L.A. Woman is the title of a legendary classic rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock studio album by the Doors. It was the last studio album released by the American rock legends with the rebellious but also highly-intellectual, charismatic, and sensitive poet and lead singer Jim Douglas Morrison (alternatively known as the Lizard King or Mr. Mojo Risin’, that is his anagram). The last studio album released by the Doors with Jim Morrison’s priceless vocal contributions while he was still alive I should add, given the fact that An American Prayer (subsequently released in 1978) was a posthumous record by the Doors featuring spoken word poetry by Jim Morrison, as a tribute to the late legendary lead vocalist and founding member of the band.
The frontal cover artwork of the legendary blues rock and psychedelic rock studio album L.A. Woman by The Doors. Image source: YouTube
This timeless musical masterpiece was released through Elektra Records on 19 April, 1971 and recorded between December, 1970 and January, 1971 at The Doors’ Workshop in Los Angeles, California. It represents a comeback to the band’s initial blues rock and psychedelic rock sound and a departure from the partial symphonic rock sound of their second last studio album released up to that point, more specifically The Soft Parade (from 1969). In my humble opinion, it can be perceived as a step forward on the blues rock masterpiece scale compared to their previous (still great, please don’t get me wrong) Morrison Hotel LP released in 1970. In other words, it adds another imposing brick in their blues rock legacy.
The album was produced by the band members in collaboration with sound engineer Bruce Botnick. The previous producer of the group, Paul A. Rotchild, parted ways with the band given creative differences and what he described as ‘cocktail music’, partly because of other problems as well (more specifically the band’s slow progress, what he considered as lack of discipline, and subpar rehearsals). This, paradoxically, left the group in a really good position, shortly taking the reins in terms of his duties pertaining to production. In terms of the technical personnel, Carl Cossick took care of the album concept and design while Wendell Hamick was in charge of cover photography. In terms of the recording personnel, aside from the 4 great musicians of the Doors (i.e. Jim Morrison on lead vocals with his enchanting poetry, Robby Krieger on electric guitar, Ray Manzarek on piano, keyboards, and also rhythm guitar on the song ‘Been Down So Long’ as well as John Densmore on drums and percussion), there were also two other great session musicians who contributed on this timeless classic rock masterpiece, more specifically Jerry Scheff on bass guitar and Marc Beno on rhythm guitar 4 songs (Been Down So Long, Cars Hiss by My Window, L.A. Woman, and Crawling King Snake).
The album produced two singles, more specifically Love Her Madly (a very touching song inspired by the private/romance life of guitarist Robby Krieger) and Riders on the Storm (a classic rock anthem with a very touching keyboard sound by the legendary creative keyboardist Ray Manzarek). Love Her Madly was released a little bit earlier than the album proper, namely in March, 1971 and Riders on the Storm in June of the same year.
The album achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim, being appreciated by AllMusic, Christgau’s Record Guide, Q magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, or Uncut Magazine, among others. It received certifications based on the total number of copies it sold in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Retrospectively, guitarist Robby Krieger stated that L.A. Woman represents ‘pure Doors’, sort of like a rehearsal, that is a pure essence of the band, even more so than their debut self-titled LP released in 1967. According to him, the album was inspired by L.A. itself (or, in other words, L.A. is the woman). In terms of track listing, the album has two sides, each with 5 songs. The full tracklist of the album is as follows:
- The Changeling
- Love Her Madly
- Been Down So Long
- Cars Hiss by My Window
- L.A. Woman
- L’America
- Hyacinth House (a song inspired by the myth of Hyacinthus and Apollo from Greek mythology)
- Crawling King Snake (a blues classic)
- The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)
- Riders on the Storm
Throughout the passage of time, the album was reissued and remastered multiple times. I am quite proud to mention the fact that I also have such a copy in CD format in my record collection to this very day. Below you can listen to the entire studio album, embedded track by track via YouTube. Thank you very much for your time, attention, and readership! All the best and rock on!
This one is very touching, no doubt:
Documentation sources and external links:
- The album’s page on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- The discography of the band on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- 10 Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About L.A. Woman – Rolling Stone on www.thedoors.com
- The Doors’ ‘L.A. Woman’: The Story Behind Each Track on www.ultimateclassicrock.com (Ultimate Classic Rock Magazine)
- ‘L.A. Woman’: The Doors’ Last Call on www.bestclassicbands.com
See also:
- Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin’ – The Story of L.A. Woman, a separate article on The Rockpedia on the making of this legendary, touching, timeless musical masterpiece