''Four Sail'' is the fourth studio album by the American

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band

Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

, released in 1969 by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

Background

By mid-1968, Arthur Lee was the only remaining member of the '' Forever Changes'' line-up of

. Lee quickly assembled a new band, including guitarist Jay Donnellan, drummer George Suranovich and bassist Frank Fayad. The album was rehearsed at Lee's house, and he later rented equipment from

Wally Heider Studios Wally Heider Studios was a recording studio founded in San Francisco in 1969 by recording engineer and studio owner Wally Heider. Between 1969 and 1980, numerous notable artists recorded at the studios, including Creedence Clearwater Revival, J ...

with his own money and recorded the album in the Hollywood manufacturing district. Basic tracks were recorded in September 1968, while "Robert Montgomery" and additional overdubs were recorded at Elektra Sound Recorders that October. The quartet recorded a total of 27 songs.

's Jac Holzman then selected ten of these songs for release as an album, in order to fulfill Lee's contract. The resultant album, ''Four Sail'', was released by Elektra in August 1969, while the remaining songs were issued by Blue Thumb Records as a double LP, '' Out Here'', that December. With the exception of "Robert Montgomery", Lee's original mixes were enhanced with reverb by Elektra prior to their release on ''Four Sail'', while "Talking in My Sleep" was completely remixed, due to tape damage. Of the title, Lee explained in 2002, "I was at the end of my Elektra contract and this ''Four Sail'' means like a sign on a lawn ... it was actually 'Love for Sale', 'cause I'd had it with Elektra."

Reception

Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

said that "The tracks are deep in feeling and performed with an emotional fervor that sometimes approaches anguish", and that the album "rises above the garage band sound to communicate a sense of time and place as well as some truly sincere feelings." He added that ''Four Sail'' might have been better received if released under Lee's own name. In 2019, Bob Stanley wrote in ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' that " ere was a time when people dismissed Love's very fine 1969 album ''Four Sail'' simply because it didn't sound like the sequel to ''Forever Changes''," but noted the album had been "reclaimed" in later times. In 2014, ''Four Sail'' was ranked number 1 on ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

s list "101 Albums to Hear Before You Die".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from 2002 CD liner notes. Love * Arthur Lee – lead vocal, piano, harmonica, rhythm guitar,

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* Jay Donnellan – lead guitar * Frank Fayad – bass guitar, background vocals (tracks 6–7) * George Suranovich – drums (tracks 1, 5–10), background vocals (tracks 6–7) Additional musician * Drachen Theaker – drums (tracks 2–4) Technical * Arthur Lee – producer, co-engineer * George Gaal – engineer * Peter Schaumann – illustration * Ed Caraeff – photography * William S. Harvey – art direction

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums Love (band) albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by Arthur Lee (musician)