Rock pioneer Arthur Lee fronted band Love
Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 6, 2006
Arthur Lee, who forged a legacy as a rock visionary and forbidding eccentric while reigning with his band Love as princes of the mid-1960s Sunset Strip, died Thursday of leukemia in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital. He was 61.
Mark Linn, a longtime friend, said Lee learned in February that he had leukemia and spent most of his remaining months in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy and an experimental umbilical cord blood treatment.
Lee, who established himself as the first black rock star of the post-Beatles era, fronted Love through astonishing musical changes that have continued to resonate.
Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant cited the influence of Lee and Love in his acceptance speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
But Love also became one of the first burnout bands of the 1960s, and with Lee’s death, only three members survive of the eight who were in the band between 1965 and 1967.
Dogged by intra-band rivalries, substance abuse and Lee’s reluctance to tour, the first version of Love was finished by 1968, although Lee continued using the band name to record and perform at least sporadically for the rest of his life.
He was imprisoned from 1996 to 2001 on a third-strike weapons charge, but after his release he had new energy and a new story to tell that led to a resurgence for a time in concerts, including a 2003 performance in London, available on DVD, in which Lee was able to re-create Love’s masterpiece album, “Forever Changes,” backed by a sharp, four-man rock band.
