The Doors Announce Expanded ‘Morrison Hotel’ Reissue
To celebrate the album’s 50th birthday, The Doors have announced a reissue of their 1970 record, Morrison Hotel, which comes jam-packed with a collection of studio outtakes, as well as new detailed sleevenotes, written by music journalist David Fricke.
The band’s fifth album was recorded between late 1969 and early 1970, and was released in February 1970. It proved one of their most commercially successful records with its blues-rock sound; getting to No 4 in the US Billboard chart, and No 12 in the UK. The album is divided into two halves, titled ‘Hardrock Cafe’ and ‘Morrison Hotel’. The front and back of the album sleeves show the band at both the locations in Los Angeles, in photos taken by Henry Diltz.
The anniversary edition includes a vinyl copy of the original album, as well as a remastered copy of the original LP on CD, and a bonus CD containing 19 studio outtakes, including the band performing covers of Barrett Strong’s R&B classic, Money (That’s What I Want) and B B King’s Rock Me, as well as their own rarity, I Will Never Be Untrue. Which makes for over an hour of additional material.
Fans will especially enjoy unheard recordings of Queen Of The Highway and Roadhouse Blues, which show how the songs evolved over multiple sessions, including how Roadhouse Blues featured different bass players across different takes, including Harvey Brooks, who played on the band’s fourth record, The Soft Parade, and Lonnie Mack.
Bruce Botnick, The Doors’ long-time engineer and mixer, says: There are many takes, different arrangements, false starts, and insightful studio conversations between the band – who were in the studio – and producer Paul Rothchild – who was in the control room. It’s like being a fly on the wall.” These formative sessions allow fans to transport themselves into the studio, to hear what Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek were working on, and how the record took shape.
An unreleased version of Peace Frog/Blue Sunday can be heard below:
The set is available to buy from Rhino from 9th October, and can be pre-ordered here.