Reel to Real

Reel to Real

• Love- Reel To Real

High Moon Records' deluxe reissue of the final studio album from one of rock musics most gifted and enigmatic legends - on CD for the first time in a deluxe Digipak with a full-color, 32-page booklet, and expanded with 12 bonus tracks. Reel To Real captures Arthur Lee and Love at the peak of their rock/funk/soul powers. Originally released in 1974 on RSO Records, this beautifully packaged, deluxe reissue features vibrant, remastered audio from the original tapes, a 28-page, 9x12-inch LP booklet with an illuminating essay by Rolling Stone s David Fricke, and a trove of candid, unpublished photos.<br><br>What Arthur Lee began on Loves Black Beauty (released by High Moon Records to wide acclaim in 2013), he brought to fruition on Reel To Real. Armed with a major label budget, and a powerful, intuitive band, he dug deep into the blues, soul, and rock grooves that first inspired him, reaching out to a new audience with his fierce and forward-thinking personal vision. The album features Arthurs beloved Black Beauty band: drummer Joe Blocker, guitarist Melvan Whittington, and bassist Robert Rozelle, who he referred to as, cats who can play funky and rock; augmented by guitar-ace John Sterling, and cameo appearances by legendary guitarists Harvey Mandel and Buzzy Feiten. To a palette of stinging guitars, explosive brass (arranged by Arthur Lee), deep funk bass and clavinet, splashes of spacey synthesizer, and dream-team female backing vocals, Arthur Lee brought his funkiest and most soulful collection of songs, and channeled the most visceral vocal performances he ever committed to tape.<br><br>High Moon Records has unearthed 11 revelatory, previously-unreleased tracks from the original sessions including alternate takes and mixes, live-in-studio rehearsals, and 4 newly-discovered Arthur Lee originals: Do It Yourself, I Gotta Remember, Somebody, and You Gotta Feel It. These songs three fully-produced rockers, and a spare, jaunty, Imagine-era John Lennon, by-way-of Sly Stone studio sketch were previously unknown to all but their original participants, and present a major addition to Arthur Lees catalog. Other bonus track highlights include the guitar fury in the extended, alternate mix of Busted Feet, the eccentric and darkly-comic single mix of You Said You Would, and an impromptu studio rehearsal of Forever Changes outtake Wonder People (I Do Wonder). This ultra-rare bonus material fills out the picture of a fearless, agile and very funky ensemble, led by a masterful singer-songwriter at his feral, exultant best.