TJR presents… Top 10: The Doors

TJR presents… Top 10: The Doors

– Leading lights of the late 60s counter-culture movement, lyrically intense and musically vibrant for five glorious years.
  • Runtime: 42m.
  • Compiled from 150 collection entries @ 10-Jan-2020.
  • Fantasy Album Rating: 9.88 “An elite masterpiece”
  • To access shuffle-play or avoid in-play interruption due to territorially blocked videos, it might be best playing directly via YouTube external-link.png

no0001.png
L’America by The Doors (1971)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Psychedelia
TJR saysFrom their 6th album “L.A. Woman”, in April, 1971. Opening side 2, the dark-light adventurism of the highly unique “L’America” encapsulates all that is great about the Doors, with the tension-release tricks to the fore; all is not rosy for the Latino immigrants.

no0002.png
The End by The Doors (1967)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Prog
TJR saysClosing track on their debut album “The Doors” in January, 1967. Producer Paul Rothchild revealed some fascinating insight about “The End”, undoubtedly one of the most intense masterpieces ever to be committed to tape: “When The End was first performed in the studio, we took almost a whole day to set it up, because it was a very complex piece to record. When we finally got the tape rolling, it was THE most awe-inspiring thing I'd ever witnessed in the studio. It's still one of the top musical events of my LIFE, and I've made over 160 records. We were about 6 minutes into it when I turned to Bruce (Botnick, the Doors' engineer on every album) and said ‘Do you understand what's happening here? This is one of the most important moments in recorded rock 'n' roll’. Bruce was a just a kid then, and he said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Stop listening to the sound – it's fine – and listen to THE SONG.’ When it was done, I had goose-bumps from head to toe. It was MAGIC. I went into the studio, and I told them exactly what I just told you, and then, I asked them to do it again. ‘Let's make sure we've got it.’ So they did it again, and it was equally brilliant. Afterwards, Ray said ‘Whew, I don't think we can do that any better.’ I said, ‘You don't have to. Between the two takes, we have one of the best masters ever cut.’ It turns out we used the front half of take one, and the back half of take two. We did the same thing with Light My Fire.

no0003.png
Peace Frog by The Doors (1970)
(Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Cerebral Pop
TJR saysFrom their 5th album “Morrison Hotel”, in February, 1970. The super-funky “Peace Frog” emerges as the killer highlight in every way; musically and poetically brilliant. By the end, I’m as traumatized as the 4-year-old Jim by those Native American ghosts. Well, maybe not quite as much – but his imagery is potent.

no0004.png
Love Her Madly by The Doors (1971)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Cerebral Pop
TJR saysFirst out as a single in March, 1971, then included on their 6th album “L.A. Woman”, a month later. Mr Mojo Risin and his boys, bristling with tensions between them, had sparks flying left, right and centre in 1971. For me, they emerged with their greatest set – and that’s no mean feat after the dynamism of their previous output. The joi-de-vivre of the lead-single “Love Her Madly” rockets the feel-good factor sky-high.

no0005.png
Touch Me by The Doors (1969)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Cerebral Pop
TJR saysFrom their 4th album “The Soft Parade” in July, 1969. The sensational “Touch Me” was atypical of Rothfield’s methodical striving for perfection on this album. The single mix (which omits Jim’s sarcastic anti-commercialism Ajax-advert mocking dig “Stran-ger-than-dirt” heard at the very end of the album version) gave the group their third and final Top 10 hit on the Pop Charts. The masterwork is dismissed by Doors purists as a sell-out – such a notion is baffling to my ears. Notably, this is the only song on the LP to be harmoniously co-credited to all 4 members; just like the good old days.

no0006.png
Roadhouse Blues by The Doors (1970)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

10.0 “Utterly perfect” Blues Rock / Soul Rock
TJR saysFrom their 5th album “Morrison Hotel”, in February, 1970. The storming “Roadhouse Blues” got things off to a surprising start, with Lonnie Mack being drafted in to provide an insistent bass guitar part (unusual for the Doors), the prominence of which proves to be the making of the classic piece. Overall, this album was a sure pointer that they were ready to fully embrace blues rock as the Doors sound of the 70s.

no0007.png
The Wasp (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) by The Doors (1971)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

9.8 “All-time classic” Blues Rock / Soul Rock
TJR saysFrom their 6th album “L.A. Woman”, in April, 1971. The assistance of Lonnie Mack on bass guitar had beefed up the sound on the previous LP, and the group repeated the formula with bassist Jerry Scheff being drafted in this time, on loan from team Elvis. The added edge from Jerry’s bass pays big dividends on “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”, as the group compete equally with Morrison’s brilliant poetry for a double-whammy attack on the senses.

no0008.png
Love Me Two Times by The Doors (1967)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

9.7 “All-time classic” Blues Rock / Soul Rock
TJR saysFrom their 2nd album “Strange Days”, in September, 1967. As with many creative groups of the mid 60s, the Doors were bursting at the seams with so much high quality material that one album per year was not enough. “Strange Days” was issued in September ’67, whilst sales of their debut LP from January showed no signs of slowing down. “Love Me Two Times” was another gritty classic coolly melding a blues rock template with ye olde harpsichord.

no0009.png
Take It As It Comes by The Doors (1967)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

9.7 “All-time classic” Psychedelia
TJR saysFrom their debut album “The Doors” in January, 1967. “Time to live, time to lie, time to laugh, time to die.” Who knows what it all means, but the overall effect from the philisophical lyrics, tight rhythms and Manzarek's Bach-esque organ swirl sets the work apart from your typical Garage Rock ensemble. Mesmerizing stuff.

no0010.png
Break On Through (To The Other Side) by The Doors (1967)
(Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore)

9.6 “All-time classic” Psychedelia
TJR saysOpening track on their debut album “The Doors” in January, 1967. At the time of release they were: Jim Morrison (24, lead vocals); Ray Manzarek (27, keyboards); Robby Krieger (20, guitar) and John Densmore (22, drums). The Angelinos had formed in mid ’65 and had perfectly honed these songs in their live sets prior to stepping into the studio in August ’66. One week was all it took to lay down this epic set – a typically 60s time scale which shames many groups of later era’s.




TJR presents… Top 10: The Doors (via Spotify)

  • Runtime: 42m.
  • To access shuffle-play or overcome other issues with the embed application, it might be best playing directly via Spotify external-link.png

© The Jukebox Rebel 2005-2020 All Rights Reserved