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7 and 7 Is
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = 7 and 7 Is
| cover = sevenandsevenis45.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Love
| album = Da Capo
| B-side = No. Fourteen
| released = July 1966
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length =
| label = Elektra
| writer = Arthur Lee
| producer = Jac Holzman
| prev_title = My Little Red Book
| prev_year = 1966
| next_title = Stephanie Knows Who
| next_year = 1966
}}
"'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'.
Writing and recording
The song drew inspiration from a high school sweetheart of Lee, Anita "Pretty" Billings,[https://books.google.com/books?id=5Einlgh-UqkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=roby+schreiber+hendrix&hl=en&ei=b9PIToGGCcLR8QP87f2NAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=roby%20schreiber%20hendrix&f=false Steven Roby & Brad Schreiber, 'Becoming Jimi Hendrix: From Southern Crossroads to Psychedelic London'], Da Capo Press, 2010, pp. 105-106 who shared his birthday, March 7. It also describes Lee's frustration at teenage lifethe 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. 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."Gallo, Phil Booklet included with 'Love Story 1966-1972', Rhino Records R2 73500 (1995), p. 15
It took a great deal of work to record, with Love's drummer, Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer, being challenged with its frantic demands after 30 takes or so, and being replaced on drums, intermittently, by Lee himself. In an interview for John Einarson's book 'Forever Changes', lead guitarist Johnny Echols credits the drumming on the released record to Pfisterer. In a 1989 interview, Arthur Lee stated that he himself taught Pfisterer how to play the part, and that the final record featured Pfisterer. In what has been described as a "flirtation" with 'musique concrte',[https://books.google.com/books?id=ypu6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=caroline+no+beach+boys+musique+concrete&source=bl&ots=RVZHixKk-g&sig=d4D8Wpyu81zwlNdM8NkP7rX56-A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8cU2VfKDO4m7yQSVkIGYCg&redir_esc=y#v=snippet&q=%22seven%20and%20seven%20is%22&f=false Edwin Pouncey, "Rock Concrete", 'Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music'], Bloomsbury, 2002, p. 157 the song climaxes in an apocalyptic explosionthe supposed sound of an atom bombbefore a peaceful conclusion, in a blues form, which then fades out. Although many listeners thought that the explosion at the end of the song was a reverb unit being kicked or dropped, it was (according to the engineer Bruce Botnick), in actuality, taken from a sound effects record. He speculated that it was a recording of a gunshot slowed down. For live performances, the explosion was reproduced by kicking a reverb unit.
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, The Electric Prunes, Billy Bragg, The Sidewinders, The Fuzztones, Rush, Robert Plant, Alice Bag and Deep Purple, as well as a re-recording by Lee himself. The song was also featured in the TV series 'Entourage' in season 5 episode 1 during the closing credits.
Former Chemlab vocalist Jared Louche covered "7 and 7 Is" with The Aliens for his 1999 solo debut 'Covergirl'.
Popular culture
*The song was featured in Wes Anderson's first film, Bottle Rocket.
* This song is used in trailers for "The Dead Don't Die".
*The song was also featured in the official reveal trailer for the Electronic Arts game Knockout City.
References
Citations
Sources
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Category:1966 singles
Category:1982 singles
Category:1966 songs
Category:Songs written by Arthur Lee (musician)
Category:Love (band) songs
Category:Ramones songs
Category:Rush (band) songs
Category:Alice Cooper songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Jac Holzman
Category:Elektra Records singles
Category:American garage rock songs
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