The Doors have been forever ruined for me based on two factors.
a) When I was in high school, they were extremely popular, thus overplayed and over-discussed. I rapidly grew weary of this. I also grew weary of people who championed Jim Morrison's self-indulgent poetry and lyrics as somehow deep and thought-provoking.
b) From a musician's standpoint, their talent has serious limitations which repeated listens reveal in glaring detail.
Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clarke Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born 1948 in Los Altos, California.
Admiral Morrison, from his flagship, the Essex-class carrier Bon Homme Richard, was in command of the local fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964.
Jim Morrison was of Scottish and Irish ethnic heritage.
In 1947, Morrison purportedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of Native Americans was injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album An American Prayer, and again in the songs "Riders on the Storm", "Peace Frog", and "Ghost Song", all linked by the spoken line from "Dawn's Highway":
Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind
Comrade- John Densmore was actually a very accomplished jazz drummer, but in many interviews he shares your disdain for the others' musical abilities -- especially the simplistic and ham-fisted technique of organist Ray Manzarek. Robbie Krieger's guitar playing was limited at first, but by the time Morrison Hotel was released, his playing had improved dramatically, earning him positive reviews from blues afficianados. Live, the doors had no bassist; bass lines were performed by Manzarek on the foot pedals of his organ, further diminishing the band's live sound. On record, the Doors utilized accomplished session bassists like Leroy Vinegar & Ray Neapolitan. Lonnie Mack plays bass on the recording of "Roadhouse Blues." The band's recorded sound received lots of help from producer Paul Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnik, who smoothed out a lot of the band's rough edges.
The Doors have been forever ruined for me based on two factors.
ReplyDeletea) When I was in high school, they were extremely popular, thus overplayed and over-discussed. I rapidly grew weary of this. I also grew weary of people who championed Jim Morrison's self-indulgent poetry and lyrics as somehow deep and thought-provoking.
b) From a musician's standpoint, their talent has serious limitations which repeated listens reveal in glaring detail.
People talked about and worshipped Morrison in my hs too. But I love that song.
ReplyDeleteMorrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clarke Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born 1948 in Los Altos, California.
ReplyDeleteAdmiral Morrison, from his flagship, the Essex-class carrier Bon Homme Richard, was in command of the local fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964.
Jim Morrison was of Scottish and Irish ethnic heritage.
In 1947, Morrison purportedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of Native Americans was injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album An American Prayer, and again in the songs "Riders on the Storm", "Peace Frog", and "Ghost Song", all linked by the spoken line from "Dawn's Highway":
Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding
Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind
Link
Comrade-
ReplyDeleteJohn Densmore was actually a very accomplished jazz drummer, but in many interviews he shares your disdain for the others' musical abilities -- especially the simplistic and ham-fisted technique of organist Ray Manzarek. Robbie Krieger's guitar playing was limited at first, but by the time Morrison Hotel was released, his playing had improved dramatically, earning him positive reviews from blues afficianados. Live, the doors had no bassist; bass lines were performed by Manzarek on the foot pedals of his organ, further diminishing the band's live sound. On record, the Doors utilized accomplished session bassists like Leroy Vinegar & Ray Neapolitan. Lonnie Mack plays bass on the recording of "Roadhouse Blues." The band's recorded sound received lots of help from producer Paul Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnik, who smoothed out a lot of the band's rough edges.