The Doors – Morrison Hotel (1970)

The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, partly due to Morrison’s lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era’s counterculture.

The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception, itself a reference to a quote by William Blake. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors with Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time, including their self-titled debut (1967), Strange Days (1967), and L.A. Woman (1971). Dubbed the “Kings of Acid Rock”, they were one of the most successful bands during that time and by 1972 the Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly 8 million singles.

Morrison died in uncertain circumstances in 1971. The band continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. They released three more albums in the 1970s, one of which featured earlier recordings by Morrison, and over the decades reunited on stage in various configurations. In 2002, Manzarek, Krieger, and Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals started performing as “The Doors of the 21st Century”. Densmore and the Morrison estate successfully sued them over the use of the band’s name. After a short time as Riders on the Storm, they settled on the name Manzarek–Krieger and toured until Manzarek’s death in 2013.

The Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold LPs. According to the RIAA, they have sold 34 million albums in the United States and over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 41st on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In 1993, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)

Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: “Hard Rock Café” and “Morrison Hotel”. Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.

The album reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and performed better overseas than the preceding album (it was the group’s highest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 12). The accompanying “You Make Me Real” / “Roadhouse Blues” single peaked at No. 50 in May 1970 on the Billboard 100 chart. The cover photo was taken by Henry Diltz.

The cover photo was taken by Henry Diltz at the Morrison Hotel on South Hope Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The band were not given permission to photograph, so they did it while the clerk was called away from the desk. The band jumped right behind the windows and hit their places without shuffling as Diltz took the shot. The rear cover features a photograph of the Hard Rock Café at nearby 300 East 5th Street. The building is now home to a convenience store. It has been vacant for years, but a new development plan announced in 2018 may restore the building, which happened eventually in 2019 for the annual “Day of the Doors” fan event. Thirteen years later parts of Michael Jackson’s music video for the song “Beat It” were filmed inside the former Hard Rock Café on 5th Street. (wikipedia)

In late 1969, the Doors were reeling. That March, singer Jim Morrison was charged, tried, and convicted of obscenity for allegedly exposing himself at a concert in Miami. It resulted in promoters canceling future gigs. The July release of The Soft Parade provided more angst. Tired of the sound that governed their previous outings, the band incorporated horn and string arrangements with a new melodic accessibility. It signaled an unwelcome change for critics (though it did reach number six and was radically reappraised posthumously). In November they entered the studio with producer Paul Rothchild exhausted, stressed, and angry. Going back to blues and R&B basics seemed like the only direction to pursue.

Morrison Hotel is often dubbed the Doors’ blues album, due to raucous opener “Roadhouse Blues,” one of the band’s most enduring tunes. (Interestingly, it was issued as the B-side of first single “You Make Me Real.”) Ray Manzarek leaves behind his organ to pound an upright piano, while guitarist Robby Krieger adds a filthy Chicago-styled riff, prodded by a rock shuffle from drummer John Densmore. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian (using the pseudonym “G. Puglese”) provides its iconic harmonica wail. “Waiting for the Sun” is one of four tunes Morrison composed himself, and a psychedelic holdover from the 1968 album bearing the same title. Manzarek plays a spacy harpsichord as Krieger offers trippy slide guitar. “You Make Me Real” underscores the blues-rock motif, with roiling electric piano, stinging guitar vamps, and Densmore’s swaggering shuffle. Morrison lords over all with his boozy, baritone roar.

The organ returns on the downright funky boogie of “Peace Frog,” as Morrison sings of “blood in the streets” addressing the civic unrest then gripping the nation. He counters near the end with a spoken stanza from his optimistic poem Newborn Awakening. “Ship of Fools” contains shifting time signatures that cross jazz, R&B, and pop, while the buoyant “Land Ho,” offers an adventure-laden lyric in a sprawling rock & roll sea chanty, where Manzarek wields his organ like a mad calliope. Krieger’s deep, bluesy, minor-key intro to “The Spy” is framed by jazzy electric piano and Morrison’s sultry delivery, which approximates a lounge singer. “Queen of the Highway” is fueled by Densmore’s powerful drumming and Manzarek’s creative use of the Rhodes piano.

One of the Doors’ most progressive cuts, it seamlessly integrates blues, jazz, and spacy psychedelia. “Maggie McGill” closes the circle on the blues tip. Krieger’s unruly, double-tracked slide riffs duel with a pulsing, distorted organ; Densmore bridges them under Morrison’s slithering growl — it foreshadows the singing style he displayed so abundantly on L.A. Woman in 1971. Blues and R&B were foundational to the Doors’ musical vocabulary. They employed them to some degree on all of their albums, but never as consistently, adeptly, or provocatively as they did on Morrison Hotel, with absolutely stunning results. (by Thom Jurek)

Personnel:
John Densmore (drums)
Robby Krieger (guitar)
Ray Manzarek (keyboards)
Jim Morrison (vocals)
+
Paul Beaver (moog synthesizer programming on 02.)
Lonnie Mack (bass on 01. + 10.)
Ray Neapolitan (bass)
John Sebastian (as “G. Puglese”) (harmonica on 01.)

