THE DOORS : LIVE IN NEW YORK - FELT FORUM - JANUARY 17-18, 1970

 

Disc One : January 17, 1970 First Show (74:21)

  1. Start Of Show
  2. Roadhouse Blues
  3. Ship Of Fools
  4. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
  5. Tuning / Breather
  6. Peace Frog
  7. Blue Sunday
  8. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
  9. Back Door Man
  10. Love Hides
  11. Five To One
  12. Tuning/Breather
  13. Who Do You Love?
  14. Little Red Rooster
  15. Money (That's What I Want)
  16. Tuning / Breather
  17. Light My Fire
  18. More, More, More
  19. Soul Kitchen
  20. End Of Show

Disc Two : January 17, 1970 Second Show (72:48)

  1. Start Of Show
  2. Jim "How Ya Doing?"
  3. Roadhouse Blues
  4. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
  5. Ship Of Fools
  6. Crawling King Snake
  7. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
  8. Back Door Man
  9. Five To One
  10. Pretty Neat, Pretty Good
  11. Build Me A Woman
  12. Tuning / Breather
  13. Who Do You Love?
  14. Tuning/Breather
  15. Wild Child
  16. Cheering/Tuning
  17. When The Music's Over

Disc Three : January 17, 1970 Second Show (43:26)

  1. Tuning/Breather
  2. Light My Fire
  3. Hey, Mr. Light Man!
  4. Soul Kitchen
  5. Jim's Fish Joke
  6. The End
  7. End Of Show

Disc Four : January 18, 1970 First Show (79:29)

  1. Start Of Show
  2. Roadhouse Blues
  3. Ship Of Fools
  4. Break On Through (To The Other Side)
  5. Tuning / Breather
  6. Universal Mind
  7. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
  8. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
  9. Back Door Man
  10. Five To One
  11. Tuning/Breather
  12. Moonlight Drive
  13. Who Do You Love
  14. Calling Out For Songs
  15. Money
  16. Tuning / Breather
  17. Light My Fire
  18. More, More, More
  19. When The Music's Over
  20. Good Night / End Of Show

Disc Five : January 18, 1970 Second Show (60:35)

  1. Start Of Show
  2. Roadhouse Blues
  3. Peace Frog
  4. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
  5. Back Door Man
  6. Five To One
  7. We Have A Special Treat
  8. Celebration Of The Lizard
  9. Alright, Let's Boogie
  10. Build Me A Woman
  11. When The Music's Over
  12. More, More, More

Disc Six : January 18, 1970 Second Show (70:18)

  1. Soul Kitchen
  2. For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic
  3. Petition The Lord With Prayer
  4. Light My Fire
  5. Only When The Moon Comes Out
  6. Close To You
  7. The Encore Begins
  8. Rock Me
  9. What To Do Next?
  10. Going To N.Y. Blues
  11. Tuning/Breather
  12. Maggie M'Gill
  13. Tuning / Breather
  14. Gloria / End Of Show

