The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26th and 31st August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of its time, greater than the attendance of Woodstock. Although estimates vary, the Guinness Book of Records estimated 600,000, possibly 700,000 people attended. It was organised and promoted by local brothers, Ronnie, Ray and Bill Foulk. Ron Smith was site manager and Rikki Farr acted as compere.
The preceding Isle of Wight Festivals, also promoted by the Foulks, had already gained a good reputation in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, T. Rex, The Move, Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, The Who and Bob Dylan in his first performance since his 1966 Motorcycle Accident.
The 1970 version, following Woodstock in the previous year, set out to move one step forward and enlisted Jimi Hendrix. With Hendrix confirmed, artists such as Chicago, The Doors, The Who, Miles Davis, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Sly & the Family Stone, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Free willingly took up the chance to play there. The event had a magnificent but impractical site, since the prevailing wind blew the sound sideways across the venue, and the sound system had to be augmented by Pink Floyd’s PA. There was a strong, but inconsistent line up, and the logistical nightmare of transporting 600,000 people onto an island with a population of less than 100,000.
Political and logistical difficulties resulted in the organisers eventually realising that the festival would not make a profit and declaring it to be “a free festival”, although the majority of the audience had paid for tickets in advance, and the event was filmed contemporaneously. However, at the time, the commercial failings of the festival ensured it would be the last event of its kind on the Isle of Wight for thirty-two years.
Jim Morrison (December 8th,1943 – July 3rd,1971)
Today we remeber the singer of the legendary The Doors, the brilliant rock poet and the “Lizard King”. Left us on this day (July 3rd) in 1971: Jim Morrison (heart failure due to acute respiratory distress, age 27), best remembered as the legendary & influential lead singer & lyricist for iconic Los Angeles psych-rock band, The Doors; he was well known for his deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang & intoned his highly poetic lyrics, often improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live; due to his wild personality & performances, he is regarded by critics & fans as one of rock’s most charismatic & pioneering frontmen; in life & in death, he exemplied all that is both great & excessive about the art form; the disturbing, image-rich poeticism of his lyrics, supported by the band’s swirling psychedelia, have assured him continuing icon status, while his theatrical shock tactics & nihilistic angst influenced countless imitators; Rolling Stone ranked Jim #47 on their list of ‘The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time’ & he place #22 on ‘Classic Rock’ magazine’s ’50 Greatest Singers In Rock’; The Doors were inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame in 1993…
“Roadhouse Blues” is a rock song written and recorded by the American rock band The Doors. The song, which appeared along with the B-side of “You Make Me Real”, was first released as a single from the album Morrison Hotel in March 1970 and peaked at number 50 on the U.S. Billboard chart, The song quickly became a concert staple for the group, a live version appearing later on the posthumous album An American Prayer and that same version, which has been called “probably one of the best live performances of any song”,again on In Concert and Greatest Hits. During this version, Jim Morrison talks for a short while to a female audience member about his Zodiac sign and, with a sudden, ironic twist that causes the audience to erupt in laughter, denounces his beliefs in it. The song was also featured twice in the movie The Doors; the studio version in the film, and the aforementioned live version over the end credits. The line “Woke up this morning and I got myself a beer” was inspired by Alice Cooper as stated on his Planet Rock morning show.
The song took two days to record in November 4th and 5th, 1969) with the producer Paul A. Rothchild striving for perfection. Several takes from these sessions were included on the new 2006 remastered album. Surprisingly, he does not comment on Morrison, who is apparently intoxicated, “going into full blues singer mode” in the words of engineer Bruce Botnick, improvising and simultaneously fluffing several lyrics and repeating the blues phrase “Money beats soul every time”. The phrase can be found on the WhenYou’re Strange: Music from the Motion Picture soundtrack, with the next track being a live version of “Roadhouse Blues”.
The sessions only took off on the second day, when resident Elektra guitarist Lonnie Mack joined in on bass and harmonicist John Sebastian (appearing under the pseudonym G. Puglese out of loyalty to his recording contract or to avoid affiliation with The Doors after the Miami controversy joined in on the sessions and Ray Manzarek switched from his Wurlitzer electric piano to a tack piano the same used on The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” A studio version of the song with John Lee Hooker sharing vocals with Jim can be found on the Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors album.
A long-standing misconception states that Lonnie Mack contributed the guitar solo on the track in addition to bass guitar, despite only being credited for the latter. In actuality, guitarist Robbie Krieger is responsible for all guitar parts on “Roadhouse Blues” and Mack’s contribution is limited to bass guitar; Jim Morrison shouts “Do it, Robby, do it!” where the single vocal track can be separated from other instruments, at the start of the guitar solo. The solo on record is representative of Robbie Krieger’s finger style playing and is identical to all his Roadhouse Blues solos played in the previous sessions the day before on 5th November 1969. Subsequent interviews with members of The Doors and Paul A. Rothchild confirm this.
The complete song was fully composed and rehearsed before Lonnie Mack was invited to play bass on Roadhouse Blues and Maggie M’Gill (Ray Neapolitan, regular bass player during Morrison Hotel sessions, couldn’t arrive on time that day due to a traffic jam). Drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Krieger provided additional details about the Roadhouse Blues sessions which are quoted here:
According to the book, Light My Fire by Ray Manzarek, a bandmate of Morrison’s, the song refers to Morrison’s waking after an alleged three weeks of drug-induced sleep and the actual lyric sung is “woke up this morning and I got myself a beard”.
