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The Doors - L.A. Woman (Perception Remaster)
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The Doors - L.A. Woman (Perception Remaster)

01.- The Changeling [04:21]
02.- Love Her Madly [03:20]
03.- Been Down So Long [04:41]
04.- Cars Hiss By My Window [04:12]
05.- L.A. Woman [07:53]
06.- L'America [04:38]
07.- Hyacinth House [03:11]
08.- Crawling King Snake [05:00]
09.- The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) [04:15]
10.- Riders On The Storm [07:16]
11.- Orange County Suite ** [05:45]
12.- (You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further ** [03:41]

Video Content

01.- The Changeling (Music Video)
02.- Crawling King Snake (Footage From The Doors Rehearsal Space Filmed For
Australian TV, 1971)


** = Bonus tracks, exclusive for this release

The Doors' Perception Box included both the remastered stereo albums and a bonus
DVD for each, with a brand-new 5.1 remix, made using the original master tapes.

The DVDs had a layer of DVD-Audio information which have been removed here, but
the video/audio content, playable by a regular standalone DVD player has been
kept untouched.

There's a DTS 5.1 and a Dolby Digital Stereo audio track for each song, plus
bonus videos, as indicated.

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Review by Richie Unterberger (allmusicguide)

The final album with Jim Morrison in the lineup is by far their most blues-oriented, and the singer's poetic ardor is undiminished, though his voice sounds increasingly worn and craggy on some numbers. Actually, some of the straight blues items sound kind of turgid, but that's more than made up for by several cuts that rate among their finest and most disturbing work. The seven-minute title track was a car-cruising classic that celebrated both the glamour and seediness of Los Angeles; the other long cut, the brooding, jazzy "Riders on the Storm," was the group at its most melodic and ominous. It and the far bouncier "Love Her Madly" were hit singles, and "The Changeling" and "L'America" count as some of their better little-heeded album tracks. An uneven but worthy finale from the original quartet.

Originally released as part of the completed recorded works 2006 box set Perception, this deluxe edition of L.A. Woman is a double-disc set containing one CD featuring a newly remastered version of the album with bonus tracks and a DVD with a 5.1 Surround mix, bonus video footage, and a photo gallery. Given that the Doors catalog was remastered just seven years before this box, the sonics of these 2006s remasters are noticeable but not radically different -- the kind of subtle remastering that is significant to audiophiles who know this music intimately. There isn't much bonus material added here, but both the bonus tracks are full-fledged songs: the outtakes "Orange County Suite" and "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further." Similarly, while the video bonus material contains merely a music video for "The Changeling" and rehearsal footage of "Crawling King Snake." This isn't much extra, but the outtakes are good, and ultimately this deluxe edition lives up to its title: this is the best-sounding, best-presented reissue of this album yet.


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from wikipedia:

L.A. Woman is The Doors' sixth and last album recorded with lead singer Jim Morrison. Morrison died later that year in July 1971. The album's style is arguably the most blues rock -oriented of the band's catalogue. Following the departure of their record producer Paul A. Rothchild (who dismissed the groups differing style as "cocktail music") around November 1970, the Doors and engineer Bruce Botnick began production on the album at The Doors Workshop in Los Angeles. Most of the tracks were recorded live, except for a few overdubbed keyboard parts by Ray Manzarek. Session musicians Jerry Scheff and Marc Benno entered the studio in January 1971 to put some finishing touches. It is the only Jim Morrison-era studio album which the Doors did not follow up with a concert tour; Jim had moved to Paris by the time it was released in May 1971 and died two months later on July 3, 1971.

Botnick produced and mixed a new 5.1 Surround version of the album, which was released on DVD-Audio, December 19, 2000. It was produced from the original 8 track analog 1" master tapes.[1]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 362 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

A new version of the album, titled L.A. Woman (40th Anniversary Mixes) was released on March 27, 2007 on Rhino records. It contains two bonus tracks: "Orange County Suite" and the Willie Dixon-authored "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further". The latter track features Manzarek on vocals. The track "Orange County Suite" was not recorded with the other tracks on the album, the song is originally a Morrison solo vocal and piano recording with music later overdubbed by the surviving Doors.

