Entertainment For Lively Minds
The Doors rock my world (and impress me with their simple use of the studio)
BBC4 had a Doors night a few days ago. I only taped the Classic Albums documentary about their debut. And I have to say that I think that was probably the best of those documentaries. It didn't have any astonishing insights, but there was something simple and direct about it that I really liked. Such a great band and they had such an odd but brilliant sound.
The thing that strikes me is how clear and great sounding the recording is (on the debut specifically, but all the others sound just as good). And this was achieved by simply recording the band live in a studio for six days with only a handful of overdubs. Amazing when you consider how full and detailed the recordings sound with great separation between all the musical elements. They claim that "The End" was done in one take without any overdubs. Why the hell do bands spend months in the studio when they can get results that sound like this with a tenth of the hassle and cost?
I recently bought Revolution In The Head by Ian MacDonald. In the essay at the back before the 60's timeline he has some interesting complaints with the overdubbing technology that came along in the 70's. He thinks that the loss of live in the studio performances is a big factor in how boring pop music became as things had to be worked to a click track etc. (He also said something interesting in the "Helter Skelter" section about how four piece bands were all about balance between the instruments, and how the three piece set up led to over-amplification and sloppier musicianship).
Anyway, I listened to my Doors Best Of and I just want to say that they are a great band and everyone should consider giving them another listen sometime soon. I'm not fully convinced by their studio albums, but that Best Of certainly rocks my world.
In the Talking Heads Stop Making Sense concert film, the bass player sometimes uses a little keyboard for some songs. Is that the same type of device as The Doors keyboard player used for their bass parts?
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"Bruises" by Chairlift
On an unrelated note I want to point out this charmingly naïve shoegazer style pop song. I'm about a year late to it as it was used on an iPod Nano advert. It's one of those songs that sounds okay on first listen but nothing special. You go away and find yourself singing it to yourself once or twice. You return to the song a few days later and it really gets under your skin after a second listen.
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I don't like them and never will
The Doors will always be a blind spot for me. I just can't stand the pseudo-mysticism of Jim Morrison and whilst I think they had some good songs, I think that they are possibly one of the most overated bands in the history of pop music. Plus never trust a band without a bass player.
P.S. When Jim Morrison sings "This Is The End"
I always wish it was.
Ephemeral, sadly.
The Doors and Strange Days are wonderful records, dark psychedlia with something menacing from the swamp slouching towards Bethlehem.
How could they keep this up ? They started to slide from Waiting For The Sun onwards. Great moments still, but nothing could match the first two albums. They're great enough for any band to envy.
I found Live At The Matrix 1967 an interesting listen, as these songs begin to emerge for the first time whilst the band are still in the shadows.
L A Woman?
Surely, you have to agree that L A Woman is a great swan song. It almost sounds like a different group by this time though. Another thing: Robby Krieger is an incredibly neglected guitarist, his melodic style is instantly recognisable.
L.A. Woman?
Fantastic record.
But yes, as a bass player myself, never trust a band without a bassist!
John
SNAP!! or JINX as my kids say..now I am not allowed to post until you let me
Sir
I give you The Incredible String Band classic period ( DT and Victoria on 5000 Spirits aside).
Doors - Which is the best?
I did find the program extremly dry and my mind did wander off to how much longer, Lord? Doors 1st a classic, not my view that would be "LA Women" which has not dated and I still enjoy.
The first album to my mind is more of a historical artifact.
Rehearsing outside the studio
Although they recorded more or less "live", they seemed to have rehearsed the music intensively before going into the studio. Perhaps that's what has changed. Rehearsal and working out the songs has shifted into the studio. And it you have the facilities to build up a track part by part and go back and correct errors on an individual basis, instead of all the musicians running through it again, it must be tempting to use them. But I agree that it can make the end result sound lifeless.
The documentary was also interesting in showing the different influences that went into the band, which I wouldn't have expected, such as Bossa Nova. Rock music was perhaps more open then to other influences, and less defined as a few styles. In other words, rock musicians didn't just listen to rock music.
Cancel my subscription to the resurrection
I loved this line as a youth but now it seems so corny.
I used to listen to The Doors a lot too, but when I heard the Velvet Underground they made The Doors seem pompous and melodramatic - the Velvets do menace and stop-start/quiet-loud songs so much better.
Lesser known songs
The reverence given to them in the 1980's, over The Beatles and Stones (?!?!), hasn't done them too many favours.
However, I have grown to rather like their lesser known (and also more wistful) songs.
'Wintertime Love', 'Summer's Almost Gone', 'Yes, The River Knows', 'Love Street', 'Unhappy Girl', 'You're Lost Little Girl'.....
A 'hits' album is, I think, the worst way to hear them.
I also prefer the 2nd and 3rd LP's to their debut.
My favourite though is the only one that 'didn't' get into a Top 500 poll a few years ago.....'The Soft Parade'.
I read somewhere (Q; about 20 years ago!) that it was Mark E. Smith's favourite.
Everyone else seems to hate it.
Yes, The River Knows
I've never actually heard the Doors doing this, but there's a lovely cover by Mathilde Santing on her album Carried Away. Any excuse to mention her...
This is the salient point
I got to know them (and love them) in the 80s as they were influences on some of my favourite bands (Bunnies etc) but have found them increasingly hard to listen to in recent years. Part of it is the lyrics the 'profundity' of which you tend to grow out of but its also the 'sixties' sound which I believe has not aged well. Maybe a re-master would crisp up the sound but i find the sound very stodgy and tend to skip tracks when they come up on shuffle.
I think that "Morrison Hotel" is a terrific LP
and unfairly overlooked. I'm a fan, although as I get older I do find Morrison's lyrics and poetry more and more daft. Put them aside and listen to the tunes, dynamics, pacing, atmosphere etc of the songs. They were a very, very creative group - we should mention the role Paul Rothchild played as producer, too.
