Lee, that scored a modest hit single with its debut record, a garage-rock version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Little Red Book." As a live act on the L.A. scene around '66, Love ranked right up there with the Byrds and the Mothers of Invention as a local attraction.
The following year, the Doors were well on their way to legendary status with "Light My Fire" rocketing to No. 1. Meanwhile, Love's single "7 and 7 Is" made a bit of noise on the charts, but had nowhere near the Doors' success. The first two Love albums also registered decent, if not spectacular, sales for Elektra Records.
The turning point for Love came with the release in early 1968 of "Forever Changes," a collection of 11 songs - nine by Lee and two by bandmate Bryan Maclean - that represent some of the most melodic, intricately arranged music to emerge from what's come down to us as the psychedelic era. Rather than rely on the sound effects in vogue at the time, though, the band played it relatively straight, with acoustic guitars weaving tapestries around the occasional string arrangement. The result is a mood that's far removed from Love's roots just a few years prior, and far-removed from what other musicians in their early 20s were producing at the time.
Rock historians have hailed "Forever Changes" as a classic at least since I first read about it back in the '70s. But in '68, it stiffed, failing to reach the charts at all. The album did have a decent showing in Britain, where listeners always seem to have a better ear for music that points its way toward the future. The people at Elektra, though, would've preferred some better sales in the larger market across the Atlantic.
I've read where some of the problem arose from Love's reluctance to tour, preferring to stick around their native L.A. As such, the band's members certainly weren't going to travel all the way to the U.K., where they might have really caught on big.
Then again, there really wasn't a Love after "Forever Changes." The album represented a turning point in that Lee subsequently replaced everyone else in the band - including Bryan Maclean, a talented singer-songwriter added another dimension to the sound. The new aggregation staggered on for a few more albums, perhaps highlighted by Lee's collaboration with Jimi Hendrix, "The Everlasting First," which appeared on an otherwise lackluster (and appropriately titled) album called "First Start."
Legend has it that Lee and Hendrix were planning to form a band together at the time of the latter's death, and that they'd recorded something called "Black Gold," the tape of which was stolen out of Jimi's apartment, never to be heard from again. Don't know if that's true, but it makes a good story.
We heard sporadically from Lee from the early '70s into the late '90s, until an interesting release hit the shelves in 2003: a DVD of a concert in Britain featuring Lee, decked out in an American flag for a bandana, performing the entire "Forever Changes" album with full band, including strings. It's pretty much of a note-for-note interpretation, but seeing gems like "A House Is Not a Motel," "Andmoreagain" and "Bummer In the Summer" performed by the man who's responsible for them is well worth the price of admission.
The Doors may have surpassed the Love in popularity. But even Morrison & Co.'s excellent debut album doesn't quite stack up against "Forever Changes."
Love in this case was a fellow Los Angeles band, led by singer/guitarist Arthur Lee, that scored a modest hit single with its debut record, a garage-rock version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Little Red Book." As a live act on the L.A. scene around '66, Love ranked right up there with the Byrds and the Mothers of Invention as a local attraction.
The following year, the Doors were well on their way to legendary status with "Light My Fire" rocketing to No. 1. Meanwhile, Love's single "7 and 7 Is" made a bit of noise on the charts, but had nowhere near the Doors' success. The first two Love albums also registered decent, if not spectacular, sales for Elektra Records.
The turning point for Love came with the release in early 1968 of "Forever Changes," a collection of 11 songs - nine by Lee and two by bandmate Bryan Maclean - that represent some of the most melodic, intricately arranged music to emerge from what's come down to us as the psychedelic era. Rather than rely on the sound effects in vogue at the time, though, the band played it relatively straight, with acoustic guitars weaving tapestries around the occasional string arrangement. The result is a mood that's far removed from Love's roots just a few years prior, and far-removed from what other musicians in their early 20s were producing at the time.
Rock historians have hailed "Forever Changes" as a classic at least since I first read about it back in the '70s. But in '68, it stiffed, failing to reach the charts at all. The album did have a decent showing in Britain, where listeners always seem to have a better ear for music that points its way toward the future. The people at Elektra, though, would've preferred some better sales in the larger market across the Atlantic.
I've read where some of the problem arose from Love's reluctance to tour, preferring to stick around their native L.A. As such, the band's members certainly weren't going to travel all the way to the U.K., where they might have really caught on big.
Then again, there really wasn't a Love after "Forever Changes." The album represented a turning point in that Lee subsequently replaced everyone else in the band - including Bryan Maclean, a talented singer-songwriter added another dimension to the sound. The new aggregation staggered on for a few more albums, perhaps highlighted by Lee's collaboration with Jimi Hendrix, "The Everlasting First," which appeared on an otherwise lackluster (and appropriately titled) album called "First Start."
Legend has it that Lee and Hendrix were planning to form a band together at the time of the latter's death, and that they'd recorded something called "Black Gold," the tape of which was stolen out of Jimi's apartment, never to be heard from again. Don't know if that's true, but it makes a good story.
We heard sporadically from Lee from the early '70s into the late '90s, until an interesting release hit the shelves in 2003: a DVD of a concert in Britain featuring Lee, decked out in an American flag for a bandana, performing the entire "Forever Changes" album with full band, including strings. It's pretty much of a note-for-note interpretation, but seeing gems like "A House Is Not a Motel," "Andmoreagain" and "Bummer In the Summer" performed by the man who's responsible for them is well worth the price of admission.
The Doors may have surpassed the Love in popularity. But even Morrison & Co.'s excellent debut album doesn't quite stack up against "Forever Changes."
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