Tracklist:

Hard Rock Cafe:
01. Roadhouse Blues (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison) 4.07
02. Waiting For The Sun (Morrison) 4.02
03. You Make Me Real (Morrison) 2.54
04. Peace Frog (Morrison/Krieger) /  Blue Sunday (Morrison) 5.02
05. Ship Of Fools (Morrison/Krieger) 3.17

Morrison Hotel:
06. Land Ho! (Morrison/Krieger) 4.14
07. The Spy (Morrison) 4.17
08. Queen Of The Highway (Morrison/Krieger) 2.52
09. Indian Summer (Morrison/Krieger) 2.36
10. Maggie M’Gill (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison) 4.18
+
Reissues40th Anniversary bonus tracks:
11. Talking Blues (Morrison) 1.01
12. Roadhouse Blues (takes 1–3, recorded November 4, 1969) (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison) 8.49
13. Roadhouse Blues (take 6, recorded November 4, 1969) (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison) 9.29
14. Carol (recorded November 4, 1969) (Berry) 0.55
15. Roadhouse Blues (take 1, recorded November 5, 1969) (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison)  4.59
16. Money Beats Soul (recorded November 5, 1969) (Morrison) 1.07
17. Roadhouse Blues (takes 13-15, recorded November 5, 1969) (Densmore/Krieger/Manzarek/Morrison) 3.18
18. Peace Frog (Morrison/Krieger) / Blue Sunday (Morrison) (false starts & dialogue) 2.29
19. The Spy (version 2) (Morrison) 5.05
20. Queen Of The Highway (Jazz version) (Morrison/Krieger) 3.26

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A mimicry of the Morrison Hotel building in 2012:

More from The Doors in this blog:

The official website:

The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)

The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, partly due to Morrison’s lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era’s counterculture.

The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception, itself a reference to a quote by William Blake. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors with Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time, including their self-titled debut (1967), Strange Days (1967), and L.A. Woman (1971). Dubbed the “Kings of Acid Rock”, they were one of the most successful bands during that time and by 1972 the Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly 8 million singles.

Morrison died in uncertain circumstances in 1971. The band continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. They released three more albums in the 1970s, one of which featured earlier recordings by Morrison, and over the decades reunited on stage in various configurations. In 2002, Manzarek, Krieger, and Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals started performing as “The Doors of the 21st Century”. Densmore and the Morrison estate successfully sued them over the use of the band’s name. After a short time as Riders on the Storm, they settled on the name Manzarek–Krieger and toured until Manzarek’s death in 2013.

The Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold LPs. According to the RIAA, they have sold 34 million albums in the United States and over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 41st on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. In 1993, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (wikipedia)

L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime due to his death three months after the album’s release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album An American Prayer. Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without record producer Paul A. Rothchild after he fell out with the group over the perceived lack of quality of their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.

“Love Her Madly” was released as a single in March 1971, preceding the album’s release, and reached the Top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100. Upon release, the album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and reached number 28 on the UK Albums Charts.[3] The track “Riders on the Storm” also achieved chart success.

Critics including Richie Unterberger and David Quantick have called L.A. Woman one of the Doors’ best albums, citing Morrison’s vocal performance and the band’s stripped-down return to their blues-rock roots.

The final album with Jim Morrison in the lineup is by far their most blues-oriented, and the singer’s poetic ardor is undiminished, though his voice sounds increasingly worn and craggy on some numbers. Actually, some of the straight blues items sound kind of turgid, but that’s more than made up for by several cuts that rate among their finest and most disturbing work. The seven-minute title track was a car-cruising classic that celebrated both the glamour and seediness of Los Angeles; the other long cut, the brooding, jazzy “Riders on the Storm,” was the group at its most melodic and ominous. It and the far bouncier “Love Her Madly” were hit singles, and “The Changeling” and “L’America” count as some of their better little-heeded album tracks. An uneven but worthy finale from the original quartet. (by Richie Unterberger)

Personnel:
John Densmore (drums)
Robby Krieger (guitar)
Ray Manzarek (keyboards, guitar on 03.)
Jim Morrison (vocals)
+
Marc Benno guitar on 03. – 05. + 08.)
Jerry Scheff (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Changeling 4.18
02. Love Her Madly 3.18
03. Been Down So Long 4.41
04. Cars Hiss By My Window 4.12
05. L.A. Woman 7.46
06. L’America 4.34
07. Hyacinth House 3.11
08. Crawling King Snake 4.59
09. The WASP (Texas Radio & The Big Beat) 4.17
10. Riders On The Storm 6.54
+
11. (You Need Meat) Don’t Look No Further

All songs written by:
John Densmore – Robby Krieger – Ray Manzarek – Jim Morrison
except Nr. 08, written by John Lee Hooker
and 11. written by Willie Dixon

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More from The Doors:

The official website:

Pic of the day: Another …

… great pic of The Doors (at Steve Paul’s The Scene, NYC 1967); live & exciting:

The Doors – Strange Days (1967)

Strange Days is the second studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on September 25, 1967 by Elektra Records. The album was a commercial success, reaching number 3 on the US Billboard 200, and eventually earning RIAA platinum certification. The album contains the Top 30 hit singles “People Are Strange” and “Love Me Two Times”.

