The following essay about songs by The Doors was written by Bob Lefsetz

The following essay about songs by The Doors was written by Bob Lefsetz, and is reprinted with his permission.

Because of the length of some of the individual song stories, this essay will be broken into sections.

Here is the sixteenth song he wrote about ........

THE DOORS TOP 16

16. L. A. Woman Do you have the original vinyl copy of this album? The one with the see-through yellow plastic? When this was released fans thought it was a joke. Morrison was dead. The band was past its prime. But reviews were ECSTATIC! It made no sense. Paul Rothchild refused to work with the act. One saw him as an integral ELEMENT! Hell, think of AC/DC and Def Leppard without Mutt Lange. A far cry from their heyday. They put out albums, and you HOPE they're good, but you find one or two tracks you KIND of like instead of being pummeled like you were with "Back In Black" or "Hysteria" or "Pyromania". Still, the sound on "L.A. Woman" WAS different. It wasn't as dark. Or maybe it was SEVENTIES dark instead of SIXTIES dark. In the sixties we were still figuring it out. We were OUTLAWS!

But in the seventies, the baby boomers OWNED the culture. This album didn't sound like you heard it via a long distance wire, it wasn't happening far away, it was RIGHT THERE, right with you in your city or town.

And maybe this is why it was played so much. You got the aforementioned "Riders On The Storm", the hit. And this. "L.A. Woman" wasn't an AM single. But it was UBIQUITOUS on FM. It fit the formula. For FM had excised the sixties darkness too. "L.A. Woman" was the bridge between the old and the new. Between the credible and corporate rock.

There was no excess, only meat. But, being progenitors, "L.A. Woman" sounded obvious, but not HACKNEYED! A fantastic intro. A more commercial "Living In The U.S.A." Ray Manzarek's keyboard launched a thousand Harleys. And Robbie Krieger's echoing lead put a smile on the faces of the ladies riding on the back of these bikes, gripping their old men. And Jim??? Jim was OVER THE TOP! Almost a CARICATURE of himself. By this time, Jim had a reputation for being hit and miss. Here he's walking a fine line. Between parody and pure white line fever belief. But as the eight minute track powers on, you start to BELIEVE HIM! While Ray pounds the piano in the break. When the whole NUMBER breaks down. You realize. This isn't the over the hill gang, this is PROS, ICONS, showing that what they throw off is STILL better than what all the IMPOSTORS are doing. As the years passed, "L.A. Woman" dropped off the playlists. Everywhere but in L.A. You see "L.A. Woman" is the City of Angels' ANTHEM! This is NOT "Born To Run". New Jersey's anthem about LEAVING the state.

No, "L.A. Woman" is a celebration of all the unique, bizarre qualities that draw people to Los Angeles, and KEEP them here! And that intro... Make no mistake. This is the blueprint for "Welcome To The Jungle". "Well, I just got into town about an hour ago Took a look around, see which way the wind blow Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows" Everybody comes looking for something.

Some, like W. Axl Rose, find it. And then somehow lose it. And find themselves STUCK HERE! With the cops in cars, the topless bars, the hills afire. Most New York acts are POSERS! Lou Reed is just a suburbanite. He didn't grow up in the underbelly. His roots are on LONG ISLAND! That leather jacket? It's about as honest as FONZIE'S! And Joey Ramone too. They all wore leather. But they weren't dangerous. And they weren't sex symbols. Jim Morrison was the REAL David Bowie. The one challenging the audience, the one wowing them, urging them to follow him like the Pied Piper.

But Morrison wasn't manipulative. He didn't do it only for the fame. You see Americans can't get away with that. Access is too easy. It's hard to create artifice. Jim topped out. Drank too much. Got fat. And died. There isn't much work left behind. But it all survives. It all gets airplay.

Whereas when was the last time you heard ANY George Harrison track?? Sure, you hear the Beatles. But the Doors get almost as much airplay. They're American icons. In a way Bruce Springsteen can only DREAM OF! Bruce has got great stories, a plethora of great backing musicians, but it's all done to EXCESS!

Whereas the Doors were to the point. They nailed it. Perfectly. Not every time, but compared with others their batting average was phenomenal. Still, you give them no respect.

But the people respect them. The people are keeping the Doors alive. Because there's not one SPRINGSTEEN song that gives you the rush of "L.A. Woman".

Oh, there are ones that have more lyrics, that are politically correct.

But then you've got Jim Morrison, who with one INFLECTION can say more than Bruce Springsteen does in five verses. Not that I don't love "Candy's Room". Or "Racing In The Street". But they won't be listening to Bruce fifty years from now. But when you go to the hockey game in 2054 those fucking Doors albums will still be spinning.

It might be a computer file. It might be beamed to a headset everybody in the arena wears.

But it'll still be that sparse meaningful sound. The sound of thinking people trying to lay down the human condition in that land of hopes and dreams, Los Angeles, California.

e-mail address: lefsetz@aol.com

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