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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 3, 2019 14:47:16 GMT
Remembering Jim Morrison who passed away on July 3, 1971...
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 2:18:44 GMT
Check out B.E.'s thread on Books. Jim Morrison was a voracious reader of books. Here's an article with a list of Jim's literary influences:
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 10:10:54 GMT
I listened to all the original Doors albums (from "The Doors" to "L.A. Woman", including "Absolutely Live") the other day. It was a real trip, a great listening experience. I've only been a marginal fan of The Doors, but I found myself really digging their music.
Here's my ranking:
1. The Doors
2. Morrison Hotel
3. Absolutely Live
4. Strange Days
5. Waiting For The Sun
6. L.A. Woman
7. Soft Parade
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 12:13:08 GMT
I'd probably go:
1. The Doors
2. Strange Days
3. Waiting for the Sun
4. LA Woman
5. Morrison Hotel
6. The Soft Parade
To be honest, I've never listened to the two post Morrison Doors albums.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 13:25:45 GMT
Wata and kds, I'm surprised that you both have L.A. Woman ranked as low as you do. Over the years it has risen to my FAVORITE Doors' album, although the first album is still very close. Some of the other non-hits on L.A. Woman like "The Changeling", "Been Down So Long", "Hyacinth House", "L'America", and "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)" have grown on me to the point that I view them as great songs. They weren't singles or "Doors' long tracks" but they are tremendous songs nevertheless. This is my current ranking:
1. L.A. Woman 2. The Doors 3. Strange Days 4. Morrison Hotel 5. Absolutely Live 6. The Soft Parade 7. Waiting For The Sun 8. Other Voices 9. Full Circle 10. An American Prayer
kds, both of the post-Morrison albums, Other Voices and Full Circle, have some musical merit. The best way I can describe them is "uneven". There are some songs/parts of songs that can hang with the earlier, Jim Morrison-led Doors. But, obviously Ray and Robby's vocals can't hold a candle to Jim's, and it is a bit jarring to hear. Also, there is this goofy or weird or humorous vibe that is present on both of these albums. I'm not sure where that came from but I think it has a negative effect on the music. There is an Other Voices/Full Circle 2fer CD available on Amazon for $10.50 (I purchased it; I love it), or you can find all of those songs on YouTube. Below is a video of "Ship w/ Sails" from Other Voices. It's one of the stronger post-Jim efforts:
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 13:36:06 GMT
Wata and kds, I'm surprised that you both have L.A. Woman ranked as low as you do. Over the years it has risen to my FAVORITE Doors' album, although the first album is still very close. Some of the other non-hits on L.A. Woman like "The Changeling", "Been Down So Long", "Hyacinth House", "L'America", and "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)" have grown on me to the point that I view them as great songs. They weren't singles or "Doors' long tracks" but they are tremendous songs nevertheless. Thgis is my current ranking:
1. L.A. Woman 2. The Doors 3. Strange Days 4. Morrison Hotel 5. Absolutely Live 6. The Soft Parade 7. Waiting For The Sun 8. Other Voices 9. Full Circle 10. An American Prayer
kds, both of the post-Morrison albums, Other Voices and Full Circle, have some musical merit. The best way I can describe them is "uneven". There are some songs/parts of songs that can hang with the earlier, Jim Morrison-led Doors. But, obviously Ray and Robby's vocals can't hold a candle to Jim's, and it is a bit jarring to hear. Also, there is this goofy or weird or humorous vibe that is present on both of these albums. I'm not sure where that came from but I think it has a negative effect on the music. There is an Other Voices/Full Circle 2fer CD available on Amazon for $10.50 (I purchased it; I love it), or you can find all of those songs on YouTube. Below is a video of "Ship w/ Sails" from Other Voices. It's one of the stronger post-Jim efforts:
I'll probably pick them up at some point just because I enjoy hearing Robbie and Ray play. I didn't include American Prayer on my list. I don't really think about it often. I think it's got some highlights, but to be honest, I think Jim's poetry is mostly pretty bad.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 14:12:27 GMT
Sheriff John Stone, it's not that I don't like LA Woman. Unlike other albums listed above, I haven't given it enough listens for me to "get" it. I think I'll start to like it a lot sometime soon.