Strange Days was recorded during tour breaks between May and August 1967 at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood (the same studio as their first LP). In contrast to the 1966 sessions, producer Paul A. Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick employed a cutting-edge 8-track recording machine. The protracted sessions allowed the band to experiment in the studio and further augment their otherworldly sound with unusual instrumentation and sonic manipulation. According to Botnick, this approach was inspired by the band obtaining an advance copy of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album and “absolutely flipping out” at what they heard. Botnick said that, following the Beatles’ example, the Doors were determined to pursue “new techniques of recording. No holds barred.”

Developed with the assistance of Paul Beaver, the title track constitutes one of the earliest uses of a Moog synthesizer in rock. On the Morrison poem “Horse Latitudes”, Botnick took the white noise of a tape recorder and varied the speed by hand-winding it (resulting in a sound akin to wind) as the four band members played a variety of instruments in unusual ways. Further varispeed was then employed to create different timbres and effects. The band also explored musique concrète techniques on the album.

Session musician Douglass Lubahn played bass during the recording of the album.[3]
Composition

Several of the songs on Strange Days had been written around the same time as the ones that appeared on The Doors. Two (“My Eyes Have Seen You” and “Moonlight Drive”) had been demoed in 1965 at Trans World Pacific Studios before Krieger joined the group; indeed, the latter had been conceived by Morrison prior to his fateful reunion with Manzarek in the summer of 1965.[4] Although the song was attempted twice during the sessions for the band’s debut, both versions were deemed unsatisfactory. A conventional blues arrangement, “Moonlight Drive”‘s defining features were its slightly off-beat rhythm and Krieger’s bottleneck guitar, which create an eerie sound.

The LP’s first single, “People Are Strange”, was composed in early 1967 after Krieger, drummer John Densmore, and a depressed Morrison had walked to the top of Laurel Canyon.[6] Densmore recalled the song’s writing process in his book Riders on the Storm. Densmore and Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by a dejected Morrison, who was acting “deeply depressed.” At the suggestion of Densmore, they took a walk along Laurel Canyon. Morrison returned from the walk “euphoric” with the early lyrics of “People Are Strange”.

The Doors, live at the Fog, London, 1966

Although Morrison was the Doors’ primary lyricist, Robby Krieger wrote several of the group’s hit singles, with his first composition being “Light My Fire”. According to band members, his bluesy “Love Me Two Times” was about a soldier/sailor on his last day with his girlfriend before shipping out, ostensibly to war. Manzarek described the song as “Robby’s great blues/rock classic about lust and lost, or multiple orgasms, I’m not sure which.” In 1997, Krieger stated to Guitar World’s Alan Paul that the musical idea for “Love Me Two Times” came from a lick from a Danny Kalb album. Manzarek played the final version of this song on a harpsichord, not a clavichord. Manzarek described the instrument as “a most elegant instrument that one does not normally associate with rock and roll.” It was edited to a 2:37 length and released as the second single (after “People Are Strange”) from that album, and reached No. 25 on the charts in the US. “Love Me Two Times” was considered to be somewhat risqué for radio airplay, being banned in New Haven for being “too controversial,” much to the dismay of the band.

The album concludes with the 11 minute-long epic, “When the Music’s Over”.

The album cover of Strange Days, photographed by Joel Brodsky, depicts a group of street performers in New York. The location of the photograph is at Sniffen Court, a residential alley next to East 36th Street between Lexington and Third Avenue in Manhattan. The availability of such performers pictured was low, so Brodsky’s assistant stood in as a juggler while a random cab driver was paid $5 to pose playing the trumpet. Twin dwarfs were hired, with one appearing on the front cover and one appearing on the back cover, which is the other half of the same photo on the front cover. However, a group shot of the band does appear on a poster in the background of both covers, bearing captions of the band and album name. (The same photograph previously appeared on the back cover of the band’s debut album.) Because of the subtlety of the artist and album title, most record stores put stickers across the cover to help customers identify it more clearly.

Strange Days was released on September 25, 1967 by Elektra Records. Although the album was quite successful, reaching No. 3 in the United States during a sixty-three-week chart stay in November 1967, its impact was attenuated by the enduring success of the band’s debut album, which remained in the Top Ten over ten months after its release during a 122-week stay. According to producer Paul Rothchild, “We all thought it was the best album. Significantly, it was also the one with the weakest sales. We were confident it was going to be bigger than anything The Beatles had done. But there was no single. The record died on us.”

