The Doors "Live At The Matrix 1967" 2008****

I just returned from a 2-week trip to California, including a few days in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Of course I made time to visit a bunch of record shops (around 30, actually), and I'm going to share my impressions in a series of relevant city posts. More than that, I sought places with relevance to my musical heroes, including of course The Doors: Venice Beach, where Jim and Ray formed the band; Whiskey A Go Go on Sunset Strip, where they held a three-month residency in 1966 during which the band became a tighter unit, developing their material and stage show - until, that is, Morrison was banned from the place, after he uttered his infamous Oedipal lyric from "The End" on stage. And their regular spot in San Francisco, the Matrix club - now a cocktail bar going under the name of White Rabbit. In '66, The Matrix was co-owned and managed by Jefferson Airplane co-singer Marty Balin, which is why almost every artist passing through the city in the late 60's has appeared there, despite its low capacity of around 100 attendants. At the time it was a dark and windowless place, with a big mural depicting the 4 riders of the apocalypse. Today it seems to be the exact opposite: The whole of the street side consists of glass panels. When I passed by, the well-lit interior was sparsely strewn with comfy-looking couches where half a dozen customers were sipping cocktails while looking at their mobiles. To be fair, that was on a weekday evening; it's supposed to get livelier on weekends, with local DJ's spinning records and people dancing; there's certainly space enough for that. Apart from its name, the only other allusion to the bar's past is a psychedelic wall painting of a hippie girl posing with mushrooms and a white rabbit - as you may remember, Jefferson Airplane's 1967 hit "White Rabbit" famously drew analogies between Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and the experience of taking LSD. The song was written by Airplane's other singer Grace Slick, and the original version (by Slick's previous band The Great Society) was first recorded live in this club.

