This recording of What Is Love? was made back in 1988, just before I followed my wife to Alaska. Would have been mid-September. I drove up to Boise from Reno to spend some time with my old buddy Ross Miller before going on the big adventure up north. Another old buddy and bass player extraordinaire, Dave Young, was also in Boise. We got together at Ross's studio, Nova Sound Productions, and recorded some of my songs. I don't remember the drummer's name--somebody Ross knew in Boise.

What Is Love? had been one of Ross' favorites since I wrote it back in 1979 or 80. He and I were in a trio then called Desert Rain. I played guitar, he played bass and we had rotating drummers. One of them was Dave Eggersdorf from Gooding, Idaho. He worked at a lumber yard. Sometimes he was responsible for locking up, which had to be done on the inside of the gate. Then he had to climb over a chain link fence to get out of the yard. One Friday night just before the gig we got a call from his wife. He had snagged his wedding ring on the chain link fence as he climbed over and jumped down. He came down, his ring finger didn't. I don't think we were able to find a replacement drummer in time for the gig that night, but we got a substitute for a couple weekends, wondering if Dave would be able to play again, but he was back with us after a couple weeks. He was a very low-key guy for a drummer and didn't seem to lament the loss of his finger as much as you'd expect. He had a little trouble holding on to drum sticks, though, and every now and then one would fly across the stage. Dave is the only drummer I have ever worked with who I had to tell to play louder.

Ross is the captain of a 50s/60s rock revival band in Boise called the Fabulous Chancellors. The Chancellors were a real band back in the mid sixties and had a hit with, I believe, the Lion Sleeps Tonight, but I'm not sure about that. Ross and some former members of the band revived the name and have been playing in and around Boise for probably 15 years now. For the past eight years or so Ross has been telling me he's going to give up the Chancellor thing next year. But it's harder to quit rock & roll than cigarettes.

I had lost touch with Dave Young for a long time, then late last year he called out of the blue from New Hampshire where he's the caretaker of a resort lodge. Reviving his music interests after a hiatus, he wanted the words to another one of my songs, Cherry Pie. He says What Is Love? has been a star in his repertoire all these years. No doubt his version has evolved over the years. Mine has stayed pretty much the same. I'll probably record it again, but I don't know anyone who could give me a better bass track than this one. I found this recording on a 4-track cassette. It had already been mixed--probably a rough studio mix after we recorded it--so there wasn't much I could do about the lead guitar levels and vocal except EQ. Ross probably made the four-track dub for me because I had (and still have) a Tascam 234 just like his. If I rummaged around I could probably find another more polished mix of this that Ross sent me years later. But this one has kind of a live club feel and of course it evokes some great memories of some great friends.

As for the song itself, I had been listening to country music on the radio in Twin Falls and noticed everybody was singing about Love and not explaining it very well. I was probably wondering what if an alien was tuned in and heard all these love songs. Wouldn't it wonder, What Is Love?

--Michael Faubion