Personnel:
John Densmore (drums)
Robby Krieger (guitar)
Ray Manzarek (keyboards, harpsichord background vocals on 07.)
Jim Morrison (vocals, percussion, synthesizer on 07.)
+
Douglas Lubahn (bass)
+
background vocals on 07.:
Paul A. Rothchild –Bruce Botnick

Tracklist:
01. Strange Days 3.09
02. You’re Lost Little Girl 3.03
03. Love Me Two Times 3.170
04. Unhappy Girl 2.00
05. Horse Latitudes 1.35
06. Moonlight Drive 3.04
07. People Are Strange 2.12
08. My Eyes Have Seen You 2.30
09. I Can’t See Your Face In My Mind 3.27
10. When The Music’s Over 10.59

All songs written – Jim Morrison – Ray Manzarek – Robby Krieger – John Densmore

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Various Artists – A Classic Rock Salute To The Doors – Light My Fire (2014)

Southern California-based Purple Pyramid Records and producer, instrumentalist Billy Sherwood raised the bar with this tribute to The Doors by convening a star-studded cast, featuring classic rockers performing with progressive rock luminaries. And the jazz contingent is onboard, evidenced by jazz guitar great Larry Coryell appearing with Focus keyboardist Thijs Van Leer on “Love Me Two Times.”

When I first broke the seal on this recording and perused the personnel listing I was delighted yet partly suspicious, fearing this would be an unbalanced project and/or a riffing contest framed on The Doors songbook. Such is not the case. Thus, Todd Rundgren performing alongside Captain Beeheart Magic Band guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo and Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes signify one of many rather unlikely, yet markedly productive and enticing state of affairs. It’s a varied set, where all the vocalists retain their signature chops and modus operandi. Although one unremitting factor is centered on their penchant for extracting the force-field of The Doors’ vocalist Jim Morrison’s commanding delivery.

The production’s stunning sound quality yields additional bonus points and should warm the hearts of audiophiles. Ultimately, each rendition of The Doors’ songbook is imbued with the musicians’ idiosyncratic niceties amid a plethora of shrewdly placed dynamics, layered keys and guitar shadings. They inject distinct characteristics but don’t sacrifice The Doors’ core song-forms. Hence, disparate musical personalities uncannily attain an accord on many fronts by imparting a sense of ownership and camaraderie, whether or not they were recording tracks in the same studio at the same time.

It’s easy to discern that Sherwood and associates maximized the talents and style of each artist’s strengths, juxtaposed by strong soloing spots and the obligatory personal touches that many of us would anticipate. Van Leer helps give “Love Me Two Times ” a modern uplift by instilling some good old Hammond-B3 organ style boogie rock, abetted by Coryell’s Texas blues patterns and hard rock phrasings. Moreover, guitar hero Leslie West (Mountain) does what he does best via his emphatically thick vocals, coupled with sinuous slide guitar leads atop Rod Piazza’s harmonica notes, as they punch it out on this husky finger-snapping spin on “Roadhouse Blues.”

Tony Kaye (Yes) uses a synth emulated electric piano sound during “Riders On The Storm” and Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) preludes “People Are Strange” with stride piano clusters and synths alongside time-honored session ace, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter’s deft acoustic guitar work. Yet rockabilly vocalist Robert Gordon croons through “Touch Me” with the resonance and machismo of Morrison, complemented by pumping rhythms and Nik Turner’s (Hawkwind) swirling sax notes and prog rock keyboard great Jordan Rudess’ spiraling notes. Whereas, Rundgren tenders a pop-ish and clement outlook on The Doors’ swaggering and bluesy torch piece “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar).

Highlights are thriving components, especially when infamous Yes alumni, guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Rick Wakeman delve into an extended call and response motif, spanning rock, jazz and classical nuances in the bridge section of “Light My Fire.” Here, Ian Gillan provides the antithesis of what we’d expect, considering his high-impact vocals with Deep Purple, as he counterbalances the soloists with a care-free and straightforward rendering of the familiar choruses. Indeed, this tribute endeavor covers all the bases and then some. It’s not to be overlooked. Kudos to the production team for bestowing their rather enlightening plan of attack as it’s quite apparent that a lot of thought prefaced the onset of this astonishing alignment of rock’s past and present rock stars. (by Glen Astarita)

First off readers let me say that I do not like cover bands, cover albums, tribute albums and compilation albums. I have always felt they should be considered a separate genre and that they usually do a disservice to the original composers and bands. After listening to “A Classic Rock Salute To The Doors” though I am rethinking those thoughts. It is hard to cover every song here, there are 16 of their greatest hits, so I will try to give an over view of what I think is important. I will leave the final decision up to you as to how good it really is after you listen to it.

