“He confounded his fans and his record label. Most of his band jumped ship after it”: When Arthur Lee steered Love into uncharted waters
This retrospective piece looks back at Love's ambitious second album, Da Capo, released in 1967, and how frontman Arthur Lee pushed the Los Angeles band in a radically new creative direction. Recorded at RCA Studios in Hollywood in September 1966 with engineer Dave Hassinger (who had also worked with the Rolling Stones), the record marked a dramatic departure from the band's self-titled debut and from mainstream rock of the era, leaving fans, their label Elektra, and even some of Lee's own bandmates baffled.
To realise his vision, Lee expanded Love's line-up from five musicians to seven, adding saxophonist Tjay Cantrelli and drummer Michael Stuart, giving the group a fuller, almost orchestral sound rather than that of a typical garage band. The album's title, taken from the Italian musical term "da capo" meaning "from the head", reflected Lee's intent to start afresh, and the resulting shift in direction proved so divisive that most of the band's original members left in its aftermath.
- Arthur Lee reshaped Love's sound on 1967 album Da Capo.
- Line-up grew from five to seven musicians, adding sax and drums.
- The bold new direction confused fans and drove bandmates away.