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 14:24:09 GMT
Sheriff John Stone , it's not that I don't like LA Woman. Unlike other albums listed above, I haven't given it enough listens for me to "get" it. I think I'll start to like it a lot sometime soon. For me, I think LA Woman is a great album. I just think their first three albums are better. So, my ranking it 4th is in no way a slight on the album.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 15:55:17 GMT
For many years, The Doors' first album was my favorite album. I mean, how can you top an album with "Light My Fire", "Break On Through", "The Crystal Ship", "Soul Kitchen", and "The End", not to mention "Alabama Song", "End Of The Night", and "Twentieth Century Fox". However, when the 40th Anniversary release of L.A. Woman came out a few years ago, I was re-born with the album. Some of those alternate versions blew me away frankly, and I re-evaluated my opinion of the album. I always loved L.A. Woman, mostly for the obvious songs, but now I realized how great the "other" songs were, too. Just because they weren't singles or played on oldies/classic rock radio stations didn't mean they didn't have as much musical merit. Yes, they have a lot of musical merit! Again, I elevated songs like "Been Down So Long", "The Changeling", "Hyacinth House", ""L'America", and "The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)" to great status. In the end, almost every song on the album is top notch, with the possible exception of "Crawling King Snake", and that song ain't...bad.
I also read quite a few articles and interviews from the surviving Doors and other associates of the band. And you know how that works - somebody will mention or talk about a certain song, and it makes you then appreciate that song a little more. They bring out something that you never heard or noticed before, and you go, "Yeah, I hear that now..." or "I never realized that before." I forget who it was, it was either Robby or John, but they said something to the effect that "Hyacinth House" might be the saddest song that Jim ever wrote or the saddest song in The Doors' catalogue. Things like that give me a different or new perspective on a song. Here is a spectacular alternate version of "Been Down So Long":
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 16:16:15 GMT
It's a terrific album, and for me, it's a testament to just how solid their first three albums are that I rank LA Woman #4. It's kinda like how I think The Wall is Floyd's 4th greatest album.
Have you ever checked out the complete LA Woman live show The Doors of the 21st Century released on DVD a few years back? It's when Ian Astbury was on vocals, and obviously before the lawsuit with Densmore forced them to change their name to Riders on the Storm.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 23, 2019 17:50:22 GMT
I'm not that big a Doors fan, though I did get all the albums and get into them semi-deeply during high school, college, and into my 20s. I'd have to re-listen to rank the albums, but I'll just say I think the debut, Strange Days, Morrison Hotel, and LA Woman are all great albums. I think Waiting for the Sun is pretty good. I never much liked Soft Parade and haven't ever listened to the post-Morrison stuff (as far as I can recall).
What I also feel obligated to say is the debut album is one of the most amazing debuts of all time. Forget whether I actually like it--which I do, though I don't LOVE it--but that it's them. The Doors are one of the few bands who seem to have emerged into the world fully formed, sounding like their best selves. There aren't a lot of bands or artists about whom you can say that. And not only did they sound like themselves, but they sounded somewhat different than other bands, even though they were mining a lot of the same territory for raw material.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 18:17:22 GMT
It's a terrific album, and for me, it's a testament to just how solid their first three albums are that I rank LA Woman #4. It's kinda like how I think The Wall is Floyd's 4th greatest album. Have you ever checked out the complete LA Woman live show The Doors of the 21st Century released on DVD a few years back? It's when Ian Astbury was on vocals, and obviously before the lawsuit with Densmore forced them to change their name to Riders on the Storm. It is one of my biggest regrets that I did not see Ray in concert, or some of those Doors Of The 21st Century shows. I guess I thought they had a lot of years left, I don't know...After Ray died, I was determined not to make the same mistake, so I sought out Robby Krieger and saw him in Phoenixville, PA a few years ago. They played most of the songs you would want him to play, and Robby performed magnificently on the guitar.