I was fortunate enough to see ‘The Doors’, 3 times, once at Cobo Hall in Detroit. They were a very unassuming band with almost no equipment. They used no special effects, fireworks, light shows or anything other than themselves, a few instruments and only a couple amps and speakers. The stage was pretty empty even by the standards of the 1960’s. What they lacked in equipment they made up by how tight and cohesive they were as a group when they were all in sync with each other and halfway sober. Jim Morrison usually took all eyes off the other 3 members but make no mistake that without them Jim Morrison would probably have become another undiscovered rock star.

Several of the guests on this album most likely knew ‘The Doors’ back in the day and are by all rights are ‘Superstars’ themselves. More than 42 of rock’s greatest classic ‘Superstars’ showed up to play on this album. That’s a lot of “tribute” to any person or group and shows the love and respect they all had for ‘The Doors’ and their music. By my count there are at least 7 tribute albums out there for ‘The Doors’ but from where I sit this is probably the only one that should matter.

The album starts off with one of my favorites, ‘LA Woman’. From their 6th, album released in 1971, ‘LA Woman’. Jami Jamison, Ted Turner and Patrick Moraz do an admirable job of covering this tune. The guitar work, Ted Turner I am assuming, gives an old favorite a different twist.

I could go into much more detail on more songs off this album but since space is limited I will just give some observations here. This is certainly an album to help introduce anyone who has never heard ‘The Doors’ before to their greatness. After listening to it I guarantee they will hunger for the original music just to hear who these 4 guys, who cut out a slice of rock history for themselves, really were.

The guitar work on every song is clean, precise and shredded, something that Robby Kriegers “fingerstyle” guitar playing did not allow him to do. Not that Robby Krieger wasn’t great, he was just not as technical since “fingerstyle“ playing is better suited to Flamenco and Folk Music. It’s probably the most notable difference in all of the tunes here.

Conspicuous by its absence here though is ‘The Unknown Soldier’ which could have easily replaced the version of ‘People Are Strange’ with David Johansen and Billy Sherwood. This is the only song I really felt did not belong among the 16 cuts on this album.

The closing song is my all time favorite and appropriately is, ‘The End’, featuring Pat Travers and Jimmy Greenspoon. Listening to this version gave me goose bumps and almost brought tears to my eyes. The depth is so different but not nearly as dark as the original. I think you’ll find yourself listening to it over and over again! (Mike Langford)

One of the finest tribute albums ever !

Personnel:

Jimi Jamison: vocals (1); Patrick Moraz: keyboards (1); Ted Turner: guitars (1); Scott Connor: drums (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16); Billy Sherwood: bass (all tracks), guitar, piano, synths (8), drums, keyboards (12); Lou Gramm: vocals (2); Thijs Van Leer: keyboards (2); Larry Coryell: guitar (2); Leslie West: guitar, vocals (3); Brian Augur: Hammond B-3 organ (3); Rod Piazza: harmonica (3); Mark Stein: vocals, Hammond B-3 organ (4); Mick Box: guitar (4); Joe Lynn Turner: vocals (5); Tony Kaye: Hammond B-3 organ (5); Steve Cropper: guitar (5); Edgar Winter: vocals (6); Chris Spedding: guitar (6); Keith Emerson: acoustic 7 ft. grand piano and original Moog, modular synthesizer (7); Jeff “Skunk” Baxter: acoustic guitar (7); Joel Druckman: acoustic upright bass (7); David Johansen: vocals (8); Robert Gordon: vocals (9); Jordan Rudess: keyboards (9); Steve Morse: guitar (9); Nik Turner: saxophone (9); Adam Hamilton: drums (9); Graham Bonnet: vocals (10); Christopher North: Hammond organ & Leslie (10); Steve Hillage: guitar (10); Ken Hensley: vocals, Hammond B-3 organ (11); Roye Albrighton: guitar (11); Eric Martin: vocals (12); Elliot Easton: lead and Spanish guitars (12); Todd Rundgren: vocals (13); Geoff Downes: keyboards (13); Zoot Horn Rollo: guitars (13); Mark Farner: vocals, guitar (14); Chick Churchill: keyboards (14); Glenn Grossman: drums (14); Ian Gillian: vocal (15); Rick Wakeman: keyboards (15); Steve Howe: guitar (15); Ricky Joyce: drums (15); Pat Travers: vocals, guitar (16); Jimmy Greenspan: keyboards (16).

