"STRANGE DAYS" THE DOORS (1967)

A great title track is par for the course when it comes to great albums. If the title track doesn’t cut it, what does that say about the album itself? This month, the Mental Jukebox will be playing some of my favorite title tracks – inspired by @NicolaB_73’s music Twitter challenge, #TopTitleTracks.

Even if it’s not your cup of tea, The Doors demand your respect. Few bands carved out a more compelling crossroads of blues, rock and psychedelia. The music – at times – seemed almost possessed. The instrumentation was truly distinct – as they were one of the first bands to prominently feature keyboards and organs. And their frontman – Jim Morrison – is one of the greatest of all time, inspiring everyone from INXS’ Michael Hutchence to Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCullough. My favorite Doors album is their second release Strange Days, which opens with the title track.

The famed key part on “Strange Days” actually isn’t Ray Manzarek. It’s Morrison himself, playing the moog synthesizer. “Strange Days” was one of the first recordings to feature this mainstay instrument, a case in point to the innovative side of The Doors. The moog synthesizer would become as integral to rock and pop as the electric guitar. Despite being overshadowed by the classic singles “People Are Strange” and “Love Me Two Times”, “Strange Days” is arguably more quintessential Doors in its ability to create a world for you to get lost in.

“Strange days have found us.”

"ALABAMA SONG (WHISKY BAR)" THE DOORS (1967)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

I’m running into the whiskey bar and stumbling out w/Jim, Ray, Robby and John. What a trip. What a mindblowing debut album. Such a powerful clash of rock, blues and psychedelia. “Twentieth Century Fox”, “Back Door Man”, “Soul Kitchen”, “Break On Through”, “Back Door Man”, “Crystal Ship”, “The End”, “Light My Fire”, every track is a classic. For obvious reasons, I’m going with their cover of “Alabama Song” today.

Listening to the song, we enter the whiskey bar. But this bar feels different. Spearheaded by Morrison’s vocals and Ray’s spritely keyboard flourishes, it feels like we stepped into a freak circus, lost in a drunken haze with these blues rock legends. “Alabama Song” is a perfect cover selection that seems to fit perfectly in the #5 slot on the record and is resolutely 100% Doors in its stylings. My only complaint of the song is that it ends at around three minutes. It seemed ripe for an epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”-length rendition.

“Well, show me the way To the next whiskey bar. Oh don't ask why. Oh don't ask why.”

"ALABAMA SONG (WHISKY BAR)" THE DOORS (1967)

For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.

Day 16: A rompin’ whiskey bar somewhere in Alabama

I’m running into the whiskey bar and stumbling out w/Jim, Ray, Robby and John. What a trip. What a mindblowing debut album. Such a powerful clash of rock, blues and psychedelia. “Twentieth Century Fox”, “Back Door Man”, “Soul Kitchen”, “Break On Through”, “Back Door Man”, “Crystal Ship”, “The End”, “Light My Fire”, every track is a classic. For obvious reasons, I’m going with their cover of “Alabama Song” today.

Listening to the song, we enter the whiskey bar. But this bar feels different. Spearheaded by Morrison’s vocals and Ray’s spritely keyboard flourishes, it feels like we stepped into a freak circus, lost in a drunken haze with these blues rock legends. “Alabama Song” is a perfect cover selection that seems to fit perfectly in the #5 slot on the record and is resolutely 100% Doors in its stylings. My only complaint of the song is that it ends at around three minutes. It seemed ripe for an epic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”-length rendition.

"THE END" THE DOORS (1967)

You can get off to a fast start. You can sustain your opener with the main course, not filler. But can you end on a high note? Sometimes I wonder if recording a strong closer is the most difficult thing to pull off when it comes to album rock. When it comes to the cream of the crop in music, I can think of more strong openers than strong closers. Nonetheless, I still have my favorites which I’ll be featuring on Mental Jukebox all month.

The amalgamation of sound from The Doors was unique, irreplaceable and captivating for many music fans, including me. The compositions often felt truly epic. And, of course, the sound felt truly their own largely because of Manzarek’s keyboard contributions and Morrison’s presence, one of the greatest frontman to ever take the stage. The debut album is exceptional, packed with several classics and ending on a high with “The End”.

