Love's second album. More musicians and fewer songs on the second round. The first six songs on the A-side is magnificent. The band was progressing soundwise from the first album to "Da Capo" and what one hears here, can see the congo line that led to "Forever Changes." Another significant change was to remove Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer from the drums to organ and harpsichord. His playing gives the first side a masterful baroque pop feel to the material. Also, the addition of Tjay Cantrelli on sax and especially flute adds a potent part of the cocktail to the Love sound. Johnny Echols' guitar blends into the orchestration of the songs, as a soloist, but as part of the overall power of its instrumentation. Most of the songs are by Arthur Lee, but Bryan MacLean's "Orange Skies" is just heartbreakingly beautiful. "7 and 7 Is" my favorite garage/punk/god knows what piece of sonic delight. When I was a child, I couldn't get enough of this song. In Los Angeles, it was played on the AM radio, and it was like a spiritual being was connecting to me as a listener who had the portable radio glued to my ear. Perfection!
It's interesting to compare "Da Capo" to another album that was recorded and released that year (1966) and sharing the same recording studio (RCA Studios in Hollywood) and engineer, David Hassinger and that is The Rolling Stones' "Aftermath." Like Love, the Stones were experimenting with instrumentation within the pop song format, and both had a long jam track. The Stones' "Goin' Home" and Love's "Revelation." Without a doubt, both are very similar. "Aftermath" came out first, but Arthur Lee claims that the Stones saw Love do this song live, and therefore copied or inspired to do their own version. The big difference between the two is that Stones' song lasts for ten minutes, and Love's "Revelation" takes up the entire side of the album. Musically it's different, but sonically and recording wise it's a brother or sister related recording.
The prevailing opinion is that no one talks about "Revelation," but for me, it works on different levels. For one, the guitars are great and how they interact among the musicians is fantastic, and the opening and closing of the piece is Pfisterer's harpsichord, him playing Bach's "Partita No. 1 BWV 825." I like the frame of Bach and having "Revelation" caught between the old world, and the then recent Sunset Strip jam piece. "Da Capo" is the beautiful bridge between "Love" and "Forever Changes."