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THE CHANGELING

A changeling is a mythological creature who is substituted for a human baby. The changeling was usually an outcast.
Jim Morrison may have got the idea for this from a student film he saw at USC in 1968 called Changeling.
Morrison wrote the lyrics in 1968, but they did not record it until 1970. It turned out to be Morrison's last album.
This was released as the B-side of "Riders On The Storm."


LOVE HER MADLY

The song was composed by the band's guitarist, Robby Krieger. Jerry Scheff plays the bass on this song. It is about the numerous times his girlfriend threatened to leave him.[1] The song was released as a single in April 1971 and became one of The Doors biggest chart hits, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

In 2000, Krieger, John Densmore, and Ray Manzarek recorded a new version of "Love Her Madly" with Bo Diddley for the Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate.

The song was used in the 1994 film, Forrest Gump.

The song was covered by pianist George Winston on his album Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors.

According to the Kids In The Hall sketch "The Doors", if you become a Doors fan Love Her Madly "is the only song you won't like."

The B-side of the single is one of only three non-album B-sides by The Doors, the other two being "Who Scared You?" (B-side to "Wishful, Sinful") and the relatively rare "Tree Trunk" -- alternately spelled "Treetrunk" (sic) -- B-side to "Get Up and Dance". "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further" got its' first official album release on the Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine compilation. The song is also included as a bonus track on the 2007 re-issue of L.A. Woman.


BEEN DOWN SO LONG

This was inspired by Richard Farina's 1966 novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Farina died in a motorcycle accident 2 days after it was published.


CARS HISS BY MY WINDOW

The song is a standard blues style song and it features guitarist Robby Krieger's bluesy guitar. It depicts a melancholy feel and singer Jim Morrison shows his feelings of life passing him by. The end of the song features what many may think is a harmonica solo, when it is in fact Jim Morrison doing his best to mimic the sound of one.

On the 2007 re-issue of the L.A. Woman album, a previously unheard verse was added (or rather, not edited out), making the song almost 5 minutes in length. The Doors used edits extensively on their albums; evident on the Absolutely Live album, the American Prayer album, the Light My Fire single and the two different versions of Who Scared You?, and with the re-issued version, this was the first time fans were able to hear the unedited track in toto.


L.A. WOMAN

The title track to the final Doors album with Jim Morrison is a composite homage as well as an extended metaphor for what the lyricist saw as the essence of the city of Los Angeles. Many Doors insiders also consider it to be a direct peon to one particular “L.A. Woman” -- Doors publicist Diane Gardner. She became the originalrecipient of several poems from Morrison, the lyrics of which eventually turned up throughout the L.A. Woman album.

The stripped-down and lean instrumentation is indicative of the record as a whole -- which was both rehearsed and recorded at the Doors Workshop -- an office space that the band began renting in early 1968 at 8512 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles.

The opening of the track is quite unusual as it incrementally builds into a full-throttle journey through the underbelly of the City of Angeles. The instrumental intro begins with Robbie Krieger (guitar) impersonating the sound of an accelerated automobile engine coupled with an ominous stringed dissonance suggesting a ride into the unknown.

Ray Manzarek (keyboards) bubbles the motoring tempo, which is joined by John Densmore’s icy cymbal ride. Before the addition of session great Jerry Scheff’s (bass) equally intimidating bass line, there is also a faintly audible strange and unnerving electronic wailing. And that is just the first 15 seconds.

Once the song is established, the band unleash a reckless gyrating rhythm which propels the musicians through some of their most profound instrumental contributions -- most notably as the track shifts gears into the tango-tinged “I see your hair is burning … ” bridge. “L.A. Woman” is likewise notable for introducing one of Morrison’s alleged alter egos -- Mr. Mojo Risin’.

