The first thing you notice in conversation with Darlene Love is the laugh.
It’s deep, unforced and reflective of a spirit that is as jovial as it is resolute. Then you realize those are also the qualities that have fortified her singing throughout a tumultuous 50-year career that has made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee a true artistic survivor.
“What people have to understand is that if you’re getting more good than bad out of something, it’s always worth it,” said Love, 72, who performs Wednesday at the Grand Theatre in Frankfort. “But you have to keep on, you have to see to your goals and your dreams, and keep moving forward.
“We all have bumps in the road. We have barricades. But my whole thing about that is this: A barricade is nothing but something you have to get over. That’s what I’ve done most of my life. Once you get over it, the joy on the other side is very fulfilling. So you just have to keep pressing on.”
Love established her reputation in the early ’60s with a series of recordings produced by Phil Spector. The first, 1962’s power pop-soulHe’s a Rebel, was made with the California girl group The Blossoms.
But just as Spector’s famed Wall of Sound recording technique helped establish Love’s jubilant singing, the producer kept a tight lid on the recognition and exposure she received.He’s a Rebel, in fact, was credited by Spector to another group (The Crystals), thus robbing Love of the critical attention she should have received for what was the first record to feature her on lead vocals.
