L.A. Woman: The Workshop Sessions

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Rhino continues to give The Doors their due with this special 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of L.A. Woman. This two-disc collection contains rare and previously unreleased session outtakes and studio dialogue. Recorded mostly live in their rehearsal space, the 10-song album was produced by the band with longtime engineer Bruce Botnick, who created a comfortable vibe in the studio. In an interview with Modern Drummer, Densmore recalled the L.A. Woman sessions. “We just did a couple takes, on everything. There were some mistakes, and I would say, ‘Ray, remember on Miles Davis Live At Carnegie Hall, on the intro of ‘So What’ there’s this horrible trumpet error? Miles said he didn’t care, because of the feeling.’ That’s what L.A. Woman is. Just passion — in our rehearsal room, not in a fancy studio. It was the first punk album!…” Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (AMG) Rhino’s double-disc 40th Anniversary Edition of the Doors’ final album, L.A. Woman, may not have the two bonus cuts from the 2007 reissue of the record — “Orange County Suite” and “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” — but it does have a full disc of bonus material, including alternate takes of every one of the album’s ten songs, plus the unreleased original “She Smells So Nice” and a cover of Muddy Waters’ “Rock Me.” (This bonus material was released separately as The Workshop Sessions.) Neither of the new discoveries feels finished — there’s little polish on the cover, while “She Smells So Nice” seems invented as the Doors play — but the charm of this edition is that the unreleased material is considerably looser than the finished album. Given that there are no great differences in either arrangements or lyrics — almost none on the former, nothing notable on the latter — it is the general vibe of these rough run-throughs that counts, as each alternate take amplifies the comfortably assured virility that is L.A. Woman’s calling card. Track listing Side 1 1. The Changeling 2. Love Her Madly 3. Cars Hiss By My Window 4. L.A. Woman Side 2 5. The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) 6. Been Down So Long 7. Riders On the Storm Side 3 1. She Smells So Nice / Rock Me Side 4 – No music – Etching of Track Listings and Lyrics Personnel Jim Morrison, vocals Robby Krieger, guitar Ray Manzarek, piano, organ John Densmore, drums Jerry Scheff, bass Marc Benno, rhythm guitar Mastered and cut by Bernie Grundman @ Grundman Mastering, Hollywood Rhino 180g 2xLP-Set / Pressed at R.T.I. / Cat.# RI-528723.

via Last.fm