Customer Reviews

Night Divides the Day: The Music of the Doors

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This CD was obviously a labor of love for George Winston. He has over the years freely acknowledged the influence of The Doors' music--especially on his 1980 album Autumn. In the liner notes to Night Divides the Day, Winston writes how he played "Love Me Two Times" and "Light My Fire" in the first band he played in back in high school. This is music that made a lasting impression on Winston and his approach to music.

Having listened to this tribute several times now, I still have mixed feelings. The playing, of course, is impeccable. And on songs like the opening "Spanish Caravan," "The Crystal Ship" and "My Wild Love," Winston manages to make the songs his own. On others songs like "Love Her Madly" and especially the nearly 10-minute "Light My Fire," I'm left with the nagging question: What's new here? I "hear" Winston's piano, but my brain is playing the Doors' version in my head at the some time. The familiarity of the original versions makes it difficult to always appreciate Winston's technique.

Among his die-hard fans (and I own all of Winston's recordings), I know there are those who will fall in love with this tribute. Heck, even Ray Manzarek declares on the sticker on the cover: "I love this CD! George has captured The Doors' essence and added his own unique voice." There is an energy and ferocity to Winston's playing here and there is much to enjoy. If you appreciate the music of The Doors half as much as Winston, this CD will not disappoint. RECOMMENDED

George Winston has provided one of the most melodic and enrapturing homages to The Doors with "Night Divides The Day," a beautifully done album that conveys the musical intricacies of the band. Like "Riders On The Storm: The Doors Concerto," "Night Divides The Day" works for Doors fans who truly love and appreciate the MUSIC and for those fans of classical tastes. The opening, "Spanish Caravan," is a great experience of what good piano playing is. Winston masterfully adapts the melody to his keys, creating a great collage of notes and sound. "The Crystal Ship" is one of the more beautiful tracks on the album, emotional, hypnotic and completely enrapturing. One of the most fun tracks on the CD is "People Are Strange," it sounds like a perfect piano copy of the original but with Winston adding special flavors to it that give it a nice jazz feel. "Love Street" is a neat delight, really nice and sweet would be the best word to describe it. What you really get out of the album is an appreciation for just how classical-based The Doors' music was and how wonderfully melodic, a sense you sorta lose when listening to versions performed by bands like Aerosmith and Creed, which simply bring out the rock aspects The Doors influenced. A lot of people forget they were a band that were probably more avant-garde than most rock bands ever have been. Jim Morrison obviously influenced more in musicians than just the desire to act like madmen on stage or wear black leather pants. And yet eventhough we think of Morrison during this great album, these classical tributes bring out a true appreciation for the other musicians, especially keyboardist Ray Manzarek, we realize how intricate the playing of Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore really was. "Light My Fire" is wonderfully executed and plays like a roller-coaster, culminating in a beautiful rendition of a part from "The End." "Love Me Two Times" is a mixed bag, it works as a great, hard-thumping blues-like tune, but the feeling of the original is really lost. "My Wild Love" is as atmospheric as the original and conveys a threatening mood. One thing that should be appreciated is that Winston doesn't stick to just hits, in fact, tunes like "Hello I Love You" and "Strange Days" are missing. He does a great job with songs mostly Doors fans are familiar with like "Summer's Almost Gone," which can be beautiful and haunting. "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind" is very emotional, sometimes sounding like a melody you would hear in some kind of strange dream. "Riders On The Storm" is epic, heavy filled with some excellent craftsmanship. "Bird Of Prey" is one of the more simple songs, like the original, but it's an enjoyable listen. Winston has done a great thing here, it should be cherished by those who were really touched by Doors music when they first heard one of their albums. Winston himself is a professed Doors fanatic and the booklet in the CD case expresses this with him confessing that the band's first album is what inspired him to take up the keys. "Night Divides The Day" is real music for those who have real ears.

Okay, this CD isn't for everyone and the other reviews reflect that fact. Some folks love it (includes me) and some, well... let's just say they didn't. So, what you care about is which group you're going to be in, right?