For details see booklet

Tracklist:
01. Jimi Jamison, Ted Turner, Patrick Moraz: L.A. Woman 7.28
02. Lou Gramm, Thijs van Leer, Larry Coryell: Love Me Two Times 3.21
03. Leslie West, Brian Auger, Rod Piazza: Roadhouse Blues 4.06
04. Mark Stein, Mick Box: Love Her Madly 3.26
05. Joe Lynn Turner, Tony Kaye, Steve Cropper: Riders On The Storm 6.19
06. Edgar Winter, Chris Spedding: The Crystal Ship 2.44
07. Keith Emerson, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Joel Druckman: Intro (People Are Strange) 3.58
08. David Johansen, Billy Sherwood: People Are Strange 2.21
09. Robert Gordon, Jordan Rudess, Steve Morse, Nik Turner: Touch Me 3.49
10. Graham Bonnet, Christopher North, Steve Hillage: The Soft Parade 8.04
11. Ken Hensley, Roye Albrighton: Hello, I Love You 2.39
12. Eric Martin, Elliot Easton: Spanish Caravan 2.54
13. Todd Rundgren, Geoff Downes, Wake: Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) 3.26
14. Mark Farner, Chick Churchill: Break On Through (To the Other Side) 2.51
15. Ian Gillan, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe: Light My Fire 7.00
16. Pat Travers, Jimmy Greenspoon: The End 11.23

All songs written by Jim Morrison – John Densmore – Ray Manzarek – Robby Krieger
except:
06.: written by Jim Morrison &
13.: written by Kurt Weil – Bertolt Brecht

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The Doors- Waiting For The Sun (1968)

Waiting for the Sun is the third studio album by the American rock band the Doors, recorded from February to May 1968 and released in July 1968. It became the band’s first and only No. 1 album, spawning their second US number one single, “Hello, I Love You”. It also became the band’s first hit album in the UK, where it peaked at No. 16 on the chart.

The recording of Waiting for the Sun was, by all accounts, troubled. For one, the band had plundered Morrison’s original songbook, a collection of lyrics and ideas, for their first two albums. Consequently, after months of touring, interviews, and television appearances, they had little new material. To compensate, the band struggled mightily to record a longer piece called “The Celebration of the Lizard,” a collection of song fragments stitched together by Morrison’s often surreal poetry. Frustrated by their lack of progress, the band and producer Paul A. Rothchild abandoned the recording. The group would revisit it later in its full-length form on their 1970 album Absolutely Live. Rothchild’s growing perfectionism was also becoming an issue for the band; each song on the album required at least twenty takes and “The Unknown Soldier”, recorded in two parts, took 130 takes. Most troubling of all, however, was Morrison’s drinking, which was nearing epic proportions. In a 1994 interview with Guitar World, guitarist Robby Krieger was asked what memories he had of making the album and he replied:

“A lot of horrible ones. Jim was being taken advantage of by all these various hangers-on. He would bring them into the studio and Rothchild would go crazy – all these drunken assholes…Jim would drink with anybody because we wouldn’t drink with him…I never drank with him because I don’t like to drink to excess and he loved to go until he couldn’t see. I knew what was coming and hated to see it, so I would usually be gone by that point. John and Ray felt the same way.”

In the June 1999 issue of Guitar World, keyboardist Ray Manzarek expressed a similar view of Morrison: “Not that he hadn’t been drinking before, but it was now taken to a whole new level. This was no longer a young man’s drinking; it was a full-grown man’s drinking.” The album marked Manzarek’s transition from a Vox Continental to Gibson G-101, the organ he is best known for playing live. The brighter sound of the Vox does appear on a few songs, most notably “We Could Be So Good Together.”

Waiting for the Sun includes the band’s second chart topper, “Hello, I Love You.” One of the last remaining songs from Morrison’s 1965 batch of tunes, it had been demoed by the group for Aura Records in 1965 before Krieger had been a member, as had “Summer’s Almost Gone.” In the liner notes to the Doors Box Set, Robby Krieger denied the allegations that the song’s musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies, where a riff similar to it is featured in The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night”. Instead, he said the song’s vibe was taken from Cream’s song “Sunshine of Your Love”. According to the Doors biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, courts in the UK determined in favor of Davies and any royalties for the song are paid to him.

