Though the Beatles and Stones were benchmarks of my generation I probably spent more time listening to the Doors in the late sixties and early seventies than just about any other band. Morrison was of course a big part of that. I pretty much knew at the time he was over the top and a bit out of control, but it didn’t stop me. His voice and the blues based drive of their music appealed to me for some reason. For a West coast based group they seemed to reject the San Francisco sound, and they certainly didn’t offer up the sunshine pop of some of the other bands.
They definitely had their own sound and followed a different muse. And like all great sixties bands there were able to dominate the singles charts and the FM airwaves with no obvious conflict. Easier said than done these days. I of course grasped none of this when I was young, I just thought they were cool and bought everything in sight with their name on it.
I’m such a fan that a couple of years ago while in L.A., with the help of a friend I searched out and found the actual Morrison Hotel in a part of L.A. better suited for a “very special episode” of “Cops.“ Still, standing in front of that window I found a closure that rivaled finding the actual grave of Eleanor Rigby while in Liverpool. As I stood on the sidewalk where photographer Henry Diltz stood to take the cover photo I imagined an L.A. that could only exist in the song “L.A. Woman.” We had just driven down the Sunset Strip and the surreal Technicolor images of sixties file footage were swirling around my head. The warm nights, Venice Beach, the vendors, street musicians, the roar of the ocean, “the cops in cars, the topless bars” etc..
Getting back to my impressionable youth, in the beginning tracks like “The End” and “When The Music’s Over” were among my favorites. Their shear length allowed me to get lost in that “Roman wilderness of pain.” I was one of those children who were insane. If only for around eleven or twelve minutes. It beat going to “Indian Lake” for me. Today, I can do without those tracks and instead focus on the ones that got by me the first time. With each new listen albums that I thought I could recite offer surprises that escaped me the first couple of hundred listens.
The new box set “Perceptions” arrived with the “Bed, Bath And Beyond” coupons in the mail last week allowing me the opportunity to revisit their catalog as a whole, and subsequently my youth. Unlike the various other collections on the market this one went below the surface in ways that us Doors fanatics have been clamoring for. For the first time we get bonus tracks, some surround sound, and a DVD with each disc that contains performance footage and 5.1 mixes of the albums. Some this may have been out before, but I had never caught up with them. Either way I know where I can find them now.
I’m not sure if “this is the end” of what can be done with their catalog or not, but this is the most complete representation of it on the market bar none. The box itself is a bit on the clunky side, but the discs are individually broken out and don’t need the box for shelf storage. The sound is first rate and the extras are truly engaging. Each disc comes in a multi-panel digi-pak with accurate replica labels on the discs and booklets with tons of unseen photos, text and lyrics. Just about everything sounds better than you remember it.
The best bonus material is on the “Morrison Hotel” disc. You get an array of takes of them working out “Roadhouse Blues.” At the time it wasn’t the seminal track that hindsight has allowed it to become. Today you could almost make a case for it being a “signature tune” despite all of the other contenders. It gets my vote because of its glimpse into what was the core of their sound: riffing blues and cult of personality jive.
Those wanting to hear a seventeen minute studio version of the “Celebration Of The Lizard” will find it on “Waiting For The Sun.” Those who don’t want to hear it will find a few other things to index. Listening to “The Soft Parade” re-ignites the argument of them using strings and horns strings so prominently. I have no real gripe with it since the songs they use them on are pretty strong and don’t overreach. A stripped down version of this would seem like a logical future release. If you index around “Light My Fire” and “The End” from the first album you will find some real gems that get overlooked because of the focus on those radio staples. Their take on “Back Door Man” leaves you thinking that the song had always been there hanging around until Jim got around to claiming it. “Alabama Song” gave a hint of Morrison’s future disguised as modern day cabaret.
As the years have hissed by my window the album “L.A. Woman” and more specifically that song have come to symbolize the band for me. The decadence, excess and the soaring performance must take its place beside other classics that grapple with the disillusionment of what life offers jaded musicians. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Hotel California” are other clear examples of artists taking stock of the world they‘ve created. On a more aural note this song was the precursor to “Radar Love.” Meant for a convertible and to test your speakers. It pulsates with the rhythm of the steel belts hitting the asphalt.
If you’re never going to make another album in your life then this album was about as good away to go out as any. Despite being bloated and beyond repair Morrison seizes the day and never coasts for a single track. By the time you’re half way through “Riders On The Storm” you know the inevitable conclusion, this really is the end. We truly would never look into his eyes again. It leaves you a bit sad, but with a great album to go back to thirty five years on.
As a youth I was completely focused on Morrison and the weird, snaking organ riffs of Manzarek. Upon further review, it becomes apparent that Krieger was the centerpiece of the band. His licks and lines were what was driving the sound from those West L.A. studios to our speakers. He gets next to no credit when compared to Richards, Page and some of the other riff masters of the era, but I have no idea where these songs would be without him. Like them he was also positioned behind an iconic front man that the spotlight always seemed glued to.
For those who score at home some other fun facts to know and tell abound. By the time of “L.A. Woman” they were featuring a new logo replacing their standard one. “Morrison Hotel” was the first album to completely abandon it. All other albums except these two feature it somewhere on the cover. The cover of the “Strange Days” also features the cover of the first album. This is the only cover not to actually feature a group photo. The song “Waiting For The Sun” only appears on the “Morrison Hotel” album. The band never had a proper bass player as a member. Manzarek would play bass on the keyboard for live shows. After the debut album each group member and supporting players were always listed on the back cover.