“The End” keeps going, and stretches for nearly 12 minutes. It’s a breakup song that has become far more than a breakup song. It’s pure poetry. Riding on a wave of rock, psychedelia, blues and even Middle Eastern and Native American musical explorations, the song doesn’t fit neatly into one category. This is probably the one characteristic that has made it such a celebrated and highly recognized song. If you’re going to make a powerful statement to end your album, you’d be hard pressed to make something as truly epic as “The End”.

“THIS IS THE END, BEAUTIFUL FRIEND. THIS IS THE END, MY ONLY FRIEND, THE END. OF OUR ELABORATE PLANS, THE END. OF EVERYTHING THAT STANDS, THE END. NO SAFETY OR SURPRISE, THE END. I'LL NEVER LOOK INTO YOUR EYES, AGAIN.”

"THE END" THE DOORS (1967)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #31DaySongLyricChallenge

Day 30

There are few lyricists that were as prolific in a short period of time as Jim Morrison. Riding on a wave of rock, psychedelia, blues and even Middle Eastern and Native American musical explorations, the music from The Doors never fit neatly into one category. The compositions often felt truly epic. The sound felt truly their own largely because of Manzarek’s keyboard presence and, of course, Morrison, one of the greatest frontman to ever take the stage. “The End” is a breakup song that has become far more than a breakup song. It’s pure poetry.

“This is the end, beautiful friend. This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that stands, the end. No safety or surprise, the end. I'll never look into your eyes, again.”

"MOONLIGHT DRIVE" THE DOORS (1967)

For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs

Hearing The Doors on New York’s K-ROCK, I heard enough to warrant splurging for my first CD purchase from the band: Strange Days. Morrison sang with a bluesy swagger I hadn’t heard from many frontmen before — a presence that seemed equally at home in a basement bar as an arena. Krieger’s guitar riffs sounded outlandish at times, but the true distinctive element of their instrumentation was Manzarek’s keys that felt like a rollicking church hymn on some songs and a haunted house overture on others. Strange Days is, at times, strange. And “Moonlight Drive” is a prime example.

The lyrics to the song were written by Morrison on a rooftop in LA, which he uttered to a friend of his, Ray Manzarek. Manzarek was immediately awestruck, and the two decided to form a band called The Doors. That makes “Moonlight Drive” one of the most important songs from The Doors canon. It starts off sounding like some misplaced Broadway show tune. Then Krieger reflects back Morrison’s vision of the song with these guitar hooks that resemble celestial blips, burps and blasts, as if we were riding to the moon on those crazy riffs. “Moonlight Drive” is a bluesy, soulful ride.

“Let's swim to the moon, uh huh. Let's climb through the tide.”

"THE END" THE DOORS (1967)

Exceptional soundtracks can make good movies great. They can also take on a life of their own, becoming a greater highlight than their respective films. In this series, I’m selecting some of my favorite soundtrack songs. While quite a few are well-known recordings, I’m also including a few that have flown under the radar over the years.

“The End” is the kind of anthemic creation that many bands hope to achieve once in their career. The Doors did it right out of the gate. It has incredible depth and maturity in both the songwriting and instrumentation. And it came off their self-titled debut LP, an album that would be another band’s greatest hits compilation.

“The End” was well-suited for the storyline and mood of Apocalypse Now. It does things musically that no other song has done. In rock history, you’ll be hard pressed to find another track that makes tambourine and hi-hat hits not just integral pieces, but the driving force behind the music. “The End” is also a vocal playground - leading us in a hazy psychedelic fog with Morrison’s slow meanderings and vocal spats and outbursts. The irony of it all is that “The End” isn’t so much a final statement as it is a beginning of new ideas and expressions.

“The end of our elaborate plans. The end of everything that stands.”

"WAITING FOR THE SUN" THE DOORS (1970)

The Doors made music however the hell they wanted to. If it meant making the keyboard a bigger deal than the guitar, then so be it. If it meant taking psychedelic rock and drowning it in the blues, then so be it. There are so many Doors songs that are permanently enshrined in the classic rock canon. But I think the reason “Waiting for the Sun” always comes back to me is because it gave every signature Doors element its rightful moment in the spotlight.

“Waiting for you to come along. Waiting for you to hear my song. Waiting for you to come along. Waiting for you to tell me what went wrong.”