What does it sound like?:
By the time The Doors settled down in the studio to record their fifth album in November 1969, they, and Morrison in particular, had endured a difficult year. Morrison was facing two court cases, both of which carried potential jail sentences. He had been arrested for alleged ‘indecent exposure’ at a gig in Miami that March and ‘skyjacking’ during a flight to Phoenix to watch The Rolling Stones. One tour had to be abandoned because of the bad press and their records were blacklisted by many radio stations. In July, The Soft Parade, with its horns and strings, was greeted by accusations of a sell-out. Morrison surrendered his Lizard King leather trousers, grew a beard, gained weight and attempted to steer clear of drugs, an effort undermined by an increase in alcohol consumption. His relationship with Pamela Coulson became even more wild. It must have been a relief to return to his real family: the other members of the group, producer Paul Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick.
With opener Roadhouse Blues, Morrison Hotel immediately sounds the polar opposite of The Soft Parade. Kreiger’s growling guitar, Manzarek’s whorehouse piano, John Sebastian’s bluesy harmonica and a powerful 4/4 beat are the platform for a Morrison vocal that swaggers with sexual charisma. Roadhouse Blues is cohesive, back-to-basics and powerful, placing Morrison in his comfort zone, setting the mood for an album that is deeply satisfying rather than daring. Across the album as a whole, the music is straightforward. Kreiger’s peculiar, angled take on Rock Guitar is largely absent, Densmore thumps his kit with a solid regularity and Manzarek’s piano lines flow through well-travelled paths. There is a moment on the extras disc when Morrison resists Rothchild’s attempts to get down to business and insists on warming up with the meat and potatoes of Roadhouse Blues, Money and Muddy Waters’ Rock Me in quick succession. Fortunately, as the three musicians recognised, meat and potatoes were exactly what Morrison needed to rediscover his writing mojo and give his voice some heft. It helped that this group makes a superb Blues Rock band. His lyrics are peppered with odd-ball turns of phrase and intrigue. Peace Frog, the new song with the most diverting music, is the centrepiece. Morrison delivers a state-of-America declaration mixed with imagery impressed upon him when he was four and witnessed a traffic accident involving Native Americans. There are also a couple of sea shanties, Ship Of Fools inspired by Plato no less and Land Ho!. Morrison’s father was an admiral in the US Navy. You can picture little James playing pirates as a child. The Spy and Queen Of The Highway document his fluctuating feelings about Coulson, which are controlling, adoring and indifferent all at the same time. Three older songs do have some of The Doors trademark strangeness. Waiting For The Sun should have been on its namesake album two years before, Indian Summer, a weird, gentle ballad, was recorded as far back as 1966 and You Make Me Real, here presented as a bar-room brawl, was one of Morrison’s earliest songs. Surprisingly, You Make Me Real was originally the A side to the only single until it was flipped for Roadhouse Blues. The Maggie McGill finale takes us back to the beginning, book-ending the album perfectly with a walloping 4/4 beat.
However, the 50th anniversary package is bizarre, consisting of two CDs, one LP and a glossy book in a nice box. Rhino seem to believe that people who buy CDs are exactly the same as those who buy vinyl. Why else include the two together? However, there are enough Doors fans willing to buy this physical product. It is, after all, the fifth one in the sequence, though Strange Days was just a 2CD set. It does mean the art work can be enjoyed in a larger size, even if they slap a broad border all round it, and it allows for a nice big book. The Bruce Botnick remaster adds little to the 40th anniversary version. The extras are not that attractive. There are nine tracks out of nineteen dedicated to Queen Of The Highway, a good song rather than a great one, and five to Roadhouse Blues. The second lounge piano instrumental Queen Of The Highway and the Roadhouse Blues/Money/Rock Me sequence are worth seeking out but nothing else. CD 2 is not going to be revisited very often.