Avoid this CD if:

-- Doors not done by the Doors or a rock group is "a bad thing"
-- You're expecting a George Winston "new age" CD

Get this CD if:

-- your tastes in music are eclectic and you tend to like just about anything with top notch musicianship
-- you like jazz piano
-- you like the Doors music but its a good thing when it gets interpreted creatively

For me the key here is that Winston is interpreting the music, its not the Doors doing these songs, its George doing them. That's why I think if you like jazz piano this CD is for you. Winston's influences include many of that genre and you can hear them here, especially the stride piano influence. This is music Winston loves and respects--but that doesn't mean he can't intrepret it his way while staying true to the spirit of the music. Indeed, there's a real passion that comes thru here. And that, I think, is what Ray Manzarek (Door's keyboardist) meant in his quote on the back of the CD:

"...I love this CD. You've captured the Doors' essence, and added your own unique voice..."

In any case, this is a superb CD from a technical view, well played and excellently recorded. It's a favorite of mine--might be one of yours too, but maybe not...

If you like George Winston enough to have bought his other albums, then you'll love this album. Every single song is very, very good probably because they are all based upon an excellent melody. I have every single George Winston recording and this stands with the first four as being one of the best five because nothing is filler.

The point of this album is not to copy the covers. So, forget that Jim Morrison wrote these pieces and don't try to relate Winston's renditions to the original Doors recordings. Think of this music as you would other solo piano pieces--judged alone and on their own merit. But some people will never "get" George's approach to piano playing, like a friend for whom I bought several of the first albums. He was a jazz pianist so you would think that he might appreciate improvisational piano playing. But jazz pianists don't use the pedal much so he thought of George's dreamy playing as cheating technically. Yup, he was a conservative and was unable to break the ties that seek to bind us. George was too different than what he was used to and he couldn't feel the beauty.

But for those whose heart operates outside of the rib cage, George takes The Doors music to places that it's never been before with the same wonderful ethereal melodies and pedal sustain that attract so many. The Crystal Ship, Spanish Caravan, Wishful Sinful, Summer's Almost Gone, I Can't See Your Face In My Mind and Bird of Prey are especially haunting--bittersweet and sad like only George can consistently deliver.

So, what prospective buyers need to do, is sort the reviews in order of best to worst. When you get to the beginning of the 3 star ratings, then read no more--the remainder of the reviewers don't "get it".

George Winston has put so much keyboard soul into his other piano masterpieces, that working his magic here, on DOORS tracks long ago created and left in the oldies' archives, seems earnest yet mystifying. But, as one listens to how George interprets these select tunes, it becomes obvious that he wanted to present these songs in an expressive way as a demonstration of his love for the music. Well, it works because I love this CD. It has great songs and superb piano playing throughout it's nominal 66 minutes. It is stark and haunting, loud and soft, mesmerizing and chilling. I wish it was longer and had the whole catalog of DOORS' music. But I'm greedy and always want more of a good thing. What George has put together here is beautiful beyond words (like so much of George's music and productions), and a special tribute to one of the premier groups to come out of the enchanting sixties renaissance in music. I've always been a rider in the storm, and it's nice to know that George has been out there too.

Honestly I'm not a fan of the Doors, I don't like or dislike them, but they are not something I listen to. My boyfriend however loves them, and I prefer New Age to a lot of music but this cd is something that we can both listen to. I had no idea the first time I heard it that it was a tribute to the Doors, and quite frankly if you love good luscious music then there is no reason no to like this album. I was surprised how much I adored the album, recognizing some of the songs and admiring their new interpretation on the piano. I have always loved the piano, its mahogany coat, the mechanics and inner working, the alabaster and onyx keys, it is a marvel, and even thought I'm a trained flutist, this was my second instrument and I have enjoyed playing it for the past 18 years.

The one song that caught my attention and made me get this cd was The Crystal Ship. Regardless of any influences it sounds like pure George Winston stroking the keys, letting his fingers hit the notes making hair on my body stand straight. The simple, melancholy and staggering melody is haunting; I promise it is something that might never leave ones memory. To me it sounds like a ship with full sails gliding on dark waters in moonlight. People are Strange is wicked, gypsy like and smoky, a divine and hot song really nicely done by Winston. Love Street sounds like a tired loner, laying in bed staring at the ceiling, perhaps smoking a cigarette, pondering life and love. Love me Two Times is jazzy, flirty and funky, its has bluesy undertones and is definitely a nice loud tune. Love Her Madly sounds like a rag time, not my favorite even though I love rag times, but it's a fun song for the Doors fans.

