The Doors - Other Voices, The Doors - Full Circle | Plain & Fancy (Rockasteria)

The Doors - Other Voices / Full Circle 

(1971-72 USA 2015 double disc remaster)

This European import CD contains both Doors' LPs Other Voices (1971) and Full Circle (1972). John Densmore (drums/vocals), Ray Manzarek (keyboards/bass pedals/vocals) and Robbie Krieger (guitar/vocals) anticipated having new material readied once Jim Morrison returned from his sabbatical in Paris, France. As his vocals would not be forthcoming, the remaining three-piece lineup forged ahead to complete the tracks. With stylistic continuity bleeding over from L.A. Woman, Other Voices is considered the most cohesive of the pair with primary entries including the blues-fueled opener "In the Eye of the Sun" and the esoteric love song "Ships w/ Sails." Listen for guest musicians Ray Neapolitan (electric bass), Willie Ruff (standup acoustic bass), and Francisco Aguabella's unmistakable conga and percussion. The Doors prove their capabilities as a no-nonsense rock & roll trio on the raucous "Tightrope Ride." Manzarek does a tremendous job on Krieger's humbling "Wandering Musician," exemplifying a versatility that was often overshadowed in the Doors' earlier configuration. 

Like the aforementioned "Tightrope Ride," the concluding cut "Hang on to Your Life" bears philosophical queries that could be rooted in Morrison's conspicuous absence. Other Voices made it into the Top 40 pop album charts, although Full Circle (1972) -- the last full-length effort from Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek -- did not. One reason commonly cited when contrasting the two post-Morrison platters is Full Circle' s comparatively shorter and less productive maturation process. There are a couple of excellent cuts, such as "Verdilac." It is one of two selections with guest Charles Lloyd (flute/tenor sax) who also contributes to "The Piano Bird." The latter was written by Manzarek and bassist Jack Conrad. One incidental side note, still unissued in the digital domain is the Full Circle era B-side title "Tree Trunk" -- which could only be found on U.K. editions of the "Get Up and Dance" 45 rpm. 

by Lindsay Planer

Tracks

Disc 1  Other Voices 1971 

1. In The Eye Of The Sun (Ray Manzarek) - 4:48

2. Variety Is The Spice Of Life - 2:50

3. Ships W/ Sails (Robby Krieger, John Densmore) - 7:38

4. Tightrope Ride (Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger) - 4:15

5. Down On The Farm - 4:15

6. I'm Horny, I'm Stoned - 3:55

7. Wandering Musician - 6:25

8. Hang On To Your Life (Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger) - 5:36

Songs 2,5,6,7 written by Robby Krieger

Disc 2  Full Circle 1972

1. Get Up And Dance (Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek) - 2:25

2. 4 Billion Souls - 3:18

3. Verdilac (Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek) - 5:40

4. Hardwood Floor - 3:38

5. Good Rockin' (Roy Brown) - 4:22

6. The Mosquito (John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek) - 5:16

7. The Piano Bird (Jack Conrad, John Densmore) - 5:50

8. It Slipped My Mind - 3:11

9. The Peking King And The New York Queen (Ray Manzarek) - 6:25

10.Treetrunk - 2:52

Songs 2,4,9,10 written by Robby Krieger

Bonus Track 10

The Doors

*Ray Manzarek - Vocals, Keyboards

*Robby Krieger - Vocals, Guitar

*John Densmore - Drums

With

Disc 1  Other Voices 1971

*Jack Conrad - Bass Guitar (Tracks 1,2,4)

*Jerry Scheff - Bass (Tracks 5,6,7) 

*Wolfgang Melz - Bass (Track 8) 

*Ray Neapolitan - Bass (Track 3) 

*Willie Ruff - Acoustic Bass (Track 3) 

*Francisco Aguabella – Percussion (Tracks 3,8) 

*Emil Richards - Marimba (Track 5)

Disc 2  Full Circle 1972

*Chico Batera – Percussion (Tracks 7,9) 

*Leland Sklar - Bass (Tracks 4,6,8)

*Jack Conrad - Bass (Tracks 2,5,7,9), Rhythm Guitar (Track 7) 

*Charles Larkey - Bass (Tracks 3,7) 

*Chris Ethridge - Bass (Track 1) 

*Venetta Fields - Vocals

*Clydie King - Vocals

*Melissa Mackay - Vocals

*Bobbye Hall – Percussion (Tracks 3,7,9)

*Charles Lloyd - Tenor Saxophone (Track 3), Flute (Track 7)

Now I should say I didn’t like either of these album and The Doors without Jim was hard work for me . . . . I felt Other Voices was disrespectful to Jim’s memory having been hit so hard by his death in Paris at such an early age . . . . the dream seemed over with Altamont and Charlie Manson’s ‘creepy crawl’ murderous gangs stalking the hills of America . . . . . did I buy them? 

