The deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of The Doors‘ classic 1971 album L.A. Woman was released Friday.
The three-CD/one-LP collection features a newly remastered version of the album on one CD, and two CDs of unreleased studio outtakes, as well as a new stereo mix of the original album pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
Doors guitarist Robby Krieger tells ABC Audio that the deluxe reissue is “a good package,” noting that the unreleased material includes “some cool stuff…that you’ve never heard before.”
He says one standout tracks is an alternate version of “Riders on the Storm” that’s “almost better than the [original] one, but not quite.”
Some of the outtakes are cover tunes that The Doors recorded on one specific day that they devoted to blues material, because, according to Krieger, frontman Jim Morrison “was totally into the blues at that point.”
Robby recalls, “He kept saying, ‘Hey, when are we gonna do some blues? Come on. Blues, blues, blues.’ And then we said, ‘OK, Tuesday will be Blues Day.’ So, oh, he was so happy.”
Krieger remembers, however, that the notoriously unpredictable Morrison didn’t show up to the Tuesday session, “so Wednesday became Blues Day.”
The previously unreleased blues covers featured on the L.A. Woman box set include renditions of Junior Parker‘s “Mystery Train” and Big Joe Williams‘ “Baby Please Don’t Go.”
The unreleased bonus tracks also include multiple consecutive takes of four L.A. Woman songs — “The Changeling,” “Love Her Madly,” “Riders on the Storm” and the title track.
Doors drummer John Densmore tells ABC Audio that he thinks the L.A. Woman box set is the most interesting of the band’s deluxe reissues, noting that there’s “more little…behind-the-scenes things that make it really special.”
Here’s the track list of L.A. Woman reissue’s CDs:
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)”*
* = previously unreleased.
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