Love – Forever Changes

RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK

Love – Forever Changes

This week’s Recommendation of the Week is an album that I feel is one of the greatest ever made, especially in the Psych era, and its almost obscurity is a complete mystery. Forever Changes by Love was their 3rd album, released in 1967. At the time of its release, it was perceived as just another Acid-Folk album, quite common in the Summer Of Love. All these years later, we can see and hear the magic. 

It is an absolute masterpiece!

Love is a band that has a fascinating, yet mostly obscure history, but is without a doubt one of the greatest bands of the 60s and their influence is vast throughout the years. For those people who did experience them live, they witnessed the power of their performances, fusing and blending Soul, Psych, Folk, and a Punk attitude. Their first two albums were straight forward Psychedelic rock, leaning on a Garage Punk edge. Love and Da Capo are both great albums, but they kind of got lost in the mix of the mid-60s.  At that time, bands were being categorized as “Beatles knockoffs”, “Stones knockoffs”, “Who knockoffs”. This made it difficult for bands to get notice, even in Los Angeles, which was exploding literally and figuratively.

In 1965-66, the Folk Rock scene of Sunset Strip, echoing its way into Laurel Canyon, was dominating the airwaves. As 1967 approached and the feeling of the Summer Of Love was taking hold, Los Angeles was trending toward darkness, like following the serpent in the desert of the unknown. This brought the arrival of two bands, The Doors and Love, to the forefront of the Los Angeles music scene on Sunset Strip. With the release of their 3rd album, Love gave us a Psychedelic, tense, dark, more complex, in-depth look within. The elements of love, hope and peace mix seamlessly with darkness and uncertainty, creating a powerful mind-expansion experience. This masterpiece, Forever Changes, is one of the finest achievements in the history of recorded music.

By 1967, The Doors and Love were the soundtrack to The Strip and were fueling the fire burning within. The Hippie movement was well underway, and with them came rapid changes. While The Doors shot to superstardom and Jim Morrison became “The Lizard King”, Love would remain a mostly “LA Story”. As the years passed, and we moved away from the chaos of the 60s, Love’s music faded into almost complete obscurity, essentially being erased from all the flashbacks and tributes to the 60s. It was really a shame because their sound, particularly on Forever Changes, would shape the story of popular music more than most in the decades since.  

The discovery of Love is a musical awakening that I wish for all.

It really took decades, but finally in the 90s, after a massive rediscovery and reexamination of the 60s, Love gained their due legacy, one that crosses multiple areas of influence. They are essential to the story of music, and the story of culture over the last 60 years. They were groundbreaking on many levels. They were the first band to be signed by Elektra Records, a new label that would eventually have the likes of The Doors, The MC5, and The Stooges. They also were the first integrated Rock band of the Los Angeles scene, maybe any scene. This was a feat for sure, given the racial attitudes and tensions of Los Angeles, and America as a whole. This allowed them to have the vision and experience to cross genre lines and create a unique Acid-Folk Rock, dark Psychedelic sound like no other. They were a truly unique band, with their exotic blend of styles that still continue to influence and inspire.

Forever Changes exists as one of the purest snapshots into 1960s Los Angeles and the chaos, tension, fire, and spirit that was burning within.  It captures the magic, both beautiful and bright, yet equally dark and unknown that was brewing in the heat of the Summer Of Love.  With their fusing and blending styles, they were born of the racial tensions and created a sound that harnessed it.  Fusing Soul, Jazz, melodic harmonies, complex Folk guitar crescendos intertwined with Psychedelia, layered with mariachi influence, their music symbolized the essence of Los Angeles. The LA music scene was born with The Beach Boys, but the diverse and rich history and culture of Los Angeles is embedded in the notes and melodies of Love.

As we head into warmer weather, and the harshness of the summer sun is eased by the coolness of the summer moon, I find myself drifting back to the “Psychedelic 60s”.  Why, I’m not really sure. I didn’t live through them, as I wasn’t born for another decade after. There is something about the 60s, though, isn’t there? It is like an inherent “Americana” that we all feel of some level. There are many layers to those feelings, and much of it is “dream-like” or “misremembered musings”. The 60s are magical. They are powerful. They were transformative and they made us much of what we are today. They were a time of rapid, new exploration, both of self and nature. A lot was accomplished, barriers broken, struggles overcome, and the pendulum of culture and time shifted dramatically in their wake. Yet, as we look back with a more critical eye and peel back the layers of time, we see the other side of the story. It was a time of extreme chaos, danger, and outrage. There was constant tragedy, and devastating, raging wars, at home and all across the globe. Protest and strife, in the name of Civil and Human Rights, were a daily ritual, as the old world was crashing, rightfully, to its knees. In many ways we are still fighting these fights, these battles. The chaos of the 60s lives very much in our lives today, with the irony of many of the protesters of those days being the oppressors of our day. We have experienced this chaos before, and we can survive.

When I listen to the music of the 60s, particularly music that was released during 1966-1968, I feel a sense of excitement, joy, explorations of new, and also there is this tension, darkness, and the loss of innocence. Forever Changes encapsulates all of these emotions, and while representative of that time, it also flows through the eras to somehow still sound fresh today.

It is truly a beautiful, wonderous masterpiece.

And now for a wild side story…

In the early days of the band, they had another lead guitarist. He was one of the founders of the band, along with Arthur Lee. In those early, pre-Love years, they were called the Grass Roots, eventually changing their name to Love with the discovery of the popular 60s band The Grass Roots. Just before the release of their debut album, their original guitarist, Bobby Beausoleil, left the band to join another “Band” of sorts. As Love rose to fame in Los Angeles, Bobby would too… well, more like infamy. He would go on to become a prominent member of The Manson Family, eventually committing the murder that would inspire “The Family” to set off the chain of horror that we all know as “The Tate-LaBianca Murders”. 

Small world, I guess.

Forever Changes is a unique musical experience and I believe an essential one.

Essential Track: ‘The Red Telephone’