Arthur Lee - Vindicator (1972)

Arthur Lee - Vindicator (1972)

Prior to forming Love, Arthur Lee was a L.A. hustler, desperately searching for the formula that would make him a star. In the early mid-'60s, Lee recorded some unsuccessful singles including one as the American Four on Selma, a subsidiary of Del-Fi, "Luci Baines"/"Soul Food." He also recorded a session for Rosa Lee Brooks which featured Jimi Hendrix as a session guitarist. Lee found his niche at last when he founded one of the '60s seminal garage/folk/psychedelic bands, Love, in 1965. The band which also featured fellow songwriter and singer Bryan Maclean, recorded three amazing albums for Elektra including Forever Changes, an album that is certainly a contender for best rock album ever made. In 1968, Lee decided to scrap the idea of Love as a real band, kicked out all the remaining members and began recording with pickup bands and sessionmen. The band's and Lee's fortunes quickly declined and Lee, never the most normal person in the best of times, began exhibiting erratic behavior as his drug intake began to take its toll. He recorded more unsuccessful albums as Love, recorded a solo album, Vidicator, in 1972, and began to fade away. Lee would regularly tour and recordings were made of these shows but he rarely returned to a studio or wrote new songs. In 1994, Lee recorded a new single "Midnight Sun"/"Girl on Fire," although the B-side was actually salvaged from an unreleased album Lee recorded with Jimi Hendrix years before. Soon after this Lee's problems with the law took over his life. In 1995, Lee broke into an ex-girlfriend's apartment and tried to set it aflame. He was bailed out by Rhino Records who had just released the Love Story compilation. In 1996, Lee was arrested for shooting a gun into the air during an argument with a neighbor and convicted on a illegal possession of a firearm charge. Thanks to California's strict and sometimes unfair three strikes and you're out law, Lee (who had been convicted of a drug offense sometime in the '80s) was sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison. In 2000, Rhino reissued an expanded version of Love's Forever Changes which served as a reminder just what a huge talent Arthur Lee was in his prime. On December, 12 2001 Lee was released from prison having served six years of his original sentence. Happily for Lee and those who feel he still has some good music left in him, a federal appeals court in California reversed the charge of negligent discharge of a firearm as they found the prosecuter at Lee's trial was guilty of misconduct. He may face a re-trial on the negilence charge, but as of now Lee is free!

First Side:
1. Sad Song 2:19
2. You Can Save up to 50% But You're Still a Long Ways from Home 0:17
3. Love Jumped Through My Window 2:55
4. Find Somebody 3:44
5. He Said She Said 2:15
6. Every Time I Look up I'm Down or White Dog (I Don't Know What That Mean) 3:54

Second Side:
1. Everybody's Gotta Live 3:29
2. You Want Change for Your Re-Run 4:14
3. He Knows a Lot of Good Women (Scotty's Song) 3:13
4. Hamburger Breath Stinkfinger 2:44
5. Ol' Morgue Mouth 0:56
6. Busted Feet (Arthur Lee-Charles Karp) 5:01

Bonus tracks on A & M 540 697-2:
13. Everybody's Gotta Live (previously unreleased version) 3:30
14. He Knows A Lot Of Good Women (previously unreleased version) 3:11
15. Pencil In Hand (early version of "He Said She Said") 2:10
16. E-Z Rider (Jimi hendrix) (previously unreleased) 2:58
17. Looking Glass Looking At Me (early version of "You Want Change For Your Re-Run") 4:06