1 DECEMBER 1967: THE DOORS (AND CANNED HEAT) LIVE IN LONG BEACH

On December 1, 1967, an extraordinary concert took place in Long Beach, California: The Doors performed in front of thousands of people. That same night, another excellent band took the stage: Canned Heat.

By this time, The Doors' second LP ("Strange Days", released in September 1967) had just reached its peak in the U.S. charts.

In fact, the third place achieved with this fantastic album added to the success of their first LP ("The Doors", released in January '67), which was still riding high in the charts as well.

Unfortunately, no recordings of this concert have been made, but the reviews at the time were more than positive.

Reviewers speak of a show in which the Rock played by The Doors is blurred by the enveloping instrumental digressions led by Ray Manzarek on electric organ.

We can imagine how fascinating and exiting Morrison's performance was, thanks to the existence of outrageous photos taken during the concert.

We can also imagine how the songs were interpreted by the singer with his biting aggression, which often alternated with the hypnotic spell he was able to cast over the audience when the music slowed down.

In addition to songs that were part of the group's stable repertoire (such as "Back Door Man", "Light My Fire" and "The End"), the quartet performed the two singles from the recently released LP "Strange Days" ("People Are Strange" and "Love Me Two Times").

They also performed their latest single, "The Unknown Soldier", which had been released a few days earlier. This innovative and beautiful song would later appear on their next album ("Waiting For The Sun", released in July 1968).

That evening included another concert, this time by Canned Heat, a California band that had released its debut album ("Canned Heat") about four months earlier, in July 1967.

This very good LP helped to bring traditional blues into the contemporary music scene, with some tasty forays into rhythm and blues.

On December 1, 1967, the date of the concert we’re talking about, Canned Heat were about to finish the recordings of their second album, "Boogie With Canned Heat", which would be released shortly after in January 1968.

Certainly, the music Canned Heat played at the December 1st 1967 concert must have been influenced by the ongoing recording sessions for their second LP.

In fact, a new drummer (Adolfo De La Parra) had taken over after the first album, adding more varied and creative nuances to the strict blues rhythms of the band's early steps.

In "Boogie With Canned Heat", the blues covers that made up the first LP were largely replaced by the group's own compositions (such as the beautiful "World In A Jug").

What's more, longer songs and Rock-Blues-influenced numbers (such as the famous "On The Road Again") made their appearance.

All this must necessarily have been reflected in that evening's performance.

That Friday night, the scene was of course stolen by the magical sound explosion caused by the music of The Doors, but also the set played by Canned Heat must surely have been more than worth the ticket.

Thanks to mildequator.com for the information about the December 1st show in Long Beach.