On Track
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The Doors remain one of the most original acts in the history of Rock and Roll. However, their actual music is sometimes overshadowed by the cult of Jim Morrison. Those with long memories will recall a point in the 80s when he went from lead singer of an old band to a signifier of cool known as ‘Morrison.’ His image appeared everywhere on t-shirts, posters, and in the film The Lost Boys, adorning a wall in Keifer Sutherland’s vampire cave. A biopic in the 1990s attempted something like realism but managed only to dramatize the legend of the ‘Lizard King’. Meanwhile, outside of a few high rotation tracks on ‘classic’ rock stations, most of their work took a back seat to Jim’s ever-growing status as a cultural icon.
This book dusts off the vinyl and puts on the headphones for a sustained reappraisal of the band’s musical career. Hidden gems, deep cuts, overrated top ten hits, and the enigmatic series of album closers are all subjected to late night interrogations. Let’s head to Venice Beach circa 1965, pick up a Fender bass organ on the way, take a face from the ancient gallery and walk on down the hall!
This book dusts off the vinyl and puts on the headphones for a sustained reappraisal of the band’s musical career. Hidden gems, deep cuts, overrated top ten hits, and the enigmatic series of album closers are all subjected to late night interrogations. Let’s head to Venice Beach circa 1965, pick up a Fender bass organ on the way, take a face from the ancient gallery and walk on down the hall!
Creedence Clearwater Revival were a San Francisco band of the 1960s that had nothing to do with Human Be Ins, Timothy Leary, or the Summer of Love. They were, for a time, the most popular band in the US but never scored a number one hit. They were headliners at Woodstock but didn’t appear in the film or on the soundtrack LP. They shared a radical ‘back to basics’ sensibility with The Band but were not embraced by the emerging rock press with anywhere near the same enthusiasm. When the punks were hunting dinosaur bands to extinction in 1977, Richard Hell covered one of their songs on his debut album. In the 1980s, as their songs became staples of ‘classic rock’ radio, they were revered by underground bands like The Gun Club, The Minutemen and The Scientists. As Butch said to Sundance, ‘Who are those guys?’
In this book, a track-by-track analysis of all the band’s recorded output, Tony Thompson rolls up the sleeves on his plaid shirt and prepares to answer the big questions. Who’s Jody? What is ‘chooglin’? Where is Green River? Why can’t the singer leave Lodi? Who was the fortunate son? Is the bathroom on the right?
In this book, a track-by-track analysis of all the band’s recorded output, Tony Thompson rolls up the sleeves on his plaid shirt and prepares to answer the big questions. Who’s Jody? What is ‘chooglin’? Where is Green River? Why can’t the singer leave Lodi? Who was the fortunate son? Is the bathroom on the right?