Random selection came out with this CD about 4 years ago, but for some reason I never did get round to it. Now, at last, its time has come; for two reasons: The first is, of course, my recent Californian trip mentioned earlier. Another reason is that a new version has just been released on CD and ridiculously expensive vinyl box sets. The title is Doors - Live at the Matrix 1967: The Original Masters. It contains the complete recordings of The Doors' performances at this small San Francisco club, while the previous version reviewed here anthologizes said recordings to present them as a single long concert, when in fact the band played two or three short sets per night. As such, the new edition contains a lot of duplications, plus a previously unreleased instrumental jam only available on the vinyl version. Crucially, though, first generation tapes were used, while the previous ones came from a copy of a copy. I'm told that this doesn't significantly improve on the sound but hey, now you have two versions from which to choose. What's interesting about this live album is that it presents us the band at an early stage of their existence, only two months after the release of their debut. This is reflected by the audience attitude in what sounds like a half-full, at best, club. By September The Doors would become a nationwide sensation, their record eventually climbing to Billboard No.2, but these gigs took place on March 7 and 10. Remember, at the time the radio only played singles, and The Doors hadn't released a single yet, so for the locals they were just an unknown band from L.A. playing at the home turf of The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and of course The Airplane themselves. Judging from their reaction, they weren't all that impressed. The audio part of the concert sounds fine, but it seems that Morrison was still relatively timid as a performer. He croons sensually on the slower numbers, and sometimes shouts on the faster ones, but he doesn't exactly own the "lizard king" persona he was busy developing. He adlibs lyrics, seemingly on the spot, which is fine to hear - those alternative versions are one of the greatest draws of this album. The audience must have wondered whether they were witnessing a rock concert, an improvised drama performance, or a poetry reading with musical backing; nobody in rock was doing stuff like "The End" at the time. But, even if Morrison wasn't quite the star he would later become, the band is on top form. Especially Manzarek, whose keyboards are even more prominent than in the record, sounding like a cross between ? And The Mysterians' loud garage rock and Jimmy Smith's groovy jazz. I miss his neo-classical intro on "Light My Fire", and in general this isn't among the best live versions of that song I've heard by The Doors, but he repays us with excellent improvisations on other tracks that transform the songs e.g. the long intro on "Unhappy Girl", a then still-unreleased track from the Strange Days LP. Actually more than half of Strange Days is performed here, with the band trying out new material they were preparing for their next album. As Krieger states in the liner notes, it was like a paid rehearsal, a chance to work out the arrangements and hone their craft further. Other still unreleased songs, including "My Eyes Have Seen You," "People Are Strange," and "I Can't See Your Face in My Mind", sport rather simpler rock arrangements compared to their studio counterparts. "Summer's Almost Gone" (which would appear in the band's 3rd LP), on the other hand, has a nice jazz organ solo missing from the studio version. Songs from their debut do not deviate much from the studio versions; "Break On Through" followed by "Soul Kitchen" provide an explosive opening for this album, while "Moonlight Drive" is longer than the studio version, with extra, ad-libbed, lyrics, as well as prominent backing vocals by Ray. "The End" is, as expected, a tour de force, but their performance of their other epic "When The Music's Over" is arguably better, featuring great slide guitar by Robbie Krieger, and with slightly altered lyrics compared to the studio version. As with all relatively new groups, the setlist is fleshed out with covers, and that is another big draw for Doors fans, as some of them have never been recorded by them in the studio. These include garage rock standards "Money" and "Gloria", as well as blues tunes like Slim Harpo's "I'm A King Bee" and B.B.King's "Rock Me" (as a medley with their own -also previously unreleased- "Woman Is A Devil"). Two more blues included here did find their way into The Doors' studio LPs: Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man" on the first, and John Lee Hooker's "Crawling King Snake" on the last. Both are included here in fine performances, Jim deploying his leering bluesman persona and Robbie letting his inner Clapton loose. Two other covers have appeared in different live versions on the band's first live LP Absolutely Live: Muddy Waters' "Close To You" which is sung by Ray, and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love". The latter is here shorter and more in-your-face, arguably better than the one on Absolutely Live. Of more interest are some covers unique to this selection, including Allen Toussaint's New Orleans R&B "Get Out Of My Life Woman", and an instrumental version of Gershwin's "Summertime" proving that the band were quite adept in jazz as well as rock - Manzarek's improvisations in particular prove he was among the best organists of his generation. His keyboard is especially dominant in these live recordings as well as in early Doors albums; but while the advent of progressive rock freed his peers like Keith Emerson and Jon Lord to play longer solos and incorporate jazz and classical influences, Manzarek went the other way, gradually retreating to the role of a supporting player. Nevertheless, one can easily imagine the band taking a more progressive neo-classical/jazz route with the organ more to the fore. An intriguing proposition, but one can only speculate on how the band's sound might have evolved in the 70's. Alas, all they left behind was a handful of studio and live recordings. Most of the live ones were recorded during the 1969/1970 tour when Morrison was behaving erratically and struggling with the effects of fame and excessive alcohol consumption, so I can't emphasize enough how good it is to hear the Doors as ambitious young men getting ready to take on the world.

***** for Break On Through (To The Other Side), Soul Kitchen, Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), The End, People Are Strange, When The Music's Over

**** for Summer's Almost Gone, Light My Fire, Back Door Man, Who Do You Love, Unhappy Girl, Moonlight Drive, My Eyes Have Seen You , Crawling King Snake, I Can't See Your Face In My Mind, Summertime, Gloria

*** for Money, The Crystal Ship, Twentieth Century Fox, I'm A King Bee, Get Out Of My Life Woman, Woman Is A Devil / Rock Me, Close To You

Eric Burdon and The Animals with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison "Live At The Troubadour, 1969" (released 2022)****

