Английская Википедия:7 and 7 Is

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Шаблон:Infobox song "7 and 7 Is" is a song written by Arthur Lee and recorded by his band Love on June 17 and 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. It was produced by Jac Holzman and engineered by Bruce Botnick.

The song was released as the A-side of Elektra single 45605 in July, 1966. The B-side was "No. Fourteen", an outtake from the band's earlier recordings. "7 and 7 Is" made the Billboard Pop Singles chart on July 30, 1966, peaking at number 33 during a ten-week chart run and becoming the band's highest-charting hit single. The recording also featured on the band's second album, Da Capo.

Background and development

Arthur Lee wrote "7 and 7 Is" at the Colonial Apartments on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.Шаблон:Sfn The song was inspired by his high school girlfriend Anita "Pretty" Billings, with whom he shared a birthday of March 7.Шаблон:Refn Describing how the song came to him, Lee stated: "I was living on Sunset and woke up early one morning. The whole band was asleep. I went in the bathroom, and I wrote those words. My songs used to come to me just before dawn, I would hear them in dreams, but if I didn't get up and write them down, or if I didn't have a tape recorder to hum into, I was through. If I took for granted that I could remember it the next day—boink, it was gone."Шаблон:Sfn The lyrics describe Lee's frustration at teenage life—the reference to "in my lonely room I'd sit, my mind in an ice cream cone" being to wearing (in reality or metaphorically) a dunce's cap.Шаблон:Sfn

Lee's original version of the song was a slow folk song in the style of Bob Dylan.Шаблон:Sfn Its arrangement developed as the band experimented in the studio. Bassist Ken Forssi had received a bass fuzz effect unit from an endorsement deal the band had signed with Vox, and Lee suggested Forssi use it on "7 and 7 Is". Lead guitarist Johnny Echols recalled: "We started playing [with it] and at first it sounded strange, but Kenny started doing this sliding bass thing with it. As we played it we could hear that this was something different, something new."Шаблон:Sfn

Recording

Love recorded "7 and 7 Is" on June 17 and 20, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recorders,Шаблон:Sfn with Jac Holzman producing and Bruce Botnick engineering.Шаблон:Sfn The fuzz bass was ultimately abandoned as it overpowered the other instruments, but Forssi was able to achieve a similar sound with the feedback caused by his semi-acoustic Eko bass. Echols also used feedback, as well as extensive reverb and tremolo,Шаблон:Sfn saying he had wanted to use a surf guitar effect in a different context.Шаблон:Sfn

The sessions were tumultuous due to the song's fast and intense drum part, with Lee and drummer Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer taking turns trying to accomplish it. Pfisterer later said: "The session was a nightmare ... I had blisters on my fingers. I don't know how many times I tried to play that damn thing and it just wasn't coming out. Arthur would try it; then I'd try it. Finally I got it. He couldn't do it."Шаблон:Sfn Echols praised it as Pfisterer's best performance.Шаблон:Sfn Estimates in the number of takes the song required range from 20 to 60; however, most of these were only false starts.Шаблон:Sfn The song took 4 hours to record according to Echols, who also claimed that the session took longer due to Holzman and Botnick objecting to the band's experimentation: "they kept stopping us, saying, 'It's feeding back!' We'd say, 'It's supposed to feed back.Шаблон:'"Шаблон:Sfn

In what has been called a "flirtation" with musique concrète,Шаблон:Sfn the track climaxes with the sound of an atomic explosion before a peaceful conclusion, in a blues form, which then fades out.Шаблон:Sfn Botnick said the explosion was taken from a sound effects record and may have been a gunshot slowed down. During live performances, Echols would recreate the sound by kicking his amplifier with the reverb turned all the way up.Шаблон:Sfn

Release and reception

Elektra Records issued "7 and 7 Is" in July 1966, backed with "No. Fourteen", an outtake from Love's debut album.Шаблон:Sfn It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on July 30 and spent 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 33 on September 24. It was the highest-charting single of the band's career.Шаблон:Sfn Elektra released the band's second album, Da Capo, in November,Шаблон:Sfn with "7 and 7 Is" sequenced as the fourth track, between "¡Que Vida!" and "The Castle".Шаблон:Sfn

Music critic Robert Christgau called the song "a perfect rocker". Cash Box described the song as a "pulsating, rhythmic extremely danceable blueser with a clever gimmick wind-up".

Covers

Described as garage rock and proto-punk, the song was later covered by numerous bands, most notably The Ramones, Alice Cooper, Jared Louche and The Aliens, The Electric Prunes, Billy Bragg, The Sidewinders, The Fuzztones, Robert Plant, Rush, Alice Bag, and Deep Purple, as well as a re-recording by Lee himself.

References

Sources

• Шаблон:Cite AV media notes
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite AV media notes