In 1985, Manzarek directed a film to accompany “L.A. Woman. The video was aired on MTV and included on the Dance on Fire home video.

"Mr. Mojo Risin'" is an anagram for "Jim Morrison." He repeats the phrase at the end of the song faster and faster to simulate orgasm.

Early blues musicians often referred to their "Mojo," like in the Muddy Waters' song "I Got My Mojo Workin'." A mojo is a voodoo charm, usually a bag filled with various plants and items. Different plants would be used for different purposes. If the bag were red, it would be a mojo for love and you would have to put a personal item, such as hair or bit of clothing in order for the mojo to work. If the mojo were made out of a black bag it would be for death. Many white listeners, including Jim Morrison, thought mojo meant sexual energy, and that is how it's usually interpreted today, in part due to Austin Powers movies. (thanks, Kevin - Martinez, CA)

Morrison recorded his vocals in the studio bathroom to get a fuller sound. He spent a lot of time in there anyway because of all the beer he drank during the sessions.

The Doors performed this live only once, in Dallas at the State Fair Music Hall on December 11, 1970. The only live recording of this is on the bootleg If It Ain't One Thing, It's Another. The band wanted to bring more musicians along to simulate the studio sound, but Morrison died before they could launch the tour. (thanks, Tony - Westbury, NY)

This was the title track to the last Doors album before Jim Morrison died. The remaining members released 2 more albums, Other Voices and Full Circle, which both sold poorly. (thanks, Jim - Hopatcong, NJ)

The Doors needed extra musicians to record this. Jerry Sheff was brought in to play bass, Marc Benno to play guitar. Sheff and Benno were going to tour with the band, but Morrison's death canceled those plans.

Morrison got the idea for the "City of Night" lyric from John Rechy's 1963 book of the same name. It describes a sordid world of sexual perversion, which Morrison translated to Los Angeles.

They put this together in the studio and recorded it live with no overdubs. It came together surprisingly well.

The first line, "Well, I did a little down about an hour ago" is a reference to a barbituate, specifically Rorer 714.

Billy Idol covered this on his 1990 album Charmed Life, his version hitting #52 in the US. Idol was in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie The Doors, but had to take a smaller role because of a 1990 motorcycle accident that limited his mobility.

The Doors produced this album themselves with the help of their engineer. Paul Rothchild, who produced their first 5 albums, did not want to work on this because he didn't like the songs. He produced an album for Janis Joplin instead.

In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Perry Farrell, formerly of Jane's Addiction, sang on this.


HYACINTH HOUSE

The music was written by Ray Manzarek, while Morrison wrote the dreary and mysterious lyrics while at guitarist Robby Krieger's beach house; though the song's writing credits are additionally credited to Krieger and drummer John Densmore. The lyrics "I see the bathroom is clear / I think that somebody's near / I'm sure that someone is following me" were taken from a conversation while the band was stoned at Krieger's house. They were thinking someone was in the bathroom because they heard noises. Evidently, Krieger's house was littered with hyacinth plants, thus the song title Hyacinth House.

Many fans suspect that one particular line of this song ("And I'll say it again, I need a brand new friend, the end") shows that Morrison had suicidal thoughts and tendencies. Thus, when he died in Paris in 1971, he consciously overdosed on heroin. However, this theory is mere speculation. (The lyrics themselves echo the song "The End": "my only friend, The End.") What is evident is the sadness and maturity within Morrison's voice, further enhanced by the acoustics in the studio bathroom, where he recorded much of the album.

Hyacinthus was a young love of the Greek God Apollo. Apollo accidentally killed him, and from his blood sprang the hyacinth, a plant with a fragrant cluster of flowers.