No, I don't have the DVD you referenced. I have to get on that.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 18:28:10 GMT
The Doors are one of the few bands who seem to have emerged into the world fully formed, sounding like their best selves. There aren't a lot of bands or artists about whom you can say that. And not only did they sound like themselves, but they sounded somewhat different than other bands, even though they were mining a lot of the same territory for raw material. Good points. The Doors recently released London Fog 1966, and it was obvious, like you mentioned, that the band was already tight, and Jim surprisingly sounded much like the future studio recordings.
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Post by kds on Jul 23, 2019 19:00:48 GMT
It's a terrific album, and for me, it's a testament to just how solid their first three albums are that I rank LA Woman #4. It's kinda like how I think The Wall is Floyd's 4th greatest album. Have you ever checked out the complete LA Woman live show The Doors of the 21st Century released on DVD a few years back? It's when Ian Astbury was on vocals, and obviously before the lawsuit with Densmore forced them to change their name to Riders on the Storm. It is one of my biggest regrets that I did not see Ray in concert, or some of those Doors Of The 21st Century shows. I guess I thought they had a lot of years left, I don't know...After Ray died, I was determined not to make the same mistake, so I sought out Robby Krieger and saw him in Phoenixville, PA a few years ago. They played most of the songs you would want him to play, and Robby performed magnificently on the guitar.
No, I don't have the DVD you referenced. I have to get on that.
I think I may have told you on Pet Sounds Forum, but I was at one of the first shows after they changed their name to Doors of the 21st Century. It was billed with the D21C name, and all of the merch still had the name, when they were introduced as Riders on the Storm. This was in DC in the summer of 2005. Great show. I remember before the encore, Ray asked the crowd what song they wanted to hear. One or two yelled for The End, and Ray said "We don't do that one, it's Jim's." I'm surprised the DVD is on Amazon Marketable as cheap as $5.91. I'd have thought after the lawsuit, that out of print DVD would be more of a collector's item.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 23, 2019 19:31:35 GMT
It is one of my biggest regrets that I did not see Ray in concert, or some of those Doors Of The 21st Century shows. I guess I thought they had a lot of years left, I don't know...After Ray died, I was determined not to make the same mistake, so I sought out Robby Krieger and saw him in Phoenixville, PA a few years ago. They played most of the songs you would want him to play, and Robby performed magnificently on the guitar.
No, I don't have the DVD you referenced. I have to get on that.
I think I may have told you on Pet Sounds Forum, but I was at one of the first shows after they changed their name to Doors of the 21st Century. It was billed with the D21C name, and all of the merch still had the name, when they were introduced as Riders on the Storm. This was in DC in the summer of 2005. Great show. I remember before the encore, Ray asked the crowd what song they wanted to hear. One or two yelled for The End, and Ray said "We don't do that one, it's Jim's." I'm surprised the DVD is on Amazon Marketable as cheap as $5.91. I'd have thought after the lawsuit, that out of print DVD would be more of a collector's item. Great story! The funny this is/was, I didn't really have a problem with Ray & Robby calling themselves whatever they were calling themselves at that time, although I thought they reached the point in their careers where they could simply go as Ray Manzarek & Robby Krieger. If they wanted to add Of The Doors at the end that would've been fine, too. I had a bit of a problem with John Densmore's stance, but I could see some of his point. On one hand, I thought it was admirable that he wasn't in it for the money anymore, on the other hand I thought he was being a little too righteous and maybe attention-seeking. He ended up writing a book about a lot of that name controversy.
It was a no-brainer (I thought anyway) that Ray and Robby sought out other lead vocalists, but I never really cared for any of them. It's not that they didn't have good voices, they did, but I thought sometimes they were going out of their way to NOT channel Jim. I wanted them/it to sound like Jim! I think it's part of the ...tribute. IMO 
I have to pick up that DVD, but I have to ask - what is Amazon Marketable?
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Sept 30, 2024 19:53:42 GMT
