After a series of
lacklustre records following their acknowledged absolute creative peak in 1967
with Forever Changes, by 1974, commercially, Love couldn’t get arrested
(although on a personal level, with a turbulent and troubling lifestyle, Arthur
Lee had no such problem). Serious drug issues had torn apart the line-up of the
band that had recorded Forever Changes and what followed was a collection of
records that rapidly declined in quality………………even the presence of Jimi Hendrix
could not save False Start, a record that even the most ardent Love aficionados
would consider a waste of vinyl. Reel to Real was the first official Love album
in four years, and Arthur Lee recorded the album basically as a solo album with
studio musicians after dismissing all previous members from the later
incarnation of the band. It followed the release of Lee's solo album Vindicator
in 1972 and two different Love albums that had been recorded but never released,
which included Black Beauty which was shelved when Buffalo Records went out of
business just prior to the album’s release. Arthur Lee had been knocking back
the drinks in the last chance saloon when Canned Heat producer (amongst many
other things) Skip Taylor, a long-time admirer of Lee, approached RSO Records,
run by music entrepreneur Robert Stigwood (possibly best known for managing
Cream and the Bee Gees), and convinced Stigwood to give the previously
commercially unsuccessful Lee a two-album deal and the largest advance he would
ever receive, followed by the biggest touring opportunity any incarnation of
Love would ever embark on. Released in November 1974 Reel To Real was met with
a mixture of indifference and hostility from the music press, however time has
been kind and the mix of heavy funk, crunchy-guitar rock and soulful grooves
has matured with age and this album deserves to be listened to with a fresh
pair of ears. Available on CD/Digital for
the first time and now back on LP after more than 40 years, Reel To Real gets a
deluxe reissue from High Moon Records and it’s time to give this record a
reappraisal. Having previously exhumed Black Beauty from the vaults it had been
languishing in for nearly four decades and issuing it in sumptuous packaging,
High Moon give Real To Reel the same treatment…….. this deluxe reissue features
remastered audio from the original tapes, a 32-page booklet with an essay by Rolling
Stone’s David Fricke plus a trove of candid, unpublished photos. Bonus tracks include 11 previously-unreleased tracks
from the original sessions, including alternate takes and mixes, live-in-studio
rehearsals, and 4 newly-discovered Arthur Lee originals.
Let’s be clear here right
from the start, this is not another version of Forever Changes……it’s not meant
to be. It could be argued that Forever Changes was a creative millstone around
Arthur Lee’s neck, although a record of sheer pristine beauty that would
comfortably be included in the top five of any list of the best 60s Psych
albums, anything that Love recorded afterwards would always be compared to that
classic album………….moving on was always going to be difficult, but the musical
landscape had changed and Lee sought to distance himself from the sound of
white psychedelic rock that had made him famous. This record is the sound of
Arthur Lee rediscovering his black roots, recorded with the same studio band
that played on Black Beauty (drummer Joe Blocker, guitarist Melvan Whittington,
and bassist Robert Rozelle) who Lee referred to as “cats who can play funky and
rock" along with a posse of session musicians, which included most notably
guitarists Harvey Mandel and “Buzzy” Feiten along with the keyboardist Bobby
Lyle. To a backdrop of bluesy guitars, a dynamic brass section, deep funk bass
and clavinet, splashes of spacey synthesizer and sugar sweet female backing
vocals, he brought his funkiest and most soulful collection of songs, digging
deep into the blues, soul, and rock
grooves that first inspired him. Reel To Real channels the conscious funk of
Curtis Mayfield, the revolutionary soul music of Sly & The Family Stone,
the visceral energy of Stax Records and the searing blues rock of Jimi Hendrix
to create a solid album of 1970s soulful funky rock that features some of
Arthur Lee’s best recorded songs since the late 60s……………it’s no masterpiece but
thoroughly enjoyable all the same. Side 1 of the album is an exhilarating journey
through the 60s/early 70s Soul/Funk landscape taking in along the way a Al
Green gospel vibe on ‘Time Is Like a River’, mellow, Southern fried New Orleans
blues on ‘Stop the Music’ and on to ‘Who Are You, a full on early 70s,
seriously funky Stevie Wonder style workout complete with a blistering but
soulful guitar solo from ace sessioner "Buzzy" Feiten. Being a Memphis
boy, Arthur Lee was no doubt influenced by the early sixties Stax sound and ‘Good
Old Fashion Dream’ is his take on the Otis Redding, Booker T vibe. The one real
psychedelic track on Reel To Real is ‘Which Witch Is Which?’, a woozy, somnambulistic
slice of narcotic blues which has the feel of the early acid head Funkadelic
tunes with Harvey Mandel’s guitar sound turned upside down and twisted inside
out. Closing with the Sly & The Family Stone groove of ‘With a Little
Energy’ the first side of Reel To Real is the blackest Arthur Lee ever sounded.
Although Side 2 of the album sees a slight drop in quality, there are still some
absolute gems……..a cover of William DeVaughn’s then contemporary soul hit ‘Be
Thankful for What You Got’(also covered by Massive Attack on Blue Lines) is
brilliant and the funky country blues of ‘You Said You Would’ is a lost Lee
classic. There is a feeling that by second side of the record ideas for songs
were starting to run out as Lee revisits tracks from previous records……. skilfully reworked by the best session musicians a
major label budget can hire and a powerful, intuitive band, recycled Lee songs on the LP included ‘Everybody’s
Gotta Live’ and ‘Busted Feet’ (from Lee’s 1972 solo album Vindicator) and a
reprise of ‘Singing Cowboy’ (from Love’s 1969 album Four Sail). As it is now
the norm with deluxe reissues there are also mandatory bonus cuts……amongst the
usual alternative versions, demo’s, single edits, studio jams etc that only a
serious fan can truly love, High Moon have unearthed four songs recorded during
the Reel To Real sessions but until now were previously unreleased. These songs
(three fully-produced Hendrix inspired rockers and a more stripped down, laid
back track which sounds like a Sly Stone demo recording ) were previously unknown
to all but their original participants, and present a major addition to Arthur
Lee’s catalogue. If you take this record on face value and strip it of the
baggage of being a post Forever Changes Love album and consider Reel To Real as
purely an Arthur Lee solo album where he is exploring his soul and funk
influences, the absolute panning it got on release has to be seen as completely
unfair. In hindsight, RSO marketing this record as a Love album was maybe a
mistake.
Reel To Real was to be the
last ever Love studio album and as sort of expected the relationship with RSO
ended badly……. Promotional efforts to reintroduce Love to the record buying
public via supporting slots on an Eric Clapton tour proved disastrous due to
Lee's increasing erratic behavior and while in England, he insulted RSO chief
Robert Stigwood publicly, effectively torching the label deal which was meant
to restart his failing career. Arthur Lee essentially disappeared for the next
25 years before finally coming to terms with his demons and reconnecting with
Forever Changes until his death in 2006, a fitting swansong to one of rocks
nearly men.
Available on either CD,
vinyl or as a digital download, the deluxe reissue of Reel To Real is out now
and is available from the High Moon webstore and the usual online outlets… but
we would prefer you support your local independent record store.
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