Izvajalec: Doors, The
Založba: Atlantic Records
Izid: 1978
Ocena: 4/5
In November 1978, seven years after Morrison’s death, the album An Amarican Prayer – Jim Morrison with Music by The Doors came out. It’s made up of old interviews, recited poetry and live recordings. The songs were carefully picked from tapes made in 1970, when Morrison recited his poetry to a group of friends on his birthday, plus recordings from Elektra’s studio two years earlier. The three remaining Doors members set about distilling the material and eventually managed to shape it into an album. Once the tracks were chosen, they went looking for music to match the poetry and even picked a few snippets from existing Doors songs. For its time, this mix of spoken poetry, music and sound effects was something completely new in the rock world. And when you listen to the album, it feels like Jim Morrison never really left us.
The album shows us the rock star in a different light. His magical words give us a peek into his private life, from childhood through his wild adolescence and right up to his untamed adulthood. It kicks off with “Awake” and moves into “Gost Song”, where he describes a car accident he went through as a kid. That’s supposedly when the soul of one of the dying Indians lying helpless by the road moved into him. “Newborn Awakening” tackles a similarly dark theme of death, and morphs into “To Come Of Age”, which starts to reveal Morrison’s teenage sexual adventures and hints at his philosophical awakening. In “Stoned Immaculate” he describes the agonizing confusion a kid goes through when stepping into puberty, while “The Movie” shows Morrison’s interest in both poetry and film. His thoughts center on how strong an influence film has on society today, and on how his own life resembles a movie, where he plays the double role of hero and loser.
“World On Fire” features a previously unreleased live version of “Roadhouse Blues”. This time we get a taste of the world of his stardom, as the final snippet shows crystal-clear the adoration and devotion of fans for a sex idol, with the crowd screaming at him to save them. But the sex-symbol role never really suited him, and he says so in “Lament”, since he felt it as a burden rather than a pleasure. Just as death was always rattling around in his head, so was murder. The fantasy of calling a friend from a phone booth and confessing that he’d killed someone he picked up on the road as a hitchhiker comes out in “The Hitchhiker”, accompanied by the melody of “Riders on The Storm”. The title track “American Prayer” is also worth a mention, a kind of summary of the whole album.
The essence of Jim Morrison is definitely captured on this album. It shows him as he really was, without his band The Doors. That’s exactly why it might not sit well with every Doors fan. But the devoted ones who know how to listen and soak it in will recognize his dedication and simplicity right here in this release.
Line-up
Jim Morrison: vocals
John Densmore: drums
Ray Manzarek: keyboards
Robbie Krieger: guitar
Production
The Doors
Track list
1. Awake
2. Ghost Song
3. Dawn’s Highway
4. Newborn Awakening
5. To Come Of Age
6. Black Polished Chrome
7. Latino Chrome
8. Angels And Sailors
9. Stoned Immaculate
10. The Movie
11. Curses, invocations
12. American Night
13. Roadhouse Blues
14. The World On Fire
15. Lament
16. The Hitchhiker
17. An American Prayer
18. Hour For Magic
19. Freedom Exists
20. A Feast Of Friends
21. Babilon Fading
22. Bird Of Prey
23. The Ghost Song
Album length: 46.00