More than 30 years ago, I found a record by Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison called Woke Up This Morning And Found Myself Dead. When I went home, I played it immediately, excitedly waiting to hear the musical meeting of two giants. What a disappointment! Hendrix played well as he always did, but Jim was completely wasted and his singing just ruined the songs. Hendrix was recording the session and was initially happy to jam with him, but one could feel his growing annoyance. Famously, the night ended when (also present) Janis Joplin broke her whiskey bottle on Morrison's head to shut him up. It goes without saying that I sold that record a long time ago. Until recently, this was the only collaboration of the two that had seen the light of day. But as it turns out, there was another, much happier affair. It took a common friend of the two musicians to bring them together again after that fiasco: The Animals' Eric Burdon, who had moved to America a few years before, was Jim's drinking buddy at the time. He was in fact the one the other Doors called when they couldn't handle Jim's drunk antics, because he had a calming effect on him. Eric's relation with Jimi Hendrix went even deeper: The Animals' bass player Chas Chandler was the man who ''discovered" and managed Jimi, while the two singers remained close literally until the end: two nights before his death, Hendrix was jamming onstage with Eric and his new band, War. In '69, they talked about collaborating in a side project of some sort, and Eric wanted to bring Morrison along. The three of them tossed ideas around and had fun playing each other's songs in the studio, but the collaboration never took place. The furthest it got was a joint concert at The Troubadour club in West Hollywood; ostensibly an Eric Burdon & The Animals gig, with the other two as surprise guests. Famous artists getting on stage to jam with the band was not uncommon: in California, at least, the rock community was very tight at the time, always hanging around with each other and playing together. I'm sure that the night lived in the memories of the 300 or so people present for a long time, but it was otherwise forgotten until now. Burdon did record the show, but I suppose that he was too busy with his own career to spend energy negotiating a copyright deal with the estates of his two dead rock star pals, so the recording didn't see the light of day, even in bootleg form, until now. A promo copy just found its way to my collection, so I suspect it'll appear at record shops everywhere soon enough. Sound quality is good, although not impressive. The performance is strong, but the real draw is the camaraderie and easy connection the three of them have, the way Jim and Eric trade verses singing each other's songs and Jimi lets loose on the guitar. Their backing band is The New Animals as they appeared on Burdon's Love Is LP from the previous year, minus Andy Summers (later the co-founder of Police). They start off with a bluesy jam which segues into "Tobacco Road", a cover that they had been playing for some time but hadn't recorded yet. Eric would release his own definitive version later, with War. At this point Hendrix joins the band onstage and they launch into a hard rock version of The Animals' "Don't Let me Be Misunderstood". Next up, the audience is up for a rare treat: Jimi sings his own "Are You Experienced?", followed by Eric's answer "Yes I Am Experienced" (originally in his Winds Of Change LP) before the two join together in a -then very new- Doors composition "Roadhouse Blues". This is Jim Morrison's cue to enter. His reputation at the time was at its all-time low following the infamous Miami incident, but L.A. was still his hometown, and he got a warm greeting, if not as warm as Hendrix. Eric introduces him, and Jim makes a small speech about the blues, racism, and the Vietnam War. These are followed by a long distorted bluesy guitar solo by Jimi, which slowly morphs into the familiar arpeggios of "House Of The Rising Sun". Eric and Jim trade verses here, and it's a marvellous combination, while on "Hey Joe" Eric goes play the tambourine or something, leaving the stage to Jim who relishes the chance to re-enact the story, adding a lot of gruesome details about "Joe's" wife's infidelity, murder, and his subsequent arrest; basically he turns the song into a mini theatrical play while Jimi, who obviously had no idea this would happen, is caught off-guard and can be heard improvising in the background. Next up, Eric returns to the front where the two of them perform The Animals' anti-war classic "Sky Pilot" and finish the concert with more slogans against the war in Vietnam. The band are, of course, called back onstage for an encore, which is a fantastic 15-minute rendition of The Doors' "Light My Fire" with all three of them on vocals and Jimi trading solos with The Animals' organist Zoot Money. All in all a great reminder of a bygone era, and a huge, poignant, what if: what if Eric, Jim, and Jimi had gotten to make that album together? What if Hendrix and Morrison hadn't died at the age of 27? Which direction would they have taken and what would they have sounded like in the 70's and 80's? I'm afraid we'll never know, but this album provides a valuable glimpse in exciting possibilities never realized. Highly recommended for any fan of Classic Rock! 

