Artist: The Doors Album: Live In New York: Felt Forum (6-CD Box Set) Release Date: November 17th, 2009 Label: Bright Midnight Records / Rhino Entertainment / The Doors Music Company Cat #: R2 521457 Info: The latest addition to the band's acclaimed series of archival concert releases, this 6-disc collection contains all four of The Doors' performances - in their entirety - recorded in 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. Recorded just a few weeks before the release of Morrison Hotel - these concerts find Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek locked in tight as they deliver smoking takes on soon-to-be-classics from their forthcoming album, including “Roadhouse Blues,” “Peace Frog,” “Ship Of Fools,” and “Maggie M'Gill.” The shows also feature a number of driving blues covers, such as Bo Diddley's “Who Do You Love,” Howlin' Wolf's “Back Door Man,” and John Lee Hooker's “Crawling King Snake.” “Those were the bluesy songs we always used to do,” Krieger says. “We probably hadn't done some of them in years, but we had resurrected them for these shows.” In 1969, the year prior to these shows, The Doors became one of the first rock bands to play New York City's Madison Square Garden. When they returned in 1970, Densmore says they chose to play the Felt Forum, a smaller venue at the Garden. “It was more intimate, and you could feel the audience more,” he says. “There was more interaction, and the acoustics were much better, because it was designed for music.” Manzarek hails these shows as a return to the group's early days, when they used to play a club called London Fog. “I mean, talk about going back to basics. We used to do four sets a night at the London Fog, and we only had a small block of songs written up to that time. So we would do other people's material. And in New York, it was like the same thing as the London Fog. We've got four shows to play here, two sets tonight, two sets tomorrow night. Let's play whatever we want! Let's just go!” Go they did. Along with a mix of then-unheard new songs and old covers, the band also tapped into its 1967, self-titled debut, peppering the set lists with signature songs such as “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” “Soul Kitchen,” “The End,” and “Light My Fire,” The Doors' first #1 hit. For the final show of the Felt Forum stand, the band was joined onstage by two guests - The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian (who played harmonica on the studio version of “Roadhouse Blues”) and drummer Dallas Taylor, who'd played on Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut. Sebastian sat in for “Rock Me” and was joined by Taylor for “Going To N.Y. Blues” and “Maggie M'Gill.” Fans will be blown away by the crisp sound found on LIVE IN NEW YORK. All four shows were mixed and mastered by the band's longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows from The Doors' 1970 tour on multi-track tape for the Absolutely Live album. While most of the music contained on LIVE IN NEW YORK is unreleased, a few songs (and portions of songs) surfaced in 1970 on Absolutely Live and in 1997 on Box Set. Sadly, these shows represent The Doors' final New York City performances with Morrison, who passed away July 3, 1971. Credits: The Doors are: Jim Morrison - Vocals Ray Manzarek - Keyboards Robby Krieger - Guitar John Densmore - Drums Special Guest: John Sebastian - Harmonica on "Rock Me," "Going To N.Y. Blues" & "Maggie M'Gill" Technical & Production Credits: Recorded January 17 & 18, 1970 at Felt Forum in New York City Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Bruce Botnick Recording Assistant: Fritz Richmond Mobile Recording Facilities: Fedco Audio Labs Mixing & Mastering Studio: UnitEye Digital Synchronization: Ken Eros High-Res A/D Transfer: Digital Music Technologies / Eric Cowden Additional Recording: Skywalker Sound / Dann Thompson Production Supervisor: Jeffrey Jampol A&R: Robin Hurley Product Manager: Kenny Nemes Product Coordination: Cory Lashever Art Direction: Varnish Studio Inc Design: Matt Taylor and Anna Tes Additional Art Direction: Aaron Gershman Editorial Supervision: Sheryl Farber Project Assistance: John Espinoza, Steven P. Gorman, Alessandra Quaranta, Steve Woolard, Eileen Lucero, and Lyn Fey Personal Management: Jeffrey Jampol Associate: Cory Lashever Legal Representation: John Branca, ESQ. and David Byrnes, ESQ. Liner Notes by James Henke, Bruce Botnick & Jac Holzman Tracklist: Disc 01 - Jan 17, 1970 - First Show: 01. Start Of Show 1 4:26 02. Roadhouse Blues 4:21 03. Ship Of Fools 6:28 04. Break On Through (To The Other Side) 4:23 05. Tuning/Breather 2:03 06. Peace Frog 3:14 07. Blue Sunday 2:27 08. