Arthur Lee, the force behind the 60s band Love, and one of the most influential musicians in the history of psychedelic rock, died yesterday in Memphis. He was a huge influence on one of my former bandmates in Los Angeles. Rest in Peace. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060804/music_nm/arthurlee_dc_2 Influential rocker Arthur Lee dies in Memphis By Dean Goodman Fri Aug 4, 3:54 AM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arthur Lee, the eccentric singer/guitarist with influential 1960s rock band Love, has died in a Memphis hospital after a battle with leukemia, his manager said on Friday. He was 61. "His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception," Mark Linn said in an email to Reuters. "He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall." Lee died on Thursday at about 5 p.m. EDT at Methodist University Hospital with his wife Diane at his side, Linn added. Lee, a Memphis native who referred to himself as "the first so-called black hippie," formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965, emerging from the same scene as groups like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors and the Mamas and Papas. The first multiracial rock band of the psychedelic era, Love recorded three groundbreaking albums fusing traditional folk rock and blues with symphonic suites and early punk. Bands as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Siouxsie and the Banshees cited Love as an influence. The band's self-titled debut yielded the hit single "My Little Red Book," written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. The 1967 follow-up, "Da Capo," was one of the first rock albums to feature a song, "Revelation," that took up an entire side. A third release, 1968's "Forever Changes," which boasted adventurous horn and string arrangements, is considered Love's bold response to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" album. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at No. 40 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. But Love, which rarely left Los Angeles, lost momentum as Lee hired new musicians and pursued a solo career. Various reunions amounted to little, and Lee's eccentricities landed him in a California prison for six years during the 1990s for firing a pistol into the air. After his release in late 2001, Lee assembled a new version of Love and toured Europe and North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in its entirety. Lee was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia this year. In May, facing certain death after three rounds of chemotherapy failed, he became the first adult in Tennessee to undergo a bone marrow transplant using stem cells from an umbilical cord, according to The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. Doctors said the procedure lifted his chances of survival only moderately, the newspaper said. Several benefit concerts were held in Britain and the United States to help Lee with his medical bills. Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant headlined a benefit in New York in June.
DAMN! YOU SCARED ME!!! i thought you meant my hero, aurthur lee, former point guard for stanford he gave us the memorable march madness moment of ripping cuttino, dishin to madsen..........madsen with the finish!
Go buy the album. Worked a solo show he did back in 2003, he barely made it to the theater on time, but he showed up eventually. My roommate was the stage manager, so he's essentially in charge of locating lost talent. Lee had some issues with his hip that day in Chicago and decided to find some alternative treatment unbeknownest to his bandmates. We got him on stage, eventually, and it was a great show. Great sound. Played the whole Forever Changes album all the way through. He had a look about him that suggested he could either drop dead at any second, or live to be 120.
I was already planning on picking up J5's new one as well as Tom Petty's during lunch. I will now buy this one too.
Me too my boss here at work coached arthur and has all this arthur lee stuff around the office. he just went through back surgery and hearing arthur passing away may have been too much for him.
wow. thats cool. at what level did he coach arthur? i still think arthur lee couldve been a pretty good nba player
not sure I havent asked him but most likely it was high school but I can find out today he has a few pictures of him around and a autographed framed jersey of arthur in his office I try not to go in there too much cuz he talks my ear off at times, but i need to start sucking up to him so i can get the company tix to the 2 clipper rocket games this season (the company buys season tix 3-4 rows from center court to give to clients ) I'll find out never really followed arthur after he left stanford. just remember those stanford teams were stacked, collins twins, madsen, lee, jacobsen, childress
hahaha. yeah i didnt really follow him much after college either. i thought he would get drafted but he didnt, because he did have an exceptional career at stanford....im sure you remember the famous stanford vs rhode island game. if i remember correctly rhode island were the huge favorites in that game with odom, cuttino, and tyson wheeler. aurthur lee led the comeback single handedly. that is my favortie ncaa game of all time.
