The 500 - #364 - L.A. Woman - The Doors

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 364

Album Title: L.A. Woman

Artist: The Doors

Genre: Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Jazz Rock, R&B

Recorded: The Doors Workshop Los, Angeles, California

Released: April, 1971

My age at release: 5

How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite Familiar

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Riders On The Storm

In September, 1981, I walked into my first high-school chemistry classroom. I didn't know much about the teacher, Mr. Roxborough, but I'd seen him in the halls. He was young-ish, with a mop of curly, reddish-brown hair. He had the look of a reformed hippie. It was as if he'd exchanged his fringe jacket for a lab coat. Begrudgingly, perhaps, he'd trimmed his hair just enough to land a job teaching teens about the reason sodium-hydroxide flares a bright white when combined with water.

At the front of his chemistry classroom, fastened to the trim above the chalkboard, was a red plastic, rectangular name plate. Embossed on it, in white block letters it read: 

MR. MOJO RISIN'. 

Like many of my friends, who were in the process of discovering 60's and 70's classic rock, I recognized the words right away. They were from the song L.A. Woman by The Doors. I'd also learned (no doubt through a conversation in the high school smoke pit) that this was an anagram of lead singer Jim Morrison's name.

Morrison digital art by Mel Bray

I regret not asking Mr. Roxborough about the reason for the name plate. It served to make him seem slightly cooler, clearly being a fan of The Doors. Unfortunately, that didn't help focus my attention enough to pass his course. I would repeat chemistry in the summer and learn first hand about the dangers of sodium hydroxide when pinched from the lab and tucked into the pocket of a pair of jeans on a humid, July afternoon. I still have the scar from that burn on my right hip.

The Album

L.A. Woman is album #364 on The 500. It is the sixth album by America band The Doors and the second of three records they have on the list. I wrote about Strange Days last August. 

Strange Days Album Cover

By the late 60s, The Doors had achieved commercially and critically success. However, Morrison's lifestyle had become increasingly reckless and worrisome. He was charged with lewd behaviour and public drunkenness after allegedly exposing himself on stage in Miami. He turned himself in months later, but the damage was done.

Morrison's arrest photographs, taken in September

The group was blacklisted from radio play and concert  promoters were also hesitant to book them. Producer Paul Rothchild, who had worked with The Doors on the previous five albums, left shortly after recording for L.A. Woman began. Rothchild cited frustration with both Morrison's frequent drunkenness and the sound of the band, which he disparagingly called "cocktail music". 

The group left Sunset Studios to record in their private rehearsal space on Santa Monica Boulevard. To compensate for the absence of an isolation booth, Morrisson sang in the doorway of the bathroom. The location is now a bookstore, but is marked with a historic plaque.

Plaque at 512 Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles

The resulting record, LA Woman, was released to critical acclaim and fans were excited by group's new direction. Sadly, it was be The Doors' final record featuring Morrisson. He died in Paris three months after the record's release, having moved there with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson, in order to improve his health. 

Morrisson and Courson a few months before his death.

The official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but many suspect it was a heroin overdose. He was 27.

 

Coincidentally, as I write this, it is the 50th anniversary of his premature demise. Perhaps, Mr. Roxborough raised a toast to Mr. Mojo.