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 1:51 09. Back Door Man 2:28 10. Love Hides 0:32 11. Five To One 5:06 12. Tuning/Breather 1:25 13. Who Do You Love 5:54 14. Little Red Rooster 6:24 15. Money 3:17 16. Tuning/Breather 1:35 17. Light My Fire 8:45 18. More, More, More 1:59 19. Soul Kitchen 6:34 20. End Of Show 1:02 Disc 02 - Jan 17, 1970 - Second Show: 01. Start Of Show 2 2:10 02. Jim "How Ya Doing?" 0:48 03. Roadhouse Blues 6:17 04. Break On Through (To The Other Side) 4:52 05. Ship Of Fools 6:55 06. Crawling King Snake 5:19 07. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 1:50 08. Back Door Man 3:50 09. Five To One 5:38 10. Pretty Neat, Pretty Good 0:10 11. Build Me A Woman 4:05 12. Tuning/Breather 1:14 13. Who Do You Love 9:35 14. Tuning/Breather 2:07 15. Wild Child 1:43 16. Cheering/Tuning 0:59 17. When The Music's Over 15:08 Disc 03 - Jan 17, 1970 - Second Show (Continued): 01. Tuning/Breather 2:22 02. Light My Fire 9:41 03. Hey, Mr. Light Man! 2:05 04. Soul Kitchen 6:37 05. Jim's Fish Joke 1:10 06. The End 19:50 07. End Of Show 1:38 Disc 04 - Jan 18, 1970 - Third Show: 01. Start Of Show 3 1:02 02. Roadhouse Blues 4:28 03. Ship Of Fools 6:08 04. Break On Through (To The Other Side) 4:39 05. Tuning/Breather 0:47 06. Universal Mind 4:54 07. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) (False Start) 1:23 08. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 1:59 09. Back Door Man 3:14 10. Five To One 6:03 11. Tuning/Breather 1:21 12. Moonlight Drive 5:55 13. Who Do You Love 7:24 14. Calling Out For Songs 0:26 15. Money 3:14 16. Tuning/Breather 1:23 17. Light My Fire 10:12 18. More, More, More 2:05 19. When The Music's Over 12:10 20. Good Night/End Of Show 0:34 Disc 05 - Jan 18, 1970 - Fourth Show: 01. Start Of Show 4 1:51 02. Roadhouse Blues 5:41 03. Peace Frog 3:45 04. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 2:00 05. Back Door Man 2:22 06. Five To One 6:23 07. We Have A Special Treat 3:33 08. Celebration Of The Lizard 16:46 09. Alright Let's Boogie 0:06 10. Build Me A Woman 3:29 11. When The Music's Over 12:36 12. More, More, More 1:58 Disc 06 - Jan 18, 1970 - Fourth Show (Continued): 01. Soul Kitchen 7:53 02. For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic 1:12 03. Petition The Lord With Prayer 0:47 04. Light My Fire 11:28 05. Only When The Moon Comes Out 1:22 06. Close To You 4:02 07. The Encore Begins 5:02 08. Rock Me 6:01 09. What To Do Next? 5:52 10. Going To N.Y. Blues 4:41 11. Tuning/Breather 0:48 12. Maggie M'Gill 7:32 13. Tuning/Breather 0:29 14. Gloria/End Of Show 13:00 Reviews: So I'm 13, and I'm slouching through Harvard Square on my way to get Pink Floyd boots at the used record store. I'm just starting to grow my hair long-- which never really worked out-- and I'm wearing a grey t-shirt sporting the hundred-yard-stare of Jim Morrison of the Doors. From across the street, a guy three times my age shouts: "Fuck! Yeah! The Doors!" And for that moment, we are brothers. The Kids in the Hall's Bruce McCulloch argued that Doors fans are born, not made. But he ducks the question of why we're not making them anymore. Today, one of the first standard-bearers of rock is less hip than Journey. Let's review the case against the band: First we have Morrison himself, who's been blown into a caricature by his super-sexual persona, his wifty poetry, and his early death in a Paris bathtub. The music sounds like a weird cross between shit-kicking blues-rock and brain-spraining acid-jams, and it's easier to get your avant-garage fix from the Velvet Underground, your rock shaman verse from Patti Smith (or not at all), or your psychedelic extravagance from countless Nuggets bands. As dead 1960s rockers go, Jimi's legacy has left Janis and Jim in the dust. It may be a strange way to put it, but the problem with the Doors is that they were not efficient. Let's say that's where you are with this band. So here's how this set might change your mind. Rhino has reissued all four sets from their gig at the Felt Forum in January 1970, right before the release of Morrison Hotel-- and still in the shadow of Morrison's drunken, obnoxious, and allegedly obscene performance in Miami, which threatened him with jail time. Many tracks from these shows have been released before, but on this box you can listen to them bootleg-style, with all the repeated songs, tuning breaks, and banter with the audience. The Live in New York set sounds like an unedited performance, but in fact, the tapes had been so worked-over for other live albums that the team