"Roadhouse Blues" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by the Doors | ||||
from the album Morrison Hotel | ||||
A-side | "You Make Me Real" | |||
Released | March 1970 | |||
Recorded | November 4–5, 1969 | |||
Studio | Elektra, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | Blues rock [1] [2] [3] | |||
Length |
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Label | Elektra | |||
Composer(s) | The Doors | |||
Lyricist(s) | Jim Morrison | |||
Producer(s) | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
The Doors singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Roadhouse Blues" is a song by the American rock band the Doors from their 1970 album Morrison Hotel . It was released as the B-side of "You Make Me Real", which peaked at No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [5] and No. 41 in Canada. [6] "Roadhouse Blues" charted in its own right on the Cash Box Top 100, peaking at No. 76. [7] The song became a concert staple for the group and it has been covered by numerous artists.
Hailed by sound engineer Bruce Botnick as "the all-time American bar band song," [8] "Roadhouse Blues"–despite its relatively unsuccessful chart peak–received strong airplay on rock radio stations. [9] The song's title was considered for the name of the album, but it was eventually changed. [8] It was ranked the 153rd top classic-rock song by Q104,3, [10] and the eleventh best rock song of all time by Time Out . [11]
The song was recorded over two days, from November 4 to 5, 1969. Producer Paul A. Rothchild insisted on several takes, some of which were included on the 2006 reissue. [12] Jim Morrison, who was apparently intoxicated during the sessions, flubbed several lyrics and kept repeating the phrase "Money beats soul every time". [13]
There was more progress on the second day when resident guitarist Lonnie Mack (then employed as an Elektra Records A&R representative) joined in to play bass; Ray Neapolitan, the regular bassist during the Morrison Hotel sessions, was stuck in traffic. [12] [14] Although there has been speculation that Mack also contributed the guitar solo, he confirmed that he had played bass and nothing else. [15] While Mack had stopped working as a professional musician at the time, he decided to return to his career following the session. [16]
Guitarist Robby Krieger is responsible for all guitar parts on "Roadhouse Blues"; Morrison shouts "Do it, Robby, do it!" at the start of the guitar solo. [17] Ray Manzarek switched from a Wurlitzer electric piano to a tack piano. [12] Ex–Lovin' Spoonful frontman John Sebastian contributed harmonica (listed as "G. Puglese" for contractual reasons). [12]
Alice Cooper claimed that he was the inspiration for the line "Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer", as stated on his Planet Rock morning show: "We were sitting there drinking and Jim comes in and he flops down ... I said that I had got up this morning and got myself a beer and while we're talking he just writes that down. So they go in and they're doing the song and the next thing I hear is 'Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer' and I went 'I just said that a second ago!'" [18]
A live version appeared on the album An American Prayer , released several years after Morrison died, [19] and that version can be heard again on In Concert . In this version, Morrison talks for a short while to a female audience member about his Zodiac sign and, with a sudden, ironic twist that causes the audience to erupt in laughter, denounces his belief in it. [20] The song was also featured twice in the movie The Doors ; the studio version in the film, and the aforementioned live one over the end credits.
A studio version of the song with John Lee Hooker sharing vocals with Morrison can be found on the 2000 tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors . [21] A studio rehearsal of the song with Ray Manzarek on lead vocals was recorded on May 6, 1969. [22] This version was finally released on The Soft Parade: 50th Anniversary Edition in 2019. [23] "Roadhouse Blues" was also performed by the surviving members and Eddie Vedder at the Doors' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993. [24]
The Doors
Additional musicians
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Italy (FIMI) [25] sales since 2009 | Gold | 35,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [26] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Chart (1970) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [27] | 44 |
Canada (RPM) | 41 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [5] | 50 |
US Cash Box Top 100 | 76 |
"Roadhouse Blues" | |
---|---|
Promotional single by Status Quo | |
from the album Piledriver | |
Released | 1972 |
Genre | Hard rock |
Length | 7:26 |
Label | Vertigo |
Composer(s) | The Doors |
Lyricist(s) | Jim Morrison |
Status Quo, while touring in Bielefeld, Germany, in 1970, [28] heard the Doors' recording shortly after it was released. They were looking for a change of direction, away from their original psychedelic pop style, and were unsure about what to do; after hearing the song in a club, they enjoyed its 12-bar shuffle and thought it would be a good template for future original material. [29] The group recorded a studio version on the 1972 album Piledriver , with bassist Alan Lancaster taking the lead vocal and featuring an extra verse with three-part harmonies, which the Doors' recording did not have. [28] The lyrics differed from the original; for instance, "I should have made you" instead of "Ashen lady". [30] The track was released as a promotional single, with Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" on the B-side. [28]
The song was a regular feature of Quo's live setlist throughout the 1970s, its performance coming towards the end of the show. It was extended to allow a jam session in the middle, featuring snippets of other songs, including the traditional "The Irish Washerwoman" and "Shakin' All Over". [31] [32] A 14-minute version appears as the final track on 1977's Live . [33] In 1992, the live album Live Alive Quo featured "Roadhouse Medley", which blended other songs into the main "Roadhouse Blues" riff. [34]
"Roadhouse Blues" was revived for the "Frantic Four" tours in 2013. [35] In 2014, a deluxe reissue of Piledriver included a 15-minute live version, recorded in 1973. [36]
Additional musicians
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, primarily due to Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona and legal issues. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture.
