LOVE - "Alone Again Or"

Love
"Alone Again Or"
Single / B-side: "A House Is Not A Motel" (USA), "Bummer In The Summer" (UK)
Released: January 1968
Album: Forever Changes (Released: November 1967)
Writer: Bryan MacLean
Label: Elektra

"Alone Again Or" is a song originally recorded in 1967 by the rock group Love and written by band member Bryan MacLean. It appears on the album Forever Changes, and was released as a single in the USA, UK, Australia, France and The Netherlands.

Love's single: "Alone Again Or" (1968)

 Love - "Alone Again Or" 

Versions have subsequently been recorded by an eclectic variety of bands and singers including UFO (1977), The Damned (1986), The Oblivians (1993), Sarah Brightman (1990), The Boo Radleys (1991), Chris Pérez Band (1999), Calexico (2004), Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs (2006), Les Fradkin (2007). Two demo versions by MacLean himself were released in 1997 on his album Ifyoubelievein.

MacLean originally wrote the song, then called "Alone Again", in 1965 for Love's debut album. He wrote this as a tribute to his mother, who was a Flamenco dancer. However, he did not complete it until the recording of "Forever Changes" in the summer of 1967. The song was inspired by his memory of waiting for a girlfriend, and the melody drew loosely on Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije Suite. The essence of the song is the contrast between the positivity of the tune and the bleakness of the lyrics, with the chorus "And I will be alone again tonight, my dear" finishing with a lone acoustic guitar, closing the song with the opening melody that sounds anything but ecstatic, ending with an E-minor plus 2 chord.

Love's single, French: "Alone Again Or" (1968)

Love - "Alone Again Or"

For the recording session, arranger David Angel worked with MacLean, adding a string section and a horn part for a mariachi band whom co-producer Bruce Botnick had recently used on a Tijuana Brass album. MacLean later said "That was the happiest I ever was with anything we ever did as a band - the orchestral arrangement of that song." However, Botnick, with co-producer and band leader Arthur Lee, remixed the track to bring Lee's own unison vocal to the forefront of the song, at least partly on the grounds that MacLean's own vocal lead was too weak. Lee also added to the mystery of the song by changing the title to "Alone Again Or".

With Lee now on co-lead vocals, "Alone Again Or" became the opening track of "Forever Changes." It was the sole single released from the album to reach the Billboard singles chart. (Its 1968 B-side was Lee's "A House Is Not A Motel," although the 1970 reissue of the single featured "Good Times" from the 1968 Four Sail album as the B-side.

Love's "Alone Again Or" (Vinyl Single)

Love - "Alone Again Or" (lyrics)

Critic Billy Altman, wrote the following of “Forever Changes” for Amazon.com: "One of rock's most overlooked masterpieces, this third album by the L.A. folk-rock outfit led by inscrutable singer-songwriter Arthur Lee sounds as fresh and innovative today as it did upon its original release in 1968. … (it features) songs that are as sonically subtle and lilting as they are lyrically blunt and harrowing. Add two gems by Love's secret weapon, second guitarist Bryan MacLean ('Alone Again Or' and 'Old Man'), and you've got one of the truly perfect albums in rock history."

"...the aforementioned weird mix of gossamer psych folk and itchy LSD musing. MacLean's Alone Again Or with its Southern Californian mariachi frills is a disarmingly pretty opener. But Lee’s lyrics are exactly on the cusp between blessed out surreality and bad trip paranoia..." (BBC music review by Chris Jones) 

Line-up / Musicians:

Arthur Lee: lead vocals, guitar

Bryan MacLean: rhythm guitar, co-lead vocals

Johnny Echols: lead guitar

Ken Forssi: bass guitar

Michael Stuart: drums, percussion

With

David Angel: arranger, orchestrations

Strings: Robert Barene, Arnold Belnick, James Getzoff, Marshall Sosson, Darrel Terwilliger (violins); Norman Botnick (viola); Jesse Ehrlich (cello); Chuck Berghofer (string bass)

Horns: Bud Brisbois, Roy Caton, Ollie Mitchell (trumpets); Richard Leith (trombone)

Link / Review:

wikipedia: Alone Again Or

songfacts: Alone Again Or by Love

allmusic: Love - Alone Again Or

rollingstone: 500 Greatest Songs of All Time