***** for House Of The Rising Sun, Light My Fire

**** for Don't Let me Be Misunderstood, Hey Joe

*** for Blues Jam, Tobacco Road, Are You Experienced? / Yes I Am Experienced (Medley), 

Roadhouse Blues, Sky Pilot

** for Introducing Jim Morrison

The Doors "Perception" (box set 2006, orig. rec. 1966-1970)*****

The Doors are one of those groups whose discography I've bought many times over: first, of course, in vinyl. I never bought original cassettes and I thankfully skipped the first generation CD's as mid-80's CD's were not only ridiculously expensive but also sounded awfully flat. They came with a disclaimer claiming that "because of its high resolution, Compact Discs can reveal limitations of the original analogue tapes" - to fool you into blaming the "higher resolution" for what was an inferior listening experience. I bought the complete Doors discography on CD when it was properly remastered in '99. I sold my LP's during The Great Vinyl Purge of 2004, while the CD's followed them to the second hand shops when I acquired the Perceptions Box Set in 2006 or 2007. I subsequently gave in to nostalgia, buying some of their albums in vinyl again, marking the 4th time I got them. I also skipped the "40th Anniversary Mixes" by original engineer Bruce Botnick and surviving members of the band, as I found out that they're based on the Perception DVD stereo mix, including the bonus tracks (every album comes with bonus demos or alternate takes as well as a few rare or previously unreleased songs). Further reissues have followed but they offer little of substance. Now if you log into specialist sites, everyone seems to have their own favorite mix but there's no denying that, unless you're a vinyl fanatic, this particular configuration is the best way to enjoy The Doors' studio recordings. Each album is presented in CD and DVD-A form. The CD mix is based on the '99 remaster with the addition of bonus tracks and few other alterations, while DVD's go all the way including new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes, plus videos, photos and exclusive online content including some for mobile phones (which I've never tried and don't know whether it'd work with modern phone OS). The surround mix is lively and adds to the listening experience, without being sensational or especially revelatory. The booklets are really beautiful, including informative notes about the recording of the albums, photos and complete lyrics. Seeing as an individual presentation of all 6 Doors CD's would fill many pages, I will focus here on the bonus tracks and other details unique to this specific version of the albums, by which I mean the box set as well as the identical 40th anniversary individual CD reissues (the ones with bonus tracks, currently the most commonly available format.)

Starting with the eponymous debut The Doors (1967), there's a bit of controversy on whether this is better than the original mix, and even on which should be considered more authentic. Apparently the original LP was initially mastered at a slightly slower speed because of a technical fault which is fixed here for the first time. Some don't like the new, slightly faster, versions, but I think the reason is that they're used to the older ones. It's true that some songs like "End Of The Night" had a darker, more Gothic, feel which is lost now. Then again, this is how The Doors always meant for you to hear it. Another difference is the "uncensored" versions of "Break On Through" (with the phrase "she gets high") and "The End" (with repeated utterances of the F... word). Some believe the offending words have been pasted over the censored version, probably from an alternate studio take, and sound unnatural. Had they heard these versions first, of course, they may have had another opinion. Bonus tracks include two very different versions of "Moonlight Drive" from 1966: one as a blues ballad with great bottleneck guitar, while the other is faster and poppier. The one used for the LP now sounds to me like a compromise between the two. Also from 1966 is an