Four Sail [Import, Original recording remastered]

Love | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino/Wea UK
• ASIN: B000071497
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,692 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. August

2. Your Friend And Mine

3. Im With You

4. Good Times

5. Singing Cowboy

6. Dream

7. Robert Montgomery

8. Nothing

9. Talking In My Sleep

10. Always See Your Face

11. Robert Montgomery (Alternate Vocal) (Bonus Track)

12. Talking In My Sleep (Alternate Mix) (Bonus Track)

13. Singing Cowboy (Unedited Version) (Bonus Track)

Editorial Reviews

Arthur Lee opened many eyes when he cut 1969's uniformly wonderful Love album, Four Sail, with an entirely new supporting cast. The band's final record for Elektra features such delights as "The Singing Cowboy," a loping, locoweed-dusted trail ballad and "Robert Montgomery," Lee's assimilation of "Eleanor Rigby"-style magic. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love: Reincarnated, January 31, 2004

By 

"leopardskinpillbxht" (Cherry Hill, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Sail (Audio CD)

After having loved their debut, Da Capo, and Forever Changes I was a little skeptical when I first popped Foursail into my cd player. How could Arthur Lee possibly reform Love after coming off of an album that many consider one of rock 'n' roll's greatest? After listening to Foursail, I realize that the acoustic symphonies of Forever Changes are long gone, but replaced by a much more powerful, dynamic rock sound, reminiscent of Cream and Zeppelin at times. In strong contrast with Forever Changes, which was Arthur Lee's death letter to the world, Foursail abandons the longer lyrical patterns for shorter, yet equally witty lyrics. Jay Donnallen shines on lead guitar; every solo just booms with intensity and originality, which almost makes you forget the abscense of Johnny Echols. Still present are the complex rhythm changes that Arthur Lee loves so much, and shows that he can still execute to perfection. While Foursail is not the masterpiece that Forever Changes was, and not as experimental as Da Capo, there is still something to be said for just putting out an exceptionally "cool" album. The track listing does not contain anything of the magnitude of "You Set the Scene" (which I personally consider one of the greatest songs in rock n roll), yet songs like "August", "Robert Montgomery", and "Singing Cowboy" boast excellent guitar riffs, and lyrics that you just can't help but sing along to. "Good Times" is another song off of the album that really just stuck with me. Although the band is different, songs such as "Neil's Song" and "Dream" remind us that Arthur Lee is still at the helm, which means the lyrics are dark and mysterious, despite the campy, sing-songy feeling evoked by "Neil's Song". To cap off the album, Lee ends with "Always See Your Face", a beautiful song that blends the horn sounds of Forever Changes with his newer rock sound characteristic of the rest of the album. Foursail is not the experimental delight that Da Capo was, nor the everlasting classic that Forever Changes is. Keeping this in mind, Foursail is an essential for any Love fan, or any fan of late 60's acid rock. Lee still proves that he is more than just another psychedelic rock band with Foursail, putting his newly-formed band on the top of the rock pedestal of 1969. This album has been unfairly forgotten, and deserves (in my opinion)to earn recognition in the top 50 or so rock albums. Please explore this album and other works by Love so we can all experience the musical genius that was and still is Arthur Lee.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the most underrated love album, November 19, 2002

By 

Stephen F Mulcahy (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Sail (Audio CD)

for some reason this has been the hardest love album to find. now it has been remastered and released with some fine liner notes and cool photos. it's not a great album, it should really be given about a B if you could rate it as a report card. some of the tracks , like talking in my sleep, are pretty weak, despite the fine guitar playing of jay donnellan. nothing is kind of boring, too. and i'm with you, while a pretty good cut, sounds like other songs from their catalogue. like bob dylan, arthur lee occasionally recycled the same riffs and ideas- like on the first album, when love used the same arrangement for both their rendition ofhey joe and their original track my flash on you.
songs by the later version of the band were not as good as the first three classic albums, and this is their 4th best record out of the 6 the band made from 1966-70.in contrast, the instrumental skills of the latter members were actually , in my opinion,of a higher degree. donnellan was a superb guitarist, just listen to the smoking leads he plays on AUGUST. ROBERT MONTGOMERY is another classic cut, one of the great tracks in the arthur lee repertoire. SINGING COWBOY also features some killer riffs from lee and donnelan. YOUR FRIEND AND MINE is a catchy, bouncy, old-timey, bluesy ,track dealing with the decesded former road manager of the band, who'd apparently ripped off the band's equipment for drugs. despite this somber subject, it is a likable and cool track. GOOD TIMES is a jazzy number with some more fine guitar work. ALWAYS SEE YOUR FACE is a pretty, orchestrated song that is quite reminiscent of the earlier incarnation of love. and DREAM is an inspirational and spiritual tune with heartfely lyrics and a memorable melody, bassist frank fayad and drummer george suranovich make fine contributions to this gem of a song.
i really think that this album doesn't get enough credit. by no means is it a masterpiece, but it displays a talented, often hard rocking aggregation. the lyrics aren't as awesome as forever changes, which is simply one of the greatest albums of all time, but this stuff is still quite good. i think the later albums do have their moments. as an aside, i saw arthur lee and love perform in cambridge mass. last august, and he's still in fine form. his new band is also good. catch them when and if you get a chance...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arthur Lee..., October 8, 2006

By 

Photoscribe "semi-renaissance man" (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Four Sail (Audio CD)

Another casualty of the Summer of Love's excesses. This is the man behind the seminal sixties' group Love, dead of leukemia at 61 on August 3, 2006. Now John Echols is the only original member of the group left alive, if my information is right. Bryan MacLean, along with Echols, Lee's main songwriting partner and co-leader of the group, died somewhat earlier.

This album featured the last of any serious incarnations of Love and it rocks, but very differently from "Forever Changes" or "Da Capo". There's no angry venting, as in "7 and 7 Is" or "Stephanie Knows Who"; no comments on the world at large, as in most of "Forever Changes"...just rocking, stream-of-consciousness tunes that stick with you after you put the album back in its case. "August" is the first cut, and it's a good one, with a snap-out guitar jam at the end reminiscent of the ending of "A House Is Not A Motel". "Your Friend And Mine" is one of two songs on the album that are very similar, with ruminations and promises concerning long-term friendships. "Dream" dwells on this to a degree, too. Apparently friends were very important to Lee, who wrote everything on the album, collaborating on only one, "Singing Cowboy", which has a vaguely homo-erotic tinge to it. "Robert Montgomery" is one of the few songs Lee or Love had done that actually has a character title or subject matter for a whole song, telling the tale of a bourgeois cipher who has trouble communicating with his friends. It has EXCELLENT guitar work! "Nothing" is rather reminiscent of "Forever Changes" in that it has a lyrical, pretty lilt to it, and some wizard guitar work, (not to mention good drumming!) It will put you in mind of "Orange Skies". but does the same thing a lot better. It's almost MOR in flavor, it's so nice! Then there's my personal favorite of the piece "Talking In My Sleep", a song where he lays down the law after being irked by a lady friend. Very country-flavored, with a Hendrix-like vocal by Lee, who sounds like he's trying to imitate Mick Jagger on the rest of the album, especially as the songs trail off. Finally, of the non-reprieves, there's "Always See Your Face", the OTHER "friendship" song. A fitting closer, it runs down what's important to Lee, as he tries to remember important people, places and things, taking care to remember his friend of the moment.

Lee and his incarnations of Love were perhaps the most undervalued and estimated groups in Rock, and his passing will make it impossible to see them live ever...I always missed him when he came to my town.

MAN, I hate mortality!!

Highly recommended.