Course I did! On Vinyl here when they came out but to be honest never liked Ray’s singing and the songwriting although featured Robbie who had let’s face it written some fine fine Doors hits (Touch Me, Two Times and Light My Fire!)

 they all seemed ersatz buy comparison . . . . . . I had to wait to hear American Prayer which I still enjoy and of corse it featured remixed Jimbo poems and so on . . . . .

5 MUSICIANS DAVID CROSBY HATED!

L.A.Woman - The Doors

5 MUSICIANS DAVID CROSBY HATED: 

In bleak times, the world needs heroes such as David Crosby.

I wasn’t going to share this but it is a good read and made me smile actually and despite his supposed ‘hatred’ of some bands, his comments about The Doors strikes me as solely about jealousy but maybe I would say that as a confirmed fan! His opinion about Manzarek is so far off mark it is merely ludicrous! The magnificence and ground breaking drummer in John Densmore fitting jazz licks into rock and the way they all fit together is a testament to a fine fine rock band with a poet of genuine creativity (ask Michael McClure!) as its figurehead. That Jim was a ‘juicer’ who could be an asshole is a given! But we understand the idiot savant that alcohol reveals. The same can be said of those chain smoking weed! 

 He did cop to his disgusting comments about Darryl Hannah and I guess the dope smoking make you as about opinionated as it possibly to get but he was undoubtedly a curmudgeon of stellar proportions and check him out on his release from prison to see how cool he was! That he posted one of the finest voices in rock music is a given and he didn’t have to work at it. Natural gifts make for arrogant egotists!

 "Despite his many flaws, you’d be hard-pressed to find any culturally significant figure who doesn’t have serious pitfalls; this internal dichotomy produces both triumph and the obstacles that make their victories resound even more.

A folk-rock pioneer famed for his work in The Byrds, CSN, and CSNY, there can be no doubt regarding Crosby’s talent as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. From the early moments of The Byrds to their psychedelic classic Fifth Dimension and on to the defining opus of the countercultural era, CSNY’s Déjà Vu, he resoundingly showed his genius on many occasions. Furthermore, his unwavering creativity would later be heard with the jazz-rock outfit CPR and his solo work.

Yet, Crosby’s character afforded his many consequential musical efforts a different dimension. A divisive figure unafraid to make his opinions known, he would be fired from The Byrds for voicing those thoughts and later have strained relationships with his CSNY bandmates, particularly Neil Young. Crosby burned that particular bridge after Crosby felt compelled to offensively criticise the Canadian’s wife, actor Daryl Hannah. 

Giving a taste of Crosby’s fire and his comical way with words, after things had reached boiling point with Young in 2021, he maintained: “Neil has got a genuine beef. I did say something bad about his girlfriend [Daryl Hannah]. I said I thought she was a predator. OK, he can be mad at me. That’s all right.”

If it wasn’t already clear, the late Californian was unafraid of making his opinions known. From interviews to Twitter – the latter encompassing taking down musical peers and judging fans’ joint rolling skills – he was a real one until the end. Even those he irked will certainly miss his impish character to some degree. Prone to providing challenging insight and pure comedy, bleak times such as the present are made that bit worse without figures as complex and perenially fascinating as he was.

Jim Morrison and The Doors had their fair share of detractors, many of whom were also key driving forces of the countercultural sound, including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick. Crosby was also a part of that set. 

When asked to discuss The Doors on Twitter in 2019, the moustachioed weed-smoker was bold in his argument and added to his original assertion in a 1998 interview that frontman Morrison was “obnoxious” and that “I didn’t like him.” This time, though, the Croz attacked the entire group. He said they “Basically sucked …guitar and drums pretty ok …keyboard was awful ..his bass with left hand was abysmal, horrible …square wheel bad.”

After two decades, The Doors frontman was due another volley. “Morrison was no effing good as a singer or poet,” Crosby said, believing him nothing but a “poser.”

In 1998, his band CPR released ‘Morrison’, the track based on The Door’s vocalist, who died aged 27 in 1971. It paints a sympathetic image of the ‘Lizard King’ and only adds to the complexity of Crosby’s character. “He was lost and I don’t think / He wanted it that way,” Crosby sings, indicating compassion for the musician he deemed “mad and lonely”. 

