The Doors

[Sheriff John Stone]

OK, this one's for Doors' fans only...I think.

jk mentioned the song, "The Mosquito", in another thread."The Mosquito" is an interesting song. It was recorded for The Doors' second post-Jim Morrison album, and the last studio album by the band, Full Circle, in 1972. The song is credited to John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek, but I always felt the song was mostly composed by Robby Krieger. Here is a recollection from Robby:

"I was on vacation down in Mexico, and these three local musicians came down out of the hills. That would sing mariachi stuff, and they had this one song about a mosquito and that inspired me. That was actually our biggest selling single after Jim died because it was in Spanish and it did very well around the world. Not only in Latin countries, but in Europe. In fact there were a lot of covers, and some of them are pretty good."

"The Mosquito" is an eclectic song. It starts out as part mariachi-influenced with a deadpan vocal from Krieger, and then turns into an all out Doors' jam complete with outstanding playing from each member. It is arguably one of the best musical moments in the band's history - with or without Morrison. It proved, not that it was necessary, that the three surviving Doors still had that musical magic. As a diehard fan, it also made you wonder why they didn't rock out like that more often on Other Voices and Full Circle, and it absolutely left you wanting for more.

As Robby mentioned, "The Mosquito" became somewhat of a worldwide hit. It only went to No. 85 in the U.S., but it did much better in countries like Austria (No. 15) and The Netherlands (No. 18) of all places. The goofy beginning of the song along with Robby's vocal and lyrics turned the song into a Doors' cult favorite. In that later incarnation of The Doors with just Ray and Robby, requests for "The Mosquito" could be heard from the audience, and Ray and Robby often obliged! I'm posting a short snippet of "The Mosquito" from the 2008 Doors (or whatever they were calling themselves at that time) with Ray and Robby having fun, and also the studio version from Full Circle in 1972. I promise you that if you can sit through the first part of the song, you will be greatly rewarded by the incomparable talents of Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Here's another one from the post-Jim Morrison Doors. Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore employed several different musical styles on Other Voices and Full Circle (their last album and where this featured song is taken from). Some of their 1971-72 material was "out there", no doubt about it, but some of it rocked, too. "Good Rockin" is a good example of this. Ray and Robby's vocals could be a little hard to get into. I think their voices, especially Ray's were best suited to the harder rocking songs like this one. And, as usual, the musicianship is outstanding. I could listen to Ray, Robby, and John play like this all day!

[Sheriff John Stone]

From Jim Morrison to...Miley Cyrus? I haven't seen that many guitars for one song since Blue Oyster Cult. Let it roll all night long!

 

[Sheriff John Stone]

"The Miami Incident"...51 years ago today...Think what you want about Jim Morrison, but the guy was truly one of a kind. Listen to this video. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but I wish I would've witnessed it.

[jk]

I heard the original of this Brecht-Weill song this morning and thought, "Nah! This is the only version for me!"

[Sheriff John Stone]

Mar 10, 2020 11:52:25 GMT jk said:

I heard the original of this Brecht-Weill song this morning and thought, "Nah! This is the only version for me!"

Even with all of those other classics on The Doors' debut album, this song is still a personal favorite. I think The Doors were fond of it, too. They performed it live at almost every show for most of their career.

[Kapitan]

The rare pop-in to the Doors thread to concur. This one is among my favorites by the band, and I also prefer it to the more traditional renderings.

[B.E.]

Isolated tracks, analysis, demonstration...heaven for Doors fans. Enjoy.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Apr 6, 2020 3:27:08 GMT B.E. said:

Isolated tracks, analysis, demonstration...heaven for Doors fans. Enjoy.

Thank you, B.E., for posting this video. I enjoyed it very much. It gives me a better appreciation of the song to hear it broken down this way.

Even though "Touch Me" was one of the Doors' biggest hits, reaching No. 3 in 1969 and obviously appearing on every Doors' "Best Of" since, I always found the song to be underrated, mainly because of what was revealed above - it has so much going on! In my opinion, "Touch Me" has the best utilization of the brass and strings which were controversially used on The Soft Parade. The song, written by Robby Krieger and originally titled "Hit Me", has such a great intro. It's dramatic, picks up momentum, and just explodes with Jim's vocal. As Rick Beato points out in the video, Robby is playing a number of different guitar parts, and Ray is playing both organ and harpsichord. Rick also points out that John's drumming varies from jazz to rock. But, for me, what always sticks out is Jim's vocal. In the video, Rick praises Jim's vocal, comparing it to Frank Sinatra, but he also uses terms such as "strange", "kind of hilarious" and "completely weird". I never found Jim's vocal on "Touch Me" to be strange, hilarious, or weird. However, Rick also does say, "Who sings like that; that is so great great" and "no one today could ever pull off something like that".

Yes! Exactly. No one today could pull off something like that. Or back in 1969. Or ever. Jim goes from jazz to rock to crooning, and all spectacularly. Jim's voice was never stronger or clearer than on The Soft Parade. His phrasing had improved, and he was coming into his own as a singer. "Touch Me" is a perfect example of that, and a perfect example why Jim Morrison was the greatest singer in the history of rock & roll.

[Sheriff John Stone]

For your protection. 3 for $20.00

[Sheriff John Stone]

Jim is doing his part to protect himself and others from the coronavirus:

[Sheriff John Stone]

Remembering Jim Morrison who passed away on July 3, 1971...

[kds]

I recently heard Back Door Man in a grocery store.

Those are words I never thought I'd type.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Aug 17, 2020 0:41:37 GMT kds said:

I recently heard Back Door Man in a grocery store.

Those are words I never thought I'd type.

They were using subliminal advertising - trying to sell more chicken and pork & beans.

[kds]

I tried to find a link, but was unable to. This was shared on social media by Baltimore's classic rock station.

Apparently, Robby Krieger said that there could be a new Doors biopic in the future, one that would focus more on the music aspect, as opposed to the sex, drugs, and more sex aspects of the 1991 Oliver Stone movie.