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Post by Monsters of Rock on Mar 30, 2021 13:05:32 GMT 10
The Doors: An American Prayer
A bit of history…. Sometime in March 1969 and on 8th December 1970, Jim Morrison went in to recording studios and recorded a selection of his poetry and some spoken word pieces. What Jimbo had intended to do with these recordings is not known but he had contacted artist T.E. Breitenbach about an album sleeve and if he had intended a musical frame to these pieces, it is posssible Jim would have worked with Lalo Schifrin. What is fairly certain is that the other three members of The Doors would not have been involved.
Anyway Jim Morrison died in Paris in 1971 and that would have been that, except that in 1978, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger & John Densmore got together to record backings for these tracks and created the collage that is “An American Prayer”. It has always been a controversial record – Paul Rothchild who produced most of The Doors’ albums hated it – a “rape of Jim Morrison” he called it. He had heard the original tapes and may well have had a point – Ideally the original tapes really should have been released but I suspect that will not happen.
I think some of “An American Prayer” works very well – Jim Morrison understood that song lyrics and poetry, although related are not the same and as a poet I think he was not bad at all (said as someone who has very little appreciation of poetry) – a bit obsessed with sex & death but then he was only 27 when he died. My main problem with this album is the musical arrangements do not always work – The remaining Doors sound like a seventies jazz-rock outfit complete with Stanley Clarke-like bass from Bob Glaub at crucial points where sounding like The Doors would have been much better. (& remember - one thing The Doors did not have was a bass player.)
So “An American Prayer” is interesting but hardly essential and a missed opportunity – Get the six studio albums and the various life albums before this. Now they are essential.
Side one
Awake
-Ghost Song
-Dawn's Highway
-Newborn Awakening
To Come of Age
-Black Polished Chrome
-Latino Chrome
-Angels and Sailors
-Stoned Immaculate
The Poets Dreams
-The Movie
-Curses, Invocations
Side two
The World On Fire
-American Night
-Roadhouse Blues
-Lament
-The Hitchhiker
An American Prayer
Rate Your Music Review website
A bit of history…. Sometime in March 1969 and on 8th December 1970, Jim Morrison went in to recording studios and recorded a selection of his poetry and some spoken word pieces. What Jimbo had intended to do with these recordings is not known but he had contacted artist T.E. Breitenbach about an album sleeve and if he had intended a musical frame to these pieces, it is posssible Jim would have worked with Lalo Schifrin. What is fairly certain is that the other three members of The Doors would not have been involved.
Anyway Jim Morrison died in Paris in 1971 and that would have been that, except that in 1978, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger & John Densmore got together to record backings for these tracks and created the collage that is “An American Prayer”. It has always been a controversial record – Paul Rothchild who produced most of The Doors’ albums hated it – a “rape of Jim Morrison” he called it. He had heard the original tapes and may well have had a point – Ideally the original tapes really should have been released but I suspect that will not happen.
I think some of “An American Prayer” works very well – Jim Morrison understood that song lyrics and poetry, although related are not the same and as a poet I think he was not bad at all (said as someone who has very little appreciation of poetry) – a bit obsessed with sex & death but then he was only 27 when he died. My main problem with this album is the musical arrangements do not always work – The remaining Doors sound like a seventies jazz-rock outfit complete with Stanley Clarke-like bass from Bob Glaub at crucial points where sounding like The Doors would have been much better. (& remember - one thing The Doors did not have was a bass player.)
So “An American Prayer” is interesting but hardly essential and a missed opportunity – Get the six studio albums and the various life albums before this. Now they are essential.
Side one
Awake
-Ghost Song
-Dawn's Highway
-Newborn Awakening
To Come of Age
-Black Polished Chrome
-Latino Chrome
-Angels and Sailors
-Stoned Immaculate
The Poets Dreams
-The Movie
-Curses, Invocations
Side two
The World On Fire
-American Night
-Roadhouse Blues
-Lament
-The Hitchhiker
An American Prayer
Rate Your Music Review website
