The Doors - The Soft Parade

Robbie Kreiger used a strange and different distortion sound from other guitarists in the 60's. His sound reminding me of Fripp on Poseidon and Lizard. He also (at times), played the tri=tone or Devil's interval during jams. Compare it yourself if you don't believe me. Play one of Fripp's improvised leads on a live recording of the "Sailor's Tale" and then bend an ear to the solo Kreiger does on the studio version of "When the Music Over". I also thought the chord progression and atmosphere created in "L' America" was very European early 70's prog. Atomic Rooster, Lucifer's Friend, Omega type mode. It's simply a haunting song and quite different somehow for the Doors. Of course the American Psychedelic bands were etiher influential on European "Space Rock" or influenced by it themselves. Sections of Jefferson Airplane's Crown Of Creation taking us to the planet Gong or Saucerful of Secrets. Jimi Hendrix a year or so prior to his death, hanging out with Hawkwind at the Isle Of Wight or jamming with progger Bo Hansson. Bo Hansson writng "Tax Free" for Hendrix. Hendrix watching a performance of King Crimson at the Marquee. It is not all loosely tied ..but directly tied in as a connection. Psychedelic musician writers were interested in the development of European prog because some of them had actually created aspects to it in 68'.

NotAProghead wrote: TODDLER wrote: Robbie Kreiger used a strange and different distortion sound from other guitarists in the 60's. Almost every book about the Doors tells that Robby studied flamenco and then used this approach for playing electric guitar.

TODDLER wrote: This could mean for example the intro to "Love Me Two Times" is possibly played with the fingernails of his right hand? and to be honest...I don't personally know if he played electric guitar finger style in all cases, but my reference is mainly of him using the same tri-tones as Fripp and the same distortion ..sustaining effect on various leads. He used a distortion which was either through the amp itself or what was known then as the "Big Muff" or maybe even a better pedal. He plays a haunting electric guitar lead with a hall or reverb effect on most albums. Usually a song that rocks out and has a dark sound. Definitely not the sound he used on songs like "People Are Strange" and "You're Lost Little Girl" where obviously the guitar is being played with a clean tone.

This is the best part of the trip...the trip...the best part...I really like.

Jim Morrison's attitudes were definitely not working and playing well with society in the 60's. He complained about audiences showing up to a Doors concert just to hear "Light My Fire" and "Touch Me". He would scream in to the microphone..."What the F are you doing here?"  "Why are you here?" "Did you come to see the Doors to hear Light My Fire?" lol!  I loved that energy he displayed. I never looked upon him as being a hippie. He just didn't fit the part as far as I was concerned...although others may disagree. When I think about the difference between him and other lead vocalists in the 60's ..I often arrive to that conclusion. He was always surrounded by cops. The police didn't seem to understand half of what he had to say. I don't believe for a minute they knew where he was coming from. They would grab him and escort him off the stage and even handcuff him at times. It was very overblown and they had very stupied hands. He was ahead of his time regarding the way he controlled a rock audience. He was the ultimate frontman in rock. He would dance like a Native American across the stage , loosely swinging the mic...and some have made the observation that this dance was the first signs of the "Punk Rock" mentality. It's interesting to observe that because Morrison had ties with the "Velvet Underground" who really came across like Punk. I still love his lyrics and his vocal style. My favorite song is "Moonlight Drive". The very start of the song is simplistic in nature , but has this haunting affect on me. That keyboard has a strange sound that isn't identified with anything else. The slide guitar is very haunting. The choice of notes and phrasing are not fitting to typical sounds found in 60's music. They were obviously influenced by funk, Latin, and Classical..but embraced it with uniqueness that I could never identify. Sort of the way that Syd Barrett created some of the strangest songs like "See Emily Play" where his influences were hidden just enough to throw off the listener. They were crafty. 

The Soft Parade is too artificially structured to be natural, but has some fine moments nevertheless, particularly the bluesy phase. A lot of the other more melodic stuff is downright corny and pretentious. It is at least trying to be experimental, but it could have done with a lot of serious editing and hard self-criticism before its release.

DiamondDog wrote: The Soft Parade is too artificially structured to be natural, but has some fine moments nevertheless, particularly the bluesy phase. A lot of the other more melodic stuff is downright corny and pretentious. It is at least trying to be experimental, but it could have done with a lot of serious editing and hard self-criticism before its release. When the Music's Over has some weak lyrics, and limited melody, but it is pure drama, just about the finest rock-drama ever produced in pop music's history.

Tom Ozric wrote: Truthfully, i love the 2 'post-Morrison' albums more than anything.

NotAProghead wrote: Tom Ozric wrote: [QUOTE=Tom Ozric]For me, it should've been 'Ray Manzarek and The Doors'............. Why not 'Doroti Fujikawa and the Doors'?   Read Ray's memoirs, the Doors would never happen without her approval and support in the very beginning.

Other Voices - what an album........