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THE ORIGINAL
LINE UP:
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Bryan
MacLean: Our main man, rhythm guitarist,
co-lead vocalist and other main songwriter.
For Bryan's full story see biography page. |
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Arthur
Lee: Love's driving force, lead
vocalist, harp player, guitarist and songwriter.
Born in Memphis on March 7, 1945 - Died
Memphis, August 3, 2006. After a steady
increase in profile in the 90's, due to
(for Arthur!) regular touring and a resurgence
of interest in Love, Arthur was cruelly
incarcerated for a firearm offence (his
3rd felony) for 12 years & under the
then current U.S. law he looked likely
to serve at least 80% of the sentence.
Out 6 years later, and with the help of
the late Gene Kraut as manager, Arthur
set about playing live, and with the burst
of interest surrounding his release and
the reissue of the original Love albums
all was seemingly going well. Some great
live shows, some patchy, though always
backed 110% by the very fine Baby Lemonade
who became the new Love, Arthur played
all over the world, did Glastonbury, toured
playing the Forever Changes album in it's
entirety with a full string ensemble,
put out a DVD, live album, made up with
Johnny Echols etc etc.
But
then it seemed Arthur had returned to
old ways, not fulfilling live dates etc.
And Baby Lemonade quit on him. Amid fighting
talk of a new band, worrying reports of
ill-health started to filter through and
unfortunately the rumour mill was right
for once and Arthur died in his home town
of Memphis at the age of 61 following
a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia
on August 3, 2006. Through all his faults,
he was much loved and will be missed by
many. His imprint will be left on rock
music forever simply because of the beauty
of Forever Changes. Alongside Da Capo
& Love, it has some of the finest moments
in 'pop' music history. We wish you peace
Arthur, LoVe to you...
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Johnny
Echols: Love's lead guitarist
& occasional vocalist. Rumors abounded
about Johnny & his whereabouts. Some
had him living like a nomad in the desert,
others say he served time along with Ken
Forssi at the end of the 60's for holding
up doughnut stands. A more down to earth
account (The Castle) said that in 2002,
Johnny gave an interview (his first for
some 25 years) in which he said he is
alive and well, living with the rest of
us in suburbia and very much proud of
what he did with Love.
Update
2005: Johnny is back in the band!
After hooking up at some shows with Arthur
in the last couple of years, sitting in
on guitar, he is now back in full time
and gigging everywhere that Love do. Wow!
If only all this activity had happened
back in the 90s, we might've been treated
to a full reunion. Maybe it was Bryan's
passing that kick started things. The
advent of time is a powerful motivator.
A couple of other points. Johnny emailed
the guestbook a while ago and slammed
the hold-up stories as absolute rubbish,
said he spent some time cleaning up and
then played/recorded with various jazz
people. Also I read in Mike Randle's diaries
I think it was, that the legendary Gethsemene
album is actually Johnny's work and he's
looking to get it out in the next year
or so. Can't wait to hear it!
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Ken
Forssi: Love's bass guitarist
proper arrived just after the recording
sessions for the first album commenced
as a replacement for Johnny Fleckenstein
who went on to join the classic garage
band The Standells, before becoming a
successful cinematographer. Rumors persist
of Ken & Johnny's post Love lives.
No-one seems too sure. The one thing that
I'm sure of though is what an amazingly
great bassist he was. I say was because
sadly Ken passed away shortly before Bryan
in '98 of a brain tumour. What might've
been if Arthur hadn't got locked away
when he did and the rumours of a full
original Love reunion materialised?
Well in my daydreams they do often. Capable
of driving a tune from the foundation
like Seven & Seven Is or sublime subtlety
like the gentle plodding of Old Man, Ken
never gave the feeling of overplaying
whether complex or not. RIP Ken.
Any
stories you have involving Ken in his
years with Love or since, or any pictures
you have, send them in and we'll add them.
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Michael
Stuart: Love's drummer for their
two greatest works Da Capo and Forever
Changes. Michael Stuart was formerly playing
with the surf band Sons Of Adam which
cut the Arthur Lee penned Feathered Fish
before being poached by Love to sure up
the rhythm section due to Snoopy's shaky
inexperience in front of the skins. Michael
Stuart-Ware (as he is now) wrote Bryan's
mother Elizabeth a very touching note
upon his death saying he was "honoured
to have been his friend and bandmate".
His excellent jazzy touches definitely
added another quality to Love's most famous
works.
In
2002 Michael published an excellent
book, Pegasus Carousel, via his own website
(www.pegasuscarousel.com)
which has subsequently been picked up
by the UK publishers Helter Skelter Books.
It really gives an insight into the band
and the times they lived in. Sometimes
humorous, sometimes sad, it doesn't shy
away from the drugs, in-fighting and egos
which finally finished the original band
off. Go and find a copy now, it's a great
read and probably about as close to the
truth as we'll ever get, regarding the
life and times of the original band.
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Alban
"Snoopy" Pfisterer: Love's
drummer on their first album soon became
their harpsichord/keyboard player upon the
arrival of Michael Stuart. Classically trained
at the piano, his skills can amply be heard
on the intro/outro of Da Capo b-side opus
Revelation and Stephanie Knows Who. I did
see something on the net in 2001/02 that
said Snoopy was traveling to South America
and looking to hook-up with anybody that
wanted to get together and play and that
was about all I knew on him. That is until
I tracked down a number for him and gave
him a call. Thankfully he knew of the website
and was then happy to shoot the breeze for
over an hour on his feelings about the band.
A very charming guy. Hopefully in time I
can get a proper interview lined-up and
get it on site here. |
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Tjay
Cantrelli: The mysterious Tjay
Cantrelli (b. John Berberis) played sax
& flute on the classic Love album Da
Capo before seeming to vanish - or did he?
Well actually though he never recorded with
Love again, he went on to work with both
Geronimo Black (Ex-members of Frank Zappa's
Mothers Of Invention) and Flo & Eddie
(aka Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The
Turtles). From other things that I've read,
I believe Tjay passed away in the early/mid
90's. RIP. If anyone has more info then
e-mail and I'll add it here. |
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Picture copyright Norman J. Hauge |
Don Conka: Love's original
drummer Don Conka was only in the line-up
for a short time. Said to have been struggling
with a serious Heroin habit, his appearances
at rehearsals & gigs was never too
assured. This led to him being dropped
for the recording of the first album,
on which Arthur played some of the drums
& bass before the arrivals of Snoopy
& Ken. A song about Conka's plight
was penned by Arthur who performed it
right up to his last show, the haunting
Signed D.C. Arthur & Don remained
close friends & when the rumours of
a reformation of the original line-up
appeared before Lee's sentencing, surprisingly
ahead of Michael Stuart, it was rumoured
that Don was Arthur's first choice for
the drum stool. Of his time with the band
Don, in recent years, talked fondly, "It
was a refreshing thing. We used to rehearse
in Arthur's garage, playing Byrds &
Kinks songs & originals. We developed
an original sound that way. You can identify
any song by those bands, but you can't
pin down Arthur's sound".
Again as is the way with most Love news,
positive reports of Don attending Love
gigs in the last couple of years were
then followed by the sad news that he
had died on Sept 26th, 2004.
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