OUR FLASH ON YOU

LOVE...An American psychedelic rock group formed in Los Angeles in 1965. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur Lee (March 7, 1945 - August 3, 2006) and the group's second songwriter, guitarist Bryan Maclean (September 25, 1946 - December 25, 1998). One of the first racially diverse American pop bands, their music reflected a remarkable array of influences, combining elements of rock and roll, garage rock, folk, showtunes and psychedelia. Other members included John Echols, Johnny Fleckenstein, Don Conka, Alban Snoopy Pfisterer, Ken Forssi, Tjay Cantrelli, Michael Stuart, Jay Donnellan, Gary Rowles, Frank Fayad, and George Suranovich.

Love grew out of the Los Angeles garage band The Grass Roots, changing their name in 1965 to avoid confusion with the P.F. Sloan-managed band of the same name. The band lived communally in Bela Lugosi's former LA residence The Castle, and the house forms the background to the cover of their first two album sleeves.

Love started playing the Los Angeles clubs in April 1965 and became a popular act. At this time, they were playing extended numbers such as "Revelation" (originally titled "John Lee Hooker") and getting the attention of such contemporaries as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.


Love released their eponymous début album in July 1966. This was followed later the same month by the single "Seven and Seven Is/No. Fourteen", neither side of which was included on the album, and which gave the band their only U.S. Billboard top 40 hit.

Love's second album Da Capo was released in January 1967. The album is split between a more conventional first side, featuring 6 tracks (including Seven And Seven Is) and a second side featuring just one near twenty-minute track, Revelation.

The band's critical reputation far exceeds the limited success they experienced: their second album to be released in 1967, Forever Changes, is consistently cited by critics as one of the most outstanding albums in the history of rock music. The album features full and complex orchestration throughout, accompanying Lee and MacLean's increasingly elaborate song writing. The album sold poorly in the U.S., reaching #154 on the Billboard charts, although it performed better in some European territories.

Although the band continued to record after Forever Changes, subsequent releases saw frequent large-scale personnel changes, and a move away from the more baroque style of that album towards traditional rock and latterly to soul and funk.