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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, The Grass Roots, his folk rock unit, eventually turned into Love because there was already a signed act called The Grass Roots. Several other names were considered, including Summer's Children, The Asylum Choir, Dr Strangelove and Poetic Justice. The name Love was chosen after a club audience voted it as the best choice. According to Barney Hoskyns' 2001 book Arthur Lee: Alone Again Or, Manson Family member and sometime Grass Roots guitarist Bobby Beausoleil claimed that Arthur had named the band Love in honor of one of Bobby's nicknames, Cupid.
Lee's early appearances were at clubs on Los Angeles' famed Sunset Strip. He played them all, including the Whisky a Go Go. However, it was at a tiny hole-in-the-wall club called Bido Lito's (located on a cul-de-sac known as Cosmo's Alley) that Lee first showed he had superstar potential. The Bido Lito's audience was always dotted by celebrities, including actor Sal Mineo, and rock stars Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix (who would go on to collaborate with Lee on several recording projects). There are some who say that Hendrix "borrowed" his outlandish dress style directly from Lee.
Love's music has been described as a mixture of folk-rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, Spanish-tinged pop, R&B, garage rock, and even protopunk, although in actual fact, the term psychedelic isn't really the right term to describe most of the major contemporary Los Angeles bands at that time (The Doors, Love, The Byrds). Though Lee's vocals have garnered some comparisons to Johnny Mathis, his lyrics often dwell on matters dark and vexing, but often with a wry humor. The group's cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition "My Little Red Book" (first recorded by Manfred Mann for the soundtrack of What's New, Pussycat?) received a thumbs-down from Bacharach: Love had altered the former Marlene Dietrich bandleader's chord changes. Nonetheless, the record was a Southern California hit and won Lee and Love a spot on American Bandstand.
Love released three albums with core members Lee, Echols (lead guitar, vocals), Bryan MacLean (guitar, vocals) and Ken Forssi (bass). The drum chair revolved between Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer (Love, "Seven & Seven Is") and Michael Stuart (Da Capo excepting "Seven & Seven Is", Forever Changes). On Da Capo, Tjay Cantrelli was added on saxophone and flute while Pfisterer was moved to organ and harpsichord. Both were out of the group by the time Forever Changes was recorded.
Love (1966) included their cover of "My Little Red Book". Side two of Da Capo (1967) featured just one song — "Revelation", criticised by some as a weary jam. The first side, however, contained six individual songs, including their only single to achieve any success in the Billboard Top 40 chart: "Seven & Seven Is". Forever Changes (1967) followed, the album a centerpiece of the group's psychedelic-tinged sound, bolstered by the arrangements of David Angel.
Forever Changes is regarded by critics and fans alike as Love's finest recording. Despite this acclaim, the LP sold poorly in its time, although it reached the top 30 in the UK. Nonetheless, its cult status grew.
Soon after, the band's music became somewhat eclipsed by Arthur Lee's behavior. His frail physical and mental health fueled a rock myth which, like those of Brian Wilson and Syd Barrett, possibly served to keep his memory alive.
After Forever Changes, the band splintered, only to have Lee reform it, this time with a new lineup and a harder-edged sound featuring his own rhythm guitar work. This version of the band released Four Sail in September 1969, the two-record set Out Here in December of the same year, and False Start in December 1970. Neither of the first two albums made the top 100 in the US, though Out Here hit 29 in the UK in May 1970. False Start hit the bottom regions of the top 200, and is notable for featuring a track with Jimi Hendrix on guitar entitled "The Everlasting First". The song bemoaned the losses of Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr., in a more straightforward, if no less emotional, fashion than that heard in other Lee lyrics.
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