CHECKING BACK IN TO MORRISON HOTEL
When The Doors entered Elektra Sound Recorders on November 4, 1969, they weren’t just starting work on their fifth album. They were also trying to resuscitate their career. And Morrison Hotel, released in February 1970, did just that. The group sounded newly revitalized and invigorated, from the rousing opening of “Roadhouse Blues” to the bluesy sign-off of “Maggie M’Gill.” Even the album’s cover art was destined to become iconic.
“It was a great album to record,” keyboardist Ray Manzarek remembered in his memoir, Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors. For the 50th anniversary of the album’s release, a new reissue, released in October, features revamped sound, a second CD of previously unreleased outtakes and the album on 180 gram vinyl. It’s The Doors getting back to basics, after the orchestral work of their previous album, The Soft Parade.
1969 had been a rough year for the group. After what was hailed as a “triumphant” return to New York in January, the band played the first date of what was supposed to be a U.S. tour on March 1 in Miami. The show ended in chaos, with lead singer Jim Morrison thrown off the rickety stage at the end, then leading the audience in a human chain around the venue. As the result of complaints, the police issued an arrest warrant on March 5, charging Morrison with drunkenness, open profanity, lewd and lascivious behavior, and indecent exposure.
The backlash was immediate. The tour was canceled. Morrison was also charged with “interstate flight,” even though the Miami warrant hadn’t been issued until after he’d already left Florida. To deal with that charge, Morrison turned himself in to the FBI’s L.A. office on April 4, where he was arrested and released on $5,000 bail;
