‘Runnin’ Blue’: The Doors song without Jim Morrison on lead vocals
In a multitude of ways, Jim Morrison was the archetypal rock and roll frontman. Since the formation of The Doors in 1965, the image and sound of Morrison became iconic of the American rock scene, as well as the 1960s counterculture movement. With a baritone crooning style of singing, and a captivating onstage persona, the band struck gold with their frontman, who acted as the predominant driving force behind their incredible success. However, Morrison was not always the one to take the spotlight.
After forming in Venice Beach in 1965, The Doors spent a good few months finding their feet. By his own admission, Jim Morrison was making it up as he went along, to an extent, having very limited musical or songwriting experience prior to the formation of the band. Admittedly, Morrison’s songwriting ability improved rapidly, with the singer perfectly capturing the spirit of the 1960s counterculture era, becoming nothing short of an American pop culture icon in the process.
Even if Morrison hadn’t been a great songwriter, his image and attitude were as important to the success of The Doors as the music itself. Either way, the frontman was lucky enough to be backed by a selection of truly gifted and passionate musicians. Guitarist Robby Krieger, for instance, was utterly essential to the distinctive sounds of the psychedelic blues rock band. In addition to providing groundbreaking riffs to the band’s discography, Krieger also co-wrote many of their greatest hits alongside Morrison, a particular highlight being ‘Light My Fire’.
Krieger’s songwriting arguably reached its peak on the 1969 track ‘Runnin’ Blue’, taken from The Soft Parade. Loosely based on the Lead Belly track ‘Poor Howard’, the song itself was inspired by the tragic death of Otis Redding in 1967. The Doors had been scheduled to perform alongside the soul icon, whom they idolised, that same year, so the death of Redding certainly came as a shock.
‘Runnin’ Blue’ is an incredibly emotionally charged song, speaking to the undeniable influence that Otis Redding had both on The Doors and the wider rock and soul scene of the 1960s. You would assume, therefore, that the band would employ the emotionally affecting performance of Jim Morrison for the song. However, given that Krieger penned the song independently, it was the guitarist who took on lead vocals on the recording of the song that appeared on The Soft Parade.
As a result, the heartfelt tribute to Redding became the one and only Doors track not to feature Jim Morrison on lead vocals. This fact helped to imbue the song with a certain impact and atmosphere, standing out from the rest of the track listing on the band’s fourth studio album. Hence, the tribute paid by the band to the influence of Redding became all the more heartfelt and emotional.
After Morrison’s unfortunate death in 1971, at the age of only 27, The Doors did release a handful of other records. Although some of the tracks contained on these albums featured previous recordings of Morrison, it was Krieger, along with keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who took over vocal duties. ‘Runnin’ Blue’ does, however, maintain the record for being the only Doors song without Morrison on lead vocals to be released during the frontman’s lifetime.
