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Classic Album of the month: Morrison Hotel – The Doors

Mocked by critics, condemned by conservative America and even sentenced to 6 months in prison; Jim Morrison had to deliver in February 1970, and that’s exactly what he did.

Friday, 25. February 2011 - by David Hayter

: The Doors inside the Morrison Hotel during the photo shoot for the album cover. The Doors are: keyboardist Ray Manzarek, singer Jim Morrison, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger (Photo by Henry Diltz/CORBIS)

February has proved a pivotal month in rock history. As the industry awakens from its Christmas hibernation, it has seen the release of some outright classic albums. However, with the notable exception of Pantera’s groove metal masterpiece Vulgar Display of Power, February has the peculiar honour of being the month of the overshadowed classic.

Pavement’s sublime sonic expansion Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain may be impeccable but still lives in the shadow of their iconic debut Slanted and Enchanted. Black Sabbath laid the foundation for modern day metal with their eponymous debut but just seven months later it would be dwarfed by the bands commercial juggernaut Paranoid. Even Led Zeppelin’s improbably brilliant double album Physical Graffiti gets brushed over by music historians as they rush to gush over II and IV.

In keeping with this February tradition our classic album of the month is another oft ignored classic:

1970: Morrison Hotel – The Doors

Hard Rock Cafe (Side One)

“Roadhouse Blues” – 4.03
“Waiting For The Sun” – 2:13
“You Make Me Real” – 2:53
“Peace Frog” – 2:51
“Blue Sunday” – 2:13
“Ship Of Fools” – 3:08

Morrison Hotel (Side Two)

“Land Ho!” – 4:10
“The Spy” – 4:17
“Queen Of The Highway” – 2:47
“Indian Summer” – 2:36
“Maggie M’Gill” – 4:23

Where They Were

The Doors were at the height of their infamy as they entered the seventies; Jim Morrison had kicked LSD but he remained absorbed by the alcoholism that had hampered the Waiting For The Sun session and plagued the recording of The Soft Parade.

By this time Morrison had cemented his reputation as rock’s most unpredictable and unreliable front man. His mid sixties penchant for passing out on stage was seen as novel, as the band quickly learnt to play on without him, but by the late sixties Morrison was a completely different beast. He began to be labelled as an instigator; provoking riots, antagonising the police and spewing vitriol at his own audiences.

Morrison’s crazed on-stage persona eventually led to two high profile run ins with the law. First his pre show arrest in New Haven in 1967 and then the infamous “Miami Incident” which saw Morrison convicted for lewd and indecent behaviour and sentenced to six months in prison.

Creatively The Doors were less enthralling albeit commercially successful. They were fast becoming known as a band of diminishing returns. Waiting For The Sun failed to inspire despite giving birth to a number one single while The Soft Parade became the subject of ridicule. While it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as history would have you believe it still exposed Morrison and The Doors as faux artistes and art-pop failures.

: Jim passed out in at a 60s Doors concert

What Happened

Simply put The Doors got back down to business and went back to basics. Make no mistake, Morrison Hotel was not a regression, if anything it was a quick step back to take a giant leap forward. “Roadhouse Blues” set the tone with its marching riff, bar room piano line, its vivacious horns and Robby Krieger’s free wheeling rock-a-billy solo, which saw the guitarist going head to head with a metronomic blast of stabbing piano.

Not to be out done Morrison appeared inspired as if he was channelling the energy of his band mates as he cried “Let It Roll Baby, Roll”. Of course he still found room to be eerily prophetic as the track’s final line declared; “I Woke Up This Morning, I Got Myself A Beer; The Future’s Uncertain And The End Is Always Near”.

This raw sprawling blues suited Morrison’s rapidly deteriorating voice adding a real sense of desperation to The Doors’ work. As a band they were still getting used to featuring a bass player and Morrison Hotel saw them call upon blues legend Lonnie Mack whose creeping lines merged perfectly with Krieger’s raw but ever improving guitar work and Ray Mazaneks ominous keys.

As tends to be the case with forgotten classics there is always that one track which should have been a number one single and Morrison Hotel is no exception. “Peace Frog” is quite possibly the best track The Doors ever wrote. Built on a scratchy riff and an uneasy burst of electric piano, “Peace Frog” sees Morrison unleash a snarling encapsulation of the violence of the age, before dropping into the dreamy “Blue Sunday”.

Morrison Hotel then enters what is often viewed as its pretentious half, which despite some major miss fires (“Maggie M’Gill”) features the implausibly enjoyable “Land Ho!” and insalubriously sexy “Queen Of The Highway”.

Music history has defined Morrison Hotel as the moment The Doors got back to being a loose rock band; however this couldn’t be any further from the truth. The organic blues of Morrison Hotel was actually the product of the meticulous perfectionism of producer Paul Rothchild. The deluxe edition of Morrison Hotel reveals a driven producer forcing a drunken, rambling Morrison to repeat tracks over and over and over again.

What Now

Morrison Hotel’s ultimate legacy came from pushing its star too far. The Doors were forced to say goodbye to Rothchild; rejecting his vision of perfection in search of a looser, less pressurized and more natural sound. This desire found fruition in the raw and bluesy jams of 1971’s L.A. Woman; the band’s final album and one which has become regarded as their second great work.

Outside of their own back catalogue Morrison Hotel serves as more of a symbol than a direct influence. It set the template for the world’s biggest bands to go back to their roots and rediscover the most basic elements of blues and rock and roll. The Rolling Stones would follow suit two years later and bands struggling for inspiration have been doing the same ever since.

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