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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. (more…)
As we’ll no doubt be reminded when we see 
Mostly though I listen to more conventional things, like Sting’s The Soul Cages, Huey Lewis and The News’ Fore! or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway from Genesis. They all just kind of take me to a nice comfortable place where nothing but the music exits. Most people just pull out the bong to get to a similar place, but I go to Peter Gabriel instead. (Why do I feel like I’ve just done a “music is my anti-drug” commercial?) I need to find that point again and get to it every now and then. Now, only if my boy will give daddy 45 minutes to do so.
It’s horribly cliche, but over the past couple summers, the moment the temperatures move towards 80 degrees, I reach for my Doors collection. I always start out more or less listening to everything of theirs I own, then as the summer progresses, I cling to a particular song, usually one I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Two years ago, that song was “You’re Lost Little Girl.” Last year, it was “Love Her Madly.” This year, the contenders were “Crystal Ship” and “Riders on the Storm.” “Crystal Ship” ended up edging out “Riders on the Storm,” because it’s more mysterious, more compelling, more weird, less what the casual listener might expect from the Doors. “Riders on the Storm,” on the other hand, as much as I love it, is a little more typical, a little more straightforward. And most of the reason why I like it is contained within the second verse (beginning with, “Girl, you gotta love your man…”).