We can't talk about The Doors, or more specifically Jim Morrison, without mentioning the '27 Club', the ever-growing list of musicians, artists and actors who died at the age of 27.
In his era, Morrison was the 4th to die in a short span of time. Brian Jones in '69, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin in '70, Morrison in '71. Later Kurt Cobain shot himself in '94 and Amy Winehouse passed in 2011, but the list is more extensive than that.
The significance of all that is that this album is the last released in Jim Morrisons lifetime. He died 3 months later. It's fitting that 'Riders on the Storm' is the final track on the album - it contains the last ever contribution by Morrison, whispers of the song lyrics to create an echo effect.
“That’s the last thing he ever did,” Ray Manzarek said. “An ephemeral, whispered overdub.”
It was released as a single and entered the charts on 3rd July 1971, the day Jim died.
It took me a while to learn to like the Doors. For a while I preferred José Feliciano's version of 'Light My Fire' and thought Morrison was too pretentious for his own good.
Then I got this album.
I was immediately hooked by 'Riders on the Storm' .. loosely based on the old cowboy song 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' it is 7 minutes of (IMHO) perfection. Once I'd been seduced by that, it was easy to enjoy the bluesey-ness of 'Cars Hiss by my Window' .. 'Been Down So Long' and John Lee Hookers 'Crawling King Snake.' 'The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)' is a reworking of Morrison's poetry.
The title track of L.A. Woman has had all sorts of hidden meanings attributed to it, but the one thing that comes through to me is the very clever wordplay. Blues musicians use the word 'Mojo' in their songs .. e.g. Muddy Waters 'Got My Mojo Working'. On L.A. Woman the phrase 'Mr. Mojo Risin' is repeated faster and faster. That phrase is an anagram of Jim Morrison - jimmorrison / mrmojorisin.
If you've skipped over The Doors, go back to this album for a new look.
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