Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love

I said to Jimi, “Look man, neither of us is going to be around much longer, anyway: so while we’re here, we might as well do something together.” When I said that, whatever we were talking about, or what he was thinking about, just seemed to stop and I had his full attention. He really went into some deep thought as he looked at me from across the table. He was looking into my eyes and I knew he could only be thinking about our early deaths. – Arthur Lee in Rainbow in the Storm: The Book of Love (unpublished memoirs)

Between 2003 and 2006, Arthur Lee worked on his memoirs which he hoped to publish under the title of Rainbow in the Storm: The Book of Love. In the unpublished manuscript, Lee reminisces about his friendship with Jimi Hendrix. The two worked together on “The Everlasting First” which appeared on Love’s False Start. The album came out early in 1970 – just a few months before the young guitarist passed away. “It seemed to me, he didn’t know the party was over and it was time to go home,” Lee sadly notes in his memoirs.

Unlike Hendrix, Lee obstinately refused to tour and follow music industry rules. He spent most of the 1960s close to home and LA’s Sunset Strip. This might have saved him although it also contributed to Love never quite becoming the band it was destined to be. But Lee made it through years of hardship and drug abuse. He survived broken friendships and imprisonment. Yet he passed away too soon. Lee died of leukemia at the age of 61 – before he was able to surpass Forever Changes and before completing his much-anticipated memoirs.

John Einarson’s Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love fortunately salvages portions of Lee’s uncompleted manuscript. The latter, according to Einarson, was “a flawed diamond in need of polishing and editing.” The author of this new Jawbone Book publication benefits from the support of Lee’s widow, Diane, who authorized the use of the unpublished memoirs. In his book, Einarson skilfully interweaves Lee’s voice with the thoughts and recollections of 60 individuals who agreed to contribute to this robust 300-page Arthur Lee biography.

Einarson, using a standard biographical narrative, focuses on Lee who he rightfully sees as the driving force behind Love’s many incarnations. The author paints a fairly balanced picture of Lee and does not hesitate to expose the conflicting aspects of the songwriter’s troubled personality – Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love presents Love’s frontman as a mildly megalomaniac artist whose insecurities about art and relationships resulted in the constant sabotaging of opportunities.

There is enough in this impressive biographical work to please most Love aficionados – including those completely partial to Lee. Even audiophiles seeking details about sessions and technical aspects of song writing will find the book informative (Einarson’s description of the work performed by arranger David Angel is particularly insightful). But there is always a risk involved in covering too broad a territory.

Einarson occasionally gets lost in details and anecdotes which contribute little to the overall narrative. The author’s meticulous approach to research and organization is remarkable although it seems, at times, that his voice gets buried under the weight of the details amassed.

Forever Changes: Arthur Lee and the Book of Love might not be the definitive biography on Love or Arthur Lee but it certainly sets the bar high.

Visit Jawbone Press for more details (the book will be available in stores this week).