Rocker left far too soon
CURTIS ROSS
* 01/13/99
The Tampa Tribune
(Copyright 1999)
He looked like a mid-'60s rock star with his blond, bowl haircut
and permanent pout, as if the Rolling Stones' Brian Jones had been a
Beach Boy.
But Bryan MacLean's life didn't follow any of the standard rock
star trajectories. And when he died Christmas Day of an apparent
heart attack at the age of 52, he left behind a handful of beautiful
tunes and a great deal of unfulfilled potential.
MacLean grew up privileged in the Hollywood Hills, thrilling to
Broadway show tunes. As a teenager, he turned to folk and became a
roadie for the Byrds. He then teamed up with Arthur Lee in the
brilliant but doomed band Love.
"If Arthur Lee was John Lennon, Bryan MacLean was Paul McCartney,"
Kevin Delaney writes via e-mail. Delaney is compiling an oral
history of Love, "Between Clark and Hilldale."
The two couldn't have been less alike. Lee was black, grew up in
one of L.A.'s tougher neighborhoods and played gritty R&B. MacLean's
first composition was the amazingly ornate "Orange Skies," one of
only four of his songs Love recorded.
"Arthur had the dominant personality, so his songs got done,"
MacLean told Mojo writer Barney Hoskins in 1996. "I was writing
prolifically all through those years, but when we went into the
studio, he'd say no to every song."
Lee certainly learned a lot from MacLean. By 1967's "Forever
Changes," Love had fused psychedelic and easy-listening music into
one of rock's few truly unique sounds. MacLean quit the next year.
Two solo projects were aborted and MacLean, after embracing
Christianity in 1970, left the music scene. He continued writing,
placing one of his songs, "Don't Toss Us Away," on the 1985 eponymous
* debut album of Lone Justice, led by his half-sister Maria McKee.
Patty Loveless later scored a country hit with the song.
MacLean's prolificacy was revealed on 1997's "Ifyoubelievein," a
collection of forgotten demo recordings discovered by his mother.
Recorded between 1966 and 1982, the tunes are full of warmth and
depth, carried by MacLean's fluid guitar playing and crystalline
voice.
MacLean had just completed an album of Christian music before his
death, Delaney says, but its release status is uncertain.
MacLean had much to be bitter about - he reportedly saw few
royalties from Love's albums. But he chose to focus on moving
forward.
"The best is yet to come," Delaney quotes him as saying.
"He said something to me one time that I think really sums up his
whole approach to life," Delaney writes. " "Give,' he said. "Just
give. It makes everything so much simpler.' "
