 | edt4 (110)
10/20/2006 | This was the song by Love I heard on and off over the years (although I never knew they were the ones performing it until recently) on the radio, found myself liking it in a distracted sort of way, and then forgetting about it. Great music sometimes has a quirky way of working its alchemic spell, and Love has suddenly, excitingly become one of my favorite groups, and while "Little Red Book" isn't what I personally consider their best song, I do find myself playing it incessently in the car and at home. I find myself reacting to it almost as I did the first time I heard the Ramones in the summer of 76...initially ambivalent, then intrigued, then enthused, then obsessed. A catchy and magical blast of musical adrenaline that gets me "where I live" every time I hear it. R.I.P...Arthur Lee, Bryan MacLean, Ken Forssi. I wish you guys were still around making music, although you'll always be around in spirit.
(5 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | oscargamblesfro (81)
10/11/2006 | For their first single, Love did their own rendition of a Burt Bacharach song that Manfred Mann had had an unsuccessful single with, and that was the theme of some film. There's some good work on tambourine on this catchy song and a throbbing bassline. The song did not reach the top 50, but apparently did well in The Western and Southern States- in those days, it was quite possible for a band to be popular in one or more regions but not in the country as a whole. Though not a huge hit, it was regarded as a promising debut, and many felt that they'd go on to bigger success. It still gets played on some oldies and classic rock channels, though really only when they're doing a psychedelic retrospective or something. Evidently, Bacharach, a very successful songwriter at the time, did not like this version of the song. At any rate, Love's version was considerably better than Manfred Mann's flat, humdrum take on this.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
