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Arthur Lee of Love

FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
edited April 2006 in Other Music
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=musicNews&storyid=2006-04-18T171725Z_01_N18361664_RTRIDST_0_MUSIC-LEE-DC.XML

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Love frontman Arthur Lee is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a post from Los Angeles-based club booker Liz Garo on noted Love fan site LoveWithArthurLee.com (http://www.lovewitharthurlee.com/).

Lee has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy but continued treatment and a possible bone marrow transplant are looming.

As Lee is uninsured, friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert for late May or early June. Garo says such venues as the Avalon, Disney Hall, the Greek Theater and the El Rey Theater are in consideration and that Calexico, Cake and X have been contacted to participate.

"We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee and Love," Garo writes.

Highlighted by the 1967 masterpiece "Forever Changes," Love crafted some of the most celebrated rock'n'roll of the psychedelic rock era. But its legacy languished in the ensuing years due to Lee's unpredictable behavior and prison stint on a weapons violation.

After being released from jail in late 2001, Lee assembled a new version of Love that enjoyed success touring in Europe and North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in its entirety.

Last summer, Lee's backing band, Baby Lemonade, announced it would no longer perform with him, citing the "steady decline" of his "mental and physical health." In recent months, Lee had assembled a new backing group from his new home base of Memphis.

But according to Garo's post, "Baby Lemonade is available to back up any singer" at the benefit "and there will be a string section as well."

Reuters/Billboard

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserve
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    chris3chris3 Posts: 43
    Huh, I figured he was already dead. I remember freshman year in high school when I'd smoke weed and get really blitzed and listen to "A Hous is not a Motel". God, what a shitty song to high too..... I've always felt Love wasn't really that great. They weren't bad, but they were by no means great.
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    FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    He was on a UK tour last summer, with his most recent incarnation of Love. It was really hyped, and I was going to go and see him. But then, suddenly, the band split.


    Forever Changes is good, in my opinion, but the rest of his work is pretty uneven.
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