THE DOORS AND CHUCK BERRY: ARTISTIC COLLABORATIONS
When Music lost Otis Redding on December 10th, 1967, it was already decided that this great Soul artist would open the three nights The Doors would play in San Francisco just two weeks later (26, 27, 28 December 1967).
The tragic news was received with sadness by the band while
organizers scrambled to find a replacement to entertain audiences for the three
shows before The Doors took the stage.
The solution was a happy one, although less up to date
than the previous one: Chuck Berry.
At the time, he was in the declining phase of his
career, which had reached its peak in the second half of the 1950s with the
Rock'n'Roll genre.
However, C. Berry still enjoyed a fair amount of fame
and was firmly recognized as a primary influence for the birth of Pop-Rock and Rock.
One of C. Berry's concerts from those evenings is available as a bootleg at this link and it is possible to hear how he was still able
to put on a more than good show.
In 1967, he was relying on re-workings of his Rock'n'Roll
hits, trying to adapt their nature to the musical changes of the time.
Nevertheless, his music did not lose the soul that had
defined its turbulent and disruptive birth some ten years earlier.
Like all the great groups that graced the music scene
of the 1960s and early 1970s, The Doors were well aware of the paramount
importance of the Georgia-born guitarist-composer.
In fact, less than two years later (in September
1969), Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore of The Doors did not miss
the opportunity to see Chuck Berry live.
It was September 13, 1969, and during a music festival
in Toronto where The Doors were also performing, the three band members
appeared on the side of the stage in a short video of Chuck Berry's performance
(the video can be found at this link).
Their enthusiasm for C. Berry is clearly visible in
the video, confirming the band's musical interest in this historic guitarist.
Moving forward in time, we see that this artistic
involvement between The Doors and C. Berry did not stop.
During the recording sessions of the “Morrison Hotel”
album (October 1969 - January 1970), a famous song of the Rock’n’roll icon was
rehearsed in the studio: "Carol".
The Doors briefly rehearsed its effect, which can be heard at this link, but perhaps without much conviction and probably not
really thinking of making it an official “Morrison Hotel” track.
"Carol", released as a single by C. Berry in 1958, is a mainstay of modern music and of Rock'n'Roll in particular.
A must-have for everyone, it was later included by the
Rolling Stones in their debut album (1964).
Its simultaneously open and urgent riff, its softly mischievous
and vaguely mocking way of singing and its undistorted electric guitar solos
and vibratos make "Carol" an obligatory chapter in the book:
"How to compose and play changing the course of modern music”.
The Doors' attempt to record "Carol" in
November 1969, which was later shelved, anyway didn’t go to waste.
In fact, the band would use a portion of this great Rock'n'Roll
song on the promotional tour for the "Morrison Hotel" LP that took
place in the United States during the first half of 1970.
Below are two examples taken from the Philadelphia
concert (1/5/1970), link here, and the Detroit concert (8/5/1970), link here.
As with any musical group worthy of respect, Chuck
Berry was an indispensable cultural and musical reference for The Doors.
This bond, expressed through shared live performances
and covers, only reaffirms how well-rounded The Doors' artistic background was
and how their respect for the best musical tradition was functional to the sound
and scenic innovations they introduced.
P.S.: My book "The Doors Through Strange Days"- The most comprehensive journey ever made through The Doors' second LP, is out and available on Amazon.com!
Here’s the link:
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