Anniversary Albums: Edition Ten - The Doors 'L.A. Woman'

Celebrating 45 years exactly today, this week’s anniversary album is The Doors 1971 masterpiece L.A. Woman.

L.A. Woman was the Los Angeles psychedelic rock groups 6th studio release, and the last full-length album to feature singer Jim Morrison. Morrison would die from an alleged heroin overdose three months after the albums release.

This album nearly did not happen, as leading up to the recording of it the band were blacklisted on the radio in the States, their record contract was at an end, and Morrison was facing charges of profanity and indecent exposure. 

Musically speaking, L.A. Woman continued down the blues rock path that pursued on the previous record Morrison Hotel.

This was a back to basics rock and roll sound, something a lot of acts at the time were pursuing as the flower power/psychedelic movement was wrapping up.

The band even hired bass player Jerry Scheff and rhythm guitarist Marc Benno to round out their sound. Gone were the long psychedelic pieces and in were more jam-based groove tracks such as Been Down So Long and Crawling King Snake.

So often the centrepiece of Doors records, Morrison’s song-writing still managed to have a chance to shine, despite an overall back to basic aesthetic where extended lyrical passages were not always welcome.

Two tracks in particular stood out in this regard, The W.A.S.P. Radio Texas, which is based on a poem Morrison wrote, and the seven minute epic Riders On The Storm, the last track the band would record together.

On its release, L.A. Woman was met with positive reviews with Rolling Stone in particular calling it the bands best album. Meanwhile, it made it to number nine in the States. However, the band never got the chance to tour the record as Morrison had moved to Paris where he passed away three months after its release.

L.A. Woman’s legacy holds up well all these years later, and it remains a fan favorite. The album as a whole is also highly regarded by critics, with many saying it represents a successful connection between the blues and the Doors mystifying psychedelic rock sound.

Author of the Complete Guide To The Music Of The Doors Peter K Hogan labelled the album a fitting swansong for Morrison, who was pleased to have finally recorded a blues-oriented album. 

- Sam 

Various Artists - Country Funk 1969-1975 (2012)

What is country funk? Well that is the first question I asked before I had even listened to a single track off this 2012 compilation. As a style label, country funk has been coined years later probably by the people who conceived this compilation, and musically speaking is meant to encompass a range of different styles including gospel, blues, county, and roots rock which many American artists in the late-60s and early-70s were experimenting with and blending together in their music. At this time, artistic experimentation in music was rife, with many artists mixing things up and crossing over into different musical territories, something you can certainly here on this album with elements of country, gospel and funk featuring within a single track. So although country funk is not exactly a precise stylistic term musically, and I would argue has been used more so as a selling point for this compilation, the term does a nice job of describing the types of musical merging’s that were taking place in the States during this period.

Aesthetically I would also say the music termed country funk is linked together by the fact that the songs which fall under this umbrella term as witnessed by the material on this compilation tend to have groove, boogie, and an underlying rawness about them. I would say it is music from the country but with the feel of the city. Spiritually I also think the themes of the songs are coming from a southern perspective, and you can certainly see that in some of the song titles on this album, with things like “Georgia Morning Dew”, “Lucas Was a Redneck” and “Bayou Country”. As for the artists that feature, well they are not big names by any stretch, something that I actually find a good thing and is one of the reasons I find these sorts of stylistically-based compilations quite intriguing, as I come to listen with no real pre-conception of the artists themselves and what sort of music they play. This in itself can often make the listening experience that much more enjoyable. With this in mind, just some of the standouts for me on this compilation included Johnny Adams “Georgia Morning Dew” which is a sort of slide guitar country blues, Bobby Charles “Street People” which has a Band feel to it, the playful kick of Larry Jon Wilson’s “Ohoopee River Bottomland”, the southern soul of Bobbie Gentry’s “He Made a Woman Out of Me”, and finally a storming blues cover of Dr John’s “Walk on Gilded Splinters” by Johnny Jenkins.

This compilation for me represents a melting pot of those Southern styles of music that were often mixed and moulded together into completely new sounds, sounds which came to dominate the music scene of the late 60s and into the 70s. Artists might have been country at heart, but were filling to throw in a funk rhythm or bass line, or they might have been a gospel singer but the country came calling. This sort of musical freedom reigned supreme for a slight moment in time there, and for a fleeting second was the norm in the music industry until the corporates of LA came calling and one had to be pigeon-holed into a box to be sold. It is hard to pin country funk down, let alone describe it, so perhaps in conclusion it is best to simply acknowledge country funk for what it represents, and that is music which is fun, playful, and experimental. So credit to the folks at Light in the Attic Records for releasing this neat little set, and I certainly look forward to hearing volume two “Country Funk 1967-1974” which itself has just been released. 

B+

- Sam 

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory (1970)

Released in 1970, Cosmo’s Factory Creedence Clearwater Revivals fifth studio album at first glance appears as somewhat of a greatest hits collection, with many of the bands most well known songs appearing on this album. But as an album it really is more than just a collection of hits and to me represents a journey through the music of America whether it be rock and roll, country, or roots rock. The array of styles on display on this album shows off the uniqueness of CCR and how their music is an eclectic blend of American music styles, something that in itself is significant considering that at the time many American acts were more influenced by the drugs they were taking than paying homage to the music of their homeland.

The songs on Cosmo’s Factory stick primarily to the heavily charged roots rock feel the band were famous for and are based largely around the traditional formula of guitar, bass, and drums. This means the ragged almost grungy-like lead guitar of John Fogerty, as well as the gigantic sound produced by the rhythm section of Doug Clifford on drums and Stu Cook on bass, two very underrated players I must say. Vocally, Fogerty is on fire throughout the album mixing up his delivery between that famous raucous Southern gravel of his on songs such as “Ramble Tamble”, and a slower but still hard edged vocal on songs such as the classic “Long as I Can See the Light”. It was this ability he had to move between faster and slower numbers but yet still retain that Southern feel to his voice that made him so distinct and recognisable as a singer, and ensured he became one of the most popular vocalists of the late-60s period.

Another feature that came to the fore on this album was Fogerty’s strength as a songwriter; something that I guess has been often overlooked. Just some of the subjects he touches on include a parade passing by on “Looking Out My Back Door” a supposed drug song that was actually written for his son, and gun proliferation in the US on “Run Through The Jungle” which in itself has been mistaken as an anti-Vietnam war anthem. In my opinion Fogerty’s calibre as a songwriter should not be ignored and is certainly worth a mention especially when you consider he wrote many of the anthemic songs of the 60s.

One minor criticism I have of this album is of the cover songs, which seem weaker in quality compared to the other very good original tracks. One of these covers includes the eleven minute meandering version of Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. Why the band did not put the single edit version of this song on here instead is beyond me as I feel they do a good job on this song. However eleven minutes is too long and the extended jamming that goes on, on the studio album version appears to me like a band going through the motions remembering also that this is a time when long endless jamming and solos began to seep into rock music sometimes to the point of absolute boredom for the listener. But this is only a minor irritant that is made up for by the outstanding original tracks which Fogerty serves up.

Cosmo’s Factory as an album is probably the archetypal, quintessential CCR album and to me best represents their unique take on traditional American music styles. It has also been viewed as arguably their best album critically and certainly their most successful commercially, topping the charts in six different countries. In conclusion then, if you are after something of CCRs other than a greatest hits compilation then this is the album for you. The well known songs are still there, but there are also a couple of lesser tracks which are just as good quality-wise to some of the hits in turn equalling a great early-seventies album.

A-

- Sam