L.A. Woman (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

I am really pumped for the 50th Anniversary of the L.A. Woman special collection. I own The Doors LA Woman: The Workshop Sessions (2012). This is a welcome extension to that release. 2021 is a big year for The Doors with a lot of new material coming out from Robby Kreiger’s first book and the complete writings of Jim Morrison. Unfortunately, it is also the anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death. There is a lot to celebrate. 1971 marked a turbulent time for Jim Morrison personally with his trouble with the law. Contractually the band owed Elektra Records one more record and boy did it payback in spades. For the next 50 years, “Love Her Madly,” “Riders On The Storm,” and “L.A. Woman” would grace the airwaves. Nobody knew at the time that this was their swan song. Maybe Jim Morrison had an inkling it was his last record but did not share that information with anybody including the band.

Rhino has done a brilliant job here. It reminds me of their Stooge’s release of Funhouse. I will get this collection just for the linear notes.

The Doors found their mojo (and Mr. Mojo Risin’) in November 1970 as they recorded L.A. 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.

To commemorate the album’s 50-year anniversary, Rhino keeps on risin’ with a 3-CD/1-LP set that will be available on December 3. L.A. WOMAN: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION 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 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. 

For this new collection, the original album has been expanded with more than two hours of unreleased recordings taken from the sessions for L.A. 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 record 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 ‘L.A. Woman’ – depicts 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.

In the collection’s extensive liner notes, veteran rock journalist David Fricke explores the whirlwind making of the album, which would be the last with Morrison, who died in Paris a few months after its release. “Morrison may never have come back to The Doors,” he writes. “But with his death, L.A. Woman became rebirth, achievement, and finale, all at once. It’s the blues too – original blues, as Morrison promised. Fifty years later, there is still nothing like it.”

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”

Tony Medeiros

About the Author

Tony Medeiros is the founder and publisher of Sandbox World. For more than 20 years, he has written about pop culture, books, comics, movies, television, music, gaming, and the nostalgic moments that continue to shape fandom. His goal is simple: help readers discover something worth talking about.