Love is the eponymous debut by the Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

-based rock band Love

Love (band)

Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...

. Twelve of the album's fourteen tracks were recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders

Sunset Sound Recorders

Sunset Sound Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California, located at 6650 Sunset Boulevard.The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was converted in 1962 by Walt Disney's Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a collection of old commercial and residential buildings - some built more...

 in Hollywood on January 24–27, 1966. The remaining two tracks ("A Message To Pretty" and "My Flash On You") come from another, undocumented session.

One of the first rock albums issued on then-folk giant Elektra Records

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

, the album begins with the group's radical reworking of the Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach

Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

-Hal David

Hal David

Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...

 song "My Little Red Book", the title of which is likely a tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...

 reference to Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

's Little Red Book (which was first published by the Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 in April 1964), and which features guitar riffs that gave Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...

 some inspiration to write the Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 song "Interstellar Overdrive

Interstellar Overdrive

"Interstellar Overdrive" is a psychedelic composition written by Pink Floyd in 1966, which appears on their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn at almost ten minutes in length. An earlier, longer recording, 16:52, can be heard on the soundtrack to the film Tonite Let's All Make Love in...

" which is on Pink Floyd's album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by the English rock group Pink Floyd, and the only one made under founding member Syd Barrett's leadership. The album contains whimsical lyrics about space, scarecrows, gnomes, bicycles and fairy tales, along with psychedelic instrumental songs...

. The album also features anti-drug anthem "Signed D.C." (allegedly a reference to one-time Love drummer Don Conka), and the poignant "A Message to Pretty". The stark instrumental "Emotions" is used uncredited in Haskell Wexler

Haskell Wexler

Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.-Early life and education:Wexler was born to a Jewish...

's 1969 film Medium Cool

Medium Cool

Medium Cool is an American film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968...

as a recurring theme.

"My Little Red Book" was featured over the final credits of the movie High Fidelity

High Fidelity (film)

High Fidelity is a 2000 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and starring John Cusack and the Danish actress Iben Hjejle. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the name of the lead character...

in 2000, and the Beverly Hills 90210 episode "Alone at the Top" in 1995 .

Track listing

• Note: The 2001 CD issue presents both stereo and monaural mixes and adds as bonus tracks an alternate take of "Signed DC" and "No. Fourteen", the B-side to the "7 and 7 Is
  7 and 7 Is
  "7 and 7 Is" is a song written by Arthur Lee and recorded by his band Love on June 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. It was produced by Jac Holzman and engineered by Bruce Botnick....
  
  " single.

Personnel

• Arthur Lee
  Arthur Lee (musician)
  Arthur Lee was the frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the Los Angeles rock band Love, best known for the critically acclaimed 1967 album, Forever Changes.-Early years:...
  
  : Lead vocals, percussion, and harmonica. Also drums on "Can't Explain", "No Matter What You Do", "Gazing", "Mushroom Clouds" and "And More".
• Johnny Echols
  Johnny Echols
  Johnny Echols is an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has played in bands with performers such as Little Richard, Billy Preston and Jimi Hendrix, and was the guitarist on many recording sessions with Miles Davis...
  
  : Lead guitar
• Bryan Maclean
  Bryan MacLean
  Bryan MacLean was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, most known for his work with the influential rock band Love. His famous compositions for Love include "Alone Again Or" and "Old Man".-Early life:...
  
  : Rhythm guitar and vocals. Lead vocals on "Softly to Me" and "Hey Joe".
• Ken Forssi
  Ken Forssi
  Kenneth Raymond Forssi, known as "Kenny" early in life and then "Ken" , was an American musician. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest child of Raymond B. and Lola G. Forssi. When he was about 9 years old, his family moved to Siesta Key, on the Florida west coast, and then, shortly moved on...
  
  : Bass
• Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer: Drums

with:

According to the box set Love 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.

Singles from album

• My Little Red Book/A Message To Pretty (Elektra 45603)
• No. Fourteen (from these sessions, B side of "7 & 7 Is" - Elektra 45605)
• Hey Joe (B side to rare "Que Vida!" single - Elektra 45613)