alternate take of "Indian Summer". Video content includes a videoclip of "Break On Through" and an assured performance of "The End" for Canadian TV. Strange Days (1967) adds alternate studio takes of "People Are Strange" and "Love Me Two Times" as well as Black & White Danish TV '68 performances of "Love Me Two Times" and "When The Music's Over". Waiting For The Sun (1968) bonus tracks include their fabulous baroque-via-Ennio Morricone instrumental "Albinoni's Adagio In G Minor", 3 takes of "Not To Touch The Earth" and the 17-minute epic  from which this piece descended, called "Celebration Of The Lizard". This was originally meant to close the album, just as "The End" closed their debut and "When The Music's Over" did with Strange Days. It would have made sense, but I have to admit that "...Lizard" is nowhere as good or cohesive as the other two. DVD Video contains an excerpt of The Doors' historic '68 Hollywood Bowl concert containing "Spanish Caravan". The band are in great form but the way the video is abruptly cut just as the intro of "Light My Fire" starts playing is really annoying. There's also a performance of "Unknown Soldier" from the aforementioned Danish TV show. Interestingly, the surround version of the album has no subwoofer action making it a 5.0 album instead of 5.1. The Soft Parade (1969) is generally considered The Doors' weakest LP, with the addition of the strings and horns especially poorly received by critics. The remix adds a bit more muscle in order to fix this. Regarding the bonus tracks, the album wouldn't have profited by the inclusion of "Who Scared You" (initially a 7' B-side and included here as bonus track) but I quite like the sea shanty "Whiskey And Mystics And Men", which is included here in two versions, the second being a bit bluesier. These two had previously seen the light of day as part of the Essential Rarities comp, but there's also a longer version of "Touch Me" and a completely unreleased Latin jam called "Push Push". Video extras include 1969 soundstage performances of "The Soft Parade" and "Tell All The People" - the latter as a medley with "Whisky Bar" and "Back Door Man". By this time Jim the pop star is replaced by Jim The Bearded Alcoholic Beat Poet. Morrison Hotel (1970) adds many different takes on "Roadhouse Blues" that, far from a sign of a difficult gestation, show the band enjoying immersing themselves in the blues. "Money Beats Soul" is a bit of studio doodling, "Carol" a Chuck Berry snippet, "Peace Frog false starts and dialogue" is what the title says, and "The Spy (Version 2)" is a faster, and indifferent, run-through. At least the lounge version of "Queen Of The Highway" is somewhat interesting. The DVD adds videoclips of "Roadhouse Blues" and "Wild Child". L.A. Woman (1971) includes two bonus tracks: "Orange County Suite" is a Morrison blues demo to which the rest of the band later added music, similarly to what happened with Lennon demos and The Beatles Anthology series. "You Need Meet" is a blues cover previously released as B-side of "Love Her Madly" which features Manzarek doing a half-decent job on lead vocal. The 5.1. audio mix is quite enjoyable, especially on "Riders On The Storm". Video content consists of a clip of "The Changeling" and "The Crawling King Snake" accompanied by footage of the Doors in rehearsal. BOTTOM LINE: If you don't already own the complete Doors studio output, "Perception" is the ultimate purchase. But if you can't spare the time and money to hunt down a copy, and don't necessarily care about the extra videos or the surround mixes, you're equally well-served with the '99 remasters or the 40th anniversary mixes. Sure, there are sonic differences between the two but both sound quite good and the winner is a matter of taste. "Perception" and the 40th anniversary reissues do offer a few bonus tracks but these are far from essential. Lastly, there's a viable budget solution in the form of The Doors A Collection, a mini Box Set featuring all 6 studio albums (40th Anniversary mixes) in simple cardboard sleeves without bonus tracks.

