2012

103 Minutes

Doors - L.A. Woman 40th Anniversary (2012)

After the Miami incident a lot of venues dropped The Doors in fear of the same fiasco. So during this time The Doors decided to go into the studio and record "L.A. Woman." This is the first time without producer Paul Rothchild. Bruce Botnick took over along w/ The Doors as producer. Sometime during the recording session Morrison announced he was leaving for Paris.
This is one of my favorite Doors album besides "Strange Days." Both are different styles. "L.A. Woman" is a back to basic blues rock & roll. I actually remember the first time I heard "Riders On The Storm" as a kid. I was in the backseat w/ my older brother of my father's car and the song comes on the radio. I remember turnning to my brother saying "I love this song."
This is a 2 CD package. The first CD is the album in the same order as the original album.
The 2nd CD consist of alternative versions and previously unreleased song "She Smells So NIce." The alternative versions are cool because you can hear Jim joking around in the studio. It shows he was loose in the studio w/ a sense of humor. Maybe because he knows this is his last studio recordings so he wasn't under pressure to perform. Interesting to hear Jim say prior to "Riders On The Storm" they should add some rain effects.
"She Smells So NIce" is a raw version but very bluesy. You can tell it needs some more work to it but it was good to hear something we haven't heard before on other Doors releases. They actually lead into "Rock Me" which is a Muddy Waters track.

The CD package in a tri-fold and a 11 page booklet written by Rolling Stone writter David Fricke that includes photos from the L.A. Woman sessions.

Doors
Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman (2012)

This DVD contains interviews w/ the remaining Doors and Producers Paul Rothchild and Bruce Botnick. What I like about this DVD is they go through each track and explain the process & how they came up w/ it. Also some interesting stories that happened behind the scenes of these recordings. My favorite part is Ray talking about the process of "Riders On The Storm". Ray just has this voice that reminds me of those college Jazz DJs. Ray, Robbie and John sit behind their instruments and play some chords to show the creative process that was taken place. I really enjoyed it since it was one of my favoite albums.

The bonus features some of the edited material that was cut from the documentary.
Crawling King Snake in it's entirety from The Doors rehearsal studio filmed for Australian TV in '71. This was also included in the "L.A. Woman" Perception box set.
Finally is the previously unreleased "She Smells So Nice" audio accompanied by some new photos.