Label : Rhino Records

Venue : Felt Forum, New York City, New York, USA

Recording Date : January 17-18, 1970

Release Date : 2009

Review (Classic Rock Review) : The Doors, well known for releasing the same material over and over again in a new package (hello original six albums), have done much to atone for those sins since 2000. That year, they set up Bright Midnight Records, which was dedicated to releasing uncut, un-doctored live material from the band’s archives…the same archives they claimed were barer than die-hard fans knew. They’ve released some very excellent product, including most of the material recorded for Absolutely Live. This includes full, uncut and professionally recorded shows from Detroit, LA, Philadelphia, and other locales. They haven’t released as many shows as originally envisioned, but what they have put out has been reverent. The only real hiccup along the way was the Matrix release from 2009, which was a great opportunity to finally provide an official outlet for well known bootleg material (the four Matrix shows over two days in early 1967). Finally, finally, they deliver what fans have been clamoring for, especially since Bright Midnight was established: all four Felt Forum shows in their entirety, uncut, and (for the most part) un-doctored. We get six CDs, and only a little bit of this was ever officially released before; bits were included in Absolutely Live/In Concert, and the 1997 box set had a single disc that cherry-picked tracks from the four shows. This release, another highly recommended gem, just about rounds out the Absolutely Live material. In January, 1970, The Doors played four shows over two consecutive nights at New York’s Felt Forum, the smaller concert venue under the main Madison Square Garden arena. (They played the main arena in January 1969, but for their new tour, post-Miami, they opted for the superior acoustics and intimacy of the Felt.) Both nights they played an early and a late show, and packed a lot of material into each. Not only were these shows recorded in their entirety, but they sound (for the most part) like great shows. While Absolutely Live and other older Doors live material were the product of Paul Rothchild’s great talents as a producer, splicing together numerous takes of a single song to create the best-sounding concert album experience, the Bright Midnight releases revel in what fanatics and the bootleg-obsessed have always been interested in: complete, un-doctored shows. The good news is that the band and particularly Bruce Botnick (original Doors sound engineer) are very open with exactly what was done with the source tapes. Since those tapes were cut up for previous releases, there are gone-forever snippets here and there, and they went through a painstaking process to review the two-track live tapes versus the eight-track masters in order to determine exactly what was missing. In those cases, they swapped in parts of another 1970 show that fit the mood. You would be pretty hard pressed to identify these snippets in your ears, the work is seamless. The biggest manipulation here is actually the overdubs done by John Sebastian, who joined the Doors on stage for one of the shows but whose harmonica was not picked up by the mic. I believe the ‘bare’ tracks will be released online, so fans can get both. Many will note the differences between the early and late shows on each night. Typically, the later shows are longer and a bit more revved up, including longer jams and more improv. However, having four professionally recorded shows is a major bonanza. Once again, all of the in-between tuning, crowd noise, and chatter is included (tracks are titled ‘Tuning / Breather’, for instance). Yes, these tend to break up the momentum, and we now realize that bootleggers were regularly trimming these breaks to death in order to fit shows on a record or CD, but they reflect how the band performed. You’d be much harder pressed to see a band today that took a long breather between songs, and indeed, The Doors famously never agreed on a set list before each show, but rather let the vibe and the audience dictate where they would go. This was the band getting back to just the music, and returning to the blues work that defined their earlier club days. They also play several tracks from the not-yet-released Morrison Hotel. Despite the glut of recent quality releases, Doors fanatics know that there is a good chunk of material still out there, ripe for the official outlet. This includes a number of professionally recorded or broadcast shows, including Seattle, 1970 (by many accounts a poor show with a very drunk and distant Morrison), Vancouver 1970 (significantly better), and the Isle of Wight performance, a crisp, broadcast version having been available on bootleg for over a decade. And there’s plenty more if they want to get back into releasing audience stuff (the Boot Yer Butt box, while expensive, had some very, very rare material, though some of it was in horrendous quality). Highly, highly recommended for the Doors fan. New fans, too…if you want a great intro to the live Doors, and a lot of value, this set is a great boon. Note the cover of the box, which reproduces an actual ticket from these shows, and the $5.50 price of an orchestra ticket. You can still go to the Felt Forum today (which has since gone through about 100 name changes), but for $5.50 you might only be able to get a box of Cracker Jacks.

