He was a multi- dimensional  musician, songwriter  and producer, who played guitar, harmonica ,drums, keyboards and percussion.  He was the original Jimi Hendrix.  Arthur's wrote a tune called My Diary ,for r&b singer, Rosa Lee Brooks who performed and recorded it. Jimi Hendrix played guitar on the session.

Lee met Hendrix at an Isleys Bros session My Diary is said to have have been Hendrix first recording on vinyl.

Alan Talbert, who played tenor sax with Arthur's first group,  the LA Gs , recalls how the group in 1961, could be considered the first Beatles,  three years before the British invasion took place.  The LA Gs were in 11^th grade at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, and as Alan recalls, "we would get mobbed after performances." The LA Gs were the first crossover group in LA.

Years later Alan would return to the group which was named, Arthur Lee and Love.

Music:

A House Is Not A Motel

Love on Earth Must Be

Ninety Miles Away (Alan Talbert on sax)

REAL PERFORMANCE

Mzuri is a multi-talented performer who wrote and brings to life the story of Fannie Lou Hamer.  Ms Hamer was a remarkable woman who defied authorities and risked her life by getting African-Americans registered to vote in the sixties. 

In 2001, at the first performance of her one woman show,The Fannie Lou Hamer Story,  Mzuri's powerful voice and absolute transformation gave me goose bumps as I watched her move through the audience performing the opening song. 

Mzuri starting singing while in the high chair according to her mother. By age six, she was singing in church and soon became known as "Little Mahalia", a fitting comparison since she always wanted to sing like Mahalia Jackson. She says that performing gives her an amazing feeling and she gets energy from her audiences. "When I'm on stage, I feel that I am being used by a higher power," she said during our recent interview. 

Following the tradition of Fannie Lou, not only does she encourage audience members to register to vote, but takes it one step further by offering voter registration at the beginning or end of her shows. Mzuri has performed the Fannie Lou Hamer story both in the United States and abroad. Having seen the show twice, I highly recommend that you treat yourself and go see this historically significant, moving tribute when it comes to a city near you. To view her tour schedule, book a performance, see a video clip from the show and hear excerpts from her CD, check out Mzuri's Myspace.