(Ray Manzarek's) Nite City "Nite City" 1977***

Of all the great groups of the 60's the one that later had the most disappointing development were the Doors. I know what you'll say "well, there was that minor incident of the lead singer dying". Well yes, there was that. I can't deny it was a biggie. They tried to go on without him, making two underwhelming albums (reviewed here and here) before they went their separate ways. After all, who would like to listen to the Jimi Hendrix Experience without Jimi Hendrix? Or Big Brother and The Holding Company without Janis Joplin? Actually I did see Big Bro with an ersatz Joplin and they weren't half bad - for a bar band, that is. But I expected more from the former Doors. After all, Krieger did write the music to "Light My Fire" and Manzarek's organ was integral to the sound of The Doors. Which is why I kept collecting their post-Doors outings, hoping to catch a spark of the old flame. But they never seemed to be able to get the right collaborators. Krieger struck gold once -by getting Jess Roden to sing on the first Butts Band album. Manzarek sang lead himself in his solo albums. I'd like to say his voice is an acquired taste, but it's more like an unacquirable taste. He must have also seemed out of place in 70's L.A. where the dominant sound was the laid-back country rock of The Eagles and Jackson Brown. Slowly, though, the music had began to change. The punk flame brewing in the New York underground scene was transmitted to England and from there it started shaking the foundations of the music industry. Manzarek was hip to the change, don't forget he discovered and produced L.A.'s first punk rockers, X. So he had the idea to form a group which, he claimed, would explore the city's dark side. This was to be called Nite City and, initially, feature Iggy Pop on vocals. But Iggy followed his pal David Bowie to Berlin - nowhere better to explore the dark side than with Soviet soldiers watching you from their gun towers above the wall. So, instead of Iggy what do we get? Noah James. This being Hollywood, he's a kind of model/singer. At some point it seems that regular people in that city disappeared to be replaced by model/actresses, model/waitresses, model/plumbers, model/pornstars, model/lifeguards etc. So what if the singer (the one with the fur coat, on the right of the album cover) looks like Zoolander impersonating Jim Morrison? Can he sing? Well, the best I can say is that he's less annoying than Manzarek. The other members were accomplished musicians: guitarist Paul Warren had played with white soul band Rare Earth and bassist Nigel Harrison was soon to join Blondie. Apart from Manzarek's distinctive organ sound, there's little here that reminds of the Doors. It's more of a combination of AOR and New Wave akin to, say, Sniffin' The Tears or Foreigner. Any "darkness" is limited to the pretensious pseudo-poetic lyrics, another poor Morrison imitation. "Summer Eyes" starts off quite promising with an organ riff straight out of The Doors' cookbook but continues with a chorus reminiscent of Jefferson Starship. Not bad, but nothing special either. "Nite City" has a Supertramp-like piano and a Morrison-esque poetry reading at the middle. Noah's singing on this song is terrible. I can easily imagine Iggy nailing it. "Love Will Make You Mellow" sports a hard rock guitar riff and groovy keyboard. A nice rocker that should appeal to fans of Journey etc. "Angel W/ No Freedom" is a jazzy ballad a la "Riders On The Storm". It got a lot of attention for the line "heroin killed my best friend" which people took to mean Jim Morrison. Remember that, up to then, Manzarek and Danny Sugerman (writer of Morrison bio "No one here gets out alive" and co-writer of this song) were the ones circulating the rumor of Morrison disappearing rather than dying. For once, Noah's vocals live up to expectations. "Midnight Queen" is forgettable AOR and "Bitter Sky Blue" is a bluesy ballad with piano reminiscent of The Doors' "Love Street". "Caught in a Panic" is a Foreigner-like hard rocker and "In the Pyramid" an ill-judged funk instrumental. Every time I hear it I get a mental image of Disco Stu from the Simpsons. The album closes with Roadhouse Blues-like boogie "Game of Skill". It's not bad, but what do you get if you take "Roadhouse Blues" and subtract Morrison's lyrics and singing? A bar band. It's true, there are some decent songs and good musicianship here, but I'd file it under "Another Missed Opportunity". The ex-Doors story has a lot of them. I think the last one was the Doors Of The 21st Century tour. Many thought it was sacrilege but I've been to one of their concerts and enjoyed it immensly. It was the first time since 1970 that Manzarek and Krieger were playing together, in a band with a decent singer (Ian Astbury). I wish they had entered a recording studio to cut a record with that band, but it seems they were too apprehensive of the inevitable comparisons. Manzarek's recent passing has closed this chapter forever and albums like "Nite City" only hint at what he could have accomplished if he had the right company...

**** for Summer Eyes

*** for Nite City, Love Will Make You Mellow, Angel W/ No Freedom, Bitter Sky Blue, Caught in a Panic, Game of Skill

** for Midnight Queen, In the Pyramid

The Doors "Other Voices" 1971***

In March 1971, Jim Morrison met with his bandmates Ray, Robbie and John for the last time. He gave them each a book of his poems and told them he was moving to Paris, France. Although the future of the group was not discussed, it was understood that the album they had just finished recording would probably be their last. The rest of the band weren't too happy about it. Financial reasons aside, the bad was obviously still on top form: the songwriting in "L.A. Woman" is inspired, the singing  is passionate and the musicianship superb. By all accounts the sessions for the album were very productive and the usually difficult Morrison was at his best behavior. I suspect it happened exactly because he knew it'd be the band's last, but you can't blame the other guys for wanting more. So after Jim left, they stayed in the studio preparing more songs, thinking ahead and hoping he'd get bored with Paris and return to the California sunshine and his rock group. As we all know, Morrison's French adventure lasted only a few months. In July 3 of the same year, he was (supposedly) found dead in his bathtub, from a heart attack. Some say drugs and more still believe he just faked his own death and performed the ultimate escape. Such a prank would have suited his character, though I daresay he would have surely returned to gloat afterwards. But for the sake of the believers, let's call it a mystery and leave it at that. The news of his death found the rest of the band with a lot of material in their hands. They quickly decided that, despite what everybody thought, they were still The Doors - with or without Morrison. They finished the album and by October it was out on the stores. It had a simple cover with a photo of the trio and I'll be damned if it didn't look like the "L.A. Woman" cover, with Morrison cut out of the picture.

