From whom would you expect to hear songs about snakes, sonic booms, dogs, freeways and killers?
**ARTICLE CUTS OFF**
C. Petula Clark
D. James Morrison
“Riders on the storm/Into this house we’re born/Into this world we’re thrown/Like a dog without a bone and an actor out alone”: Jim Morrison.
Basically there are three kinds of people in the world: 1) People who love the Doors; 2) People who hate the Doors; 3) People who have never heard the Doors. It is unfortunate that many of the people who disclaim the Doors music and run around saying, “All of the Doors’ songs sound the same,” are merely being ignorant. They are missing one of the most beautiful creative groups in America.
“The cars hiss by my window/Like the waves down on the beach/I got this girl beside me/But she’s out of reach…a cold girl will kill you/In a darkened room.”: Kim Morrison.
The Doors play extremely mood evoking rock and roll. Their sound is crystal clear, so you can every instrument perfectly.
L.A. Woman may be the Doors’ best album. There’s not one bad track on it. Bruce Botnick has done an excellent job of producing the Doors’ long awaited eighth album.
Normally, the four Doors suffice with a vocalist (Jim Morrison), a guitarist (Robby Krieger), and oraganist/pianist (Ray Manzarek) and a drummer (John Densmore). On the new album they have added a rhythm guitarist, Marc Benno, on four songs, and a bass guitarist, Jerry Scheff.
A band by band analysis:
The Changeling”: Densmore opens L.A. Woman with the beat of the drum, Manzarek drops in with a slimy organ slide and everyone else swirls through in an ocean of music. Morrison, after a few soul groans beats off some words about sometimes being rich, sometimes being poor.
“Love Her Madly”: This, if you haven’t heard, is the Doors’ new smash top 40 hit. Ironically, this is the albums least stimulating song (which doesn’t mean it’s a bad song). If you haven’t hear it, the Doors’ first hit in two years, turn on your AM radio for five minutes.
“Been Down So Long”: Morrison is an excellent powerful vocalist. He really sings this one like he means it. Heck, back in the old days Morrison could’ve knocked Frank Sinatra off the charts. Krieger and Benno pour some liquid guitar work on this one.
“Cars Hiss By My Window”: This is one of those Doors slow mystic sex numbers. Most rock groups can’t pull off a slow tune half as well as a fast one; the Doors can. Morrison sings lead guitar at the end of the song.
“L.A. Woman”: Another long song from the Doors with, as usual, plenty of changes to keep it interesting and some nerve-bending sound effects.
“L America”: This is my favorite song on the album. The music starts out slow, each sound bouncing off another, until everything climaxes together. The organ is the kind of sound you hear in horror movies. “I took a trip down to L America/To trade some beads for a pint of gold.”
Hyacinth House”: A misty, quiet tune.
“Crawling King Snake”: Guess who wrote these lyrics?: “I’m the Crawlin’ King Snake/And I rule my den…I’m gonna crawl on your floor/Lets crawl…Crawl all over me.”
Jim Morrison
Mick Jagger
John Lee Hooker
Judy Collins They were wrote by John Lee Hooker. It almost sounds like they were intended for Morrison. This is the only song on the album Morrison didn’t write the words to. The lyrics to his one describe the music.
“The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)”: Describing this osng would be like trying to tell someone in three minutes over a telephone how to build a color television. The music is the beat of the all-American rock and roll song and most of the lyrics are spoken: I’d like to tell you about a Texas radio with a big beat/It comes out of the Virginia swamps cool and slow with plenty precision/and a back-beat narrow and hard to master.”
“Riders On the Storm”: The last song a fairly long one, is very slow, laid back and mellow. It’s backgrounded by rain and thunder. Morrison seems to be singing on three themes in this one: Life, love and a killer. “There’s a killer on the road/His brain is squirmin’ like a toad/Take a long holiday/Let your children play/If you give this man a ride/Sweet Emily will die.”
L.A. Woman is the first album Morrison has appeared on the cover in his typical Jesus image beard. To top it off, on the inside sleeve there’s a picture of a man being crucified on a telephone pole.
L.A. Woman is a mother.
Richard Peterson
