Label: High Moon Records (US), HMRCD-01
Style: Rhythm and Blues, Psychedelic Rock
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Time: 74:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 442 Mb
What
was technically recorded as Arthur Lee’s second solo album after the
dissolution of Love in 1971 became viewed as the “great lost Love
album”, as the album was going to be released under the trading name of
Love. The shortest version of the story behind 1973’s Black Beauty is
that the record label, for whom it was recorded, folded before it ever
saw the light of day. Buffalo Records came and went without a trace and
one of Arthur Lee’s strongest works remained unreleased until 2012,
when High Moon Records issued it on vinyl for the very first time – now,
it appears on CD in a beautiful hardcover package with live material
and an Arthur Lee interview included.
Heavier than most Love albums
people would be familiar with (Da Capo, Forever Changes, etc.), Black
Beauty rocks with melody and guts. The band Lee assembled to help
realize this album – Melvan Whittington: guitar, Robert Rozelle: bass
and Joe Blocker on drums – are as powerful and masterful as the best
known Love line-ups and their feel gives Black Beauty a definite group
vibe, rather than a tentative solo effort. The production is very good,
considering the only source originally known was from acetates (!);
most importantly, Lee’s writing had grown and stretched to a finessed
level of groove with sophistication, most notably on “Skin”. Right out
of the chute, “Young & Able (Good & Evil)” points a new (maybe
an “of the time”/”’70’s style”) direction but with fire; “Midnight Sun”
is heavy and pure R-O-C-K and sounds more like a Hendrix track than
anything else (!); “Beep Beep” is a calypso/reggae-oriented number that
shows the playful side of Lee’s writing.
Is Black Beauty truly the
great lost Love album? I would have to say yes. Although the original
album was only to have ten tracks (this collection includes 6 bonuses –
live tracks, the Lee interview and a few other items of interest), those
ten tracks hold together solidly and work as a complete package. It’s
also one of Arthur Lee’s most accessible works. It doesn’t matter that
it was first born in 1973 – that it sounds as good now as it would have
then says it all.
(popdose.com/reissue-review-love-black-beauty/)
01. Young & Able (Good & Evil) (03:24)
02. Midnight Sun (03:33)
03. Can't Find It (03:46)
04. Walk Right In (03:23)
05. Skid (02:52)
06. Beep Beep (02:14)
07. Stay Away (02:47)
08. Lonely Pigs (04:25)
09. See Myself In You (03:03)
10. Product Of The Times (04:11)
11. Title Song From The Motion Picture 'Thomasine & Bushrod' (bonus track) (02:26)
12. Arthur Lee Interview With Steve Rosen (bonus track) (22:16)
13. Every Time I Look Up I'm Down (Live At Electric Gardens, Glasgow) (bonus track) (03:32)
14. Nothing (Live At Electric Gardens, Glasgow) (bonus track) (03:06)
15. Keep On Shining (Live At Electric Gardens, Glasgow) (bonus track) (05:56)
16. L.A. Blues (Performed By Arthur Lee & The Ventilators) (bonus track) (03:02)
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