Rhino Factoids: Love at the Whiskey

49 years ago today, Love reigned supreme at the Whisky A Go Go, as Arthur Lee and the gang headlined the famed Sunset Strip venue for five nights of shows which found a couple of soon-to-be-legendary bands serving as their opening acts.

In 1966, Love was a really big deal in Los Angeles – it would not be an understatement to suggest that they were, for all practical purposes, the face of Elektra Records at the time – so, in turn, it was a really big deal to get the opportunity to open for them, particularly at a venue as high-profile as the Whisky A Go Go. Clearly, all eyes were upon these two young upstart bands who took the stage first, but when your eyes are on The Doors and Buffalo Springfield… Seriously, triple-bills just don’t get much better than that.

As it turned out, the Doors’ performances during that stint with Love paid off handsomely for them. Elektra president Jac Holzman had flown in from New York to see Love’s show, and Arthur Lee assured Holzman that he should make sure to check out The Doors, but by the time he arrived, he was thoroughly exhausted, which might explain why he was only “meh” about their performance. By the time he’d seen them play four other times, however, Holzman had fallen for the band to the point that he offered The Doors a record deal with Elektra. They didn’t sign right away – they’d been burned by Columbia signing them and then dropping them before ever doing anything the band – but by August, they were officially Elektra Records recording artists. The same couldn’t be said for Buffalo Springfield, although Elektra did get involved in a bidding war for the band with Warner Brothers and Atlantic Records, but in the end Atlantic Records won the war, and the rest is history.

See? Opening for Love really was a big deal. Plus, they were a pretty great band, too, as you’ll hear if you give a spin to their self-titled debut album, which no doubt featured heavily in their set list 49 years ago today.