Tag: Doors

Monday, May 15, 2023 8pm ET: Feature LP: Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)

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. 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.

  1. “The Changeling” 4:20
  2. “Love Her Madly” 3:18
  3. “Been Down So Long” 4:40
  4. “Cars Hiss by My Window” 4:10
  5. “L.A. Woman” 7:49
  6. “L’America” 4:35
  7. “Hyacinth House” 3:10
  8. “Crawling King Snake” 4:57
  9. “The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)” 4:12
  10. “Riders on the Storm” 7:14
  11. “The Changeling” (alternate version) 4:45
  12. “Love Her Madly” (alternate version) 3:59
  13. “Cars Hiss by My Window” (alternate version) 4:42
  14. “L.A. Woman” (alternate version) 8:50
  15. “The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)” (alternate version) 5:37
  16. “Been Down So Long” (alternate version) 5:06
  17. “Riders on the Storm” (alternate version) 9:07
  18. “She Smells So Nice” (previously unreleased) 3:26
  19. “Rock Me” (previously unreleased) 4:30

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 6pm ET: Feature LP: The Doors – Paris Blues (2022)

An Record Store Day exclusive for the Black Friday 2022 (November 25, 2022) Record Store Day, Paris Blues is a compilation of blues tracks the Doors cut in the studio and on-stage over the course of their career. The highlight is the title track, an ambling studio outtake recorded somewhere between The Soft Parade and L.A. Woman that is an enjoyable ramble. The rest of the record ranges from meandering to mean, with the Doors often sounding a bit too loose to cook up a real head of steam. Notable moment: “Who Do You Love?” begins with the band playing a bit of “I Want Candy” before Jim Morrison steers it back to Bo Diddley. (Commentary Ctsy All Music)

1 Paris Blues
2 I Will Never Be Untrue
3 Me and the Devil Blues
4 (You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further
5 I’m Your Doctor
6 Jim’s Introduction
7 Little Red Rooster
8 Rock Me Baby
9 Who Do You Love?

Wednesday 12/7/22 10am ET: Classic Greatest Hits LP: Doors – Greatest Hits (1996)

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American rock band the Doors, released in October 1980. The album, along with the film Apocalypse Now, released the previous year, created for the band an entirely new audience of the generation that did not grow up with the Doors. The album went on to become one of the highest-selling compilations of all time, with combined CD and vinyl sales of 5,000,000 in the United States alone.

The album was re-released in October 1996 as an enhanced CD with a different track listing and cover art. The songs “The Ghost Song”, “The End” and “Love Her Madly” were added, whereas “Not to Touch the Earth” was omitted.

  1. “Hello, I Love You” 2:16
  2. “Light My Fire” 7:05
  3. “People Are Strange” 2:10
  4. “Love Me Two Times” 3:14
  5. “Riders on the Storm” 7:11
  6. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” 2:26
  7. “Roadhouse Blues” 4:04
  8. “Not to Touch the Earth” 3:55
  9. “Touch Me” 3:11
  10. “L.A. Woman” 7:49
  11. “Love Her Madly” 3:17
  12. “The Ghost Song” 4:13
  13. “The End” 11:24

Jim Morrison – vocals
Robby Krieger – guitar
John Densmore – drums
Ray Manzarek – keyboards
Lonnie Mack – bass guitar
Doug Lubahn – bass guitar
Jerry Scheff – bass guitar
Harvey Brooks – bass guitar
John Sebastian – harmonica
Curtis Amy – saxophone
Marc Benno – rhythm guitar

Monday 2/21/22 9am ET: Feature LP: Doors – Strange Days (1967)

Strange Days is the second studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on September 25, 1967, by Elektra Records. After the successful release of The Doors, the band started working on new material for this second record. Upon release, the album reached number three on the US Billboard 200, and eventually earned RIAA platinum certification. It contains the Top 30 hit singles “People Are Strange” and “Love Me Two Times”.

