L.A. Woman

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L.A. Woman
Studio album by The Doors
Released	April 1971
Recorded	December 1970 – January 1971 at The Doors Workshop, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Rock
Length	48:24
Label	Elektra
Producer	The Doors, Bruce Botnick, Joey Levins Adam McCabe
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (A−) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link Slant Magazine link
The Doors chronology
13 (1970) L.A. Woman (1971) Other Voices (1971)

L.A. Woman is the sixth and last studio album that the American rock band The Doors recorded with lead singer Jim Morrison, who died in July 1971. The album's style is arguably the most blues rock -oriented of the band's catalog. Following the departure of their record producer Paul A. Rothchild (who dismissed the group's differing style as "cocktail music") around November 1970, the Doors and engineer Bruce Botnick began production on the album at The Doors Workshop in Los Angeles. Most of the tracks were recorded live, except for a few overdubbed keyboard parts by Ray Manzarek. Session musicians Jerry Scheff and Marc Benno entered the studio in January 1971 to put some finishing touches. It is the only Jim Morrison-era studio album which The Doors did not follow up with a concert tour; Morrison had moved to Paris by the time it was released in April 1971 and died three months later on July 3, 1971.

Botnick produced and mixed a new 5.1 Surround version of the album, which was released on DVD-Audio, December 19, 2000. It was produced from the original 8 track analog 1" master tapes.^[1]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 362 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

A new version of the album, titled L.A. Woman (40th Anniversary Mixes) was released on March 27, 2007 on Rhino records. It contains two bonus tracks: "Orange County Suite" and the Willie Dixon-authored "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further". The latter track features Manzarek on vocals. The track "Orange County Suite" was not recorded with the other tracks on the album, the song is originally a Morrison solo vocal and piano recording with music later overdubbed by the surviving Doors.

Track listing

All songs written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore except where noted.

Side one

1. "The Changeling" – 4:21
2. "Love Her Madly" (Robby Krieger, The Doors) – 3:20
   • The 40th Anniversary Mix includes a longer fade-out making it 3:38.
3. "Been Down So Long" – 4:41
4. "Cars Hiss By My Window" – 4:12
   • The 40th Anniversary Mix includes an additional verse making it 4:58.
5. "L.A. Woman" – 7:49
   • The 40th Anniversary Mix includes the guitar intro "My Country Tis of Thee" making it 7:59

Side two

1. "L'America" – 4:37
2. "Hyacinth House" (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek) – 3:11
3. "Crawling King Snake" (Tony Hollins, Bernard Besman, John Lee Hooker) – 5:00
4. "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" – 4:16
5. "Riders on the Storm" – 7:09
   • The 40th Anniversary Mix has a shorter fadeout during the storm

40th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks

11. "Orange County Suite" – 5:45
12. "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further" (Willie Dixon) – 3:41

Personnel

The Doors

• Jim Morrison – vocals, Piano on Orange County Suite
• Robby Krieger – guitar
• Ray Manzarek – organ, Fender Rhodes piano bass, piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano
• John Densmore – drums

Additional personnel

• Marc Benno – rhythm guitar on tracks 3,4,5 and 8
• Jerry Scheff – bass

Production

• Bruce Botnick – producer, recording engineer, mastering, master tape preparation
• Bob McCloud Artisan Mastering – mastering
• Carl Cossick – design, concept
• Wendell Hamick – photography

References