Jim Morrison - acrylic on canvas with textured Sandtex ground 3’ x 4'- A.Swapp
There’s no evidence that the Doors were hip to the West Coast blues scene when they formed in the mid-60s out of an earlier band named Rick & the Ravens that Ray Manzarek had formed with his two brothers. But they were hip to popular Rhythm & Blues numbers like Richard Berry’s “Louie Louie” and Barrett Strong’s early Motown hit “Money”, both of which featured in their early set. By the time the Doors got a residency at the small and rundown Los Angeles club, The London Fog, (where they appeared on a bill with an “exotic dancer”) in the early months of 1966 they were digging a bit deeper, and the following year they made a strong blues statement by opening the second side of their debut album with a powerful version of Howlin’ Wolf’s terrifyingly masculine “Back Door Man”. The Doors had a gravitas that served the blues better than many of their rock contemporaries, and blues would remain part of their musical language throughout their existence.
by Dave Laing / Old Stuff
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