  1. “Strange Days” 3:05
  2. “You’re Lost Little Girl” 3:01
  3. “Love Me Two Times” 3:23
  4. “Unhappy Girl” 2:00
  5. “Horse Latitudes” 1:30
  6. “Moonlight Drive” 3:00
  7. “People Are Strange” 2:10
  8. “My Eyes Have Seen You” 2:22
  9. “I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind” 3:18
  10. “When the Music’s Over” 11:00

Jim Morrison – vocals, moog synthesizer on “Strange Days”
Ray Manzarek – keyboards, marimba
Robby Krieger – guitar
John Densmore – drums
Doug Lubahn – bass

Thursday 8/5/21 1am ET: Feature LP: The Doors – The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits (2008)

The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits is a compilation album by the rock band the Doors. It was released in the U.S. January 29, 2008 to commemorate the band’s 40th anniversary and contains new audio mixes of the songs.

  1. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” 2:27
  2. “Light My Fire” 6:59
  3. “Love Me Two Times” 3:16
  4. “Hello, I Love You” 2:41
  5. “People Are Strange” 2:12
  6. “Strange Days” 3:09
  7. “Riders on the Storm” 7:09
  8. “L.A. Woman” 8:00
  9. “Touch Me” 3:12
  10. “Roadhouse Blues” 4:08
  11. “Peace Frog” 2:58
  12. “Love Street” 2:57
  13. “The Crystal Ship” 2:35
  14. “Soul Kitchen” 3:33
  15. “Love Her Madly” 3:40
  16. “Back Door Man” 3:33
  17. “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” 3:17
  18. “Moonlight Drive” 3:05
  19. “The Unknown Soldier” 3:26
  20. “The End” 11:25

Jim Morrison – vocals
Robby Krieger – guitar
Ray Manzarek – piano, organ
John Densmore – drums
Bruce Botnick – co-producer with the Doors for tracks 7, 8, 15
Paul A. Rothchild – producer for all other tracks

Thursday 10/22/2020 12am ET: Feature LP: Doors – Morrison Hotel 50th Anniversary Edition (2020)

Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released February 9, 1970 by Elektra Records. Following the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade, the band returned to their original blues-rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The Doors entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides; “Hard Rock Cafe” and “Morrison Hotel”. The group included session bassists Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan on the album’s songs.

The album reached no. 4 on the Billboard 200, and performed better overseas than the preceding album (it was the groups’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.

Side one: Hard Rock Café
1. “Roadhouse Blues” 4:04
2. “Waiting for the Sun” 3:58
3. “You Make Me Real” 2:50
4. “Peace Frog” 2:52
5. “Blue Sunday” 2:08
6. “Ship of Fools” 3:06

Side two: Morrison Hotel
7. “Land Ho!” 4:08
8. “The Spy” 4:15
9. “Queen of the Highway” 2:47
10. “Indian Summer” 2:33
11. “Maggie M’Gill” 4:24

50th Anniversary second CD: Mysterious Union – bonus tracks
12. “Queen of the Highway” (take 1; recorded November 15, 1968)
13. “Queen of the Highway” (various takes; recorded November 15, 1968) 6:23
14. “Queen of the Highway” (take 44, recorded November 15, 1968)
15. “Queen of the Highway” (take 12, recorded January 16, 1969)
16. “Queen of the Highway” (take 14 – Krieger guitar overdub, recorded January 16, 1969)
17. “Queen of the Highway” (take 1)
18. “Queen of the Highway” (takes 5, 6 & 9)
19. “Queen of the Highway” (take 14)
20. “I Will Never Be Untrue” 1:21
21. “Queen of the Highway” (take unknown)
22. “Roadhouse Blues” (take 14, recorded November 4, 1969)
23. “Money (That’s What I Want)” (recorded November 4, 1969)
24. “Rock Me” (recorded November 4, 1969)
25. “Roadhouse Blues” (takes 6 & 7, recorded November 5, 1969)
26. “Roadhouse Blues” (take 8, recorded November 5, 1969)
27. “Roadhouse Blues” (takes 1 & 2) 5:00
28. “Roadhouse Blues” (takes 5, 6 & 14)
29. “Peace Frog / Blue Sunday” (take 4) 5:43
30. “Peace Frog” (take 12)