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1965, the Strip and
Arthur Lee
by John
Densmore
AN APPRECIATION 1965, the
Strip and Arthur Lee Love's singer was a man in style and
substance ahead of his time, a rock hall of famer recalls.
By John Densmore, Special to The Times
It was
1965 when I rushed down to the Whisky a Go-Go to stand out
front and listen to a group called Love. My band, the Doors,
was playing in a dumpy club up the street, and we were on a
break. I craned my neck past Mario, the doorman, to get a
glimpse of a band that was so far ahead of its time, the
public still hasn't caught up.
The first time I saw
Love, I was shocked. They were bizarre. Arthur Lee, the
African American lead singer, wore rose-tinted granny glasses,
and they had a guitar player whose pants were so tight, it
looked like he had a sock stuffed inside his crotch. It was a
racially mixed group who seemed to be friends. After
experiencing Love, I knew I had a ways to go before being hip.
Wearing leather capes and pin-striped pants, suede moccasins,
paisley shirts and jackets with fringe everywhere, I wondered
if they went out on the street like that. Not that they were
fashion without substance; as Lee told us all: "And the things
that I must do consist of more than style."
This was a
revolutionary band, way before Jimi Hendrix. No black man had
crossed over from "soul music" into rock before Arthur. I
desperately wanted to be in this band. Arthur clearly had tons
of talent and charisma, a quality that our singer, Jim
Morrison, hadn't developed yet.
When we finally became
the house band at the Whisky, Arthur graciously suggested to
Jac Holzman, the president of Love's record company, that Jac
check out the Doors. Due to Arthur's jump-starting, we got a
record deal.
Jim and I would drive down from Laurel
Canyon to the Chinese restaurant next to Greenblatt's Deli to
get egg fried rice for breakfast. On one of those excursions
"My Little Red Book" came on the radio, Love's cover of the
Burt Bacharach-Hal David song. "If we could make a record as
good as that," Jim said, "I'd be happy."
Love went on
to make several albums for Elektra Records, one of which,
"Forever Changes," is a masterpiece (and, it should be noted,
was produced and engineered by the vital Bruce Botnick). This
album defined the '60s and is the "Sgt. Pepper's" of the West
Coast, the "Pet Sounds" of psychedelia. One title from that
album, "Maybe the People Would Be the Times, or Between Clark
and Hilldale," reflects the street life on the Strip, the
Whisky being located on Sunset Boulevard "between Clark and
Hilldale."
*
And oh, the music is so loud
And
then, I fade into the crowds
Of people standing everywhere
And here, they always play my
songs
Wrong or
right, they come here
just the same
Tellin' everyone
about their
game
*
Forgive me now, for copying
a slew of lyrics from this brilliant record, but better to
quote a genius than wax on with helium upstairs.
*
On racism:
Around my town
Here, everyone's
painted brown
And if with you that's not
the way
Let's go paint everybody gray
*
Reincarnation:
I've been here once, I've been
here twice
I
don't know, if the third's the
fourth, or the fifth's to
fix
*
War:
There's a man who can't decide
If he should fight for what his
father thinks is right
*
Prophecy (Arthur spent some time in jail years
after this was written):
They're locking them up
today,
They're throwing away the key,
I wonder who it
will be
tomorrow, you or me
*
Philosophy:
This is the time in life that I am
living
And
I'll face each day with
a smile
For the time that I
have been
given, such a little while
And for everyone
who thinks
that life is just a game
Do you like the
part you're
playin'
*
Death:
Sitting
on a hillside, watching
all the people die
I'll feel
much better on the other
side
*
Arthur, I hope
you're sitting on that hill in fact, the Doors' lead singer is
waiting to show you where that hill is and I'm sure you'll
feel better.
Unfortunately, Arthur smoked so much herb
that he was reluctant to leave his house. "Forever Changes"
became a critical and chart-topping monster in England, but
Lee wouldn't cross the pond. For those of you who are new to
the importance of this band called Love, please check it out.
When I heard the news that Arthur died Thursday, I lit
some white sage given to me by Native American musician
friends, in honor, and to help Arthur Lee with his crossing.
He was an extremely talented, tortured artist, not unlike Jim,
and the two of them are sitting on that hill.
"Don't
ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you
come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is
people who have come alive."
- Howard Thurman, African
American mystic and activist
*
Densmore,
author, essayist and drummer for the Doors, was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
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