THE DOORS' "ROADHOUSE BLUES": STORY AND MUSIC OF A CLASSIC

 

During the recording of The Doors' fourth LP, The Soft Parade, which took place mostly in the first half of 1969, the group rehearsed at least three songs sung by keyboardist Ray Manzarek.

Notably, one of these songs was temporarily shelved but would later become one of the most popular tracks in the Californian band's discography: "Roadhouse Blues".

This first version of the song probably came about in the spring of '69, based on the famous, immediate and dusty riff played by guitarist Robby Krieger.

As mentioned above, this early version of 'Roadhouse Blues' temporarily featured Manzarek on lead vocals (link here).

The keyboardist's vocals were soon replaced by those of singer Jim Morrison, who was also responsible for the musical and conceptual inspiration behind this compelling song.

However, the vocal line laid down by Manzarek in the initial version of the song remains essentially unchanged in the subsequent developments we will describe.

Although the demo sung by the keyboardist does not reach the expressive heights achieved by Morrison, it still deserves our attention for offering an unusual perspective on one of The Doors' most acclaimed and widely listened-to songs.

It is clear that the song was practically finished by this time, in terms of both arrangement and performance. Furthermore, Manzarek was already singing the almost complete lyrics that Morrison had previously conceived.

Jim Morrison's absence on vocals should not come as a surprise. In fact, he was partly estranged from the rest of the band by early 1969 and the recording sessions of “The Soft Parade” LP, during which “Roadhouse Blues” was conceived, were one of the most tense periods in Morrison's relationship with the other three members of the Californian quartet.

Consequently, The Doors completed the “The Soft Parade” without finishing a definitive recording of the song.

A few months later, in September 1969, they performed a short section of it twice on stage.

During these two concerts, a fragment of “Roadhouse Blues” was sung amid the improvised digressions often inserted into other songs (on one of these occasions, the tune was "Back Door Man").

Fast forward a few months to November 1969 and we find the group in the midst of recording their fifth album: “Morrison Hotel”.

During these sessions, The Doors finally recorded the official version of “Roadhouse Blues” (link here) which was released in February 1970 as the opening track of “Morrison Hotel”.

Additionally, the song was chosen as the B-side of the single “You Make Me Real”. Released in March 1970, one month after the album, the single was a modest success, reaching number 50 in the US charts but failing to make an impact in the UK.

The official version of “Roadhouse Blues” belongs to the rock-blues genre, which was popular at the time.

It bears important similarities to another of the band's songs, “Love Me Two Times” (included on the excellent September 1967 LP “Strange Days”).

Indeed, there are several common elements between the two songs:

·       Rock-blues as a genre.

·       Being driven and paced by a memorable riff that does not yield to market trends.

·     A great electric guitar riff that opens both songs, only to be joined after a few bars by the electric bass and the drums.

·       The dominant drum rhythm is based on a technique called “shuffle”.

Although it does not possess the dark, passionate, psychedelic charm of "Love Me Two Times", "Roadhouse Blues" can be considered an evolution of it in terms of song structure.

Often dismissed as a "pub hymn", "Roadhouse Blues" is actually more complex and fascinating than many listeners might think.

The verse contains the full structure of a traditional blues: AAB (listen from min. 0:23 to min. 0:46, for example).

The chorus is also characterized by a classic blues structure (again AAB) and unfolds determining the musical effectiveness that the verse-chorus sequence thus constituted possesses in such an evident manner (listen from min. 1:19 to min. 1:36, for example).

This part of the song therefore consists of a verse followed by a chorus, both of which are blues themes. These two sections follow one another, combining variety and unity in just over a minute.

In addition to what has been described, there is also the middle section of the song, referred to in jargon as middle eight. This part is intended to introduce an additional element to the tune's structure, enriching and varying the verse-chorus pattern.

The middle-eight is quite long (listen from min. 2:10 to min. 3:07) and is divided into two parts.

The first features an original Morrison gimmick: rather than singing lyrics, he performs a rowdy and simplified version of a vocal technique known as 'scat'.

This technique was developed in the late 1920s in the jazz genre known as 'Swing' and popularized by Ella Fitzgerald in the 1930s and 1940s. It consists of substituting the lyrics with made-up, meaningless words and often simulates the sound and progression of solo instruments.

The second part of the middle eight restores the song's lyrics, albeit with a modified melody. Here, Morrison's deep, scratchy voice briefly takes the song on an adventurous journey through rock territory.

Finally, the song closes with a return to the verse-chorus sequence.

Although the construction of “Roadhouse Blues” is rather unusual, this does not detract from its overall immediacy.

This is thanks to the strong melodies in the different sections, which transform complexity into an extremely harmonious and engaging whole.

In this way, the large number of musical elements incorporated into the tune is concealed, revealing only a cohesive sound and style that immediately captivates the listener.

There are a few more notable features of the song that are worth mentioning.

Firstly, Morrison's voice is prolonged into space by a rather pronounced reverb.

This effect gives the song much of the vintage feel that the group was aiming for.

This intention is further evidenced by Ray Manzarek's use of a modified piano with small iron objects placed on the strings or hammers, known as "tack piano". The sound of this instrument is reminiscent of the old upright pianos used in honky-tonks and juke joints in the first half of the 20th century.

The electric bass, played by Lonnie Mack (a singer-songwriter dedicated to rock-blues who was hired as a session musician for this recording), is used almost constantly to repeat the riff established at the beginning by the guitar.

John Sebastian (formerly of The Lovin' Spoonful and a friend of The Doors) plays the harmonica, complementing the arrangement and enhancing its typical blues sound.

The final version of 'Roadhouse Blues' was first performed about a month before the release of the “Morrison Hotel” LP, on which it was included.

In fact, The Doors played a series of shows at the Felt Forum in New York City in January 1970. They opened with this rock-blues composition to enthusiastic cheers from the audience (here is the link to the second show of the first night).

To conclude this article, we'd like to take a brief look at the lyrics, which are certainly among Morrison's simplest and most amusing.

They recount some of the more transgressive and licentious facts about roadhouses, concluding with the wise advice to enjoy life while you can: “The future is uncertain and the end is always near!”.

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

Here’s a link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”