Doors “L.A. Woman” released 50 years ago today, April 19th, 1971. Original LP with a clear embossed cellophane image of the band (the yellow behind is the paper album sleeve) and curved cardboard outer sleeve. Heavily blues-based (and a bit less crazed psychedelic lizard king), L.A. Woman was the Doors 6th and final album before Jim Morrison’s death on July 3rd, 1971. It went to #9 in the US and to #28 in the UK; it’s considered one of the Doors best albums and ranks among some of the best rock records ever. I love this critique: “It’s one of those early-‘70s records that comes off like a beleaguered hangover from the end of the ’60s” – all world-weary bluesy, tired but still a bit of a party left in them. The Doors released two singles from L.A. Woman – “Love Her Madly” which hit #11 in the US and “Riders on the Storm” which went to #14 in the US and #22 in the UK. Though most of the album is fairly straight-up classic blues, “Riders on the Storm” definitely veers into the aforementioned crazed psychedelic lizard king arena, with lots of German philosophy (supposedly it’s influenced by the writings of Martin Heidegger and Friedrich Nietzsche) and western cowboy serial killers. Though not a single, also iconic to the LP is the title track “L.A. Woman,” an epic (almost 8 minute long) party rocker that gave the world the line “Mr. Mojo Risin’” which is an anagram of Jim Morrison. From Wiki “After we recorded the song, he [Morrison] wrote “Mr. Mojo Rising” on a board and said, “Look at this.” He moves the letters around and it was an anagram for his name. I knew that mojo was a sexual term from the blues, and that gave me the idea to go slow and dark with the tempo. It also gave me the idea to slowly speed it up like an orgasm.” (drummer John Densmore).