Morrison Hotel is an album whose qualities are undiminished after fifty years. Many Doors fans rank it third after the debut and L.A. Woman, probably deservedly so. Nevertheless, this 50th Anniversary edition does suffer in comparison to last year’s The Soft Parade. The extras are weak, whereas The Soft Parade’s are interesting and revelatory. A re-evaluation of both albums upgrades The Soft Parade, unjustly criticised at the time, the musicians clearly enjoying the experimentation, but keeps Morrison Hotel static with the band keeping things simple. However, Morrison himself is lethargic, almost disinterested, on The Soft Parade and refreshed and invigorated on Morrison Hotel. The choice of photographs of two of Morrison’s favourite drinking establishments on the cover didn’t bode well. The court cases were still pending. Jim Morrison would soon celebrate his 27th birthday. In Maggie McGill, he claims to have been singing The Blues since the world began but on this LP, at least, he seems to be enjoying himself.
What does it all *mean*?
If you liked Morrison Hotel when it first came out, you will still enjoy it today. If you haven’t heard it, it’s a very fine album. Seek out a previous version. You should be able to pick up a copy very cheaply.
Goes well with…
Plenty of beer and a thickening waistline.
Release Date:
9th October 2020
Might suit people who like…
John Lee Hooker, Canned Heat and The Beatles Rooftop Concert.
Tiggerlion says
Roadhouse Blues (takes 1 & 2)
H.P. Saucecraft says
Nice review, Tig. Of course we can no longer listen to Jim Morrison without tacitly condoning his damaging and emotionally invasive behaviour, which means selling off what Doors albums we possess rather than buying new ones. But I suppose reading your review is permissible, even if clicking the video link is not.
retropath2 says
Lovely and evocative writing: as a strictly debut and swan song man, ok, plus the Weird Scenes collection, I had forgotten how many good songs are on this album. Peace Frog, and its coda of Blue Sunday, form one of my favourite Jim vocal experiences, The Spy not far behind. I think I am prejudiced by my lack of any great love for Roadhouse Blues and, less still, for Maggie M’Gill. Meat and potatos? Scrag end and lumpy mash more like, each missing the precision of LA Woman’s chateaubriand with pommes dauphinois, and the shot of bourbon in the jus. Now that’s meat and potatos. Not a man either for celebratory box sets of rewarmed off cuts, but the promise of LA Woman to follow in due course might Have me begging Bargeys phone number from you.
Tiggerlion says
Blue Sunday is a beautiful coda that I failed to mention. The linkage between the two songs was planned from the start. There’s an early take on CD2 where they are played as a medley. After all the blood on the streets, his girl awaits him in tender time.
Hawkfall says
Nice review, Tigger and it’s good to see someone standing up for meat and potatoes. I’m all for a bit of meat and potatoes, whether it’s Slade, Status Quo or Kiss. Yes, that Kiss. And Roadhouse Blues is so spudmongous that it basically gave Status Quo their career.
H.P. Saucecraft says
One of the great things about the Doors is their ability to do the nouvelle cuisine and the bangers-n’-mash with equally thrilling results. The high art and the low yo-yo stuff. Plus also, Jim’s voice. Bastard.
Tiggerlion says
That is precisely what I was trying to say. 😀
H.P. Saucecraft says
In the bathroom, I can do a hauntingly lifelike Jimbo croon. My wife thinks I’m in evacuation distress.
Timbar says
“Break on through to the other side?”
H.P. Saucecraft says
Back Door Man
Junior Wells says
I do a fantastic version of the beer and expanding waistline.
deramdaze says
I too am perplexed by the vinly and CD combination, like having to buy baked beans if you’ve got sprouts in your basket. I’ll stick with my 35 years old (?) CD.
Personally, of the 6 albums, I’d have the debut and L.A. Woman (both of which I like) vying for last place, and the middle four battling it out for top spot.
Just as contrary, my faves on this album are Indian Summer, Blue Sunday, Waiting for the Sun, and Queen of the Highway.
It’s the lesser Doors’ songs I always prefer.
Morrison Hotel is my favourite ever L.P. sleeve. Never tire of it.