Waiting for the Sun contains two songs with militant themes: “Five to One” and “The Unknown Soldier”. In his 1980 Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Jerry Hopkins speculates the song seems to be a parody of all the naive revolutionary rhetoric heard on the streets spouted by the “hippie/flower child” hordes he saw in growing numbers panhandling outside concert halls, an interpretation strongly supported by the final verse’s lines “Your ballroom days are over, baby” and “Trade in your flowers for a handful of dimes.” The former line (“Your ballroom days are over baby/Night is drawing near/Shadows of the evening/crawl across the years”) may have been lifted by Morrison from the 19th-century hymnal and bedtime rhyme “Now the Day is Over” (“Now the day is over/Night is drawing nigh/Shadows of the evening/Steal across the sky”). “The Unknown Soldier” is less obtuse but no less compelling and is a good example of the group’s cinematic approach to their music. In the beginning, as well as after the middle of the song, the mysterious sounds of the organ is heard, depicting the mystery of the “Unknown Soldier”. In the middle of the song, the Doors produce the sounds of what appears to be a marching cadence. It begins with military drums, plus the sound of the Sergeant counting off in 4s, (HUP, HUP, HUP 2 3 4), until he says “COMPANY! HALT! PRESENT! ARMS!” being followed by the sounds of loading rifles, and a long military drum roll, a pause, and then the rifle shots; in live performances Krieger would point his guitar towards Morrison like a rifle, drummer John Densmore would emulate a gunshot by producing a loud rimshot by hitting the edge of the snare drum, and breaking the drum sticks, Manzarek would raise his hand and drop it as if to release the signal, and Morrison would fall screaming to the ground. After this middle section, the verses return, with Morrison, first singing in a sadder tone, to “Make a grave for the Unknown Soldier”, with the mysterious organ being heard. The song ends with Morrison’s ecstatic celebration of a war being over, with sounds of crowds cheering and bells tolling. Ironically, as pointed out in the 2010 film When You’re Strange, at the height of Morrison’s success, his father, an Admiral, was commanding a division of aircraft carriers off the coast of Vietnam. The song was Morrison’s reaction to the Vietnam War and the way that conflict was portrayed in American media at the time. With lines such as “Breakfast where the news is read/ Television children fed/ Unborn living, living dead/ Bullets strike the helmet’s head” concerning how news of the war was being presented in the living rooms of ordinary people. The band also shot a film for the song, which was released as a single and became the group’s fourth consecutive Top 40 hit.

The Doors performing for Danish televison in 1968

The centerpiece of this album was supposed to be the lengthy theatrical piece “Celebration of the Lizard”, but in the end only the “Not to Touch the Earth” section was used. (In a 1969 interview with Jerry Hopkins for Rolling Stone, Morrison said of the epic, “It was pieced together on different occasions out

of already existing elements rather than having any generative core from which it grew. I still think there’s hope for it.”) At the conclusion of “Not to Touch the Earth,” Morrison utters his iconic personal maxim, “I am the Lizard King/I can do anything.” The opening lines of the song, “Not to touch the earth/not to see the sun” were taken from the table of contents of The Golden Bough. Krieger’s skills with the flamenco guitar can be found on “Spanish Caravan”, with Granainas intro and a reworking of the melody from the classical piece Asturias (Leyenda) composed by Isaac Albéniz. The optimistic “We Could Be So Good Together” had been recorded during the sessions for Strange Days, even appearing on an early track listing for the album. A review in Slant Magazine[4] described the song as “categorically pre-fame Morrison,” pointing out that the line “The time you wait subtracts from joy” is the kind of hippie idealism the singer had long given up on. “Wintertime Love” (the closest the band ever came to a Christmas song) and the mournful “Summer’s Almost Gone” address seasonal themes, while the gentle “Yes, the River Knows” was written by Robby Krieger. In the liner notes to the 1997 Doors retrospective Box Set, Manzarek praises the song: “The piano and guitar interplay is absolutely beautiful. I don’t think Robby and I ever played so sensitively together. It was the closest we ever came to be being Bill Evans and Jim Hall.” In the same essay, Mazarek calls “Summer’s Almost Gone” “a cool Latino-Bolero kind of thing with a Bach-like bridge. It’s about the ephemeral nature of life. A season of joy and light and laughter is coming to an end.” While recording “My Wild Love,” the band eventually gave up on the music and turned it into work song by getting everyone in the studio to clap their hands, stamp their feet, and chant in unison.[1][full citation needed] Morrison wrote “Love Street” for his girlfriend Pamela Courson, and like all of his other songs about or dedicated to her, there was a hesitancy or biting refusal at the end (“I guess I like it fine, so far”). The title track “Waiting for the Sun” was left off this album, but would be included on the 1970 album Morrison Hotel. Waiting for the Sun ended up being the shortest studio album by the band.

Rare alternate front+back cover (from Germany)

On the cover of the album, Morrison is seen wearing Glen Buxton’s black sweater. Having been intoxicated the night before the shooting of the cover photo, the next morning Jim “started freaking out because the band wanted a picture of them at dawn, and he didn’t have enough time to go home and get his clothes.”[this quote needs a citation]
Release

Waiting for the Sun was released on July 3, 1968. The album has sold over 9 million copies. The US monophonic pressing, though only a fold down of the stereo mix to mono, is one of the rarest pop/rock LPs and has been sought after by collectors for years. A studio run-through of “Celebration of the Lizard” (subtitled “An Experiment/Work in Progress”) and two early takes of “Not to Touch the Earth” were included as bonus tracks on the 40th anniversary expanded edition release of this album. (by wikipedia)