The Doors is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on January 4, 1967, by Elektra Records. It was recorded in August and September 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, in Hollywood, California, under the production of Paul A. Rothchild. The album features the extended version of the band's breakthrough single "Light My Fire" and the lengthy closer "The End" with its Oedipal spoken word section. Various publications, including BBC and Rolling Stone, have listed The Doors as one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
Waiting for the Sun is the third studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released by Elektra Records on July 3, 1968. The album's 11 tracks were recorded between late 1967 and May 1968 mostly at TTG Studios in Los Angeles. It became the band's only number one album, topping the Billboard 200 for four weeks, while also including their second US number one single, "Hello, I Love You". The first single released off the record was "The Unknown Soldier", which peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also became the band's first hit album in the UK, where it reached number 16.
Robert Alan Krieger is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me", and "Love Her Madly". When the Doors disbanded shortly after the death of lead singer Jim Morrison, Krieger continued to perform and record with other musicians including former Doors bandmates John Densmore and Ray Manzarek. In the 2023 edition of Rolling Stone's 250 greatest guitarists of all time, he was positioned at number 248.
Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American rock band the Doors, released on February 9, 1970, by Elektra Records. After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer Paul A. Rothchild on their previous album, The Soft Parade (1969), the Doors returned to their blues rock style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides, namely: "Hard Rock Café" and "Morrison Hotel". Blues rock guitar pioneer Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan also contributed to the album as session bassists.
An American Prayer is the ninth and final studio album by the American rock band the Doors. Following the death of Jim Morrison and the band's breakup, the surviving members of the Doors reconvened to set several of Morrison's spoken word recordings to music. It was the only album by the Doors to be nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Spoken Word" category.
"Peace Frog" is a song by the Doors, which was released on their fifth studio album Morrison Hotel in 1970. Guitarist Robby Krieger explained that the music was written and recorded first, with the lyrics later coming from poems by singer Jim Morrison. Although the song was never released as a single in the US, it was issued as the B-side of "You Make Me Real" in France.
"Love Me Two Times" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. First appearing on their second studio album Strange Days, it was later edited to a 2:37 length and released as the second single from that album. The single reached number 25 on the charts in the United States.
Live! is the first live album by British rock band Status Quo. The double album is an amalgam of performances at Glasgow's Apollo Theatre between 27 and 29 October 1976, recorded using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
"When the Music's Over" is an epic song by the American rock band the Doors, which appears on their second album Strange Days, released in 1967. It is among the band's longer pieces, lasting 11 minutes.
Essential Rarities is a compilation album by the Doors, originally released as part of the boxed set The Complete Studio Recordings in 1999, but reissued in 2000 as a single CD, containing studio cuts, live cuts and demos taken from the 1997 The Doors: Box Set.
Live in Detroit is a double CD live album by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded at the Cobo Arena in Detroit on May 8, 1970 during the band's 1970 Roadhouse Blues Tour. It was released on October 23, 2000 on Rhino Records.
Perception is a 12-disc box set by American rock band the Doors. The CDs contain the six 1999 remastered versions of the Doors' six studio albums plus DVD-Audio discs containing the 2007 40th anniversary stereo and surround remixes of those albums as well as visual extras. Each album includes extra tracks consisting of previously unreleased session outtakes. Exclusive to the box set is a DVD with several live performances and other extras. The title is derived from Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, which inspired the band's name.
Live Alive Quo was the third live album by English rock band Status Quo and was broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 as part of the station's 25th Anniversary 'Party in the Park' celebrations in Birmingham, England. The concert was watched by nearly 125,000 fans.
Live in Philadelphia '70 is a double live album recorded by American rock band the Doors in 1970. The performance took place in The Spectrum. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by the Doors.
Live in Pittsburgh 1970 is a live album by the American rock band the Doors. The concert was recorded at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh on May 2, 1970 and released in 2008 on Rhino Records. It is the sixth full-length live set released from the Bright Midnight Archives collection which contains a number of previously unreleased live concerts by the Doors.
Live in New York is a six-disc box set of four complete concerts performed American rock band the Doors on January 17 and 18, 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. Two shows were played each night, with 8:00pm and 11:00pm scheduled start times on January 17, and 7:30pm and 10:00pm scheduled start times on January 18. The final show featured an extended encore with guests John Sebastian and Dallas Taylor (drums) that concluded around 2:30am. Select tracks were previously released on the Doors' live album In Concert and as part of The Doors: Box Set. About a third of the material was previously unreleased.
When You're Strange: Music from the Motion Picture is the studio album and the soundtrack to the 2010 documentary film, narrated by Johnny Depp, about the Doors and their music. The soundtrack features 14 songs from The Doors’ six studio albums, with studio versions mixed with live versions, including performances from The Ed Sullivan Show, Television-Byen in Gladsaxe, Felt Forum in New York and Isle of Wight Festival 1970.
"Been Down So Long" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It appears as the third track on L.A. Woman, the last studio album that lead singer Jim Morrison recorded with the group. It has been called, notably by critic Robert Christgau, as a "take-off" on the album.
"You Make Me Real" is a song written by Jim Morrison that was first released on the Doors 1970 album Morrison Hotel. It was also released as the only single from the album, reaching No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was ultimately surpassed in popularity by its B-side, "Roadhouse Blues". In France the single was issued with "Peace Frog" as the B-side.
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