Arthur Lee

Arthur Taylor Lee (born Arthur Porter Taylor; March 7, 1945 – August 3, 2006) was an American musician, singer and songwriter who rose to fame as the leader of the Los Angeles rock band Love. Love's 1967 album Forever Changes was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is part of the National Recording Registry.

Lee was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 7, 1945, in John Gaston Hospital, to Agnes (née Porter), a school teacher, and Chester Taylor, a local jazz musician and cornet player. As an only child, Lee was known by the nickname "Po", short for Porter, and was looked after by additional family members so his mother could proceed with her teaching career. With his father being his first connection with a musician, Lee was fascinated by music at a young age. He would sing and hum along to blues musicians such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters on the radio. At the age of four, Lee made his debut on the stage at a Baptist church, reciting a small poem about a red telephone.

In the early 1950s, his parents separated, as his father "refused or neglected to provide for her", the divorce petition states. Lee remembered seeing his father only three times during his entire life. Subsequently, Lee and his mother packed their things and took a train to California, while his father was at work. Lee and his mother resided in Los Angeles permanently in 1952. In 1953, their divorce was granted and his mother married Clinton Lee, a successful construction worker, on April 23, 1955. Lee was formally adopted by Clinton Lee on June 6, 1960, legally acquiring his surname, after filing for an adoption notice in 1958. His mother was able to resume her teaching career, enabling the family to buy a new home in the West Adams area of South Central Los Angeles. The neighborhood was also home to Johnny Echols (future co-founder, lead guitarist, and vocalist of Love), who attended the same schools as Lee.

Lee attended Sixth Avenue Elementary School and excelled in athletics but was behind academically. Being known as "the toughest kid in the neighborhood", he was pressured into succeeding in school by his great-aunt, a former school principal, but showed interest in sports, music, reading, and animals. He later attended Mount Vernon Junior High, where his interest in music would soon outweigh his focus on sports.

Lee took lessons from a teacher in his first musical instrument, the accordion. He adapted to reading music and developed a good ear and natural musical intelligence. While he was never formally taught about musical theory and composition, he was able to mimic musicians from records and compose his own songs. Eventually he persuaded his parents to buy him an organ and harmonica. Graduating from Susan Miller Dorsey High School, Lee's musical ambitions found opportunities between his local community and classmates. As opposed to attending a college under a sports scholarship, he strived for a musical career. Echols influenced Arthur's plan to form a band, after seeing him perform "Johnny B. Goode" with a five-piece band at a school assembly.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.