Review (Pop Dose) : Earlier this week, I posted an item to Twitter (sorry, I refuse to use the word ‘tweeted’ in regard to any action I’ve ever taken) saying that I was listening to Rhino’s latest box set, The Doors: Live in New York. The response I got was immediate, negative in tone, and came from two colleagues who know a little something about music. One took a shot at Jim Morrison, the other at drummer John Densmore. The subject of the Doors has always been, and apparently still is, a provocative one. Battle lines are drawn. Feelings are strong on both sides. In the end, the fact that a simple mention of the band evokes such reaction, 40 years after the fact, is itself commentary on the band’s legacy. Madison Square Garden opened in 1968, the fourth building in New York City to bear that name. In addition to the world famous arena, home to the New York Knicks, and New York Rangers, and the site of many legendary concerts, the complex includes what was then called the Felt Forum. The theater, which can seat up to 5,600 people for concerts, was named after then-Garden president Irving Felt. On January 17 and 18, 1970, the Doors showed up to play four shows, two a night, at the Felt Forum. In 1969, they were one of the first rock bands to play Madison Square Garden itself, but opted to play the smaller Forum the next time around in order to recapture the intimacy with the audience that had characterized their early career, and to take advantage of the superior acoustics that the Felt Forum offered. It was just a few weeks before their album Morrison Hotel would be released. The first thing you notice is how good these recordings sound. All of the shows were mixed and mastered by the Doors long-time engineer, Bruce Botnick, who recorded a number of shows on the 1970 tour. Most of the music spread out over the six sprawling discs that make up the set has never been released, but a few of the tracks did surface on Absolutely Live in 1970, and on the Doors Box Set in 1997. These days a major band will rarely do two shows in one night, but it was more common in 1970. Most people at the time suspected that the late show would always be better. After all, set length for the second show was not limited by the need to change the house over for another show, plus the band had more time to become inspired, if you get my drift. The Doors: Live In New York proves that those suspicions were valid, if only for this band, at these shows. Take the first two shows of the run on January 17 as an example. The first show is good, but pedestrian. None of the band’s classic lengthy jams are included in the set list. The second show that night was a different story. Morrison and his audience are clearer more into it. The set is longer, and we get extended versions of both “When the Music’s Over,” during which Morrison gets a little belligerent with a somewhat overenthusiastic audience, and “The End,” which opens with ringing bells and the haunting specter of Morrison shouting “bring out your dead” again and again. The same thing happens the next night. The first show of the evening is once again good, but somewhat tamer. The second show is not only much longer, with more intensity from the band and the audience, there are special guest appearances as well. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian sits in with the Doors for several songs. A little rock trivia note for you; it was Sebastian who played harmonica on the studio version of “Roadhouse Blues.” Also guesting that night was drummer Dallas Taylor, best known for playing with Crosby, Stills & Nash. There’s also a stunning, maddening version of the rarely performed “Celebration of the Lizard.” From that second show, here is an absolutely savage version of “Back Door Man,” which segues beautifully into an equally intense version of my favorite Doors song, “Five to One.” Note the outstanding guitar work from Robbie Krieger on these two tracks. He and organist Ray Manzarek are brilliant throughout these shows. The Doors dip into the not yet released Morrison Hotel album, opening each of the four shows with “Roadhouse Blues,” and “Ship of Fools,” “Peace Frog,” and “Maggie M’Gill” each make one or more appearances. The band also taps their classic, self-titled debut album for “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” “Soul Kitchen,” and of course their first #1 hit “Light My Fire.” Blues covers abound, including Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Little Red Rooster,” and John Lee Hooker’s “Crawling King Snake.” In the interest of presenting complete shows, we also get a number of breaks that are labeled as “Tuning/Breather.” While I recognize the need for tuning, the inclusion of the breaks on these recordings tends to break the momentum of the shows more than anything else. Apparently Botnick and the surviving Doors agreed on the importance of having complete shows, and the purists will be pleased. I could have done with less tuning, and more playing. Live In New York being a Rhino release, it goes without saying that the packaging is first rate. The small hardcover book that accompanies the discs features essays by James Henke, Chief Curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, producer and engineer Bruce Botnick, and Elektra Records Founder and Chairman Jac Holzman. If you are a Doors fan, I’m afraid you’re going to have to dig deep and get this one. Essential is the only word to describe it. If you’re merely curious as to what all the fuss about the Doors was, there are less expensive ways to get into the band, but none of them capture the band’s live magic, and Morrison’s massive appeal, better than this set. One last note: the cover of the box is a reproduction of a ticket from the Felt Forum shows. The price of an orchestra seat? $5.50. That wouldn’t even begin to cover what you pay in Ticketmaster fees for a ticket these days.