The Styrous® Viewfinder: Guy Webster

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July 3, 2024

20,000 vinyl LPs 367: The Doors ~ Light My Fire

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP back cover detail

Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey

back cover photo by Joel Brodsky

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

Today is the anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the The Doors. He was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. He died on July 3, 1971, at Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement, Paris, France.

On July 3, 1967, The Doors released the song Light My Fire in the U.S. Morrison indicated in his notebooks that he disliked this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which he had just a small part in writing.

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP front cover

Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey

cover photo by Guy Webster

photo of album cover by Styrous®

I love so many albums by The Doors but this is my favorite, perhaps because it was the first one I knew, you know what they say about first loves.

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP back cover

Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey

back cover photo by Joel Brodsky

photo of album cover by Styrous®

I have three favorite songs from it; Light My Fire of course, Back Door Man, a blues song written by American musician Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960, and the Alabama Song, written by Kurt Weill, sung by Lotte Lenya and made famous in the 1920's.

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP back cover detail

Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey

detail photo by Styrous®

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP side 1

photo by Styrous®

The Doors ~ The Doors

vinyl LP side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Break On Through (To The Other Side), words by, Music By – The Doors - 2:25
A2 - Soul Kitchen,Words By, Music By – The Doors - 3:30
A3 - The Crystal Ship, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A4 - Twentieth Century Fox, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:30
A5 - Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Words By Brecht*, Weill* - 3:15

Side 2:

A6 - Light My Fire, words, Music By – The Doors - 6:50
B1 - Back Door Man, Written-By – C. Burnett*, W. Dixon* - 3:30
B2 - I Looked At You, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:18
B3 - End Of The Night,Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:49
B4 - Take It As It Comes, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 2:13
B5 - The End, Words By, Music By – The Doors - 11:35

Companies, etc.

    Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – Δ9991
    Copyright © – Nipper Music
    Published By – Harms Co.

Credits:

    Art Direction, Design – William S. Harvey
    Directed By [Production Supervisor] – Jac Holzman
    Drums – John Densmore
    Engineer – Bruce Botnick
    Guitar – Robby Krieger
    Organ, Piano, Bass – Ray Manzarek
    Photography By [Back Cover] – Joel Brodsky
    Photography By [Front Cover] – Guy Webster
    Producer – Paul A. Rothchild
    Vocals – Jim Morrison

Notes:

Gold labels with no text to the left of the spindle hole. 2nd pressing with A-side label "(Weill-Brecht) Harms Co. (ASCAP)" publishing credit for Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar).

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Matrix / Runout (Side One & Two [stamped]): "MR" in a circle
    Rights Society: ASCAP
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A (M) Δ9991
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 1 - Side Two [etched]): EKS 74007B (M) Δ9991-X
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A (M) Δ9991
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 2 - Side Two [etched]): EKS-74007B-2 (MON) Δ9991-X
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 3 - Side One [etched]): EKS-74007A-2 (MON) Δ9991
    Matrix / Runout (Variant 3 - Side Two [etched]): EKS-74007B-2 (MON) Δ9991-X

Viewfinder links:

Willie Dixon

The Doors

Lotte Lenya

Ray Manzarek

Jim Morrison

Kurt Weill

Net links:

Groovy History ~ How Light My Fire Got The Doors Banned From Ed Sullivan

SongFacts ~ Light My Fire

YouTube links:

Side 1

Break On Through (To The Other Side)

Soul Kitchen

The Crystal Ship

Twentieth Century Fox

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) (live)

Side 2:

Light My Fire

Light My Fire (Ed Sullivan show) (1967)

Back Door Man

Back Door Man (live)

Back Door Man (live at the Bowl '68)

I Looked At You

End Of The Night

Take It As It Comes

The End (11 mins., 43 secs.)

The End (live at the Bowl '68) (15 mins., 34 secs.)

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, July 3, 2024

20,000 Vinyl LPs Archive
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March 5, 2024

Barry McGuire articles/mentions

mentions:

Dave Greenslade ~ The Pentateuch of the Cosmogony

Barry McGuire

photo by Guy Webster

Music People

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September 11, 2023

20,000 vinyl LPs 334: The Byrds ~ Turn! Turn! Turn, Oh, Susana

The Byrds ~ Turn! Turn! Turn!

vinyl LP front cover

cover photo by Guy Webster

cover design by Bob Cato

photo of album cover by Styrous®

September 11 is a day with many historical references, the most infamous being the disastrous incident in New York City, in 2001. But another event happened over a hundred and fifty years earlier in 1847. The Stephen Foster song, Oh! Susannah, was performed in public for the first time by a local quintet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I have always been intrigued by this song as a lot of the lyrics make no sense whatsoever! Samples: "It rain'd all night the day I left, The weather it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to death..." and so on. I remember as a kid thinking this was, "The cat's pajamas!" a phrase still in use at the time.

And the name, Susana, has always been a fascination for me. The rhythmic syllables, the bouncy feeling of the consonants and vowels dancing around each other and, of course, when pronouncing it in the Castilian/Catalan tounge, the sensuous pursing of the lips to produce the sound "Su" (link below). VERY erotic! From my childhood, the name has always had a middle-eastern sound to my ears; then in 2000 when I was on Cyprus, the distant call of the Iman electrified me to the core when I heard it clearly ringing out above the raucous cacophony of the busy city streets. This totally cemented it in my mind as a mysterious, sensual, powerful and wonderful name!

Anyway, I digress, back to the song itself! Foster was only 21 years old when he composed it in 1848. He later wrote, “the two fifty-dollar bills I received (for "Oh! Susanna") had the effect of starting me on my present vocation as a songwriter.” He wrote over two hundred songs, a lot of them dealing with the South although he only visited it once (link below). Oh! Susannah was a favorite of the ‘49ers during the California Gold Rush and others heading west during the mid-nineteenth century.

