THE DOORS PLAY ON TV IN APRIL 1969: A RESTROSPECTIVE

After the infamous Miami concert on March 3, 1969, The Doors' career was in danger of derailing. In the long run, the live show would go down in the annals of contemporary music history, but its immediate aftermath foreshadowed significant problems for the band.

Not only was the band's lead singer, Jim Morrison, charged with several misdemeanors related to his behavior on stage that night, but more than fifteen concerts were canceled (the entire tour that had just begun in Miami).

Against the backdrop of this difficult situation, The Doors were wrapping up the controversial and bumpy recording of their fourth album ("The Soft Parade", later released in July '69).

It was therefore with great pleasure that they accepted the chance to appear in a TV special filmed in New York on April 28 and 29, 1969, called "Critique".

This was a good opportunity to reappear in public, albeit through the filter of television, and try to make people forget the excesses of Miami.

The show, which was aired about two months later, offered an educated and in-depth perspective on the music of the time, breaking away from teenagers programming that instead aimed to maximize the impact of sound and image.

Here, The Doors played six songs and were also featured (before the last song) in an interview with all the members of the lineup involved.

Confirming the show's intellectual bent, the host does not cover the usual topics, but cleverly pushes the discourse toward more complex issues, such as the role of musicians in the contemporary world compared to that of shamans in tribal communities.

Morrison is clearly amused to maintain a stimulating conversation that has nothing to do with his ill-tempered role as a rock star or his recent vicissitudes on stage in Miami.

Drummer John Densmore recounts the fluidity that characterized the emergence of poetic and instrumental improvisations during the band's live shows (Morrison, shortly thereafter, describes this process as a "river of sound").

Manzarek, on the other hand, emphasized the sense of community that The Doors' concerts created among young people and wished that this mystical bond created around a musical ritual could be reflected in a more united and supportive society.

Among the memorable statements collected in this interview is Jim Morrison's prediction of a not-too-distant future in which music would be composed by one person without the aid of instruments, but only thanks to electronic technologies.

A true prophecy that came true thirty years later, about the ways of producing sounds that still characterize contemporary music.

The frontman wore a completely different look from his last public appearance in Miami two months before, so much so that he seems almost unrecognizable.

Dressed in a suede jacket, visibly affected by alcohol abuse, concealed by a long, wild beard and looking transgressively sophisticated because of the a cigar he was smoking: he was just beginning the rapid descent down the inclined plane that would end with his death two years and two months later.

Here, too, his singing has changed: less scratchy, voluptuous and seductive, it now relied on a shadowy depth that generated a powerful shockwave, but in whose ebb we can discern the inner spasms of the suffering genius.

The voice we hear in the six tracks of this TV special seems to question its own vices and virtues, evoking the loneliness caused by a disorienting balance between art and decadence.

The show opens with "Tell All The People", composed by Krieger and released as a single a few months later (in June '69), and then included on the LP "The Soft Parade" (in July '69).

Here you can hear how the bulky, bombastic horns of the vinyl version fortunately disappear and are replaced by the long, clear chords of Manzarek's electric organ (he also plays the bass part with his left hand on the small keyboard called Fender Rhodes Piano Bass).

Immediately after, the group continues with the medley "Alabama Song" / "Back Door Man", both from the first album ("The Doors, January 1967).

They are performed as they used to be in the many live performances the band had produced in previous years, not shining in terms of originality, but nevertheless having a remarkable effect in terms of sound impact (especially thanks to Morrison's vocal part).

The third track is "Whishful Sinful" (again by Krieger), which was released as a single in March ’69, a month before the television footage we are analyzing.

Once again, the absence of strings and horns, which were heavily used in the official track, greatly benefits the song, making it sharper and less contrived.

We have here an important testimony: the only existing example of how "Wishful Sinful" might have sounded without the clumsy orchestral overdubs.

In addition, the piece features a brief solo by Manzarek, heard only in the broadcast under discussion, based on suggestive variations of the composition's main melody.

The fifth song is one of the various creative episodes Morrison brought to the other members of the lineup in 1969: "Build Me A Woman", unfortunately (and incomprehensibly) excluded from "The Soft Parade".

The bluesy notes of "Build Me A Woman" immediately paved the way for a reminder of the crazy Miami concert. In fact, Morrison inserted the word "motherfucker" twice in the lyrics, once again confirming himself at the forefront of provocation, despite the legal troubles that were beginning to cause him great discomfort.

At this point the program continued with the aforementioned interview with the band, before they got to the final track: "The Soft Parade".

Still unreleased in April '69, this version of the tune is its only complete live recording known to exist.

Performed in front of the "Critique" cameras, the long piece featured prominently Jim Morrison's vocals, aggressive and expressive at the same time.

Here he is already tuned to the dark, angular timbre that will cast its gloomy sparks in the last period of the singer's artistic life.

As a matter of fact, this show had the desired effect of putting the band back on track, contributing to restore the image of The Doors, who, after a few well-attended concerts, returned to the recording studio in the fall of '69 (to record the LP "Morrison Hotel").

Here is the link to The Doors' appearance on “Critique”, with the mentioned songs and the interview.

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, uk, mx, ca, etc.

Here’s the link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”