L.A. Woman (40th Anniversary Edition) [Deluxe Edition, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

The Doors | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 24, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Deluxe Edition, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Label: Elektra
• ASIN: B0069GRIHW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (257 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #60 in Music > Classic Rock > Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Changeling

2. Love Her Madly

3. Been Down So Long

4. Cars Hiss By My Window

5. L.A. Woman

6. L America

7. Hyacinth House

8. Crawling King Snake

9. The WASP

10. Riders On The Storm

Disc: 2

1. The Changeling (Alternate Version)

2. Love Her Madly (Alternate Version)

3. Cars Hiss By My Window (Alternate Version)

4. L.A. Woman (Alternate Version)

5. The WASP

6. Been Down So Long (Alternate Version)

7. Riders On The Storm (Alternate Version)

8. She Smells So Nice

9. Rock Me

Editorial Reviews

Fans of iconic rock band THE DOORS are in for something special. The group s final album--1971 s L.A. WOMAN, with the signature hits L.A. Woman, Love Her Madly and Riders On The Storm --is being celebrated with a special two-CD release from Rhino.

The L.A. WOMAN 40th anniversary edition (Rhino 2-CD) features a never-before-heard song, She Smells So Nice, which captures the band--organist RAY MANZAREK, guitarist ROBBY KRIEGER, drummer JOHN DENSMORE and late singer JIM MORRISON--joyfully barreling through a full-throttle original before segueing into the blues standard Rock Me. As the song closes, Morrison can be heard chanting, Mr. Mojo Risin --an anagram of his name that was made famous during the bridge of L.A. Woman. The track was recently discovered by producer Bruce Botnick while reviewing the L.A. WOMAN session tapes.

In addition to She Smells So Nice, the second disc of the L.A. WOMAN reissue includes eight never-before-heard versions of songs from the album. Alternate takes of L.A. Woman, Love Her Madly and Riders On The Storm offer a fresh view on this landmark album, which was the group s sixth straight Top 10. The studio chatter between the songs is a revelation, transporting listeners to The Doors Workshop: the West Hollywood rehearsal space where they recorded the album with Botnick. One segment in particular captures a fascinating moment of inspiration when Morrison suggests they add the now-iconic thunderstorm sound effects to the beginning of Riders On The Storm.

Rhino will also release L.A. WOMAN: THE WORKSHOP SESSIONS, a double LP featuring all of the previously unreleased material found on the CD collection on three sides of vinyl, with the fourth side featuring a laser etching of the original "Electric Woman" art originally included with the L.A. WOMAN album.

Mr. Mojo Risin : The Story of L.A. Woman (Eagle Rock Entertainment DVD/Blu-ray) is told through new interviews with MANZAREK, KRIEGER and DENSMORE as well as Elektra Records founder JAC HOLZMAN, original manager Bill Siddons, engineer/co-producer Bruce Botnick and others. The high-definition video also features live and studio performances as well as rare archival photos. This fascinating documentary contains rare footage of THE DOORS in the studio and on stage. The documentary was made with the full involvement, approval and cooperation of THE DOORS.

The Year of The Doors will be marked by other special releases, with details to be announced soon.

L.A. WOMAN marked THE DOORS swan song, as MORRISON would pass away a few months after its release. At the time, Rolling Stone s Robert Meltzer called it The Doors greatest album...A landmark worthy of dancing in the streets (5/27/71). The first band to release eight consecutive platinum albums, THE DOORS were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 74 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Doors Masterpiece April 2, 2007

By Alexander S. Meyer

Format:Audio CD

For all reading this review I am referring to the March 2007 re-release of this milestone album. It was remastered and remixed as part of the 4oth anniversary Doors celebration. In the liner notes it is stated that the remaing Doors used the original master tapes, and remixed them to reveal subtleties not revealed in any previous release of this cd (They've done the same for all six studio albums) . The result is astounding. Morrisons voice cuts you like a knife, Manzareks keyboards are front and center, and you can hear the details of Kriegers' very focused playing. Certain songs have extra time on them. For example, the fade on "Love Her Madly" extends a bit more, and you hear a previously unreleased part of the original intro to "LA Woman". The sheer clarity of the recording reveals that "Riders on the storm" is even errier than when we first heard it back in 1971. This release of LA Woman is THE definitive version for anyone who loves the Doors. It's a rock/blues drenched masterpiece that transcends time, and its remix is simply amazing. I wish Jim were here to listen to it ....he'd be smiling for sure.

71 of 81 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Doors finest album April 1, 2005

By Daniel Maltzman

Format:Audio CD

The Doors final album with Jim Morrison (they would go on to record two more albums as a trio), remains their masterpiece and belongs in every rock collection. From start to finish, the album is brilliant. It was the Doors at their absolute best. The Doors previous albums ranged from very good to classic, but their sixth album "L.A. Woman" was their crown jewel.

It's common for most bands to start out playing the blues and then evolve into a musical style/idenity all their own. In this sense, the Doors sort of evolved backwards. They started out playing crazy, psychedelic music, and then ended their career playing the blues.

