(Credits: Far Out / Alamy / Arthur Lee & LOVE estate)
Fri 19 December 2025 19:30, UK
Arthur Lee was a visionary of 1960s‘ mind, music, and talent, but the trouble was that his work often slipped under the radar.
That meant that while he was arguably more effervescent than Jim Morrison, more psychedelic than Brian Wilson, and even more diverse than Sly and the Family Stone, he and his band Love didn’t receive the acclaim they should have for being alongside these bands at the edge of the sonic frontier.
This is not to say that there weren’t obvious elements of success, particularly when it came to their 1967 seminal record Forever Changes, which, despite modest chart ratings upon its release, continued to develop a golden cult status over the years. But there was always something unsung in Lee’s talent, where his battles were hard-fought, and he was easily overlooked in favour of the next fresh star.
Perhaps understandably, this ruffled his feathers somewhat, particularly when knowing that those prolific stars in question, now tearing up the world stages, started out by taking a leaf from his book. The worst offender of all was Jimi Hendrix – an Earth-shattering prodigy to some, but in Lee’s eyes, a mere sham and imitation of what originally belonged to him.
In fairness, being in the close-knit circles that they were, it wasn’t as if the frontman couldn’t recognise some level of intrinsic artistic gift within the guitarist. His issue only arrived more prominently when he realised how Hendrix was using the lessons he had been taught to his advantage. “Jimi’s brother told me Hendrix took a look at my first album and said: ‘I think I’ll try it this way’. He stole my dress attire, and I don’t appreciate that shit. But then I can’t play the guitar like him at all,” he once said.
So, as it turned out, the animosity was more to do with the clothes than the actual calibre of his guitar playing, but it was still enough to put a sour taste in Lee’s mouth for the rest of the time he ever had to be around Hendrix. Yet to the rest of the world, fashion faux pas weren’t really the concern: they wanted to know what actually went on in the studio.
Hendrix did feature as the guitar part on a track named ‘The Everlasting First’, taken from Love’s little-known album False Start, which was released in 1970. Building on the trippy foundations of acid rock, the record was in some ways pivotal, but in others failed to even get flying, as it didn’t even manage to chart in the top 200.
However, from there, rumours incessantly swirled about the possibilities which Lee and Hendrix could achieve next, not least through recording together. It was thought for many years, if not decades, that the pair had indeed created an entire album together. But only in 2009, 39 years after Hendrix’s death and three years after Lee’s, it transpired that there had only ever been one long jam session.
It might be a disappointing fact, but also a symbolic one in terms of the roads not taken for both artists. Lee spent a lifetime without reaching the mainstream acclaim he really deserved; meanwhile, Hendrix had that very elixir in spades, but it took its toll all too soon. As a pair, they could have been an inimitable force, but they were just too far gone in their own separate worlds.
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