Other Voices, my vinyl cover

L.A.Woman cover, minus Jim 

Maybe they were signifying that nothing has changed, other than the singer. Musically they do stay close to the previous album's earthy blues rock. I remember that my thought on first listen (a worn-out 2nd hand vinyl copy, bought 25 years ago) was "These songs would be great if Jim was singing them". And, true enough, these songs are vintage Doors, so one can easily picture how they'd have sounded with Jim - unlike with their next album, the jazzier "Full Circle". Opener "In The Eye Of The Sun" would be a perfect vehicle for Morrison, it's a strong blues-rocker with funky bass, neat slide guitar and Manzarek's trademark electric piano. Kinda like "The Changeling" meets "L.A.Woman" at Morrison Hotel. Ray's pedestrian blues delivery fails to lift the song from the ground, but even so it's quite good. Robbie takes over for "Variety is the Spice of Life" and "I'm Horny, I'm Stoned", two upbeat humorous blues/country numbers. His voice is OK for this lighter stuff. Personally I like it better than Manzarek's, which is sometimes annoying but a better match to Morrison's. They say that, when Jim was too drunk to sing, Ray would sometimes take over the vocals - one can see why. Ray and John Densmore share vocal duties on "Ships w/ Sails", a long, atmospheric song with a light jazzy feel and beautiful understated piano and guitar - quite similar to last album's "Riders On The Storm". Not only the highlight of the album, but one of the best songs The Doors ever recorded. "Tightrope Ride" is an upbeat rocker that reminds me of "Touch Me". Unfortunately instead of Jim's lion's growl we get Ray's frog's croak, but it's nevertheless still good rock'n'roll with a nice solo by Robbie. "Down On The Farm" combines two styles: half gentle psychedelic ballad and half twangy country complete with mouth organ. Ray and Robbie take turns on the vocals. Both this song and the following "Wandering Musician" reminded me of the Grateful Dead, except that the latter is slower and much more piano-based. "Hang on to Your Life" starts nicely with jazzy guitars and latin percussion Santana-style, then continues with a harmony vocal a la CSN&Y, and keeps changing style until it becomes a complete mess. Oh well, sometimes they were that way, even in the old days ("Soft Parade" anyone?). Had Jim survived and returned to sing these songs, this'd be a slightly less-than-average Doors album. As it stands now, it's an average-to-good blues/rock album with great musicianship and mediocre singing. When I had my record player around, I'd give the old vinyl a spin now and then. I suspect the same will happen with the CD reissue.