"L.A. Woman" is a very bluesy album. It's not pure blues (B.B. King, Leadbelly), but it's rock tinged with blues. The band never sounded better. To be sure, the Doors albums were always terrific, but they sounded most at home with the blues. Playing blues rock brought out the best in all the Doors members. Ray Manzarek (organ) and Robby Krieger's (guitar) solos worked perfectly against a blues backdrop. Drummer John Densmore's jazzy style was also well suited for the blues.

As for Jim Morrison...I think the Jim Morrison of 1967 was best suited to sing psychedelic acid rock. His ultra-cool swagger and showmanship was the ultimate voice for such music. But the Jim Morrison of 1971 was a much different person. In four years, Morrison aged a lifetime. In 1967, he sounded and looked 23. In 1971, he looked and sounded like an old man. It's hard to believe that the same voice that sang "Light My Fire" sang "Riders on the Storm" only four years later. On "L.A. Woman," Morrison sounds worn and tired, but it matched the bluesy-jazzy downbeat music perfectly. Morrison's finest poetry was also in this swan song. Noting too obscure or bizarre to be found. It was his most honest, straightforward work.

"L.A. Woman" is simply The Doors finest collection of songs. There is no filler to be found. Each song is a jewel on The Doors crown creation. From the opening "The Changeling," to the closing "Riders on the Storm," every song is great. Whether is be the hard rocking "Love Her Madly," the downbeat "Cars His By My Window," the bohemian "The Wasp" or the sublime "Riders on the Storm," every song is a masterpiece.

The general theme of the album seems to be the underbelly of L.A. in the early 70s. The album seems to function as a snapshot/soundtrack of that time and place. It's all about living day-to-day, strung-out, alone, not knowing when it will all end. In that sense, I take "LA Woman" to be sort of like a diary in the lives of Jim and (his wife) Pam. When you listen to this album, you can feel the longing, the desperation, the torment, the addictions, of that time and place. These songs sound lived in. When you listen to Morrison's screams in the title track, or soft-spoken baritone in "Cars Hiss By My Window" you get the sense that he knew it was going to end soon. "Riders on the Strom" seems to acknowledge and accept this fate.

The Doors "L.A. Woman" is one of the greatest albums of all-time and it is an album that every rock fan should own.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The final Doors album proves they were not rock sellouts October 27, 2004

By Lawrance M. Bernabo HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

"L.A. Woman" is the final album put together by the Doors before the death of Jim Morrison and what is so striking about it for me is how the two best tracks, the title one and "Riders of the Storm," are so different from the rest of what is on the album. Contrasting the start of those tracks with the opening song on the album, "The Changeling," and they are like night and day. Most of the rest of this 1971 album is really blues oriented, with "Love Her Madly" clearly being the best of the bunch, and some of the rest being instantly forgettable. I think it is obvious that the band was trying to get back their credibility after veering too far in the direction of pop for a couple of albums, with "Morrison Hotel" and this one righting those wrongs. But since a few of these songs are pretty forgettable, "L.A. Woman" is an album that is caught between a 4 and a 5 but you have to round up given how good its two best songs end up being.

My two favorite parts of Oliver Stone's movie "The Doors" is when we hear Ray Manzarek in the background fooling around on the organ until he gets the bit for "Light My Fire" right and the end credits with the tracking shot showing the record of "L.A. Woman," with Val Kilmer's Morrison taking advantage of the great acoustics in the bathroom. For years when I was driving back from the Twin Cities and coming up the final hills before being able to see the lights of home, to wit the "city of lights," "L.A. Woman" was the song I would play in the car because it perfectly suited the moment.

Since the track opens with the sound of an accelerating car engine it is easy to see why the songs is associated with driving. Robbie Krieger simulates that sound on his guitar, but with a hint of eeriness that leads into first Manzarek's keyboards and then John Densmore's cymbal tapping and session player Jerry Scheff's throbbing bass. From that intriguing beginning the song generates its compelling rhythm and allows Morrison to wax lyrical. The bridge represents one of the most creative changes in rock history, using a tango tempo while Morrison sings about burning hair before getting to the final section where the anagrammatic "Mr. Mojo Risin'" makes his appearance. On a lot of these tracks Morrison's voice sounds about shot, but there are no complaints about "L.A. Woman," which qualifies as his last great vocal performance.

"Riders of the Storm" is one of the moodiest Doors' songs and the lyrics create a sense of foreboding (e.g., "Into this house were born/Into this world we're thrown") representing the questionable side of human existence. Musically Manzarek captures the sound of the storm, with actual thunderstorm sound effects dubbed on to the track, while Densmore again works the cymbals and Scheff provides a simple bass line, reflecting a minimalist approach that is quite effective. The song made it to #14 on the Billboard charts after Morrison's death in Paris ("Love Her Madly" had made it to #11 while the title track was just too long for AM radio). The "L.A. Woman" album only made it to #9, which, believe it or not, makes it the worst performance by a Doors album. Of course, a decade later Morrison and the Doors were bigger than ever and "L.A. Woman" was a frequent mention as the group's best track.