Morrison Hotel

Morrison Hotel (sometimes referred to as Hard Rock Café from the title of the first side of the LP, with the second side titled Morrison Hotel) is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Doors, recorded from between August 1966 and November 1969 and released by Elektra in February 1970.

Background

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. The band got its name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, which itself was a reference to a quote made by William Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." They were unique and among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrison's lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death on 3 July 1971 at age 27, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973.

Signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors released eight albums between 1967 and 1971. All but one hit the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum or better. Their self-titled debut album (1967) was their first in a series of Top 10 albums in the United States, followed by Strange Days (also 1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), Absolutely Live (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971), with 20 Gold, 14 Platinum, and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone. By the end of 1971, it was reported that the Doors had sold 4,190,457 albums domestically and 7,750,642 singles. The band had three million-selling singles in the U.S. with "Light My Fire", "Hello, I Love You" and "Touch Me". After Morrison's death in 1971, the surviving trio released two albums Other Voices and Full Circle with Manzarek and Krieger sharing lead vocals. The three members also collaborated on the spoken-word recording of Morrison's An American Prayer in 1978 and on the "Orange County Suite" for a 1997 boxed set. Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited in 2000 for an episode of VH1's "Storytellers" and subsequently recorded Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors with a variety of vocalists.

Roadhouse Blues

"Roadhouse Blues" is a rock song written by Jim Morrison and recorded by the American rock band The Doors. The song, which appeared on the B-side of "You Make Me Real", was first released as a single from the album Morrison Hotel in March 1970 and peaked at #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song quickly became a concert staple for the group, a live version appearing later on the posthumous album An American Prayer and that same version again on In Concert and Greatest Hits. During this version, Jim 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 beliefs in it. The song was also featured twice in the movie The Doors; the studio version in the film, and the aforementioned live version over the end credits.

Alice Cooper claimed 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. According to the book, Light My Fire by Ray Manzarek, a bandmate of Morrison's, the song refers to Morrison's waking after an alleged three weeks of drug-induced sleep and the actual lyric sung is "woke up this morning and I got myself a beard".

Door

A door is a moving structure used to block off, and allow access to, an entrance to or within an enclosed space, such as a building or vehicle. Similar exterior structures are called gates. Typically, doors have an interior side that faces the inside of a space and an exterior side that faces the outside of that space. While in some cases the interior side of a door may match its exterior side, in other cases there are sharp contrasts between the two sides, such as in the case of the vehicle door. Doors normally consist of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or spins inside of a space.

When open, doors admit people, animals, ventilation or light. The door is used to control the physical atmosphere within a space by enclosing the air drafts, so that interiors may be more effectively heated or cooled. Doors are significant in preventing the spread of fire. They also act as a barrier to noise. Many doors are equipped with locking mechanisms to allow entrance to certain people and keep out others. As a form of courtesy and civility, people often knock before opening a door and entering a room.

Morrison

Morrison may refer to:

Places

See also