Doors Announce ‘L.A. Woman’ 50th-Anniversary Deluxe Edition
The Doors have announced a 50th-anniversary deluxe reissue of their sixth and final album to feature Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman.
The three-CD, one-LP set includes the original L.A. Woman newly remastered by the Doors' longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, two bonus discs containing more than two hours of unreleased session outtakes and a stereo mix of the album on 180-gram virgin vinyl.
The Doors are previewing the L.A. Woman 50th-anniversary deluxe edition with the original demo of "Riders on the Storm," which was recently discovered on an unmarked tape reel in the band's vault after being presumed lost for decades.
You can hear the "Riders on the Storm" demo below.
The Doors cut the "Riders on the Storm" demo with producer Paul A. Rothchild in the early days of their sessions at Sunset Sound studios. Rothchild found the piece less than stellar, calling it "cocktail music" and eventually bowing out of the record, leaving the Doors to coproduce L.A. Woman with Botnick.
"We were giving Paul a preview and he was bored. We played the songs very badly – with Jim – but there was no chi, no energy," keyboardist Ray Manzarek later reflected. "We didn’t want to be back in [Sunset Sound], and Paul couldn’t bring us back to life. In that instant he was right. As soon as he left the room, that's when L.A. Woman started."
Released on April 19, 1971, L.A. Woman reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200, sold more than 2 million copies and spawned the Top 20 hits "Love Her Madly" and "Riders on the Storm." The record continued the Doors’ return to their blues-rock roots and found Morrison at the top of his game as a singer and writer.
"We were going for a much rawer sound – the spontaneous Zen moment. Two weeks, man," Manzarek said. “The songs were all together. L.A. Woman just fucking exploded in the recording studio, with [bassist] Jerry Scheff and [guitarist] Marc Benno. God, did we capture it! We smoked a joint and locked in."
The Doors will release the L.A. Woman 50th-anniversary deluxe edition on Dec. 3. You can see the track listing below.
The Doors, 'L.A. Woman' 50th-Anniversary Deluxe Edition Track Listing
Disc One: Original Stereo Mix Remastered
1. “The Changeling”
2. “Love Her Madly”
3. “Been Down So Long”
4. “Cars Hiss By My Window”
5. “L.A. Woman”
6. “L’America”
7. “Hyacinth House”
8. “Crawling King Snake”
9. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”
10. “Riders On The Storm”
Bonus Tracks
11. “Hyacinth House” – Demo
12. “Riders On The Storm” – Sunset Sound Version - Original Demo*
Disc Two: 'L.A. Woman' Sessions, Part 1
1. “The Changeling” *
2. “Love Her Madly” *
3. “Riders On The Storm” *
4. “L.A. Woman” (Part 1) *
Disc Three: 'L.A. Woman' Sessions, Part 2
1. “L.A. Woman” (Part 2) *
2. “She Smells So Nice” *
3. “Rock Me Baby” *
4. “Mr. Mojo Risin’” *
5. “Baby Please Don’t Go” *
6. “L.A. Woman” (Part 3) *
7. “Been Down So Long” *
8. “Get Out Of My Life Woman” *
9. “Crawling King Snake” *
10. “The Bastard Son Of Jimmy & Mama Reed (Cars Hiss By My Window)” *
11. “Been Down So Long” *
12. “Mystery Train” *
13. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)” *
* Previously unreleased