"MOONLIGHT DRIVE": TWO YEARS OF TRANSFORMATION

 

Jim Morrison's first composition is famous among fans of the Doors and beyond. In fact, "Moonlight Drive" is one of the best songs on the band's second LP ("Strange Days," released September 25, 1967). What's more, it represents a milestone in their career with the singer still alive (it stretches from November 1965 to July 1971).

The track underwent at least two transformations before reaching its final version on the aforementioned album, evolving along a musical itinerary that we will quickly go through together.

The main melody of this track dates to the summer of 1965, before the official formation of the California group. In early September of that year, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore, along with two of Manzarek's brothers (electric guitar and harmonica), recorded an early version. Along with five other tracks, it was meant to serve as an introduction to get a record deal. The project failed but left behind a document of great historical value that shows the band's early but passionate experiments.

This first attempt is notable for the piano line that forms the backbone for the rest of the sparse arrangement. It is also the piano that, along with the vocals, remains most prominent on the recording. Here Manzarek plays the piano percussively, overlapping with the drums and giving the song an upbeat and relaxed rhythm, taken from the black music that was gradually moving from rhythm and blues to soul in those years.

This feature will disappear in the final version of "Moonlight Drive," but the connection with some of the Rhythm and Blues pieces that had inspired countless British and American bands in the early 1960s is evident here. An example of this is "Walkin' The Dog," a Rufus Thomas song from 1963 that was later made famous by the Rolling Stones in 1964 and, among others, played by the Sonics too in 1965.

In the Doors demo we presented, we find the rhythm of "Walkin' The Dog" reprised, as mentioned above, by the piano instead of drums as in the original.

After the September '65 demo, the band tried again to arrange "Moonlight Drive" during the sessions to produce their first LP: "The Doors”, recorded in August 1966 and released at the beginning of January '67.

Here Manzarek replaced the piano with an electric organ, but the percussive style, reminiscent of the rhythm and blues of "Walkin' The Dog," remained essentially unchanged. Moreover, Krieger's guitar and Morrison's voice add a charm that was missing from the first version. Anyway, a lack of enthusiasm in the performance will lead to the exclusion of "Moonlight Drive" from the debut album.

The third attempt is much better, turning the tune into a rock song, whose complex rhythmic-melodic structure reaches the listener in an immediate and captivating way. Here the piano returns, this time without the repetitive rhythm and percussive sound of the earlier versions.

It draws a dynamic melodic figure that evolves as the composition progresses. The piano, which had taken over the role of the drums in the previous two instances, leaves to Densmore the task of building the beat. The song takes a remarkable leap forward, finally unleashing the immense potential we gladly hear on track number 6 of "Strange Days”.