Published on Jan 8, 2001
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: The Doors are
either a band you love or hate. I’ve known this for some time, and
it has been re-affirmed as some people have discovered some of the
older reviews here on “The Daily Vault”. (And I thought Yes fans
were passionate…)
So it might worry some Doors fans to find out I’ll be the one
spewing opinion about
The Bright Midnight Sampler: 14 Songs / 8 Concerts, the
first in a series of live discs being released by the band online.
(Don’t look for this disc in the stores; it’s only available
through the Internet.) They may expect me to be dumping criticism
on Jim Morrison and company faster than Mother Nature can dump snow
on Chicago.
Sorry… save your flames for another day. I actually do like
this disc, and it does its purpose by making me want to hear more
of these nuggets found in the vaults when the band was doing
research for the 1997 box set. (Memo to Cary B.: yes, that’s a
subtle hint… if the band’s willing to have ’em reviewed, I’ll do
it.)
A wide variety of shows are presented here for the Doors fan in
your household, which were recorded between 1969 and 1970. If all
you know of The Doors are the songs they occasionally play on the
radio, expect this sampler to make you think about the versions you
know so well.
Take, for example, the 11-minute dive into “Light My Fire” –
which shows the flexibility of all the musicans (though I could
have lived without hearing guitarist Robby Krieger vamp on two bars
of “My Favorite Things” in his solo). While Morrison’s vocals
aren’t as wild as one might expect, he’s still passionate about
what he’s singing.
That passion gets carried away only one time – namely, on the
disc’s closer “The End” (taken from a show in Detroit). I’m the
first to admit that I don’t like Morrison the poet, and it sounds
to my ear that he’s given free reign to go full-loose gonzo with
the free-verse and the orgasmic screaming on this one. (It’s
interesting to note that the band seems to know when his
performances will rise and fall, and they’re able to throw fills in
at the appropriate times.) Admittedly, this is the kind of
illustration I refer to when I say you either like or hate the
Doors, and devotees of the band are invited to ignore my comments
on this track. (Chances are, once you’ve finished your hate e-mail,
you will indeed ignore them… and possibly the rest of the
review.)
By 1970, The Doors had become a tight musical act, which is
demonstrated in the three-song set of “Back Door Man,” “Love Hides”
and “Five To One” (all drawn from the same Pittsburgh concert). Why
these weren’t lumped into one track, I don’t know, since they all
blend together without any segues anyway… but it is kind of
fascinating to hear the band shift musical gears like they do in
these tracks. Morrison also proves himself to be a passionate blues
belter, as heard on “Been Down So Long” (taken from the same
Detroit concert as “The End”).
Even a track like “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar),” which I went on
the record saying I didn’t like on
The Doors, turns out to be more than passable on
The Bright Midnight Sampler. So there.
Not all the versions heard on this disc are sonically perfect;
only one, the medley of “Love Me Two Times/Baby Please Don’t Go/St.
James Infirmary,” is of less than stellar quality. (This is culled
from a concert in Bakersfield, and is listed as a “stage
recording”… is this the same as a bootleg, or does it just mean
it wasn’t taken from the soundboard?) Even so, it’s not a terrible
job, and it’s interesting to hear Morrison take a spin behind
material he didn’t pen.
The discovery of nearly 30 hours of mostly-unreleased material
should be enough to get any Doors fan’s mouth watering more than
Old Faithful at the moment of eruption.
The Bright Midnight Sampler is a disc which should
temporarily whet their appetite… at least until the discs all
come out. (Two other releases, including the entire Detroit show,
are presently available.) Even for someone like me, who has merely
dabbled in the Doors, this is an enjoyable way to pass an hour or
so.