The Doors' Last Hurrah: L. A. Woman

L. A. Woman was released in 1971, prior to Jim Morrison's untimely death in Paris, France, and the album represented the last studio work that the band would do. The music on the album is very typical of the Doors' musical style, and it adequately exemplifies the various influences which gave this band their unique style.

The Doors added additional musicians for this album, most notably Elvis Presley's bass guitar player. The musicians, and their contributions, are as follows:

Jim Morrison, vocals
Robbie Krieger, guitar
Ray Manzarek, piano/organ
John Densmore, drums
Jerry Scheff, bass guitar
Marc Benno, rhythm guitar

The songs on the album, and a few comments about each, follows:

1. The Changeling--A somewhat funky song with a beat, powered by a jazzy organ part. Jim Morrison's vocals are somewhat muddy, and you can see that his bouts with alcohol had taken their toll. Robbie Krieger has a brief, brilliant wah-wah guitar solo. The tune has various changes, including a key change, and you can see that this band was conscious of the concept that a rock n' roll song could have "movements", just like a piece of classical music.

2. Love Her Madly--A bouncy tune with slightly carnivalesque overtones. Ray Manzarek contributes a very complimentary organ solo in this song which is about as commercial as this band ever got. Krieger's simple, subdued guitar solo provides the perfect counterpoint to the upbeat tempo of the tune.

3. Been Down So Long--A pretty cool blues number with some fine slide guitar work by Krieger. The message is sexist, chauvinistic and male-dominant--"Baby, baby, baby, won't you get down on your knees...Come on little darlin', come on, give your love to me". The tone of this song is similar to Crawling King Snake, which I'll comment on in a moment. Morrison's vocals are noticeably strained, but the effect works well on this tune.

4. Cars Hiss By My Window--Another straight blues tune, with a "modern" flavor--the lyrics don't suggest any of the themes that the old bluesmen wrote about. Krieger's guitar line sounds like it is straight from the Mississippi delta, and Jim Morrison's vocal imitation of a blues guitar at the end is unusual.

5. L. A. Woman--This song is all about Jim Morrison's love affair with the city of Los Angeles, although by this time it was actually more a love-hate relationship. Perhaps he was growing disenchanted with urban life in general. Whatever the case, his lyrics alternately describe both the beauty of the city--"City of Light"--or it's squalor--"City of Night". The song also contains the anagram for his name--"Mr. Mojo Risin'"--which provide the basis for rumors, to this day, that Morrison is alive and well and living in seclusion somewhere, like Africa. Musically, the song is all you could ask for--driving drums and bass, and excellent solo work by Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger. This is probably my favorite Doors tune.

6. L'America--This song was recorded some time earlier for the movie Zabriskie's Point. A disjointed guitar riff opens the song, joined by a spooky sounding organ. The bass enters to give the song structure, and the beat is relentless. When the band comes out of the riff they've set up, the effect is almost celebratory. Morrison can't resist a little teasing when he sets the listener up to hear the slang word for sexual intercourse--the ear expects it, but he ducks it neatly. The are several political references in this tune, but I don't think it's really an attack on our country, just Morrison's observations on the state of our society, in his own unmistakeable fashion.

7. Hyacinth House--This song has somewhat classical overtones and for good reason--Manzarek plays the piano line from Chopin's "'Til The End Of Time". Krieger plays some interesting little guitar licks, and Morrison's lead vocal is passable.

8. Crawling King Snake--This song was written by the legendary John Lee Hooker, and his forte' was the blues. The Doors' treatment of this song is credible, with good performances turned in by all of the musicians. The theme is identical to that of Been Down So Long--total male supremacy. ("and I rule my den" and " don't mess 'round with my mate, gonna use her for myself"). The message is overt, and one can only wonder why there wasn't a storm of protest over the song.

9. The Wasp--Is this the first rap song? A good argument could be made that it was--my personal opinion is that it's just a prime example of the lyric mastery and poetic skill that was Jim Morrison's. The music is typical Doors, of course, complete with time changes and the "movements" that I referred to earlier. I'm not sure what Morrison's message is--maybe there's not one--it may just be good poetry.

10. Riders On The Storm--This is a somewhat dark, jazzy song which undoubtedly sets the desired mood. Some of the references in the song are downright scary--"There's a killer on the road, His brain is squirming like a toad", an apparent reference to a serial murderer--and the music adds to the effect. The thunderstorm effects help the tone, and instrumentally Ray Manzarek's piano is the focus, although Robbie Krieger turns in a good jazz guitar solo. All in all, a good, representative song with which to conclude an album, and indeed, a career as a band.

L. A. Woman may not be the best work the Doors ever did, but it's very good all the same. If you didn't own another Doors album, this one would give you a very accurate picture of what this band was all about.