Revisiting The Doors’ magnificent ‘Morrison Hotel’
In 1969, The Doors released their fourth studio album, The Soft Parade, which departed from their usual blues-rock sound by incorporating brass and string arrangements. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 charts, The Soft Parade failed to impact international audiences. It was quickly denounced by critics and underground fans, who believed the band abandoned their roots in favour of the mainstream.
The year had been challenging for The Doors, particularly Jim Morrison. In June, the frontman was arrested following a drunken performance in which he allegedly exposed himself. The band were blacklisted from the radio, and 25 dates of their tour were cancelled due to Morrison’s reckless behaviour. In November, another drunken incident occurred, this time on a flight. However, by the end of the year, The Doors were back in the studio, hard at work on their fifth album, Morrison Hotel.
Whereas guitarist Robby Krieger had mainly taken creative control of the previous album due to the weight of Jim Morrison’s personal issues, Morrison Hotel saw the frontman return to primary songwriting duties. Much to the surprise of critics and fans, who had watched Morrison slowly deteriorate as he relied heavily on alcohol, gained weight and shed his ‘Lizard King’ image, The Doors had returned to their original form.
Morrison Hotel peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 charts and found success overseas, becoming the band’s highest-charting album in the UK. Although a few critics had mixed opinions of the album, such as Rolling Stone’s Lester Bangs, who found the tracks to be made “out of the same extremely worn cloth as the songs on all their other albums,” Morrison Hotel was primarily received positively. Over 50 years have passed since the album was released, and it remains one of the band’s most outstanding efforts.
Opener ‘Roadhouse Blues’ is one of the album’s highlights, featuring prominent barrelhouse piano, harmonica, bluesy guitars and Morrison’s fierce exclamations of “roll, baby, roll”. Created during a jam session where the band tried to make the “ultimate bar song”, the song encompasses the all-American sound that has become synonymous with The Doors. Lyrically, the song establishes themes that frequently appear throughout the album, with Morrison reckoning with the uncertainties of life. He sings: “Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer/ The future’s uncertain and the end is always near.” These lyrics have an eerie sensibility to them, given that Morrison died just over a year later in 1971.
In ‘Waiting for the Sun’, Morrison suggests that freedom is always harder to attain than we anticipate, yet that doesn’t stop us from attempting to search for it. Many tracks on the album reflect the anxieties of 1960s America. a time saturated by war, fights for civil rights, and burgeoning countercultural movements. ‘Peace Frog’ is an excellent example of this, with Morrison beginning almost every line with the word “blood” to emphasise the destruction and civil unrest that permeated through the decade as people fought for change. The upbeat instrumentation is swiftly contrasted with Morrison’s bleak lyricism referencing dead Native Americans and riots, reminding the listener of the harsh realities of American life buried underneath the optimism of ’60s hippie culture. Furthermore, Morrison continues his social commentary in ‘Ship of Fools’, where he points to the fact that “the human race was dyin’ out”, suggesting that we are heading towards oblivion as capitalism and technological advancements dominate in a rapidly accelerating world.
Alongside these tracks are some excellent love songs, primarily written for Morrison’s girlfriend, Pamela Courson. Morrison weaves between sexually charged pieces, such as ‘You Make Me Real’, his voice growling with intensity as he sings, “I really want you/ Really do/ Really need you, baby/ God knows I do.” However, cuts such as ‘Blue Sunday’ and ‘Indian Summer’ allow Morrison to demonstrate the delicacy his rich voice can take on. The tender ballad-like tracks are simple in their construction, with ‘Blue Sunday’ featuring gentle organs and gorgeous, hazy guitar parts that accompany Morrison’s sweetly romantic lyrics: “My girl is mine/ She is the world/ She is my girl.” Another album highlight is ‘The Spy’, instrumentally and lyrically inspired by Anais Nin’s erotic novel A Spy in the House of Love. A sensual guitar and bassline accompany the silky smooth delivery of Morrison’s “I know the dream/ That you’re dreamin’ of.”
Morrison Hotel is a solid collection of tracks demonstrating the band’s ability to move between soft, romantic love songs and provocative, electrifying classic rock tracks while remaining cohesive. Morrison’s presence on the album is as captivating as ever, both sensitive and seductive, meditative and audacious. The Doors would release one final album with Morrison in 1971, L.A. Woman, just months before his death. Although L.A. Woman is arguably even more remarkable than Morrison Hotel, the band’s 1970 release was a turning point, proving that they could work through the toughest of challenges to produce work that is still celebrated and loved over half a century later.
