Thanks to a faithful and growing following, the legacy of Arthur Lee & Love is alive and well. One of the pivotal West Coast bands in the mid-1960's Love, like so many artists at the time, weren't quite understood by the mainstream and were, for a period, considered something of one-hit wonders and purveyors of Garage Rock, with the unofficial anthem 7&7 Is. But their turning point came with the release of Forever Changes, an album that has been ranked alongside The Beach Boys Pet Sounds as one of the biggest influences on the West Coast Sound and one of the best albums ever made.

Tonight it's the haunting and poignant Andmoreagain.

Hasn't aged a bit.

Something of a melancholy night tonight - not feeling like celebrating or getting my mind blown.

So it's only logical that Baby Lemonade fills the bill. One of the first of the neo-psych bands to come out of L.A. in 1998, Baby Lemonade had the rare opportunity to be the backing band for Arthur Lee (of the iconic Arthur Lee's Love in the mid-late 1960's) and were an integral part of his re-emergence as a music legend from 2001 until his untimely death in 2006, changing their name to The Love Band during that time.

Tonight's track is off their debut album from 1998. Exploring Music was a harbinger of things to come for this talented unit. And World Lines is one of the most haunting and potent pieces off that album.

I'm playing it for a dear and close friend who passed away tonight.

But you can listen to it for any reason you like.

Well, tomorrow is December 1st. The shortest day of the year is coming up and we're heading smack into Winter. Depending on where you are that means snow, rain, sleet, hail, freezing just about everything (unless you're somewhere south of the Equator in which case, pay no attention to this post) and wondering when it's going to get warm again.

So I decided under those circumstances, why not play Baby Lemonade tonight? And of course the highly evocative Summer Song off their Exploring Music album from 1998.

Makes perfect sense, no?

Maybe we'll do Christmas songs next week . . . .or not.

(Baby Lemonade - named after a Syd Barret song, but an original nonetheless)

Something local tonight - Baby Lemonade are an L.A. based band who got together in 1992 and debuted with an ep in 1993. Almost immediately they gathered a strong critical and audience reaction. It also got the attention of Arthur Lee, who asked them to be his backup band, or the new Love. And they did, working with Arthur, recording and touring until fate took a turn and Arthur wound up getting sentenced to prison on an alleged firearms charge in 1996.

It was during this time that Baby Lemonade were forced to strike back out on their own and the critically acclaimed 68% Pure Imagination was released from which tonight's track, Luminosity comes from.

When Lee was released from prison in 2001, they picked up where they left off and Baby Lemonade/Love with Arthur Lee proceeded to do sell-out world tours, putting Lee back on top of his game and bringing a whole new audience in touch with his timeless music.

But it wasn't to last, as Arthur was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia in 2002 and passed away in 2006.

As Baby Lemonade they've released several albums, including a compilation package on Rhino in 2008. Always well received and consistently good. As Love, they made several filmed performances in the UK for the BBC, including a performance at Glastonbury.

Not much has been heard from them lately, but it's doubtful they will stay down long. And frankly, I don't know of any band who established a great reputation as two bands simultaneously - so that says something about just how good Baby Lemonade is.

(Love with Arthur Lee - classic, timeless and never predictable)

Back to 1967 tonight. Love with Arthur Lee. During those heady days they were just called Love (or if you really want to get picky, they were originally called The Grass Roots until it was realized fellow L.A. rocker P.J. Sloan got the name first - but that's another post)and they had by this time established themselves as one of the great groups to come out of the Los Angeles scene. Although they never really scored with another top-10 hit after My Little Red Book off the first album, they came pretty close with Seven & Seven Is, they were a staple for most of the newly evolving FM underground stations popping up around the country.

Tonight's track, Que Vida! is off their second album Da Capo which also featured Seven & Seven Is. It's been one of my favorite songs for lo, these past 43 years. So that must mean something.