Reel to Real (album) explained

Reel to Real
Type:Album
Artist:Love
Cover:Reeltorealcover.jpg
Released:December 1974
Recorded:1974
Studio:Record Plant (Los Angeles)
Length:34:05
Label:RSO
Producer:Skip Taylor, John Stronach, Arthur Lee
Prev Title:False Start
Prev Year:1970
Next Title:Out There
Next Year:1988

Reel to Real is the seventh and final studio album by the American rock band Love, released in 1974 by RSO Records.

Background

Reel to Real was the first official Love album in four years, following the release of frontman Arthur Lee's solo album Vindicator in 1972 and two different Love albums that had been recorded but unreleased.

Lee recorded the album with studio musicians after dismissing all previous band members. The album featured the same musicians that played on the then-unreleased Black Beauty (2012) and was originally intended as part of a two-album deal with Robert Stigwood's RSO Records. Skip Taylor, a long-time admirer of Lee, approached the label and convinced Stigwood to give the previously commercially unsuccessful Lee the largest advance he would ever receive, followed by the biggest touring opportunity any incarnation of Love would ever embark upon, opening for acts such as Lou Reed and Eric Clapton.

The album was reissued by High Moon Records on CD and digital in 2015 and LP in 2016, with new liner notes, archival photos and bonus tracks.

Critical reception

In retrospective reviews, PopDose opined that "A vitally important band – and performer like Arthur Lee – needs to be held in the light for their amazing catalog", and that later albums such as Reel to Real should "not be overlooked".[1] Mark Deming of AllMusic called it "An album with more than its share of great moments."[2] Daniel Sylvester of Exclaim! noted that Lee "comes off sounding nothing short of subdued, toothless and aimless," adding that the record "is lovingly assembled and digitally enhanced, but nonetheless, shouldn't be mistaken for an essential release."

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by Arthur Lee, except where noted.

Side 1

  1. "Time Is Like a River" – 3:08
  2. "Stop the Music" – 3:02
  3. "Who Are You" – 3:08
  4. "Good Old Fashion Dream" – 2:53
  5. "Which Witch Is Which?" – 2:03
  6. "With a Little Energy" – 2:58

Side 2

  1. "Singing Cowboy" (Lee, Jay Donnellan) – 3:09
  2. "Be Thankful for What You Got" (William DeVaughn) – 4:33
  3. "You Said You Would" – 3:03
  4. "Busted Feet" (Lee, Charles Karp) – 2:42
  5. "Everybody's Gotta Live" – 3:24

2015 CD bonus tracks

  2. "Do It Yourself" (Outtake) – 3:37
  3. "I Gotta Remember" (Outtake) – 3:06
  4. "Somebody" (Outtake) – 2:43
  5. "You Gotta Feel It" (Outtake) – 3:38
  6. "With a Little Energy" (Alternate Mix) – 3:11
  7. "Busted Feet" (Alternate Mix) (Lee, Karp) – 4:24
  8. "You Said You Would" (Single Mix) – 2:26
  9. "Stop the Music" (Alternate Take) – 3:38
  10. "Graveyard Hop" (Studio Rehearsal) – 1:50
  11. "Singing Cowboy" (Alternate Take) (Lee, Donnellan) – 3:50
  12. "Everybody's Gotta Live" (Electric Version) – 3:43
  13. "Wonder People (I Do Wonder)" (Studio Rehearsal) – 2:27

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reissue Review: Love, "Reel to Real" . PopDose . November 23, 2015.
  2. Web site: Love - Reel to Real Album Reviews, Songs & More. .

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