Arthur Cowslip says
I can never work out if The Doors are still well regarded or not. Remember there was a period in the late 80s/ early 90s when it seemed every male teenager in the world (including me) thought they were the best thing ever? I even loved that Oliver Stone movie when it came out (although I haven’t watched it since).
Tiggerlion says
The love for them has been on a roller coaster. Even as they released their albums, they were greeted with cheers or boos or both. Immediately after Morrison died, they were over-loved. Then, the post Morrison material resulted in a crash. I think fifty years on, it’s great to be reminded how diverse and adventurous they were. All their albums are different. Plus, as Saucey says, that voice.
Arthur Cowslip says
When I formed my first band we didn’t have a bass player. But of course we thought that was okay because “The Doors didn’t have a bass player”.
(Crucially, however, we weren’t The Doors).
Tiggerlion says
In the studio they employed session bass players. Here it’s mostly Ray Neapolitan. For Roadhouse Blues and Maggie McGill, however, it’s Lonnie Mack, a Blues Rock guitarist known for his melodic soloing. The difference is noticeable.
deramdaze says
I swerved The Doors in the dire 1980s when they were every 60s dodgers’ idea of “Best Group of the 60s,” on the (entirely accurate, as it turned out) assumption that 60s dodgers didn’t know what they were talking about.
Further down the line, now The Doors have tumbled down the League table somewhat, from their untenable Liverpool position to the more suitable middle-ground of West Ham United, it’s been a joy to finally get into them.
retropath2 says
LA Woman was the second LP I ever bought, not long after release, aged maybe 13. Always a band close to my heart. Never understood the sneering. 4 individuals, merely talented alone or when less than quorate, astonishingly greater than the sum of their parts when together. OK, Horse Latitudes is a bit shit.
H.P. Saucecraft says
There’s always someone who’ll pipe up with “Well, I like [LEAST FAVOURITE SONG]!” That’ll be me, then. Mute Nostril Agony! TMFTL!
Hamlet says
In the same way that I’ve never seen a player as good as Wayne Rooney be so bad on an off day, the Doors straddle brilliance and utter garbage with a similar scratch of the head.
fatima Xberg says
»The Bruce Botnick remaster adds little to the 40th anniversary version.« Huh?
Any info on what version of the album they use this time? The “Anniversary Version” were completely new mixes from the original master tapes, with sometimes different solos and instrumental additions, even additional lyrics here and there. The “Remasters” from the Doors box set were cleaned-up original mixes. All were done by Bruce Botnick.
And BTW, I hope they used the correct spelling of the guitarist’s name. 😉
Tiggerlion says
My sincere apologies for the spelling error. I thought I was being extra careful with that one but obviously not.
Whether remixed or remastered, it doesn’t sound much different to me. Beefier, perhaps. Certainly, there isn’t sufficient change to make me rush out and buy with a second CD I will barely play and a piece of vinyl I don’t want.
dai says
Awful band, terrible stuff.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Oooooh – gwumpy-twowsers!!!!!
dai says
Sorry, blame insomnia, having a terrible week.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Try Hydroxyzine (various brand names, eg Atarax) as a sleep aid. It’s primarily an antihistamine, but its side-effect is drowsiness. Ask your pharmacist or doctor. It’s over-the-counter (the counter down my road, anyway), mild, and effective. I take it to get through an otherwise inevitable sleep break at 1 or 2 am.
Hope your week gets better.
dai says
Thank you.
Junior Wells says
Try a spliff
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Sleep-deprived or not that Dai fellow knows his stuff. Never understood the love for The Doors – especially as it was the favourite record of Billy Bastard Mathers who for some reason (good looks, yellow sports car, velvet jacket perhaps) stole the heart of Carole Henderson and broke mine.
dai says
Our embryonic school band was going to be called “Backdoor man”, but we saw someone already with that name in the NME gig listings and promptly broke up without getting as far as having a rehearsal.