Of course, Crosby’s points about The Doors in 2019 attracted fury from their fans. In his classic style, when he was told he was wrong in his claims, he doubled down: “I’m not wrong …they sucked all the time.”

Another band with legions of critics are The Rolling Stones, one of the most successful outfits of all time and a vital part of the story of the 1960s. While Crosby’s views on Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ group somewhat softened as time wore on, back in the day, the American absolutely hated the Dartford outfit.

A proponent of peace and love right until the very end – despite his numerous critiques of others – it seems that the Laurel Canyon dweller was at spiritual odds with the British rabble of hellraisers and inferred that they were partially at fault for the dream dying. It was the horrific tragedy of 1969’s Altamont Free Concert, where The Rolling Stones hired the Hells Angels as security, leading to fatalities, that was Crosby’s primary source of contempt. Furthermore, the doomed festival is the moment many have pinpointed as the start of the hippie dream fading to black.

Crosby asserted: “I think the major mistake was taking what was essentially a party and turning it into an ego game and a star trip of The Rolling Stones, who… qualify in my book as snobs. I think they’re on a grotesque, negative ego trip, essentially, especially the two leaders.”

He would later comment that while there was range to The Rolling Stones’ music, The Beatles were much better, including at vocal harmonies, which Jagger, Richards and the band couldn’t do “for squat”.

As a lifelong hippie, it makes much sense that David Crosby hated the entire punk genre despite its profoundly countercultural essence and the old saying that hippies are, in fact, punks. Alas, no amount of images showing Johnny Rotten, Joe Strummer and other notable genre names with long hair would change his mind.

Asked for his thoughts on the genre on Twitter in 2017, he simply said “no”. Then, when another fan listed an array of truly great punk acts, including The Clash, The Stooges, Buzzcocks, Ramones and Descendants, Crosby wasn’t having it. He disregarded punk as “Pretty much all dumb stuff,” with “no musical value at all and mostly childish lyrics.”

Following this, one bold user attempted to outline how the childish lyrics were the point of The Ramones, but Crosby chose to stay on his hill. “Yes, but dumb”, he corresponded. Elsewhere, even the lyrical power of the “punk poet laureate” Patti Smith wasn’t enough for Crosby to change his mind. “Not my thing”, he said after being asked for his opinion on her.

Mike Love has been a controversial figure for a long time. Recently, he took The Beach Boys’ name on the road, much to the chagrin of their mastermind, true leader, his cousin and nemesis, Brian Wilson. Notably, in 2020, he was criticised for dragging the group’s reputation through the dirt when he played a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

As Crosby was a left-wing legend, in 2020, he was asked about Love using the band’s name without original members Wilson and Al Jardine. He replied: “Those aren’t the Beach Boys, and I doubt they voted. Mike Love is, in the opinion of almost every musician I know, a shithead, most assuredly has no talent at all, and, as you can probably tell… I just don’t like him”.

Kanye West is another detestable figure, recently seeing his cultural value plummet due to his anti-semitism and seemingly sympathetic view towards Hitler, in which he told rightwing pundit Alex Jones, “I see good things about Hitler.” He also wore the “White Lives Matter” t-shirt in Paris.

While West’s politics and personality are the source of much rightful anger, Crosby was already a naysayer, taking issues with his lack of ability years before public opinion swayed.

“Music ?.. He’s an idiot and a poser….has no talent at all,” Crosby said on Twitter in 2015. The following year, he remained unmoved, asserting on Andy Cohen’s chat show Watch What Happens Live: “He can neither sing, nor write, nor play.”

Delivering his knock-out blow, Crosby added: “Somebody needs to drive him over to Stevie Wonder’s house right now so he understands what a real one is. Secondly, they should send him all of Ray Charles’s catalogue so he can learn how to sing.”

Can’t disagree with his comments on West here, nor pro-Trump Mike Love come to that . . . it’s a view!

✍️ Arun Starkey

Upon his release . . . 

David Crosby ‘Long Time Gone’ Lowell Summer Music Series 6-14-18 Boarding House 

Park

Arrested on drugs and weapons charges . . . . .  Crosby look wrecked and no hippie this!

The Doors with the final word . . . . Riders on The Storm

TAYLOR HAWKINS tribute from THE DOORS

 THE DOORS

(John Densmore & Robbie Kreiger)

pay tribute to TAYLOR HAWKINS

when paying tribute to Ray Manzarek 2016

"LOVE ME TWO TIMES"