The Styrous® Viewfinder: Ray Manzarek

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