Michael Stuart-Ware (drummer on LoVE's classic albums Da Capo and Forever Changes) and Johnny Echols (lead guitarist and co-founder of LoVE) have joined us here on the Forum to answer your questions about their time with LoVE.At this moment they are not active as members and are not answering questions but I'm proud to have them both aboard at The Freedom Man Forum!
A fantastic song by Jefferson Airplane AND the title of a LoVE release with outtakes and demos of LoVE's catalog during their golden years....is there any connection or reason for the same titles of song and album...?
We know of the Airplane connection with Love and the untold exploits of Grace and the Airplane at the CASTLE....but what else? Just an A & R decision?
James, I believe that "Last Wall of the Castle" is an unauthorized/bootleg CD. The bootlegger used the title of one of Love's songs ("The Castle"), and the nickname of their house, to come up with that clever title. I think it's intended to give the impression that the contents of the CD represent the remainder of their recordings, or the "last wall."
BallroomDays67 wrote:James, I believe that "Last Wall of the Castle" is an unauthorized/bootleg CD. The bootlegger used the title of one of Love's songs ("The Castle"), and the nickname of their house, to come up with that clever title. I think it's intended to give the impression that the contents of the CD represent the remainder of their recordings, or the "last wall."
Right Bally--I was reading that there is a good booklet with a bunch of plagiarized text material from Mojo and so on...not something that Johnny would appreciate I am guessing, though we collectors have boots too....as the scarcity of Love material was the norm for decades....we took what we could get.
With the upcoming re-release of Black Beauty, we can only hope that the legacy continues....many thanks to Diane on this one.
I suppose the bootlegger that compiled The Last Wall....was being witty by choosing the JA song title and giving it a double meaning for the Love boot.
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
Johnny Echols wrote:Damn.... I must really be out of the loop, never knew any of this!
You may be unhappy to know there are so many unauthorized boots out there, Johnny, but they are mostly out-of-print or live stuff available as boots...such as the House of Blues shows.
Of course, boots work to get those new LoVE converts to shell out for such great reissues or "new" remastered releases, such as the Forever Changes Deluxe Edition box.
You might find these boots like the one in this post interesting, as it included some of the studio banter and the many takes of 7&7 Is, with booth chatter...though you may not want to relive that!!
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music".
Yes...several versions of "7 & 7 Is" between takes 76(?) and 88!
It also has a nice outtake of "Signed D.C." (without the harmonica overdub), which was subsequently issued as a bonus track on the Stereo/Mono debut album CD. When I first heard it, I got the impression that the harmonica part might not have been intended for the song at that point in time. Is that the case, or was it always planned to add harmonica?
It also contains Take 16 of "Hummingbirds", which is one take earlier than the version included on the "Forever Changes: Collector's Edition" CD set. What a beautiful song, which was later improved upon. Is that a "Da Capo" outtake? If so, how far did it get before being set aside, later to be included on "Forever Changes" as "The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This"? Did Arthur ever add a complete vocal to that earlier incarnation of the song?
Actually that version of "Hummingbirds" was an earlier track, from the "Forever Changes" sessions at Western Sound Recorders, there was no vocal. It was done before we were told that Elektra, due to other commitments, would not be releasing this project as a double album. That's when it hit the fan. We were some very pissed off young men (by that time) and his trying to "play us"....one against the other didn't help.
This would have been a couple of months before we re-grouped and tried again with Bruce Botnick at Sunset Sound. At that point Jac Holtzman was manipulating each of us, (long distance) by sending us money directly, instead of to our accountants. He sent us tens of thousands of dollars under the table, hoping he could bribe us into completing enough tracks for at least one album. He then set the events in motion for the group's eventual break-up, by promising Bryan a solo album, if he would stop sulking, and help get this project in the can....