The first version of it I knew was featured in the film, The Jazz Singer, with Al Jolson singing in black face. In 1942, Looney Tunes had Elmer Fudd singing a totally wacked-out version of it for the war effort. Connie Francis covered it in 1961 on her Connie Sings Folksong Favorites album. The version The Byrds did in 1965 on their album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, is one of my all-time favorites. James Taylor did a really wonderful duet for guitar & vocal on his Sweet Baby James 1970 album (links below).

The cover design was by Bob Cato who also did a cover for Blood, Sweat & Tears, Simon & Garfunkel and the graphics for the sound track recording of the 1933 film, King Kong which starred Fay Wray.

The Byrds ~ Turn! Turn! Turn!

vinyl LP back cover

photo of album cover by Styrous®

In 1940 the United States Postal Service issued a 1¢ commemorative stamp in Foster's honor for the Famous American Composers series.

Stephen Foster 1¢ stamp - 1940
photo: Gwillhickers

There has been opposition to honors for him because of the racist aspect of the lyrics of his songs; but it was another era with different values.

Lyrics

I came from Alabama, ⁠ Wid my banjo on my knee, 

I'm gwyne to Louisiana,  ⁠My true love for to see;  

It rain'd all night the day I left,  ⁠The weather it was dry,

 The sun so hot I froze to death,  ⁠Susanna, don't you cry.

CHORUS.
⁠Oh! Susanna,  ⁠Oh don't you cry for me, ⁠

I've come from Alabama ⁠ Wid my banjo on my knee.

2
I jumped aboard de telegraph,  ⁠And trabbled down de riber,  

De lectric fluid magnified,  ⁠And killed five hundred nigger.  

De bullgine bust, de horse run off, ⁠ I realy thought I'd die; 

I shut my eyes to hold my breath,  ⁠Susanna, don't you cry. ⁠

Cho: Oh! Susanna &c.

3
I had a dream de odder night ⁠ When ebery ting was still, 

I thought I saw Susanna  ⁠A coming down de hill;  

The buck-wheat cake was in her mouth,  ⁠The tear was in her eye;

 Says I, "I'm coming from de south,  ⁠Susanna, don't you cry.

" ⁠Cho: Oh! Susanna &c.

4
I soon will be in New Orleans,  ⁠And den I'll look all round,  

And when I find Susanna, ⁠ I will fall upon de ground. 

And if I do not find her,  ⁠Dis darkie'l surely die,  

And when I'm dead and buried,  ⁠Susanna, don't you cry. ⁠

Cho: Oh! Susanna &c.

The Byrds ~ Turn! Turn! Turn!

vinyl LP side 1

photo by Styrous®

The Byrds ~ Turn! Turn! Turn!

vinyl LP side 2

photo by Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season),Adapted By, Music By – Pete Seeger - 3:34
A2 - It Won't Be Wrong, written by Gerst* - 1:58
A3 - Set You Free This Time - 2:49
A4 - Lay Down Your Weary Tune - 3:30
A5 - He Was A Friend Of Mine - 2:30

Side 2:

B1 - The World Turns All Around Her - 2:12
B2 - Satisfied Mind, written by J. Rhodes*, R. Hayes* - 2:21
B3 - If You're Gone - 2:45
B4 - The Times They Are A-Changin' - 2:17
B5 - Wait And See, written by D. Crosby* - 2:19
B6 - Oh! Susannah, arranged by J. McGuinn* - 3:00

Companies, etc.

    Printed By – Modern Album, Terre Haute, Indiana
    Published By – Melody Trails, Inc.
    Published By – Tickson Music Co.
    Published By – M. Witmark & Sons
    Published By – Peer International Corp.

Credits:

    Art Direction [Uncredited] – Bob Cato, John Berg
    Bass – Chris Hillman
    Drums – Mike Clark*
    Guitar, Leader – Jim McGuinn
    Liner Notes – Derek Taylor (2)
    Photography By [Cover Photo] – Guy Webster
    Producer – Terry Melcher
    Rhythm Guitar – Dave Crosby*
    Tambourine – Gene Clark
    Written-By – B. Dylan* (tracks: A4, B4), G. Clark* (tracks: A3, B1, B3), J. McGuinn* (tracks: A2, B5)

Notes:

Columbia Two-Eye Red label, "360 Sound Stereo" in white text.
NONBREAKABLE printed on labels.
Columbia Masterworks on label rim.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Label matrix, side A): XSM 112091
    Matrix / Runout (Label matrix, side B): XSM 112092
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side A, etched): XSM 112091 1D
    Matrix / Runout (Runout, side B, etched): XSM 112092 1C
    Matrix / Runout (Runout var 1, side A, etched): XSM 112091 1A O C
    Matrix / Runout (Runout var 1, side B, etched): XSM 112091 1B D O
    Rights Society (Tracks A1 to A3, A5 to B3, B5 and B6): BMI
    Rights Society (Tracks A4 and B4): ASCAP
    Other (Rear jacket fabricator identification): 3

The Byrds – Turn! Turn! Turn!
Label: Columbia – CS 9254
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: Dec 6, 1965
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Viewfinder links:

Blood, Sweat & Tears

The Byrds

Bob Cato

King Kong & Fay Wray

Postal stamps

Simon & Garfunkel

Net links:

Digital Music News ~

The Original Lyrics to ‘Oh Susanna’ Are Brutally Racist

YouTube links:

2nd South Carolina String Band ~ Oh! Susanna