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Also
notable is their performance of "The End" which is a real rarity
among recorded live shows. I think three, maybe four, versions
exist. On this one, Morrison, who always loved to poetically
improvise, diverges from the song's published lyrics as heard
on the first Doors' album: "Come with me, across the sea" unexpectedly
jumping into the climactic "Come on, baby, take a chance with
us" in a menacing voice. Fragments of what would later become
the album 'An American Prayer' appear throughout this version.
"A vast radiant beach...". "Everything is broken up and dances...".
And his feverish call to the audience to "Wake Up!" which begins
"Celebration Of The Lizard". Jim called to the audience to "Wake
Up!" hundreds of times, taking his lead from playwright/performance
artist/revolutionary Antonin Artaud who wrote "They are asleep,
they do not know they are asleep and I want to awaken them from
their self-imposed lethargy". Jim's admonition was a cry to
take action towards a more conscious state of being. |
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THE
DOORS LIVE IN DETROIT
Every once in awhile, rather than performing the usual encore, if
the audience was really lucky, Jim Morrison would throw away the time
limits and perform until he couldn't stand up anymore. Jim had this
thing about limits - he liked them best broken. This performance at
Detroit's Cobo Arena was such a night. It easily contains the longest
Doors' set ever performed and extends about an hour over the standard
concert running time during this period.
It was performed when The Doors were working on 'L.A. Woman' in Los
Angeles. On the weekends -Friday, Saturday and Sunday- the band would
go out and play. 'Morrison Hotel', the album they released before
'L.A. Woman', was on the charts and the critics were hailing it as
a comeback. So the band was into playing songs from 'Morrison Hotel'
such as "Roadhouse Blues", "You Make Me Real" and "Ship Of Fools".
They were also returning to their musical roots. And in Detroit this
was quite evident. Starting with "Crossroads" through "Carol" and
into "Been Down So Long". And then onto "Been Away Baby", "Close To
You", "I'm A King Bee", "Rock Me Baby" and "Heartbreak Hotel" where,
on the latter tracks, they are joined by 'Morrison Hotel' "Roadhouse"
harp player and ex-Lovin Spoonful member John Sebastian on both harmonica
and guitar. The band, as you can hear, is clearly having a great time
indulging in their love of The Blues. |
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During
the concert, following the "Wake Up!" plea, Morrison exploded
into a fury of motion, climaxing with his collapse on the
stage as dozens of audience arms reached out in the attempt
to make contact with the man already becoming myth. Union
regulations demanded that the show end at Midnight but Morrison
pushed the envelope again. "Don't let them push us out!" he
declares and the show goes a hour overtime. And Cobo Arena
permanently bars The Doors from entering their doors again.
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