I'd also offer the opinion that John Densmore is one of the all time great drummers. Nothing showy or flash, just totally in tune with and in service to the song.
Some of the lyrics
were preposterous, granted. Jim Morrison was no poet. The only good lines that stand out were filched from Blake, Celine etc. If you can get past that, then the whole could be dammned good, and he was a fine singer and class rock front man. I mean, Bobby Gillespie ? Pretentious lyrics are very hard to tolerate, whereas daft is fine i.e. early Genesis et al.
'Lament For My Cock'...
springs to mind for some reason.
Full transcription of this utter nonsense can be found here:
http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/doors_the_lyrics_1664/an_american_pray...
I find the 6th form poetry puts me off..
..although in fairness Jimbo wasn't that far off the age of a sixth form student when he wrote some of them, and I found the lyrics much less of an issue when I was 18 (except Horse Lattitudes, which I thought was pretentious and pretty rubbish even then).
Mainly, the first Doors album reminds me of being stuck in a freezing VW camper van overnight on North Hill above Minehead, my 3 other friends having smoked themselves into a stupor with a cassette of said album on repeat play..
My Wild Love
I do find myself really enjoying this song, which is more of a recorded thought than a musical extravaganza. But it has a "vibe" to it, which is sometimes all that music needs isn't it?
And come on, there's even some good stuff on "Morrison Hotel" (i.e. Peace Frog, Waiting For The Sun and Roadhouse), and "The Soft Parade" (the superb title track and Touch Me).
But yes, I can see why Jim's semi shamanic gesturing would rile some.
Exactly
Badger. Some great songs and great rock camp, although riling postures at times, definitely. However, how come very few people point out the ludicrous faux urban strife cigarette dangling crap posturing of the Clash ? At least The Doors promote Reading Week.
For me
Strange Days and Morrison Hotel are the best of the studio albums, both are filled with some really underrated tracks. I especially love My Eyes Have Seen You off Strange Days and Maggie M'Gill and Peace Frog/ Blue Sunday off Morrison Hotel.
Although some shows are painful to listen to cause Jim's a wreck some of the archival live releases are great. I find Pittsburgh '70 and Philidelphia '70 to be especially good. The Aquarius Theatre releases have their moments like a killer take on Touch Me but some of that is too subdued. Detroit '70 has a strong first disc then collapses on the second with formless jamming and a version of the End that goes off the rails quickly. There's a 6 disc set of NYC '70 shows coming soon that should be great. The Absolutley Live album was largely sourced from the NYC material, with a few songs and moments patched in from other '69 - '70 shows.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the world he didn't exist
The story of The Doors is the story of the rise and fall of one man.
If the self-proclaimed Lizard King had actually possessed one ounce of the unshakable self-belief, the absolute determination, the resolute power of mind, the iron constitution or the bone deep charm of Mick Jagger - then I believe The Doors would be universally acknowledged as THE quintessential rock and roll band.
He didn't.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist
And somewhere, Old Mick is laughing
Mick Jagger
was utterly incapable of singing The Crystal Ship. Jim Morrison was a richer, deeper and more expressive vocalist than Mick could ever have hoped to be.. I am not a Sinatra fan, but you can hear a resonance of timbre reminiscent in his barritone when Jim was in his all too brief vocal prime. A truly wonderful voice. No convenient sinus afflictions either. Magnificent.
Classic Albums
It was very good I thought. It really higlighted the quality of the music as being what really what counts, forget the dubious poetry - and we tolerate much less interesting/more laughable lyrics by our favourites. Reminded me why this album made such an impression on me thirty years or so ago. There's that beautiful keyboard bit in The Crystal Ship for example, which I commend to the group (and the lyrics aren't too shabby either):
I agree with Jamsodonnell
Why is it Jim is condemned for being shallow and posturing when he dared to try out his shaman poet act? Surely acting out roles is what Rock is all about. Were The Ramones really a set of thick brothers? Were The Stones all Bad Boys from The Wrong End of the Street? When was Bob Dylan anything other than Bob Zimmerman pretending to be a poet prophet? And don't get me started on David Bowie, his poses and the quality of some of his "classic" lyrics (I am a fan btw).
So some of it is teenage poetry, but isn't that what the best popular music lyrics are. Look; "she was just seventeen, you know what I mean?" that's pretty silly, but somehow it is genius.
As people above have pointed out Crystal Ship, lyrics and all, is magnificent.
sorry rant over.
I just can't warm to
Robbie Krieger's guitar solos. The one in "Light My Fire" especially sets my teeth on edge, and has me praying for the keyboards to come back in.
It was a Rhodes Piano Bass
in case anyone is still wondering.
The Doors
were very very good... lyrics were sometimes a tad silly..
But wot a CV of great stuff.
Light My Fire/ Hello I love You/ Moonlight Drive/ Roadhouse Blues/ Soul Kitchen.... what is there not to like?
Roadhouse Blues
Ver Quo did it much better...
that
that the Quo have done ANYTHING better is hard to believe, some would even say a bit of a lie
and I did listen. My ears bled a little bit.
FYI
Sky Arts 1 have a Doors night from 10pm onwards tonight. Includes the Classic Albums documentary I posted about above almost two years ago.
By coincidence I've been on a Doors kick at the moment. Great band and I have no issues with the lyrics.
Thanks for the tip-off
would have missed that otherwise!
Agreed
Shame I missed it last night
Have also been enjoying a bit more of the Doors this week. Watched the film, and remembered why I love it (it's just so weird), read the article in Uncut, which could have been a lot longer, but there we go, and am currently listening to the LA Woman album for the first time in years. Good stuff.