had to meticulously reconstruct it from 8-track and 2-track source tapes, using fan tapes as reference. Guest John Sebastian's harmonica wasn't even captured in the original mix; producer Bruce Botnick brought him back to the studio this year to replay the solos, based on what they got from tape bleed. Why go to the trouble? Because this is the truth. It's what the Doors sounded like, without the heavy hand of an Oliver Stone looking for the juicy parts-- and without the impatience of the iPod generation trying to trim it down. As you listen to the set, Morrison doesn't come off as a self-absorbed mystic: He's far more like the troubled kid in school who couldn't sit still and didn't fear anything. He demands and rewards attention. He's petulant with the audience, even barking at them or pleading to "give the singer some" when they won't stop talking. The vibe from the crowd may explain why the fourth show starts rough: After scolding the crowd, Morrison sounds disengaged or mocking as he wanders through the first few songs. But then he suddenly rewards the audience with a rare performance of his rock suite/poetry slam, "Celebration of the Lizard". The piece isn't exactly a lost classic-- it's not his most powerful verse, and musically it doesn't gel like "The End"-- but the best thing about this recording is how into it Morrison gets, from the quiet couplets to the screams. It's easy to see how people fell in love with the poet no matter the poetry, although some of his verse is still dangerous: The "Horse Latitudes" poem that he interjects in "Moonlight Drive" boasts his strongest imagery, and the contrast between that and the seaside groove is still striking. The rest of the band is here to support the star, and it never lets him down: The Doors were a loose, groovy, and ferocious combo, here playing a setlist that sticks to rock and blues and skips all the winsome and folky stuff that cluttered up Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade. Organist Ray Manzarek played the hooks that turned songs like "Hello, I Love You" into pop hits, but here he's focused on driving the rhythm section. Even his legendary solo on "Light My Fire" changes in concert from a melodic improvisation to a jam that climaxes in frustration, as you can hear him stabbing the keys with all ten fingers and wishing he had another ten besides. On the other hand, guitarist Robby Krieger is ferocious right from the riff of "Roadhouse Blues", and he makes their cover of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" one of the best recordings the Doors ever made. History hates this band for its excess, but so what? The Doors thrived on excess. When Morrison gears up the crowd with his groin and his ego and roars, "gonna have a re-al, good time," no excess, no overdose, no scream is big enough for the good time he's got in mind. And that's the way to remember him. — Chris Dahlen, Pitchfork Media Inc. ----- Earlier this week, I posted an item to Twitter (sorry, I refuse to use the word ‘tweeted’ in regard to any action I’ve ever taken) saying that I was listening to Rhino’s latest box set, The Doors: Live in New York. The response I got was immediate, negative in tone, and came from two colleagues who know a little something about music. One took a shot at Jim Morrison, the other at drummer John Densmore. The subject of the Doors has always been, and apparently still is, a provocative one. Battle lines are drawn. Feelings are strong on both sides. In the end, the fact that a simple mention of the band evokes such reaction, 40 years after the fact, is itself commentary on the band’s legacy. Madison Square Garden opened in 1968, the fourth building in New York City to bear that name. In addition to the world famous arena, home to the New York Knicks, and New York Rangers, and the site of many legendary concerts, the complex includes what was then called the Felt Forum. The theater, which can seat up to 5,600 people for concerts, was named after then-Garden president Irving Felt. On January 17 and 18, 1970, the Doors showed up to play four shows, two a night, at the Felt Forum. In 1969, they were one of the first rock bands to play Madison Square Garden itself, but opted to play the smaller Forum the next time around in order to recapture the intimacy with the audience that had characterized their early career, and to take advantage of the superior acoustics that the Felt Forum offered. It was just a few weeks before their album Morrison Hotel would be released. The first thing you notice is how good these recordings sound. All of the shows were mixed and mastered by the