Here is a live video from London based psych-rockers Saint Agnes, one of four tracks from their forthcoming EP “Live Under London”, due March 5th on Energy Snake records. This track is a cover of The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”, and rolls along in true delta fashion before exploding into a Dead Weather-esque breakdown. Building on two successful singles and a host of major blog and radio support in 2014, Saint Agnes are set to make this year their own.
“Morrison Hotel” (sometimes referred to as Hard Rock Café from the title of the first side of the LP, with the second side titled “Morrison Hotel” is the fifth studio album by the American psychedelic rock band The Doors, recorded from between August 1966 and November 1969 and released by Elektra in February 1970. The group went back to basics and back to their roots. On this album, there is a slight steer towards the blues sound, which would be fully explored by the band on their next album, “L.A. Woman“.
Between Jim’ Morrison’s, tour-killing obscenity charge (stemming from a Miami concert where he may or may not have exposed himself on stage), declining sales, and the negative reviews given to their previous two albums, many people gave up on The Doors. but “Morrison Hotel” , with its tougher, back-to-basics sound, reestablished them as America’s greatest rock & roll band. It became a Top 5 album, but it’s only single, “You Make Me Real,” didn’t even make the Top 40. Still, “Roadhouse Blues” (the single’s b-side), “Peace Frog,” and “Waiting For The Sun” have since become some of The Doors’ best-known songs.
The cover photo was taken at the actual Morrison Hotel located at 1246 South Hope Street in Los Angeles. The band asked the owners if they could photograph the hotel and they declined, so the band went inside when nobody was looking and took the photograph anyway. The desk Clerk wouldn’t let the Doors shoot their cover shot in the Lobby, but when he stepped out for his break photographer Henry Diltz stayed outside the hotel, snapping away while the band rushed inside and gathered behind the hotel’s now famous window. The rear cover features a photograph of the Hard Rock Café on 300 East 5th Street, Los Angeles. The founders of the later and otherwise unrelated Hard Rock Cafechain used the name, having seen it on the Doors’ album. The original cafe is no longer open. After they wrapped up their hit-and-run cover shoot, The Doors hit LA’s skid row to grab a drink. They settled in to a dive called the Hard Rock Café, where Diltz took the photo for the album’s back cover. After the album came out, two guys called to ask if they could use the name of the bar for a new restaurant they were opening in London, paving the way for hundreds of restaurants, hotels and casinos. When it was originally released on vinyl, side one of Morrison Hotel was labeled Hard Rock Cafe. Side two was Morrison Hotel.
One of Morrison Hotel’s most revered cuts was actually supposed to be the title track to an earlier album. “The artwork was done, but the song wasn’t ready,” said keyboardist Ray Manzarek. It took a year, but they finally got “Waiting For The Sun” right.
You’d think having your hotel on the cover of a seminal rock album would inspire you to fix up the place and raise the rent, but the owners of the Morrison were among LA’s most notorious slum-lords. By the time the hotel was shut down, they’d been convicted on 21 counts of violating fire, safety and health codes, with the city citing vermin infestations, broken heaters, lead poisoning, and raw sewage leaks among the offenses.
Even though no major hit singles were drawn from the album, “Morrison Hotel” re-established the Doors as favorites of the critics, peaking at No. 4 on the US album chart. The album also became the band’s highest charting studio album in the UK,
For the 40th anniversary the album was re-released in completely remixed and remastered form. This practice extended to incorporating vocal and instrumental components which were not part of the original album. According to Ray Manzarek, “There are background vocals by Jim Morrison, piano parts of mine that weren’t used and guitar stingers and solos by Robby Krieger that never made the original recordings that can now be heard for the first time.
Lonnie Mack, who plays bass on “Roadhouse Blues” was better known as a top-shelf blues guitarist. In fact, Stevie Ray Vaughan said that, as a kid, he practiced guitar to one of Lonnie’s albums so many times his dad destroyed it.
The stripped-back recording sessions toughened up and focused The Doors on stage as well as in the studio. Before it was even released, “Roadhouse Blues” became a fixture in their set lists and many fans still consider it their best live cut.
This performance footage from American Bandstand was shot in black and white, just under two months from the show’s permanent switch to color. Broadcast in New York on ABC Channel 7 at 1:30pm. Features ‘The Crystal Ship’ followed by a short on-stage interview with the band, then a performance of ‘Light My Fire’.◄
RECORDING DATE: 07/12/1967
LOCATION: Hollywood Palace – CA
PRODUCTION: Dick Clark Television
COLOR: B&w
LENGTH: 7:45
Celebrating the amazing new book by Harry Kubernik titled “TURN UP THE RADIO” this weeks show (August 8th) is all about the crazy world of Los Angeles in the 50’s,60’s, and 70’s. featuring the bands THE BYRDS.BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD and THE DOORS and songwriters like PF SLOAN and JIMMY WEBB.
Powered by the lead single “LIGHT MY FIRE” the Doors debut release in 1967 served as the dark cousin to the summer of pop, the band went on to become one of the most Influential and controversial rock acts ever, also adding to the myth frontman lyricist and iconic Jim Morrison’s strange death in a Paris hotel in 1971 only added to the many myths this band have conceived
in 1968 and 1969 by featuring acts such as Jefferson Airplane, T. Rex, The Move, Pretty Things, Joe Cocker, The Who and Bob Dylan in his first performance since his 1966 Motorcycle Accident
The Fat Angel Sings 