Arthur Lee, who was originally from Memphis, Tennessee, but had lived in Los Angeles since he was five, had been recording since 1963 with his bands, the LAG's and Lee's American Four. He had written and also produced the single "My Diary" for Rosa Lee Brooks in 1964 which featured Jimi Hendrix on guitar. A garage outfit, The Sons Of Adam, which included future Love drummer Michael Stuart, also recorded a Lee composition, "Feathered Fish". However, after viewing a performance by the Byrds, Lee became determined to form a group that joined the newly minted folk-rock sound of the Byrds to his primarily rhythm and blues style. Singer, songwriter / guitarist Bryan MacLean, whom Lee had met when he was working as a roadie for The Byrds, joined the band just before they changed their name from the Grass Roots to Love, spurred by the release of a single by another group called The Grass Roots. MacLean had also been playing guitar in bands since about 1963 but picked up music early. Neighbor Frederick Loewe, of the composers Lerner & Loewe, recognized him as a "melodic genius" at the age of three as he doodled on the piano. Also joining the band was another Memphis native, lead guitaristJohnny Echols. From L.A. was drummer Don Conka. A short time later, Conka was replaced by Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer. Love's first bassist, Johnny Fleckenstein, went on to join the Standells in 1967. Fleckenstein was replaced by Ken Forssi.
Recording
Ten of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966. The remaining four tracks come from another, undocumented session during that period. Love is a folk rock, garage rock, proto-punk and psychedelic rock album. One of the first rock albums issued on then-folk giant Elektra Records, the album begins with the group's radical reworking of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song "My Little Red Book" and also features "Signed D.C.", along with the poignant "A Message to Pretty".
Reception
In a retrospective review of the album, Richie Unterberger for AllMusic called it "their hardest-rocking early album and their most Byrds-influenced." He also stated, "Arthur Lee's songwriting muse hadn't fully developed at this stage, and in comparison with their second and third efforts, this is the least striking of the LPs featuring their classic lineup, with some similar-sounding folk-rock compositions and stock riffs."
The stark instrumental "Emotions" is used uncredited in Haskell Wexler's 1969 film Medium Cool as a recurring theme. "My Little Red Book" was featured over the final credits of the movie High Fidelity in 2000, and the Beverly Hills, 90210 episode "Alone at the Top" in 1995.
Track listing
2001 CD reissue
The 2001 CD reissue presents both monaural and stereophonic mixes of the album, as well as an alternate take of "Signed D.C." and "No. Fourteen", the B-side to the "7 and 7 Is" single.
Personnel
;Love
Arthur Lee - lead vocals, percussion, harmonica. Also drums on "Can't Explain", "No Matter What You Do", "Gazing", and "And More".
;Additional personnel According to the box setLove Story, the tracks "A Message to Pretty" and "My Flash on You" may feature John Fleckenstein on bass and Don Conka on drums in place of Forssi and Pfisterer, respectively.