Doors long-time engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows on the 1970 tour. Most of the music spread out over the six sprawling discs that make up the set has never been released, but a few of the tracks did surface on Absolutely Live in 1970, and on the Doors Box Set in 1997. These days a major band will rarely do two shows in one night, but it was more common in 1970. Most people at the time suspected that the late show would always be better. After all, set length for the second show was not limited by the need to change the house over for another show, plus the band had more time to become inspired, if you get my drift. The Doors: Live In New York proves that those suspicions were valid, if only for this band, at these shows. Take the first two shows of the run on January 17 as an example. The first show is good, but pedestrian. None of the band’s classic lengthy jams are included in the set list. The second show that night was a different story. Morrison and his audience are clearer more into it. The set is longer, and we get extended versions of both “When the Music’s Over,” during which Morrison gets a little belligerent with a somewhat overenthusiastic audience, and “The End,” which opens with ringing bells and the haunting specter of Morrison shouting “bring out your dead” again and again. The same thing happens the next night. The first show of the evening is once again good, but somewhat tamer. The second show is not only much longer, with more intensity from the band and the audience, there are special guest appearances as well. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian sits in with the Doors for several songs. A little rock trivia note for you; it was Sebastian who played harmonica on the studio version of “Roadhouse Blues.” Also guesting that night was drummer Dallas Taylor, best known for playing with Crosby, Stills & Nash. There’s also a stunning, maddening version of the rarely performed “Celebration of the Lizard.” From that second show, here is an absolutely savage version of “Back Door Man,” which segues beautifully into an equally intense version of my favorite Doors song, “Five to One.” Note the outstanding guitar work from Robby Krieger on these two tracks. He and organist Ray Manzarek are brilliant throughout these shows. The Doors dip into the not yet released Morrison Hotel album, opening each of the four shows with “Roadhouse Blues,” and “Ship of Fools,” “Peace Frog,” and “Maggie M’Gill” each make one or more appearances. The band also taps their classic, self-titled debut album for “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” “Soul Kitchen,” and of course their first #1 hit “Light My Fire.” Blues covers abound, including Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Little Red Rooster,” and John Lee Hooker’s “Crawling King Snake.” In the interest of presenting complete shows, we also get a number of breaks that are labeled as “Tuning/Breather.” While I recognize the need for tuning, the inclusion of the breaks on these recordings tends to break the momentum of the shows more than anything else. Apparently Botnick and the surviving Doors agreed on the importance of having complete shows, and the purists will be pleased. I could have done with less tuning, and more playing. Live In New York being a Rhino release, it goes without saying that the packaging is first rate. The small hardcover book that accompanies the discs features essays by James Henke, Chief Curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, producer and engineer Bruce Botnick, and Elektra Records Founder and Chairman Jac Holzman. If you are a Doors fan, I’m afraid you’re going to have to dig deep and get this one. Essential is the only word to describe it. If you’re merely curious as to what all the fuss about the Doors was, there are less expensive ways to get into the band, but none of them capture the band’s live magic, and Morrison’s massive appeal, better than this set. One last note: the cover of the box is a reproduction of a ticket from the Felt Forum shows. The price of an orchestra seat? $5.50. That wouldn’t even begin to cover what you pay in Ticketmaster fees for a ticket these days. ~ Ken Shane, Popdose ----- A very lengthy, detailed and excellent review can be found at Collectors Music Reviews by following this link: http://www.collectorsmusicreviews.com/the-doors/the-doors-live-in-new-york-bright-midnight-r2-521457/ ----- Note: According to rules and standards, ripped with EAC (with proper settings, offsets, gap detection, etc.) and encoded with FLAC (level 8) with tags. Full Artwork Included.