Stephanie Knows Who

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"Stephanie Knows Who"
US issue
Single by Love
from the album Da Capo
B-side"Orange Skies"
ReleasedNovember 1966 (1966-11)
RecordedOctober 2, 1966[1]
StudioRCA Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Genre
Length2:29
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)Arthur Lee
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild
Love singles chronology
"
7 And 7 Is
"
(1966) 		"Stephanie Knows Who"
(1966) 		"She Comes in Colors"
(1966)

"Stephanie Knows Who" is a song written by Arthur Lee and first released by Love on their 1966 album Da Capo. It has also been released on several Love compilation albums. It was to have been released as a single, backed with "Orange Skies", but the single was withdrawn, with "She Comes in Colors" replacing it under the same catalog number. The song was also covered by The Move.

Lyrics and music

The song was inspired by a woman about 18 years old named Stephanie Buffington who both Lee and Love's guitarist

Michael Stuart-Ware claims that when Lee wrote the song, Stephanie was with him but by the time the band recorded the song she was with MacLean.[4] Stuart also believes that the romantic triangle helped lead to the deterioration of the friendship between Lee and MacLean, to the point where Lee tried to expel MacLean from the band.[4] According to guitarist Johnny Echols, the song's lyrics, "A tiger did, you said he did", referred to marks that Lee saw on her side, which she explained as having been caused by a childhood scratch from a tiger, though in fact they were stretch marks from a teenage pregnancy.[5]
Still today, most of the lyric listings for this song have that line deciphered incorrectly.

The song's music contains jazz elements.[2][6] AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald has described the song as "a combination of hard, psychedelic rock with a free jazz interlude."[2] For the interlude, which features Johnny Echols' guitar playing and Tjay Cantrelli's (real name John Barberi) saxophone playing, the time signature shifts from 3/4 to 5/8.[4][7] Echols has described the song as "a kind of a jazz waltz", though noting that the song isn't very danceable.[4] Stuart-Ware has also commented that the song is hard to dance to.[4]

Although Lee's singing on Love's debut album and on Da Capo's lead single "

Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer's harpsichord is prominent.[8][9] The Da Capo instrumentation is particularly evident in the instrumental introduction to the song, which features MacLean's folk music-style guitar playing and Pfisterer's harpsichord.[4]

Critical reception

Colin Larkin called it one of the "strong tracks" on Da Capo.[14] Authors Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz described Cantrelli's saxophone solo as being in a similar style to John Coltrane.[15]

Other appearances

"Stephanie Knows Who" had been intended as a single release in late 1966, backed with "

Best of Love.[2]

The Move covered "Stephanie Knows Who" on their 1968 live EP Something Else from The Move.[17][18] AllMusic critic Cub Koda describes The Move's version as "a psychedelic number with loads of wah-wah guitar from Roy Wood."[18] AllMusic's Richie Unterberger commented on the song's "spinning and frenetic guitar work."[17] The song also appears on other albums by The Move, including the reissue of Shazam.[19][20]

"Stephanie Knows Who" was also covered by The Aardvarks on the multi-artist compilation album Modstock Saarbrücken 94.[21]

References

  1. ^ Oxide, Chrome. "Chrome Oxide - Music Collectors pages - Love - 03/08/2014". www.chromeoxide.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Greenwald, M. "Stephanie Knows Who". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  3. ^ No Depression. No Depression. 2004. p. 17.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781906002312
    .
  5. ^ "Interview: Johnny Echols (Love)", Hit-Channel.com. Retrieved November 26, 2021
  6. ^ Unterberger, R. "Da Capo". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  7. ^
    ISBN 9780634099250
    .
  8. ^ Phares, H. (September 14, 1995). "All You Need Is Love". The Michigan Daily. p. 15. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  9. ^ Iwasaki, S. (September 2, 1995). "Continue Psychedelic Love Affair With 2-CD Set". Deseret News. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  10. ISBN 9780879309435
    .
  11. ^ Hollow, C. (March 30, 2003). "The one true love". The Age. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  12. ^ Gundersen, E. & Barnes, K. (July 18, 2007). "20 albums that defined an era". USA Today. p. D5.
  13. ISBN 9781906002046
    .
  14. ISBN 9780195313734
    .
  15. ISBN 9780313338465
    .
  16. ^
    ISBN 9781841953151
    .
  17. ^ a b Unterberger, R. "Something Else from The Move". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  18. ^ a b Koda, C. "Something Else from the Move [Something Else from the Move...Plus!]". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
  19. ^ Erlewine, S.T. "Shazam". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  20. ^ "The Move: Stephanie Knows Who". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  21. ^ "Modstock Saarbrucken 94". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
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