Love - Da Capo (1967)

Love were an American rock band founded in the 1960s who saw only modest success on the charts yet have come to be regarded as one of the finest groups of the era. 

Following the modest success of their debut album, Love released the single "7 And 7 Is" in July 1966. The song was a real rocker, and has retrospectively been tagged with the label 'proto-punk'. It was their most successful single, getting to #33. They then expanded their line-up to seven members, bringing in Tjay Cantrelli on sax and flute and Michael Stuart on drums. Original drummer Alban Pfisterer moved over to keyboards (he was a classically trained pianist before he was ever a drummer). The new Love's first release was the brilliant single "She Comes In Colors", which moved the band's sound forward through its sophisticated arrangement with harpsichord and flute. Though it did not chart, it is often considered one of Arthur Lee's best compositions.

Their second album came out in early 1967, featuring both recent singles with a number of new compositions. The new songs made full use of the expanded line-up, many of them again featuring the harpsichord. Love were moving away from their folk-rock roots and exploring interesting new ideas, in really quite unique ways for a rock band of their time. They were capable of both raucous rockers and delicately beautiful arrangements, all under the guiding hand of singer and songwriter Arthur Lee (who was also playing guitar, harmonica and drums when needed).

However whilst Da Capo could have been a masterpiece, it was ultimately flawed. There were only enough of these brilliant new songs to fill out one side of vinyl, so side two was taken up by one long blues-based jam called "Revelation". Whilst certainly very good, this track diluted the impact of the rest of the album, which is a great shame, as side one taken by itself features some of the most interesting rock music of the 60s.

Love (1966) <|> Forever Changes (1968)
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