(FORTUNE Magazine) – "THE EVERLASTING FIRST," BY LOVE. Originally appeared on False Start (Blue Thumb); now available from online CD stores on the Rhino boxed set Love Story 1966-1972

The soundtrack for High Fidelity has put Love back on the speakers of America. Although the movie only samples Love's affecting but little-known "Always See Your Face," the soundtrack has the full cut; it's definitely a lost masterpiece. But I find that I keep being drawn to Love's "The Everlasting First," with Jimi Hendrix sitting in on lead guitar.

Love was the creation of Arthur Lee (right), a black man who, along with Hendrix, helped define hippiedom in the late '60s. Love never had the success it should have had because (1) Lee wouldn't leave Los Angeles to tour; and (2) the band did so many drugs that it disintegrated in a haze of addiction, crime, freakouts, and jail. In March 1970, Lee was in London with a ragtag group of musicians when Hendrix came to the studio. Despite rumors of more material, "The Everlasting First" is the only known result of the collaboration. The band sounds like mush, an effective background for Hendrix's guitar; his fluid runs and beautiful tone are overwhelming. Lee begins singing very quietly but ends with a long cry of anguish. And what appears to be a song about breaking up with a woman is actually, as the title implies, addressed to God. How could this not be a masterpiece? It's nothing less than Arthur Lee and Jimi Hendrix pondering the fall of man.

--GREGORY CURTIS