THE DOORS AND LITTLE RICHARD: A LITTLE-KNOWN CONNECTION

 

The songs of other artists that the Doors played in their concerts were mostly from the Blues and Rhythm'n'Blues genres.

Anyway, there were a few exceptions. Among them was a track we will be discussing in this article.

There is only one recording that documents the early part of their live career: the live show recorded in May 1966 at the London Fog. This was a venue in Los Angeles where, among other tracks, the group performed a cover of a song that is inextricably linked to rock'n'roll.

We are talking about "Lucille", a famous song conceived and sung by Little Richard (recorded in mid '56 and released in February 1957).

It was a more than significant commercial success, winning over both American audiences (21st on the overall chart and 1st on the chart dedicated to African American artists) and British audiences (10th).

"Lucille", along with other Little Richard masterpieces, will go down in modern music history as a major influence on such seminal and fundamental groups such as the Beatles.

This typical rock'n'roll, packaged by Little Richard with an insinuating mid-tempo and a breathtaking vocal performance, is interpreted by The Doors at the London Fog with passion and intelligence.

First, intelligence.

The Californian band's rendition of the song moves into territory more closely related to Rhythm'n'Blues.

This makes the performance more technically manageable and more in line with the musical tastes and trends of the mid-1960s.

Second, with passion.

Morrison replaces the vocal part sung in the original version with his own passion and peculiar way of expression.

In fact, it would have been objectively impossible for The Doors singer to effectively replicate the extremely high and scratchy notes that came naturally to Little Richard.

Instead of trying to replicate the original, Morrison keeps a low profile, but through it all shines the deep and voluptuous voice, loaded with dark charm, that would characterize the singer already in the following months.

In the second half of the song, Morrison's voice becomes a bit more assertive and aggressive: this is the rehearsal that foreshadow what would happen three months later (August 1966) during the recording of The Doors' first LP ("The Doors", released in January 1967).

Note that the group adds some rhythmic passages not present in the original (for example at min. 1:30 or min. 1:53 of the London Fog track you can hear at the link encountered earlier in the article).

These are quick transitions that diversify the progression of the tune, making it more interesting and compensating for the absence of a real solo (in the original it was entrusted to the dark, rough sound of the baritone saxophone).

It is not only this cover that establishes a link between The Doors and Little Richard.

In fact, the latter, more than others, introduced and passed on to subsequent generations of musicians an ornamental element that would later become common in many musical genres.

In fact, the characteristic crazy and almost angry screams that can be heard in countless songs belonging to Pop-Rock, Rock, Hard Rock, etc. were first introduced to a nationwide audience by Little Richard himself with the birth of Rock'n'Roll in the mid-1950s.

Morrison himself would later use them extensively in various contexts, both live and in the recording studio, throughout The Doors' career.

This vocal element, while present in the vocals of many artists, is particularly present in Morrison's style of singing and thus provides an additional link between The Doors and Little Richard.

This great pianist, composer and above all singer was a major figure in Rock'n'Roll and the 1950s. He was still active in 1966 when The Doors performed live at the London Fog the famous song we discussed in this article.

At this point Little Richard’s fame had faded, but his art lived on vividly in the music he had helped to inspire: Pop-Rock and Rock.