I think many of us may have had a Doors phase as teenagers, but I grew out of them like many do and moved on to superior American music of the same period like Beach Boys,
Byrds, Love and The Velvet Underground (some Welsh in there too).
fortuneight says
I’m told Billy still carries a torch for you. And not just an iPhone one.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
As soon as I wrote that I thought some people on here will think I was in love with Billy Mathers. Of course I wasn’t. Jim Heatherwick, you young rascal, where are you now?
MC Escher says
What you want is some Regenerol mate.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Get any onya?
MC Escher says
Have a bang of this number, man.
Hope I did that right, I’m not fluent in Boomer.
Martin Hairnet says
I’ve said it before, but The Doors invented baggy with Peace Frog. Thirty years ahead of the times. The Charlatans, Stone Roses etc, owe a lot to the groove and style of that song.
Junior Wells says
Roadhouse Blues possibly the best ever song for momentum out of the blocks.
Pessoa says
Sorry to say but this is my least favourite Doors album (and I do like them, all things considered). It really does sound a bit too back-to-basics for its own good and I miss the excess, even of The Soft Parade. But I agree that Peace Frog/ Blue Sunday is splendid, one of the best things they did in fact, and Maggie McGill is mysterious as well. I bought the 2CD Strange Days set to hear the mono mix, but the other special reissues have been too extortionate.
Baron Harkonnen says
I enjoyed your review Tiggs, you are IMHO the finest reviewer around here.
Morrison Hotel is a fine album that I`ve always enjoyed.
I made a nice profit on a couple of Beatles albums I just sold so I ordered this box set and have enough change to buy lots more of the nice stuff being released in the coming weeks.
CD & LP in the same package? No problem for me, I still buy both formats.
Tiggerlion says
Nice to hear from you, Baron. I hope you are keeping well and enjoying life.
They say these first two weeks of October are crucial for the reissue industry, possibly make or break for physical product. We live in interesting times.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
“Nice to hear from you and glad you’ve made a profit selling Beatles albums”?
And to think I once respected you…
Tiggerlion says
I didn’t mention The Beatles and Baron is a less frequent poster of comments than he used to be. However, if he is selling valuable Beatles vinyl for good money, good for him. He can do what he likes with his own possessions. I’m toying with selling a signed limited edition Dylan print (I know) at a huge profit.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Not, I admit, my funniest joke ever. Good to see you, Baron – may you stay Forever Young.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Well, I for one would welcome a chance to hear your funniest joke, Lodester! What is it?
H.P. Saucecraft says
*checks watch*
Martin Hairnet says
In order to avoid ambiguity and confusion, perhaps a parenthetic ‘j’ could be added at the end of posts to inform that a joke has been made. (j)
H.P. Saucecraft says
I for one applaud this timely and powerful intiative. (j)
Baron Harkonnen says
It was more than a couple Loadie, Beatles In Mono LP Box Set, I was gifted it and already owned it. You can only play one at any one time.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
You should have said “I’ve already got this mate, why don’t you give it to that old geezer who makes bad jokes, he saw The Beatles in the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom in 1863”
mikethep says
There’s an old pub in Brisbane called the Morrison Hotel, been there since 1927. Never been in, but whenever I drive past I keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel.
Tiggerlion says
Originally, side one was called Morrison Hotel and side two Hard Rock Cafe. The back cover is a photo of that cafe. The franchise that has put a Hard Rock Cafe, with Rock memorabilia, in almost every major city in the world took its name from this album. The original cafe got nothing. Not even a fee from The Doors.
Sniffity says
Horns + strings = selling out?
Sheesh.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Some people think demos are truer to art than recordings produced in a studio. They shun professionalism as crass commercialism, and decry arrangements as sops to the masses. Diskard these people uterly, they kno 0.
Tiggerlion says
I think it was also the songs. Morrison had run out, so Krieger stepped in and ended up writing all the singles. The combination of poppier songs and a glossier sound was seen as being deliberately more commercial.
dai says
I had a “twofer” cassette with Morrison Hotel on one side and LA Woman on t’other. I thought Morrison Hotel was absolutely dreadful, but quite liked LA Woman (relatively), their debut is also quite good if you remove unlistenable crap like “The End”. Sounds really profound when you are 17, quite a bit less so these days.