The Doors’ 1967 albums had raised expectations so high that their third effort was greeted as a major disappointment. With a few exceptions, the material was much mellower, and while this yielded some fine melodic ballad rock in “Love Street,” “Wintertime Love,” “Summer’s Almost Gone,” and “Yes, the River Knows,” there was no denying that the songwriting was not as impressive as it had been on the first two records. On the other hand, there were first-rate tunes such as the spooky “The Unknown Soldier,” with antiwar lyrics as uncompromisingly forceful as anything the band did, and the compulsively riff-driven “Hello, I Love You,” which nonetheless bore an uncomfortably close resemblance to the Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night.” The flamenco guitar of “Spanish Caravan,” the all-out weirdness of “Not to Touch the Earth” (which was a snippet of a legendary abandoned opus, “The Celebration of the Lizard”), and the menacing closer “Five to One” were also interesting. In fact, time’s been fairly kind to the record, which is quite enjoyable and diverse, just not as powerful a full-length statement as the group’s best albums. (by Richie Unterberger)

Personnel:
John Densmore (drums, perucussion, background vocals)
Robby Krieger (guitar, percussion, background vocals)
Ray Manzarek (keyboards, percussion, background vocals)
Jim Morrison (vocals, percussion)
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Douglas Lubahn (bass)
Kerry Magness (bass on 06.)
Leroy Vinnegar (bass on 07.)

Tracklist:
01. Hello, I Love You (Jim Morrison) 2.39 (1)
02. Love Street (written by Morrison) 2.53
03. Not To Touch The Earth (Morrison) 3.56
04.Summer’s Almost Gone (Morrison) 3.22
05. Wintertime Love (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 1.54
06. The Unknown Soldier (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore)  3.23
07. Spanish Caravan (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 3.03 (2)
08. My Wild Love (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 3.01
o9. We Could Be So Good Together (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 2.26
10. Yes, The River Knows (Krieger) 2.36
11. Five To One (Morrison) 4.26
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12. Albinoni’s Adagio In G minor (Giazotto) 4.32
13. Not To Touch The Earth (Dialogue) (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 0.38
14. Not To Touch The Earth (take 1) (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 4.05
15. Not To Touch The Earth (take 2) (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore) 4.18
16. Celebration Of The Lizard (An Experiment/Work in Progress) (Morrison) 17.10

(1) the 40th Anniversary Mix includes a longer fade-out
(2) Thanks to Mister Ärmel for the hint

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The Doors – Alive, She Cried (1983)

Alive, She Cried is a live album by the American rock band The Doors; the title of the album is taken from a line in the song “When the Music’s Over”. Following the resurgence in popularity for the band due to the 1979 film, Apocalypse Now, and the release of the first Doors compilation album in seven years, Greatest Hits, released in 1980, the push was on to release more Doors music.

The recordings are from various concerts during the period 1968–1970; they include “Gloria”, originally a hit for Them, and an extended version of The Doors’ best known song “Light My Fire”. John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful joined the band on stage to play harmonica on Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster”. The album was discontinued as 1991 saw the release of In Concert, a double-album which included all of the songs from Alive, She Cried and Absolutely Live, as well as a few other live tracks. The version of “Light My Fire” from this album is actually from a variety of sources. “The Graveyard Poem” is actually a recited poetry piece from Boston in April 1970. It was inserted into the break of “Light My Fire” for this album. “Gloria” was also edited to exclude some risque verses. Later releases of “Gloria” on the Bright Midnight label restored the edited verses.

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau wrote that the tapes are “of some quality” and Morrison is effective when he focuses on singing, but the album is marred by moments “when he emits his poetry” and “narcissistic” come-ons. Rolling Stone’s Parke Puterbaugh rated it four out of five stars, explaining that it “brings […] the Doors’ impossibly strange and wonderful music, Morrison’s drunken loutishness and his stabbingly sober poetics, and the brilliant, vivid sparking of a machine too mercurial to last.” He concluded by stating that “”Light My Fire” […] flares upward into an intensifying bolt of passion that crescendos with […] a scream signifying the communal orgasm of a generation and a decade and a band that would flame out and fall silent all too quickly.” In a retrospective review, AllMusic’s Bruce Eder said that Alive, She Cried “helped solve [Absolutely Live’s] problem” of “[leaving] more casual fans rather cold, owing to the absence of any of their biggest hits”. However, he pointed out that “it also revealed the reason why ‘Light My Fire’ had not made it onto the prior live album”. (by wikipedia)

Personnel:
John Densmore (drums)
Robby Krieger (guitar)
Ray Manzarek (organ, keyboard bass)
Jim Morrison (vocals)
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John Sebastian (harmonica on 06.)

Tracklist:
01. Gloria (Morrison) 6.17
02. Light My Fire (Krieger) 9.51
03. You Make Me Real (Morrison) 3.06
04. The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) (Morrison) 1.52
05. Love Me Two Times (Krieger) 3.17
06. Little Red Rooster (Dixon) 7.05
07. Moonlight Drive (incl. Horse Latitudes) (Morrison) 5.34
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08. The End (Morrison) 11.41

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