**** for In The Eye Of The Sun, Ships W/ Sails, Tightrope Ride

*** for Variety Is The Spice Of Life, Down On The Farm, I'm Horny I'm Stoned

** for Wandering Musician , Hang On To Your Life

The Doors "Full Circle" 1972***

I must be the only person who, when faced with this reissue on the record shop, cried out "At long last, they've finally released them!" I'm talking of course of the last two studio albums by The Doors - or, to be more accurate, the last studio albums bearing the Doors' name (but, for some reason, not the familiar logo). Long unavailable and never properly released on CD, these albums don't have the best reputation: They've been vilified and accused of exploiting and disgracing the band's legacy. At their time they didn't do too bad commercially: "Other Voices" reached No.31 and "Full Circle" went to No.68. Of course they were both recorded and released within 1 year of Morrison's death, which means the public eye was on them more than any time since the infamous Miami incident. But soon they disappeared under the outrage for the sacrilege of attempting to go on without their leader. To be fair, Doors members haven't defended their work too vigorously, either. I've acquired the "Other Voices" album on second hand vinyl around 25 years ago and was pretty familiar with its content, so I went straight for "Full Circle". I've downloaded it on MP3, but never quite delved into it since I'm not a big fan of MP3s: Music is not meant to be played on the laptop or mobile, people, snap out of it! Anyway, "Full Circle" is looser and jazzier from its predecessor which seems to have been written with Morrison in mind. The CD opens with “Get Up And Dance”, a funky number with handclaps and female backing vocals. Now, given the right material, Ray Manzarek can be a passable singer but not here. Worse crimes have been committed by white guys trying to sound funky, but only by a narrow margin. Robbie Krieger's "4 Billion Souls" is a jaunty honky-tonk song about ecological destruction, and sounds a bit like the Doors circa Soft Parade, what with the guitar/organ interplay. Jim would have nailed it but, as it becomes painfully clear, neither Ray nor Robbie are singers. "Verdillac" is funky, playful and imaginative jazz-rock and sounds pretty much like Frank Zappa - vocals and nonsensical lyrics included. Other new elements include a great saxophone solo and Latin percussion."Hardwood Floor" is a pretty standard blues/country ditty, with neat harmonica and female backing vocals. Likewise “Good Rockin'” is a pretty standard Rock'n'roll/R&B number, albeit executed with panache and perfect for Ray's voice who's rather good at simple bluesy stuff. “Mosquito” is the weirdest cut on the record: It starts off as a parody of Mexican music with Robbie singing stupid lyrics like "No me moleste mosquito/just let me eat my burrito" in his Speedy Gonzalez voice. Then suddenly he abandons the Latin shtick and delivers his best guitar solo ever while the band falls into a nice jazz-rock groove. I don't know what to make of it, but many people consider it the highpoint of the album and certainly Krieger's (and Densmore's) playing here is phenomenal. "The Piano Bird" is another standout, a gentle song with airy flute. Ray's singing is non-intrusive - which, for him, is as good as it gets. It's about a pianist and a bird playing melodies to each other. Disney stuff - can you imagine Jim Morrison singing something like that? "It Slipped my Mind" reminds me of all the bluesy songs on "Morrison Hotel". Robbie plays some good guitar and his singing isn't embarrassing, so all's good. Ray's "The Peking King And The New York Queen" sounds like a preview from his "Golden Scarab" album. Unfortunately the pretentious lyrics suck, singing's below par and female backing vocals are ill-judged. The reissue appends a rare B-side called "Treetrunk", a sympathetic piano boogie. The remaining Doors eventually toured with this material and gained some good reviews. In the past their concerts were hit or miss depending on Morrison's state. Without him, their onstage chemistry and almost telepathic communication took over. Unfortunately, when it comes to the records, the lack of inspiration is evident: The music is too indulgent, lyrics verge between the uninterested and plain bad, and singing lacks passion and conviction. They must have known that, but they enjoyed playing with each other too much to stop. Spurned by the good reaction to their concerts, they decamped to England and started jamming with various singers, trying to find a solution to their problem. They considered Kevin Coyne and The Audience's Howard Werth, God knows why. I mean they're very intellectual but also very British, and their voices are hardly suitable for The Doors' repertory... Iggy Pop was also proposed, one of a few singers that could match Morrison's explosiveness onstage. Iggy was a big Doors fan but I doubt they'd ever want to mess with him: he was even more uncontrollable than Morrison and with none his poetic streak. They tried to send word out to Paul Rodgers -now that would have been interesting- but couldn't get in contact with him (no mobiles back then). He probably would have said no anyway, like he did with Blackmore's proposal to join Deep Purple around the same time. It would have been an interesting union for sure, after all Rodgers' a world class vocalist, but it still wouldn't be The Doors just like Queen with Paul Rodgers weren't really Queen (still, if he could do a passable job replacing the irreplaceable Freddie Mercury, imagine what he'd do with The Doors' bluesier catalogue). Anyway, Manzarek despaired and went back to the U.S. to be near his pregnant wife. Krieger and Densmore teamed up with Jess Roden, whose voice is quite similar to Rodgers', and made a very good album with him as The Butts Band (Is it too much to ask for a proper CD reissue? Please?). Years later they toured under the name Doors of the 21st Century with The Cult's Ian Astbury as singer. Many snubbed them of course, but it's their loss: In addition to being the natural curators of the Doors legacy, Robbie and Ray are two great musicians with intuitive communication and this album is another testament to that. It's true that they never achieved greatness without Morrison, but it's my belief (though we'll never know for sure) that he would also never reach the same heights if it wasn't for them.

**** for Verdilac, the Piano Bird

*** for Get Up And Dance, Hardwood Floor, Good Rockin', The Mosquito, It Slipped My Mind

** for 4 Billion Souls, The Peking King And The New York Queen, Treetrunk