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 sixth song he wrote about ........

THE DOORS  TOP 16

 6.  Roadhouse Blues 

"Morrison Hotel" was the first Doors album I didn't buy.

You see, after the first album sunk into the nation's consciousness, which took about a year, the Doors were COOL!

So, the follow-up, "Strange Days", was AUTOMATICALLY COOL!

Then the tide started to turn. People weren't so into "Waiting For The Sun".   Critics SLAGGED "The Soft Parade".   I liked both of them, the latter especially.   But the fact that the band was seen as a joke, and now it wasn't  even seen as a BAND, but Morrison's PLAYTHING...I didn't want the record in my collection.  I didn't want to be JUDGED!

Yes, we did this. The first thing you did when you went to a friend's house.   A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND'S HOUSE! Was to cruise the record collection.

And, "Roadhouse Blues" wasn't ubiquitous on FM radio, but they played it.

And KEPT playing it. Year after year.  To the point where when you were cruising on Friday or Saturday night in the mid-seventies and it came on, you were JACKED, JAZZED! 

"Brown Sugar" shined brightly, but then flamed out.

"Roadhouse Blues" lived on.

"Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Yeah, we're goin' to the roadhouse
Gonna have a real
Good time"

It seemed so SIMPLE! Just a good time ANTHEM!  Not that different from a ZZ Top track.  Hell, this was LIGHT YEARS from "The End".

But the more you heard it, the more you became enamored of its simplistic magic. The boogie groove. The soloing.  The air in the track. And the way Morrison SHOUTED the lyrics!

You might be alone in your car, but when "Roadhouse Blues" came on you were SURE Morrison was riding shotgun, imploring you to grip the wheel tighter, to watch the highway, for you didn't want to FUCK UP, you were in the initial steps of an ADVENTURE!

If you were ever a drinker.  Not a casual cocktail drinker, but a let's start at around two in the afternoon and see where it leads us drinker.  THEN you understand this song.

We're not common people.  We don't obey the rules of society.  We're gonna get high and see what happens.

And BELIEVE ME, something WILL HAPPEN!

For if it doesn't come find us, we're gonna rage around and CREATE IT!


Copyright Bob Lefsetz 2004

e-mail address: lefsetz@aol.com

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