The album is a nice mix of lively and misty moods, a wonderful change in textures and refreshes the listener's palate, may I say, almost like a thirteen course meal where each piece served is different yet it all goes together. Light my Fire for example was done wonderfully, even though it was about fire, it sounded cool, like rain drops dancing on an iron buckets and turned upside down glass jars sitting on an open window still.


Even if I wasn't told about these songs being originally done by the Doors, I would have loved this calming, refreshing, lovely and in places wild album. George Winston has been one of my favorites for a long time, and this belongs in everyone's library. I love reading to this, sometimes getting lost in what I was doing just as now, I didn't plan on writing a review, but I was listening to the music, while hanging out in my room and I was mesmerized tremendously and felt the urge to give it some thumbs up. Lovely lovely lovely!

But should we really care? Winston fans will love this, Doors fans may hate it. But it is incredible and you have to get over whether you think Doors music should be interpreted to solo piano. GW is at his best covering others, like the incredible Vince Guaraldi tribute from a few years back. This is a rollicking, at times breathtaking CD.

I love George Winston, and I love the Doors. So when I saw that George Winston had done the music of the Doors on solo piano, I had to buy the CD. I bought it 10 days ago, and it has been playing in my Durango's CD player ever since. It is that incredible. The music is recognizably the Doors, yet Winston puts his own mark on it, from the jazzy style of "People are Strange," to the haunting and beautiful "The Crystal Ship." It's certainly not elevator music; this is piano music that demands to not just be heard, but really listened to, just as the original Doors music did over 30 years ago, but in an entirely new way. Don't pass this one up!

When I first heard that George Winston was doing a collection of music by The Doors, I thought it must have been one of those urban legends. Winston and Jim Morrison seem like opposite musical personae - Morrison was the self-styled "Lizard King" and was widely known for his excesses and exploration of the dark side of the human psyche, where Winston performs live in his sox and plaid flannel shirts, and considers himself to be more of a folkie. I, too, was intrigued by The Doors as a teenager, and saw them in concert in Berkeley in the late `60's. Their first two albums had a strong influence on my playing, but even more on my artwork of that time. The raw power and energy was an inspiration to try to capture, and I have many drawings of Morrison and a few of keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who also apparently really likes this album. I love Winston's take on "People Are Strange," and found myself dancing around the house singing the lines from the song I could remember after all these years. Winston infuses just the right amount of darkness to keep the edge on the bouncy rhythm. A faithful adaptation of the original, Winston still manages to make this his own. "Love Me Two Times" is a rocker that shows a side of Winston that doesn't usually get recorded - his rock and early-jazz influences that demonstrate what a powerful and flashy pianist he can be. I love this stuff! I wasn't sure "Light My Fire," the song that put The Doors on the musical map, would work as a piano solo, but it does. Winston's take on the organ and guitar solos in the middle is really fun. Ending the piece with phrases from "The End" also works really well. "My Wild Love" features Winston plucking the piano strings and letting the sound ring, creating an aura of dark mystery. "Summer's Almost Gone" is almost wrenchingly sad, and Winston keeps it sparse and uncluttered. "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind" continues in the gloomy style that was such a big part of The Doors - a very effective arrangement that is again faithful to the original, but is still distinctly Winston. "Riders On the Storm" is pitch black with a compelling rhythm and heavy bass line. Much moreso than most of Winston's recordings, this one is FUN as well as a great tribute to one of rock music's most mysterious icons of the late 60's and early `70's. Very highly recommended!

I just finished listening to the CD Jim just rolled over wishing he could heard it first hand. I'm a big fan of George Winston and the Doors. I grew up playing old LP's of Jim Morrisons. This is a great tribute to Jim and the rest of the band. I just wish they were all still around playing together. It's an excellent piece of work that George Winston did. I just hope that he continues with more.