The Doors : L.A. Woman (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Box Set)

WELL,

I JUST GOT INTO TOWN

ABOUT AN HOUR AGO

TOOK A LOOK AROUND,

SEE WHICH WAY

THE WIND BLOW

 L.A. Woman 

is the sixth

 studio album

 by the American

 Rock Band

 The Doors 

released on

 April 19, 1971, 

by Elektra Records. 

It is the last

 to feature

 lead singer 

Jim Morrison 

during his lifetime, 

due to his death 

exactly two months

 and two weeks 

following

 the album's release, 

though he would 

posthumously appear 

on the 1978 album

 An American Prayer.

 Even more so than

 its predecessors,

 the album is

 heavily influenced

 by blues. 

It was recorded without

 producer

 Paul A. Rothchild 

after he quit the band 

over the perceived 

lack of quality 

in their 

studio performances.

 Subsequently,

 the band co-produced

 the album

 with longtime

 sound engineer 

Bruce Botnick.

"Love Her Madly"

 was released as a single

 in March 1971, 

preceding the

 album's release, 

and reached

 the Top 20

 on the Billboard 

Hot 100.

 Upon release, 

the album peaked at

 number nine 

on the Billboard 200 

and reached 

number 28

 on the

 UK Albums Chart. 

The track

 "Riders on the Storm" 

also achieved 

chart success.

Critics including 

Richie Unterberger 

and 

David Quantick 

have called 

L.A. Woman

 one of 

the Doors'

 best albums, 

citing Morrison's

 vocal performance

 and the band's

 stripped-down return

 to their

 blues-rock roots

Background

The Doors

 had achieved commercial

 and critical success

 by 1969, 

but for much of that year

 they were blacklisted

 from radio playlists 

and their

 concert bookings

 dwindled after singer

 Jim Morrison

 had been charged 

with profanity 

and indecent exposure 

at a concert in 

Miami, Florida.

Morrison

 had mentioned

 leaving the group 

at the end of 1968, 

only to be convinced

 by keyboardist

 Ray Manzarek 

to stay on

 another six months. 

On September 20, 1970, 

Morrison was convicted

 for the Miami incident.

 In a 1970 interview 

with 

Ben Fong-Torres, 

Morrison said of Miami,

 "I think subconsciously

 I was trying to get across

 in that concert, 

I was trying to reduce

 it to absurdity. 

And it worked too well."

In November 1970,

 shortly after Morrison's

 trial ended,

the Doors entered 

Sunset Sound Recorders

 in Los Angeles 

to record

 early versions 

of the songs 

"L.A. Woman",

 "Riders on the Storm" 

and

 "Love Her Madly". 

The new songs 

were a departure from

 the heavily 

orchestrated pieces

 on the earlier album 

The Soft Parade, 

which burdened the group 

with long, 

drawn-out 

recording sessions.

The simplified and 

straightforward style, 

progressing from 

Morrison Hotel, 

was well-received,

 noted by 

Jazz & Pop magazine 

as

 "a return to the tight fury 

of early Doors' music".

The band conflicted with

 their record company, 

Elektra Records, 

who released

 the Doors' 

first compilation album,

 13, 

to have a product f

or the Christmas market.

 It was released 

without the band's input, 

and featured a

 large image 

of a younger Morrison, 

upsetting him enough

 to threaten signing 

with another label. 

As their contract

 required one more album,

 the group were unable

 to follow through 

with the threat, 

so they continued 

rehearsing

 the new material.

Record producer

 Paul A. Rothchild, 

who worked with the band

 on their first five albums, 

attended the 

early sessions

 but quit following

 friction with the band.

This included his

 dissatisfaction with the song

 "Love Her Madly",

 which

 "drove [him] out of the studio." 

He felt that recording 

the composition was a 

step backwards artistically,

 calling it 

"cocktail music." 

Rothchild has denied

 a popular rumor

 that claimed he directed 

the remark toward

 "Riders on the Storm", 

explaining that he thought

 that song and

 "L.A. Woman"

 were

 "excellent in rehearsal".

 He maintains that his 

cocktail music comment

 was said to 

"make [the group]

 angry enough to do 

something good."

 Rothchild was frustrated

 that the group was slow

 in developing new material, 

especially as the band 

contained three songwriters.

 He was unable to

 persuade Morrison

 to consistently

 attend rehearsals.

As Bruce Botnick

 revealed in the book

 Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre, 

another issue that led to

 Rothchild's leaving was

 the emotional devastation

 he felt at the death of 

Janis Joplin, 

having worked with her on

 Pearl. 

Rothchild left before 

any master takes 

were complete, 

recommending that

 the Doors 

co-produce

 L.A. Woman with Botnick, 

the sound engineer 

who had worked with

 Rothchild 

on the band's 

previous recordings.

TRACKLIST

CD 1

The Changeling 

(2021 Remaster)

Love Her Madly 

(2021 Remaster)

Been Down So Long

 (2021 Remaster)

Cars Hiss By My Window 

(2021 Remaster)

L.A. Woman 

(2021 Remaster)

L'America

 (2021 Remaster)

Hyacinth House 

(2021 Remaster)

Crawling King Snake

 (2021 Remaster)

The WASP 

(Texas Radio And The Big Beat)

 (2021 Remaster)

Riders On The Storm

 (2021 Remaster)

Hyacinth House

 (Demo) 

(2021 Remaster)

Cars Hiss By My Window 

(Alt Take)

Riders On The Storm

 (Sunset Sound Demo)

Orange County Suite

(You Need Meat)

 Don't Go No Further

CD 2

(L.A. Sessions -Part 1)

The Changeling (Pt. 1)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Love Her Madly (Pt. 1)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Riders On The Storm 

(L.A. Woman Sessions)

L.A. Woman (Pt. 1)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

CD 3

(L.A. Sessions - Part 2)

Get Out Of My Life Woman

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Crawling King Snake

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

The Bastard Son Of Jimmy & Mama Reed 

(Cars Hiss By My Window)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Been Down So Long 

(Pt. 2)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Mystery Train 

 (Run Through and Studio Chatter) 

(Instr) 

(L.A. Woman Sessions)

The WASP

 (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)

 (Instr Run Through)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Crawling King Snake

 (Run Through and Studio Chatter) 

(Longer Take)

Love Her Madly

 (Take 1)

Changeling

 (Take 9)

L.A. Woman

 (Just Vocals)

The WASP 

(Texas Radio and the Big Beat)

 [Instrumental]

The Hitchhiker

 (Spoken Word Poem)

Riders on the Storm

 (Rare Whispering Version)

CD 4

(L.A. Sessions-Part 3)

L.A. Woman, Pt. 2

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

She Smells So Nice

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Rock Me Baby

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Mr. Mojo Risin' 

(L.A. Woman Sessions)

Baby Please Don't Go

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

L.A. Woman (Pt. 2)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

Been Down So Long (Pt. 1)

 (L.A. Woman Sessions)

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