Arthur Lee

Arthur Lee (1945-2006) and the group he fronted, Love, are widely recognized as one of the most influential bands of the 1960s, and Forever Changes (1967), a masterpiece of psychedelia, folk and rock, appears regularly on lists of the best albums of all time. Lee championed this brilliant and erratic group through its convulsive history of breakups and resurrections, and subsequently released three solo albums. In this extraordinary biography, Barney Hoskyns (of whom we have already published Hotel California: Singer-Songwriters and Cokeheaded Cowboys in Laurel Canyon) composes a choral portrait of a musician who created some memorable songs but could certainly have spawned many more. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Arthur Lee, singer/songwriter/guitarist Bryan MacLean, and other key figures in the Los Angeles music scene of the time, this riveting tale reveals the dark underside of the Summer of Love: drugs, crime, and ego struggles, as well as a journey through Lee's musical career after the dissolution of Love until his imprisonment after being accused of firing a gun. This volume includes an afterword by the author written especially for this edition.