The Doors ‘LA Woman’ 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Announced
The Doors are to release a 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their sixth album, LA Woman, on 3 December. The 3CD/1LP set includes the original album newly remastered by The Doors’ longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, two bonus discs of unreleased studio outtakes, and the stereo mix of the original album on 180-gram virgin vinyl. The set is available to pre-order here. The music will also be available from digital and streaming services the same day, as will a new Dolby Atmos mix of the original album by Botnick. The fabled original demo of Riders On The Storm, recently discovered on an unmarked reel in the band’s vault is available to hear now.
The Doors found their mojo (and Mr. Mojo Risin’) in November 1970 as they recorded LA Woman over six days at the Workshop, the band’s rehearsal space on Santa Monica Boulevard. A success both critically and commercially, the album was certified double-platinum and contains some of the band’s most enduring music, including the Top 20 hit “Love Her Madly,” “Riders On The Storm,” and the title track.
For this new collection, the original album has been expanded with more than two hours of unreleased recordings taken from the sessions for LA Woman, allowing the listener to experience the progression of each song as it developed in the studio. An early demo for Hyacinth House recorded at Robby Krieger’s home studio in 1969 is also included.
The outtakes feature Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, and Ray Manzarek working in the studio with two additional musicians. The first was rhythm guitarist Marc Benno, who worked with Leon Russell in The Asylum Choir. The other was bassist Jerry Scheff, who was a member of Elvis Presley’s TCB band.
In the studio, Botnick says the band took a more organic approach to recording instead of starting and stopping repeatedly to achieve technical perfection. “The previously unreleased reels here – serial takes of The Changeling, Love Her Madly, Riders On The Storm, and LA Woman – depict a band obsessed with groove while executing turns and flourishes with the precision of a well-drilled soul combo…The idea was to go from song to song, to let it flow.”
Among the outtakes of album tracks, you can also hear the band joyously ripping through the kinds of classic blues songs that Morrison once described as “original blues.” There are great takes of Junior Parker’s Mystery Train, John Lee Hooker’s Crawling King Snake, Big Joe Williams’ Baby Please Don’t Go, and Get Out Of My Life Woman, Lee Dorsey’s funky 1966 classic, written by his producer Allen Toussaint.
LA WOMAN: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION
CD Track Listing
Disc One: Original Stereo Mix Remastered
“The Changeling”
“Love Her Madly”
“Been Down So Long”
“Cars Hiss By My Window”
“L.A. Woman”
“L’America”
“Hyacinth House”
“Crawling King Snake”
“The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”
“Riders On The Storm”
Bonus Tracks
“Hyacinth House” – Demo
“Riders On The Storm” – Sunset Sound Version – Original Demo*
Disc Two: L.A. Woman Sessions, Part 1
“The Changeling” *
“Love Her Madly” *
“Riders On The Storm” *
“L.A. Woman” (Part 1) *
Disc Three: L.A. Woman Sessions, Part 2
“L.A. Woman” (Part 2) *
“She Smells So Nice” *
“Rock Me Baby” *
“Mr. Mojo Risin’” *
“Baby Please Don’t Go” *
“L.A. Woman” (Part 3) *
“Been Down So Long” *
“Get Out Of My Life Woman” *
“Crawling King Snake” *
“The Bastard Son Of Jimmy & Mama Reed (Cars Hiss By My Window)” *
“Been Down So Long” *
“Mystery Train” *
“The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)” *
LA WOMAN (ORIGINAL STEREO MIX REMASTERED)
LP Track Listing
Side One
“The Changeling”
“Love Her Madly”
“Been Down So Long”
“Cars Hiss By My Window”
“L.A. Woman”
Side Two
“L’America”
“Hyacinth House”
“Crawling King Snake”
“The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”
“Riders On The Storm”