Stephanie Knows Who
| "Stephanie Knows Who" | |
|---|---|
US issue
|
|
| Single by Love | |
| from the album Da Capo | |
| B-side | "Orange Skies" |
| Released | November 1966 |
| Format | 7" |
| Recorded | 1966 at RCA Studios |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:29 |
| Label | Elektra |
| Songwriter(s) | Arthur Lee |
| Producer(s) | Paul A. Rothchild |
"Stephanie Knows Who" is a song written by Arthur Lee and first released by Love on their 1967 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 It was to have been released as a single, backed with "Orange Skies", but the single was withdrawn, with "She Comes in Colors" replacing it under the same catalog number.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.
The song was inspired by a woman about 18 years old named Stephanie Buffington who both Lee and Love's guitarist Bryan MacLean had affections for. Parts of "The Castle", another song on Da Capo were also inspired by the same woman. Love drummer 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. 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.
The song's music contains jazz elements.AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald has described the song as "a combination of hard, psychedelic rock with a free jazz interlude." 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 5/4. Echols has described the song as "a kind of a jazz waltz", though noting that the song isn't very danceable. Stuart-Ware has also commented that the song is hard to dance to.
Although Lee's singing on Love's debut album and on Da Capo's lead single "7 and 7 Is" (released months before the album) uses a harsh style, his singing most of Da Capo uses a softer style. "Stephanie Knows Who" is an exception, and uses the raw singing style of the debut album. However, the instrumentation of the album is more consistent with the rest of Da Capo. For example, Alban "Snoopy" Pfisterer's harpsichord is prominent. 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.
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