For a bit of fun you can click on this link to YouTube and see a young Jim in a college recruiting film. He was still in Florida attending school. Within seven years the Doors will have come and gone and he would be dead. But only for a short while.
They definitely had their own sound and followed a different muse. And like all great sixties bands there were able to dominate the singles charts and the FM airwaves with no obvious conflict. Easier said than done these days. I of course grasped none of this when I was young, I just thought they were cool and bought everything in sight with their name on it.
I’m such a fan that a couple of years ago while in L.A., with the help of a friend I searched out and found the actual Morrison Hotel in a part of L.A. better suited for a “very special episode” of “Cops.“ Still, standing in front of that window I found a closure that rivaled finding the actual grave of Eleanor Rigby while in Liverpool. As I stood on the sidewalk where photographer Henry Diltz stood to take the cover photo I imagined an L.A. that could only exist in the song “L.A. Woman.” We had just driven down the Sunset Strip and the surreal Technicolor images of sixties file footage were swirling around my head. The warm nights, Venice Beach, the vendors, street musicians, the roar of the ocean, “the cops in cars, the topless bars” etc..
Getting back to my impressionable youth, in the beginning tracks like “The End” and “When The Music’s Over” were among my favorites. Their shear length allowed me to get lost in that “Roman wilderness of pain.” I was one of those children who were insane. If only for around eleven or twelve minutes. It beat going to “Indian Lake” for me. Today, I can do without those tracks and instead focus on the ones that got by me the first time. With each new listen albums that I thought I could recite offer surprises that escaped me the first couple of hundred listens.
The new box set “Perceptions” arrived with the “Bed, Bath And Beyond” coupons in the mail last week allowing me the opportunity to revisit their catalog as a whole, and subsequently my youth. Unlike the various other collections on the market this one went below the surface in ways that us Doors fanatics have been clamoring for. For the first time we get bonus tracks, some surround sound, and a DVD with each disc that contains performance footage and 5.1 mixes of the albums. Some this may have been out before, but I had never caught up with them. Either way I know where I can find them now.
I’m not sure if “this is the end” of what can be done with their catalog or not, but this is the most complete representation of it on the market bar none. The box itself is a bit on the clunky side, but the discs are individually broken out and don’t need the box for shelf storage. The sound is first rate and the extras are truly engaging. Each disc comes in a multi-panel digi-pak with accurate replica labels on the discs and booklets with tons of unseen photos, text and lyrics. Just about everything sounds better than you remember it.
The best bonus material is on the “Morrison Hotel” disc. You get an array of takes of them working out “Roadhouse Blues.” At the time it wasn’t the seminal track that hindsight has allowed it to become. Today you could almost make a case for it being a “signature tune” despite all of the other contenders. It gets my vote because of its glimpse into what was the core of their sound: riffing blues and cult of personality jive.
Those wanting to hear a seventeen minute studio version of the “Celebration Of The Lizard” will find it on “Waiting For The Sun.” Those who don’t want to hear it will find a few other things to index. Listening to “The Soft Parade” re-ignites the argument of them using strings and horns strings so prominently. I have no real gripe with it since the songs they use them on are pretty strong and don’t overreach. A stripped down version of this would seem like a logical future release. If you index around “Light My Fire” and “The End” from the first album you will find some real gems that get overlooked because of the focus on those radio staples. Their take on “Back Door Man” leaves you thinking that the song had always been there hanging around until Jim got around to claiming it. “Alabama Song” gave a hint of Morrison’s future disguised as modern day cabaret.
As the years have hissed by my window the album “L.A. Woman” and more specifically that song have come to symbolize the band for me. The decadence, excess and the soaring performance must take its place beside other classics that grapple with the disillusionment of what life offers jaded musicians. “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Hotel California” are other clear examples of artists taking stock of the world they‘ve created. On a more aural note this song was the precursor to “Radar Love.” Meant for a convertible and to test your speakers. It pulsates with the rhythm of the steel belts hitting the asphalt.
If you’re never going to make another album in your life then this album was about as good away to go out as any. Despite being bloated and beyond repair Morrison seizes the day and never coasts for a single track. By the time you’re half way through “Riders On The Storm” you know the inevitable conclusion, this really is the end. We truly would never look into his eyes again. It leaves you a bit sad, but with a great album to go back to thirty five years on.
As a youth I was completely focused on Morrison and the weird, snaking organ riffs of Manzarek. Upon further review, it becomes apparent that Krieger was the centerpiece of the band. His licks and lines were what was driving the sound from those West L.A. studios to our speakers. He gets next to no credit when compared to Richards, Page and some of the other riff masters of the era, but I have no idea where these songs would be without him. Like them he was also positioned behind an iconic front man that the spotlight always seemed glued to.
For those who score at home some other fun facts to know and tell abound. By the time of “L.A. Woman” they were featuring a new logo replacing their standard one. “Morrison Hotel” was the first album to completely abandon it. All other albums except these two feature it somewhere on the cover. The cover of the “Strange Days” also features the cover of the first album. This is the only cover not to actually feature a group photo. The song “Waiting For The Sun” only appears on the “Morrison Hotel” album. The band never had a proper bass player as a member. Manzarek would play bass on the keyboard for live shows. After the debut album each group member and supporting players were always listed on the back cover.
For a bit of fun you can click on this link to YouTube and see a young Jim in a college recruiting film. He was still in Florida attending school. Within seven years the Doors will have come and gone and he would be dead. But only for a short while.
“Well, I woke up this morning’
I got myself a beer,
The future’s uncertain
And the end is always near.”
I got myself a beer,
The future’s uncertain
And the end is always near.”
No comments:
Post a Comment