favorite Love song

Post by **jamestkirk** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:59 pm

What Love song did you enjoy recording most? Michael and Johnny...one that really gelled or cooked for you?

I have many I love listening to.

Also there have been varying accounts of what songs the Wrecking Crew played. Are they totally the Wrecking Crew or did Love overdub after the fact to make it more your own?

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 12:27 am

jamestkirk wrote:What Love song did you enjoy recording most? Michael and Johnny...one that really gelled or cooked for you?

I have many I love listening to.

Also there have been varying accounts of what songs the Wrecking Crew played. Are they totally the Wrecking Crew or did Love overdub after the fact to make it more your own?

Several members of the Wrecking Crew, played on Daily Planet, along with Kenny and I. A rhythm guitarist, joined Love on one other track. ( I'd have to listen to the cd, to remember which one, since the song titles were different at the time.) Don Randi also played piano on "Bummer in the Summer." Forssi and I were on all of the tracks. My favorite songs to play, were "A House IS Not A Motel," and "Your Mind and WE." If I had to choose one in particular, it would be "House" because Michael establishes a really "smoking" groove. The song sticks in my mind, because I played the second guitar solo, without being able to hear the first one. Yet it sounds as though the two guitars were playing off each other. It still amazes me to this day, how that young boy was able to pull that off. That's called playing outside one's self. JE.

Post by **BallroomDays67** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:15 am

According to the Einarson book, the "Forever Changes" lineup performed "House" live at least one time. Is that true? If so, did you also enjoy playing it live? Except for the double guitar solo, it seems like one of the songs from "Forever Changes" that would translate best to a live setting.

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:01 am

BallroomDays67 wrote:According to the Einarson book, the "Forever Changes" lineup performed "House" live at least one time. Is that true? If so, did you also enjoy playing it live? Except for the double guitar solo, it seems like one of the songs from "Forever Changes" that would translate best to a live setting.

We played it "live" several times, especially during the east coast tour. Along with Live and Let Live, and Your Mind and We. JE.

Post by **jamestkirk** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:54 pm

Do you regret not having played the Forever Changes album in full, live, with the original lineup? I am guessing the budget was not there with Elektra, with small orchestra & promotion like Arthur got in 2003--- nor the motivation, as Love was in a tailspin at the time of your East Coast tour it seems...or is that a misconception?

Michael really does SMOKE on "House Is Not A Motel"l!!

He really does deserve to be in the top-ten Rock drummers....but that is also forgotten by many.

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:38 pm

Though we did play some of the obvious songs from FC. It would have been great, had we been able to perform all of Forever Changes [live] back in the day. Bad choices, and circumstances. Along with outside influences, conspired to keep us from doing what was necessary to move Love to the next level. In my opinion if a group is not moving forward, they are standing still. Inertia soon takes over, and you become overwhelmed by complacency. All the Kings horses, and all the Kings men, could not have put Love together again. JE.

Post by **BallroomDays67** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:09 pm

Considering that it was released as a single, was there any attempt to work out a live arrangement for "Alone Again Or"?

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:49 pm

BallroomDays67 wrote:Considering that it was released as a single, was there any attempt to work out a live arrangement for "Alone Again Or"?

We did play "Alone Again" [live] a few times, though Bryan was still upset at the way the group recorded it. One can't really blame him, he heard [his] song his way! The track we ended up recording, was a totally different song. After it became popular, his attitude changed and he embraced the "new" version. He even recorded a similar version on his solo album. I would often tease Bryan, telling him that the original song would have been great, on the "Grand Old Opry"! JE.

Post by **BallroomDays67** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:14 pm

It would definitely be interesting to hear the original version. Both versions on the "Ifyoubelievein" CD do indeed sound similar to how Love recorded it. Bryan said that it originally had a nicer melody, but it's hard to imagine that such a beautiful song could possibly be improved upon. When it was played live, what took the place of the trumpet solo?

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:42 pm

BallroomDays67 wrote:It would definitely be interesting to hear the original version. Both versions on the "Ifyoubelievein" CD do indeed sound similar to how Love recorded it. Bryan said that it originally had a nicer melody, but it's hard to imagine that such a beautiful song could possibly be improved upon. When it was played live, what took the place of the trumpet solo?

I Played the "Spanish" riffs that you hear in the back ground, a bit louder when we did the song live. In his notes, Bryan neglected to mention the persistent finger picking banjo, he had wanted to do counterpoint to the guitar. JE.

Post by **jamestkirk** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 6:09 pm

Hmmm....banjo? Good choice to delete that idea.

With Buffalo Springfield in the forefront of the country rock movement, was there ever any thought of Love going in that direction (not Opry style!!) or do you consider any Love song to have that flavor? Or was it always jazz & blues (and some classical undertones) as LoVE's rock soul and inspiration?

I always hate tags (for me it's all just great music!), but wasn't all of rock from our time in the 60's a "jazz/rock/blues/classical/folk FUSION? How could one not be influenced by the great ones of the past or by ones peers?

I never once thought back then that Springfield were country rock, or Byrds-folk rock, or Hendrix to be psych blues rock or King Crimson as prog rock...it was all just music. We didn't need to label it to be comfortable with it.

It just WAS & IS.

Post by **Johnny Echols** » Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:21 pm

One has to think about it, but the interplay which determines the "Love" sound on many songs. Is the melding of an acoustic "folk-Bluegrass" guitar with a "jazz-Blues-rock" electric guitar counterpoint.

The country influence, is exactly where Bryan was trying to go. That was what everyone was talking about at the time. David Crosby, was convinced that country rock was going to be the next big thing. He would talk about it incessantly. So Arthur and Bryan both, were looking in that direction. Listen to the guitar solo on "Bummer in the Summer." I thought one of the longer, more traditional solo's that I played was much better. But Arthur wanted me to play a "twangy" country thing! He also wanted me to lean that way on "Live and Let Live". I agonized over that solo, trying to find the song's groove, it just wasn't happening. Finally I stopped thinking about it, and just played. It's been my belief all these years, one more take, and I would have nailed it.

I always felt that music shouldn't really have "labels" and that the people would go wherever the musicians took them, as long as it was good. JE.

favorite Love song

favorite Love song

Re: favorite Love song

FC live

A little bit country...