"YOU MAKE ME REAL" BY THE DOORS: BIRTH AND EARLY CONCEPTION

 

Among the compositions conceived by the genius of Jim Morrison during The Doors' early years (summer 1965 – summer 1966), "You Make Me Real" is arguably the least ground-breaking and experimental.

Here, the singer's intuition emphasizes sonic immediacy and passionate desire, over the great originality and creativity evident in the other wonderful musical ideas he conceived during this period (namely almost all the tracks on the first two excellent LPs of the Californian group).

The track dates back to early 1966, when the small clubs where the band played served as unwitting rehearsal grounds for the creation of The Doors musical myth.

Overall, the tune can be categorized within the framework of British and American rhythm and blues from the first half of the 1960s. It was written relatively late compared to contemporary developments in the American and British music scenes. However, this limitation does not negatively affect the song's quality.

The first available version of the tune was recorded as a bootleg in May 1966 at the London Fog venue in Los Angeles (here's the link).

Here, the quartet launches into an aggressive ride with lively impetuosity, combining the incisiveness of groups like The Animals and Them with the rough sound typical of garage-rock.

At the beginning of the song, Morrison shouts into the microphone, inviting the sparse club crowd to dance. However, this comes across more as an angry threat than an invitation to actively participate in the music.

Then the music takes on an interesting structure, which is surprisingly inventive: verse - anticipation of the final part of the chorus (for example, from 0:24 to 0:28) – chorus – solo - repetition of the sequence just described - chorus.

Considering the precarious circumstances in which it was captured, the audio is quite satisfactory, and it brings the most remarkable feature of this live recording to the foreground: Densmore's drumming.

Throughout much of the composition, the drummer maintains a relentless rock beat, while providing a distinctive accompaniment in the verse.

This section of the composition features fast, steady, light strokes on the snare drum that increase in intensity at regular intervals, creating a recurring change in the rhythm's volume. This puts an innovative twist on a drum pattern usually associated with the surf rock genre.

The guitar riff played by Robby Krieger throughout the verse is also noteworthy (for example, from min. 0:00 to min. 0:23 and from min. 0:59 to min. 1:16).

This short guitar theme is fast, percussive and tight, thus confirming the deep Rhythm and Blues roots of the song.

'You Make Me Real' at the London Fog showcases Jim Morrison's voice, which is strengthened by Manzarek's backing vocals in the chorus.

Although the then 22-year-old frontman's voice is not yet fully mature, it is already capable of delivering the dark and fascinating vibes that would become a cornerstone of rock history.

His scratchy, deep screams are scattered with determined spontaneity throughout the song, recalling a classic vocal trick widely used by 1950s rhythm and blues singers.

Remarkably, Morrison had started singing just ten months earlier, from scratch and with no specific training.

The lyrics of “You Make Me Real” are a declaration of sentimental passion, focusing on the protagonist's overwhelming desire to be loved.

Breaking away from traditional romantic song stereotypes, the singer echoes the song's urgent rhythm with lines such as “Let me slide into your tender sunken sea” and “You make me throw away mistaken misery”.

Morrison portrays himself as unhappy and acknowledges the harmful nature of his situation. Desperately believing that the affection of a girl is the only way out of his suffering, he invokes a love that will make him “free” and “real”.

The tune remained in The Doors' live repertoire for much of 1966, fading out in 1967 in favor of tracks deemed more appropriate for the changing times.

'You Make Me Real' was revived by the band both live and on vinyl a few years after the London Fog performance. This will be discussed in the next article, to be released next week.

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, ca, etc.

Here’s the link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”