LOVE Out Here RARE 1st Press UK 70 Pre-EMI Harvest A1/B2/A1/B2 Ex Arthur Lee

	£		33
	$		43

Love - Out Here

Harvest SHDW 3/4 1970

Matrix Numbers:

SHDW 3 A-1/B2 & SHDW 4 A1/B2

Sleeve: VG+

Vinyl: EX

CLEAN 40 year old Original 2 Lp set:

The highly rated 1970 first pressing original by the legendary LOVE featuring Arthur Lee ...a sprawling double album in the heavy hard psych direction and yet still with those beautiful memorable melodies that only Arthur Lee could develope as such...

Out Here is a virtual smorgasbord of sound. Arthur Lee’s writing prowess and ever changing vocal styles form the foundation of the album and create a listening experience to be savored.

It is the deepest conviction that as much as the 'early period Love' can be overrated, the 'late period Love' can be underrated. No, it's not as if Arthur Lee suddenly prayed to his preferred deity and was rewarded with an increase in genius potential; it's just that overall, there aren't any fewer ideas on here than on Forever Changes. Maybe it's the lack of Bryan MacLean that pisses off fans ? Anyway, Out Here was the second "new Love" album, and formally a throwaway, comprised of outtakes and leftovers from the sessions for its predecessor, Four Sail. And a BIG bunch of leftovers it was, enough to make the end product a double LP and gives the band enough opportunity to stretch out and try their hand at all kinds of genres, from the usual lush poprock of the days of yore to psychedelic blues and beyond... Need one add that the old "derivative factor" strikes again here? Formally, this is nothing short of a Love' White Album, and substantially, Lee again draws on a whole ragbag of influences. Doubtlessly, he got one of his cues from the 'new Byrds', with their strange "twin schtick" of mixing hard rock tunes with melodic memorable material. Another cue, without a doubt, was taken from Eric Burdon and his Animals. If the old version of 'Signed D. C.' was ripped off of 'House Of The Rising Sun', then the remake of the tune, bravely posted as Track 3, is ripped off of Eric Burdon's contemporary 'soulful' deliveries and is far more hard edged than the original and Arthur prefers to wail and shriek again. Then he includes a blazing funk number and calls it 'Stand Out'? Who does he think he is? Sly?

Never mind. Let's just close our eyes and pretend rock music never existed before Out Here, and the good thing is, apart from the heavy rock take & violent vocals on 'Signed D. C.', all the songs have something to offer. Yes, even the two lengthy numbers. 'Doggone' actually starts out as a pretty folksy ballad, with gentle seducing vocals and a totally authentic acoustic part; as for the main part of it, a lot of percussion, is actually fun because they use these electronic enhancements on the drums to make it sound like they're being played underwater. Pretty weird, too. Love might be an unoriginal band, but you gotta admit nobody had ever tried merging a pretty acoustic ballad with underwater drumming before. Give 'em props. MAD props.

The second lengthy track, 'Love Is More Than Words', likewise starts out as a slightly clumsy poprock number before turning into an echoey ominous guitar fiesta, obviously inspired by Hendrix. the guitar jamming within the 12+ minutes is so good that Jimi himself, inspired and awed, payed the guys a tribute by appearing on their next studio album "False Start".

The shorter tracks are all excellent. There's some first-rate power-pop like 'I'll Pray For You', whose somewhat incoherent verses are a nice match for the catchy funny chorus, or the Pretty Things-ish 'I Still Wonder' with shiver-sending blasts of feedback perfectly contrasting with the heavenly vocal harmonies. 'Run To The Top' is a poprock gem. You couldn't really blow a bubble with it. The "rootsy" side of the band is well represented with the rural edged shuffle 'Abalony', which is charming...the slightly goofy 'Car Lights On In The Daytime Blues' or the ridiculous anti-war sendup 'Discharged' ('I just killed all the enemy so you can sleep tonight'!). And the rockin' side is well-edged on 'I'm Down' which, strange as it seems, is NOT a Beatles cover despite having the lyrics 'I'm down, down on the ground' as well. More nice ballads follow, etc. - but the thing is, the album is obviously a consistent effort. The very fact that Arthur Lee could release a double album on his own, without any songwriting assistance from Bryan MacLean (lead guitarist Jay Donnellan co-works with Lee on a couple of tracks, but that's all) obviously proves the thing one may always assumed to be true, namely, that Arthur had a good deal of songwriting talent. True, there's no identity whatsoever to this album; you could hardly believe that 'Abalony' and 'Signed D. C.', following each other, were written by the same person. But at least, except for a few numbers with presumably generic melodies, you can't really accuse Mr Lee of directly stealing anything on here. Collectors in-the-know find the album a total gas as a result.

Grading

I grade all my records using the Record Collector's Grading System which is as follows:

Mint - The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

Excellent - The record shows signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good - The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good - The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits discoloration etc.

Fair - The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise: it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/ or defaced.

Poor - The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

All records are sent in strong mailers with cardboard stiffeners. 

I have upload some big pictures of this record. If you want to see them, please, copy and paste the following links into your browser:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/goodoldvinyl/lovecover.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/goodoldvinyl/loveback.jpg