THE WASP (TEXAS RADIO AND THE BIG BEAT)

The music was written by Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. The spoken word lyrics, written by Morrison, come from a poem he wrote in 1968, three years before the music was written, and he's accompanied by John Densmore's synthesized drums.. These lyrics were published in a Doors souvenir book. It has gained considerable fame over the years and has been featured on several Doors compilation CDs.

Texas Radio refers to high power Mexican radio stations that blasted Texas into the 1950s. Not restricted by American regulations, said stations could have up to 150 megawatts. Morrison and Manzarek both heard Wolfman Jack on one of these Mexican stations.

The verse, "Comes out of the Virginia swamps cool and slow with plenty of precision with a back beat narrow and hard to master" is most likely a reference to Morrison's first real experience with the music scene. From 1958 to 1960 Morrison lived in Alexandria, Virginia and frequented the Juke Joints (blues clubs) on Route 1 just north of Fort Belvoir where Black Blues musicians would play on Friday and Saturday nights. That area where the Juke Joints used to be is right on the eastern edge of a swamp.

In 1968, the lyrics were published in a Doors souvenir book.

Morrison's vocal was double-tracked to make it stand out.

The lyrics, "Stoned Immaculate," became the title for a 2000 Doors tribute album featuring the surviving members as well as Aerosmith, The Cult, Chrissie Hynde, and others.


RIDERS ON THE STORM

This moody track concludes L.A. Woman -- the final Doors LP to feature lyricist and lead vocalist Jim Morrison -- with the same noir undercurrent that initially propelled the band to explore the outer limits and realms of rock and roll. By contrast however, “Riders On The Storm” is more of an insular investigation examining man against man (“Into this house were born/Into this world we’re thrown”). Disturbing lyrical images of a “killer on the road” warning “if you give this man a ride/Sweet memory will die” add to the song’s edgy apprehension.

The musical setting is equally as ominous, augmented with thunderstorm sound effects and a second overdubbed vocal from Morrison recorded in an audible whisper. The shimmering liquefied keyboard sound from Ray Manzarek, John Densmore’s intimate airy ride cymbal and minimalist drumming, as well as Jerry Scheff’s understated bass line all combine to create a tangibly eerie and foreboding bed over which Morrison essentially intonates his lyrics, rather than fully singing them -- breaking into full song only during the final repetitive title chorus. “Riders On The Storm” was also included as the backdrop for “The Hitchhiker” -- a short dramatic work featured on An American Prayer (1978) -- in which Morrison confesses to committing a murder in the desert during an anonymous telephone conversation.

Although several L.A. Woman cuts were performed live by the original quartet in late 1970, sadly no recordings have surfaced of “Riders On The Storm”. The track was issued as the a-side to the final Doors 45 (b/w “The Changling”) to be issued during Morrison’s life. It peaked at a respectable #14 shortly after Morrison’s passing in July of 1971.

According to band member Robby Krieger, it was inspired by the song, "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend". The song is played in the E Dorian mode, and incorporates real sound effects of thunder and rain, along with Ray Manzarek's Fender Rhodes electric piano playing, which emulates the sound of rain.

The song's lyrics allude in part to the notorious spree killer Billy Cook, who posed as a hitchhiker and murdered an entire family. ("There's a killer on the road... // His brain is squirmin' like a toad... ") According to a widespread urban legend the song was conceived as an allusion to a tragic accident caused by another car's reckless driving, ending in several deaths of Navajo tribesmen as his car hit a truck where they were traveling. An alternative version refers the lyrics' inspiration to a 1930s French Surrealist poem, Chevaliers de l'Ouragan (literally, "Riders of the Hurricane"), by Louis Aragon.

The song was recorded at the Doors Workshop in December 1970 with the assistance of Bruce Botnick, their longtime engineer who was co-producing the recording sessions. Jim Morrison recorded his main vocals and then whispered the lyrics over them to create the haunting effect. This song was also the last song recorded by the members of The Doors, according to Ray Manzarek, as well as Jim Morrison's last recorded song that was released.

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Info taken from allmusicguide, wikipedia and songfacts
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