5 FAMOUS DEATHS ON THE ROAD TO "STRANGE DAYS" (PART 1)

 

The Doors recorded their second LP, "Strange Days", from April to August 1967, with the exception of a studio session in February of that year. The magnificent resulting album was released on 25 September 1967.

The band's journey to record this album was punctuated by the deaths of several famous figures, which marked the ongoing progress of the studio recordings. This special circumstance brings with it some interesting surprises, which we will discover through the five episodes of this series of articles.

Work on "Strange Days" began with the death of J.B. Lenoir on 29 April 1967, aged 38. He was a blues musician who was active mainly in the 1950s, but he was rediscovered artistically during the blues revival in the second half of the 1960s in England and the United States.

He belonged to the subgenre of blues known as 'Chicago blues', characterized by an electric yet clean sound and rhythmic elements similar to Rhythm and Blues.

His lyrics were more politically engaged than average for the genre to which he belonged. Moreover, he is best known for the high pitch and velvety timbre of his voice.

Don’t be misled by his extravagant clothes; the bluesman's lyrics are bold and powerful in expressing social protests. In this respect, it is worth listening to "Vietnam Blues" (link here) and "Korea Blues" (link here), which are even more courageous given that they were sung by an African-American man in 1950s USA.

Virtually all of his work, including the two albums recorded in the 1960s, is a pleasure to listen to and of high quality.

Although The Doors never drew directly from his repertoire, the link between the Californian band and the blues remains strong. This bond is temporarily broken within the album "Strange Days" in favor of psychedelic rock. However, this connection still existed during concerts. In fact, the quartet continued to perform several blues songs at gigs played during the "Strange Days" recording sessions (spring–summer 1967).

Finally, here's a curiosity. Following his death in April 1967, J.B. Lenoir was explicitly commemorated in two songs written by John Mayall.

The first is "The Death of J. B. Lenoir" (link here) from the 1967 album "Crusade", recorded just a few days after the bluesman's death. The second is "I'm Gonna Fight For You J.B." (link here), which Mayall included on the live album "The Turning Point", recorded in New York in July 1969 and released in October of the same year.

P.S.: My book "The Doors Through Strange Days"- The most comprehensive journey ever made through The Doors' second LP, is available on Amazon.com, .uk, .mx, .it, etc.

Here’s a link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”