This is called 'the bastard son of Jimmy and Mama Reed'
Oh yes mortals, never let it be said that I don’t know how to link posts. Listening to albums at this frantic frenetic frestive time of year by the light of the Christmas tree lights is one of my real pleasures in life. At random tonight I picked the Doors L.A Woman: The Workshop Sessions and came across that bit of studio chatter that I’d forgotten about, as my grandmother always used to say, ‘that’s motherfucking serendipity for you!‘.
I love the Doors in a semi-embarrassed fashion, mostly because Jim Morrison was a chap capable of some vile behaviour with a vastly inflated sense of his own literary talents, whom I can’t help loving as a singer and shamanistic frontman. Plus, they sound tracked some key parts of my childhood.
L.A Woman edges out their debut LP as their best offering for me*. My friend Christian was a leading proponent of the theory that the porkier and more hirsute their frontman got, the better the band played. I concur.
I tend to avoid demos and suchlike as a matter of course, scorn them even with an upwards tilt of my aristocratic nose. Basically record companies employ all manner of gifted highly paid people to make sure the best stuff goes out on the records. However, I’m very glad I plumped for L.A Woman: The Workshop Sessions and they are really great.
To keep everything loosey-goosey during a stressful time for the Doors they turned their HQ and rehearsal space, ‘The Workshop’, into a makeshift recording studio, producer Bruce Botnick** manning the desk upstairs while the band and auxiliary musicians Jerry Scheff and Marc Benno played downstairs, with Jimbo singing in the bathroom doorway. Then it was all shipped over to Poppi Studios for a polish and scaling.
L.A Woman: The Workshop Sessions is what was sent on over.
Okay, first thing’s first I LOVE studio chatter, always have; my favourite bits of Electric Ladyland always happened between tracks, or at their end. We are well served by that singer chap here, whether it’s declaring that ‘The Changeling’ is his favourite track, pleading that no mutants are allowed in there, that remark about Jimmy and Mama Reed before ‘Cars Hiss By My Window’. I’m in chatter heaven^.
The cuts on The Workshop Sessions sound more vital, more energized to me than those on the finished platter. You can really hear the band playing off each other and some great rawer moments cut through – Robby Krieger’s soloing on ‘L.A Woman’ is a revelation, for example.
The vocals are mixed brilliantly here too, much more immediate. Morrison’s voice lifts ‘The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)’ from a minor irritation with a good bassline to a real pumping declaration of intent, albeit with a couple of irritating musical flourishes^^. Jerry Scheff is such a good player too.
I can go through the list if you like, ‘Love Her Madly’ sounds more rootsy than baroque; ‘Cars Hiss By …’ is quieter, more reflective seeming; ‘Riders On The Storm’ (once they stop pissing around with ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’) is the least changed tune on offer, which surprised me; ‘Been Down So Long’ stomps harder, again Krieger lets loose a bit.
The only track on The Workshop Sessions that suffers by comparison to its’ final version is ‘L.A Woman’ itself. I like the hard-charging cut here but the finished version is just so much more, the whole film noir whiplashing past you at 100mph feel isn’t quite apparent yet.
Which leaves us with the last two sides of the LP. Firstly we get a medley of ‘She Smells So Nice / Rock Me’ which is bloody great, the former a fast-paced tangentially creepy ode to a sleeping woman and the latter a nicely judged straight take on B.B King’s smouldering blues, with Morrison singing too close into his microphone and sounding a touch refreshed.
The final side of The Workshop Sessions is engraved with all the LP lyrics from the first two sides, which I rather enjoyed*^.
I really enjoy this LP, it has pretty much replaced the original for me entirely. By showing their workings out, missteps and prototypes The Workshop Sessions really serves to to humanise the band. It really shows each and every member hitting his mark and stepping up to deliver a really memorable album.
I would really recommend this one to any Doors fan. It does sound particularly good under the influence of fairy lights. Just saying.
The LP cover is, I presume, a mock up of the original mock up for the original cover of L.A Woman, you dig? I really like how it deconstructs the cover and Rhino used similar on their Gary Numan demo reissues a while back too. There are some particularly baffling technical notes from Bruce Botnick for your delectation too, if you’re the sort of person who goes all fizzy at the mention of Altiverb Impulse reverbs and EMT140 revelation plates.
1162 Down (so long).
*mostly thanks to their worst tune ‘Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)’. yuk! Raymond Weil really should have stuck to making his watches. I’m allowed to recycle my own jokes, deal with it.
**drafted in after Paul Rothchild flounced away from the sessions.
^I may start crowdfunding for my project and ultimate legacy Hot Mic which will offer to add period appropriate studio chat, in authentic accents and inappropriate levels of intoxication between tracks of your favourite LPs. Trust me you need to hear what Cliff & The Shadows were bragging about between takes, the dirty SOB’s!
