Artur Lee : Vindicator

Arthur Taylor Lee

 (Born Arthur Porter Taylor) 

(March 7, 1945 – August 3, 2006)

 was an 

American musician, 

singer and songwriter 

who rose to fame

 as the leader

 of the Los Angeles 

rock band

 Love

Love's 1967 album 

Forever Changes 

was inducted into

 the Grammy Hall of Fame, 

and it is part 

of the National

 Recording Registry.

Lee said when

 he first heard

 The Byrds 

he felt vindicated 

since he'd already been 

writing music that

 had a similar 

folk rock sound.

 In 1965, t

he Grass Roots,

 his folk rock unit,

 changed their name to

 Love

 because there 

was already a 

signed act called 

The Grass Roots.

Lee's early appearances 

were at clubs

 in Hollywood,

 including the 

Brave New World; 

Hullabaloo; 

Bido Lito's; 

and the Sea Witch. 

At Bido Lito's,

 a tiny hole-in-the-wall club

 located on a 

cul-de-sac

 known as 

Cosmo's Alley, 

Lee first showed his 

potential for excellence. 

The Bido Lito's audience 

was sometimes dotted

 with celebrities, 

including actor 

Sal Mineo, a

nd rock stars

 Mick Jagger, 

Brian Jones, 

Bob Dylan, 

and 

Jimi Hendrix, 

who would go on to 

collaborate with Lee 

on future recording projects. 

Lee then got

 the opportunity

 to play the larger 

Whisky a Go Go

 on Los Angeles' 

Sunset Strip, 

after which Love 

received a

 recording contract

 by Elektra Records.

 Love 

received a lot of air play

 in Los Angeles,

 and performed 

several times in 1967 

at the 

Cheetah nightclub 

in Venice, California

In July 1972,

 Lee released 

his first solo album, 

Vindicator,

 on A&M Records, 

featuring a new group 

of musicians 

also playing as

 the band Love. 

At one point 

in time they would

 use the name

 Bandaid,

 a name 

originally suggested by 

Jimi Hendrix 

for a briefly considered

 lineup of himself,

 Lee, 

and 

Steve Winwood. 

This album failed to chart.

 Lee recorded a 

second solo album

 in 1973

 entitled 

Black Beauty

 for Buffalo Records, 

but the label folded 

before the album 

was released

Death

Lee underwent 

several months of treatment

 for leukemia, 

to include chemotherapy

 and an 

experimental stem cell transplant 

using stem cells f

rom an 

umbilical cord 

blood donor.

 Despite treatment, 

his condition continued

 to worsen, 

and he died from

 complications of leukemia

 in Memphis, Tennessee, 

on 

August 3, 2006, 

at the age of 61

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