LOVE - FOUR SAIL
Plain & Fancy have followed up the posting of the Love masterpiece 'Forever Changes' 50th Anniversary Rhino collection with the historically interesting 'Four Sail' of the following year (1969).
Arthur by now has given up on the previous band mates citing their junk habits as being insurmountable within months of completing and touring to promote the seminal album. As albums go it is of course still highly listenable but 'Forever Changes' and the personnel issues mean that Arthur will never again reach such dizzying heights again. The liner notes alone here put Arthur Lee's side of things and contain links to further reading on the matter which are truly fascinating.
Now Kyle Hoffman is welcome to his opinion here of course but citing 'Four Sail' as his favourite Love album is wilfully perverse if you ask me. 'Forever Changes' is the seminal poetic statement from Arthur Lee (and co-writer Bryan MacLean) their tour de force if you will.
This album purchased by yours truly when it came out made me go backwards firstly and revisit their first two previous albums. Their first I found difficult and floundering somewhat but indicative of things to come. 'Da Capo' was the forerunner later that same year to show what portents might be had towards 'Forever Changes' and remains a still favourite album by the standard line up of Arthur, Johnny Echols, Bryan MacLean, Ken Forssi and Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer. Augmented later on Da Capo by adding Michael Stuart replacing 'Snoopy' on drums and Tjay Cantrelli on wind instruments saxophone, flute, with some percussion.
The account of the affects of heroin addiction on the band courtesy of their roadie Neil [Rappaport] is particularly distressing and proved disastrous for any future promise the band might have been destined for (see below cover notes). It wasn't long before Rappaport was found dead and Lee maintained "three or four members" of the band had developed serious junk habits that made any further artistic collaborations pretty much impossible (some were later to recover and figure later in the revival but at that time it seemed a long shot at best). I don't care for 'Four Sail' anywhere near as much as 'Da Capo' let alone 'Forever Changes' which still stands as always in my top ten albums of all time and more often in the top three.
Love - Four Sail 1969 - The Rockasteria - Plain and Fancy 2002 remaster re-issue
Love - Four Sail (1969 - 2002 remaster and expanded)
My favorite Love album is Four Sail (Elektra 1969). None of the original band members save for Arthur Lee are on this one. This album is an extraordinary voyage across genres. If it wasn’t so diverse and well-executed I might have written this album off as “pretentious, too proggy, jammy, etc…” but the musicianship is superb and tasteful, and everyone minds each other’s boundaries even at the album’s most intense moments.
The album opens with “August,” which wails away for five minutes. “Your Friend and Mine” is the perfect counterpoint/follow-up to the opening track; a beautiful baroque pop tribute to a friend who’d overdosed and died. The lyrics are heartfelt, yet vague enough to be played at any funeral.
“I’m With You” is a very fluid and sweet uptempo number. “Good Time” starts out smooth as a pebble with a muted jazz guitar tone, and then transitions back and forth into shaking foundations and rocking the fuck out. “Singing Cowboy” rocks with a soulful mannerism and an awesome extended break. “Dream” is just a damn good ballad about nothing in particular, with really cool overdubbed whispers.
“Robert Montgomery” sounds like Eleanor Rigby only for just a second, then turns into a totally different song. “Nothing” seems to be written about exactly that. The weird, enigmatic lyrics hint at this having been a leftover for the Forever Changes album that didn’t get recorded.
“Talking In My Sleep” is an absolute treat with exemplary vocals and some odd harmonies that are totally reminiscent of Queen. I have long speculated that Freddie Mercury and/or Brian May dug this and used it as a sonic blueprint for part of their sound. “Always See Your Face” is a sweet and beautiful soul ballad which was featured in the movie High Fidelity. The brass treatment gives it a very English feel.
One of the recurring themes throughout this album is the doubled vocals. Listen to the way Arthur Lee adeptly recorded another nearly identical vocal track over the original takes, making only subtle differences (sometimes in pitch, and sometimes with lyrics).
It is my opinion as a long-time musician and songwriter that there is not a bad tone or a single poorly-recorded instrument on this album. From croon to howl, shout to whisper, Arthur Lee covers just about every verb in the vocalist’s lexicon. I can’t be sure that Arthur Lee was responsible for writing every song on here, but the bottom line is, I’d like to see more musicians dedicate more effort and attention to detail into crafting songs like these. They are irregular and odd, yet somehow wonderfully palatable and diverse. They are original and enjoyable, excellently non-linear, and most importantly turn your brain on. Four Sail, indeed.
by Kyle Hoffman, October 14, 2014
1. August - 5:08
2. Your Friend And Mine - Neil's Song - 3:50
3. I'm With You - 2:43
4. Good Times - 3:33
5. Singing Cowboy (Arthur Lee, Jay Donnellan) - 4:48
6. Dream - 2:49
7. Robert Montgomery - 3:29
8. Nothing - 4:48
9. Talking In My Sleep - 2:49
10.Always See Your Face - 3:29
11.Robert Montgomery" (Alternate Vocal) - 3:35
12.Talking In My Sleep" (Alternate Mix) - 2:55
13.Singing Cowboy" (Unedited Version) (Arthur Lee, Jay Donnellan) - 5:52
All songs by Arthur Lee except where noted
Personnel
*Arthur Lee - Lead Vocals, Piano, Harmonica, Rhythm Guitar, Congas
*Jay Donnellan - Lead Guitar
*Frank Fayad – Bass, Backing Vocals
*George Suranovich - Drums, Backing Vocals
*Drachen Theaker - Drums
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