^^the bit that tritely goes deedly-deedly-da-DAA and makes it seem all circus-like never fails to raise my hackles. Forgive me if my analysis is all too technical, its my only fault.
*^It sounds like shit if you play it though!
Your own perfectly encapsulate my thoughts on the doors 40 years after discovering them and jimbo as a 13-year-old boi and thinking they were the absolute shit, a lot of water passed over the side of the bridge since then but I think ill give it a listen.
Hey Christie, thanks for stopping by my gilded palace of nonsense.
Nice to know I struck a chord with you, beardy chubby Jimbo is my favourite – I just wish he hadn’t thought he was God’s gift to poetry; we all suffered for that!
Curious. Have I mentioned before that I’m awfy fond of The Doors? No? Let me tell you, I’m awfy fond of The Doors. Strange Days and Morrison Hotel are my poisons. L.A. Woman is the hangover cure… used to be anyhoo. When I was falling in and out of bars on a Friday and Saturday night seeking Strange Days but settling for Peace Frog from the 27th DJ (or guy with the MP3s who controls the music).
Seek this one out, even just on a streaming thingy. There’s a real down home feel to this that I really like and I’m not usually one for offcuts and suchlike.
Much though I treasure your unique ‘voice’, I’m kinda surprised by the praise for this, Joe. I think I had you pegged as a ‘give me what the artist wanted’ guy, not a ‘let’s root around in the dustbins of history’ aficionado. I had to review the Morrison Hotel equivalent of this for Discrepancy Records. One of the harder pieces to write. But maybe LA Woman is better. Still, I don’t think I’ll push for a review copy.
I am mostly Bruce, although this one has got to me. Which is interesting as I have no interest at all in the deluge of Beatles nonsense recently (Esher Demos excepted) – why would I want to hear John Lennon making comedy farting noises during ‘The Long & Winding Road’ (Take 342)?
Hey, I bought the 237 LP deluxe shipping container gift wrapped vomit-coloured vinyl edition just so I could listen to John making farting noises!
I’m planning to go to Paris next month with the intention of visiting Jim Morrison’s grave. This gives me the motivation to do so.
There’s a photo I posted of me doing the same in about 1994 (I had some hair then!). Apparently it’s behind a bit of a barrier now.
I was there in 94 too
Was it you who left the joint burning on the grave that we found?
Ummm. Memories are hazy at best
Five to one it was you.
1 in 5
I hope I can still see it. That’s the whole reason I’m going to Paris.
My favourite studio chatter is on the CD edition of Notorious Byrd Brothers when the drummer and Crosby get upset at each other.
Yep. Me too. Usually I can either not hear it or don’t care. That Byrds farrago is priceless.
“You’re not helping us make money right now. You’re helping us lose it!” (Doing it off the top of my head, so I might be paraphrasing).
I’m in a weird place with this band. I love LA Woman and I love Peace Frog off Morrison Hotel. But my lovely wife once said she can’t stand organs (the keys, mind you) in music at all, and the Doors are particularly bad for it (of course). I hadn’t noticed before, but now I notice and it changed how I hear them.
Weirdoes. I love me a bit of electric piano, Riders on the storm style.
I can live with that, being a weirdo. Freak flag yada yada
This is cool! I’ve never seen this one. Will have to keep my eye out for it.
This kinda sounds fun. I rarely look under the skirts of classic records without regretting it later on. I prefer to keep the magic intact but sometimes it does lead to a softening towards the band knowing what work they put in. The Doors were huge for me once upon a time. The idea of learning to love them again seems like a worthy exercise
Hasn’t upskirting classic LPs been outlawed recently? I think this may help your quest. The only other demos one I really have any time for was the Beatles Esher Demos of the White album.
Might have to sniff this one out. I was and am a bit of a Doors guy. Usually stick with the original release but your words have me leaning to give this a go.
Have a Spotify of it first. There’s a warmth here I don’t usually associate with the Doors.
Curious.
Ahh the Doors everyone in Liverpools favorite band for a heartbeat, then they all started better bands. At the right time of the year when the fairy lights twinkle and large Jimmy is bellowing his heartfelt bellicose belligerence into the mike and the boys are befuddled and trying to keep up, they can be a decent listen. As long as we stay away from the American Prayer aberration of a record.
I thought Love ‘Forever Changes’ was the Scouse record?!
Yup, under the right conditions I can be very susceptible to the Doors.
I always considered Strange Days an influence and big Jim’s stumbling self absorption the model for most rock stars
And bloggers.
One band I just refuse to embrace. Which I take a lot of flak for. I will definitely crowd fund Hot Mic. But I think if I fund it 100% you should call it Hot Mike and just tell me how fab I am on my favorite albums.
Absolutely, Hot Mike is go! I’ll record the Beatles praising your great physical beauty in between tracks of Sgt Pepper immediately.