H.P. Saucecraft says
I disagree with what you say but would defend to the death your right to say it. Wait – why would I kill myself for someone talking bollocks?
dai says
Depends if you are the one talking bollocks
H.P. Saucecraft says
Nope, still wouldn’t kill myself.
Martin Hairnet says
It’s been fashionable for a while now to see The Doors as the rawk equivalent of the SWP, something you grow out of when you ‘grow up’. It’s utterly bogus. Why not recognise that profundity you felt at 17 and celebrate it, instead of dismissing it condescendingly? The band obviously aroused something in you, and yet you strain to rubbish it. Meanwhile, John Lennon, that veritable champion of rock hubris, gets a free pass. Two Virgins? The Wedding Album? Did they sound profound at 17?
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I was profound at 17? More like shallow, easily impressed , no idea what I was talking about, fancied Carole something rotten but she went off with Billy Bastard Mathers…
Mind you, even then I knew The Doors was pretentious piffle.
Diddley Farquar says
The End is an example of something that is both terrible and brilliant. Like much rock music the lyrics are partly awful and partly striking. The music is often brilliant. Guitar snd drums excel themselves, changes in pace, dynamics, the feel of the musicians. Morrisson could also do lyrics pretty well too, when he didn’t aspire to epic poetry and get all dionysian on your arse or dying on his arse, one could say. Love Street, that kind of thing.
Tiggerlion says
It was brilliant in Apocalypse Now.
Diddley Farquar says
Totally agree. Brilliantly combined with images of rotor blades, echoed in the blades of the ceiling fan, plus Martin Sheen’s breakdown. Stunning.
Martin Hairnet says
The music flows through the film like a blood supply, and makes for an utterly unforgettable experience.
Moose the Mooche says
“get all dionysian on your arse” – a bloodcurdling threat. The horror indeed.
“He’s going to poem at me!”
Stan Deely says
I had the same cassette purchased in approximately 1983 and a similar impression – loved LA Woman and still do – found Morrison Hotel too much “meat and potato blues” for my then tastes which were then into the final embers of the punk/post punk excitemet ie Birthday Party and Sisters of Mercy. My sister sold my cassette along with a bunch of her cassettes that she was dumping before I really got to know it.
Nowadays my take on the kind of music I most like – white rock/new wave etc is like land they are not making it anymore – only pastiches – therefore my project for the rest of my life is going back to those forgotten corners that have passed me by – my project is every year to get an original by the following bands and work my way through the catalogues – Black Sabbbath, Can, The Fall, Kate Bush.
In this vein, I plan to acquaint myself with Morrison Hotel some time soon, as the Doors still do it for me, and this is the only album of theirs I have’t really given a proper listen to.
slotbadger says
@dai LA Woman has always been a favourite, but had never properly listened to Morrison Hotel, so just put it on. It’s not cooking my potatoes tbh, once you’re past the agreeable choogle of title track here, it’s either bombastic meandering or uninspiring plod. Bombastic!
H.P. Saucecraft says
Robby Krieger’s newie “The Ritual Begins At Sundown” is a very enjoyable instrumental album featuring a crowd of Zappa alumni. This is closer to, say, Jeff Beck’s “Wired” than jazzrock noodling. It’s a lot of fun, and Krieger’s playing is as great as ever.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Yeh but this is better
H.P. Saucecraft says
It’s no Little Man In A Box, though, is it?
retropath2 says
An unfortunate aspect of being called Joachim is the permission it gives me to use the word as a throat, nose and sinus cleansing manoeuvre. I can thus never grant him the gravitas I am sure he deserves.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I got very very drunk with Joachim one night after a concert in The Barbican. He kept saying his Dad and David Lindley would arrive soon. They didn’t. And neither did Rob Brydon
H.P. Saucecraft says
Rob and I were in the Green Room, having a bit of a laugh about you, actually. Oh – that wasn’t Joachim, by the way.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Ah, I kept wondering why all the waiters kept saying “Hi, Danny”.