The Doors’ last two albums, made after the death of frontman/singer Jim Morrison, will be officially released come September of this year:
Like many, I didn’t know there had been more Doors albums released other than the controversial 1978 album An American Prayer (which featured recorded poetry by Mr. Morrison set to music by the remaining band menbers along with other bric a brac). This was deliberate as the remaining members of the band seemed to decide, after the fact, to ignore those last two albums and focus on the legacy of the six “classic” Doors albums which featured Jim Morrison singing, culminating with their 1971 classic L.A. Woman.
When I did learn, much to my shock, that the remaining members of band actually released not one, but two albums following the death of Mr. Morrison, I was intrigued. The first, 1971’s Other Voices, according to the article linked above, arrived in stores a mere 6 months after the release of L.A. Woman and only three months after Mr. Morrison’s death. Again, according to the article above, Mr. Morrison had rehearsed some of the songs that eventually appeared in the album but I suppose none of rehearsals were recorded and/or they might not have been good enough to use on the album itself.
Here’s Tightrope Ride, from that album. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, I believe, sang this particular song:
Not to sound nasty, but I don’t think even Mr. Morrison could have done all that much with this particular song. Clearly Mr. Manzarek tries his best to do Morrison-esq singing but the lyrics feel half-baked. The song sounds like it could have used a little more work.
The second and last album the band would release came the next year in 1972 and was called Full Circle. The last song to chart in the US (reaching #85) for The Doors was The Mosquito, from that album. Here it is, as sung by guitarist Robby Krieger:
Yikes.
I mean, its a quirky song and not terrible per se. In fact, it reminds me to some degree of some of the sillier stuff The Beatles did, such as…
Having said that, The Beatles were known to create both serious and “silly” songs. In fact, their ability to go into so many different modes/moods was one of the things that made them so endearing. The Doors, on the other hand, tended to be so much more serious and “dark” with their music so it is weird hearing a song like this coming from them.
Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder: Would Mr. Morrison have been comfortable singing this?
Who knows. I most certainly would have liked to hear it, if only for curiosity’s sake!!