Live at the Matrix '67

Performer: The Doors
Producer: Jeffrey Jampol; Paul A. Rothchild; Bruce Botnick; Allessandra Quaranta (Compilation); Cory Lashever (Compilation); Peter Tarinoff (Compilation); Kenny Nemes (Compilation); John Espinoza (Compilation); Steven Gorman (Compilation); Bob Martin (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: The Doors: Ray Manzarek (vocals, keyboards); Jim Morrison (vocals); Robbie Krieger (guitars); John Densmore (drums). Officially released for the first time in 2008 on the Rhino label, this two-disc, 24-track Doors concert album presents the revered rock band on the cusp of massive success. Recorded at a small Los Angeles club in March 1967, LIVE AT THE MATRIX captures frontman Jim Morrison and company mere weeks before "Light My Fire" topped the U.S. charts and catapulted the group to stardom. Fittingly, the performance features many songs from the Doors' self-titled debut (see the aforementioned track and a spare version of "The End"), but it also includes tunes that would make their appearances on later albums such as "People Are Strange" (STRANGE DAYS) and "Crawling King Snake" (L.A. WOMAN), and rare covers, most notably a slinky take on Allen Toussaint's "Get Out of My Life, Woman." Although the ensemble is clearly in a formative stage on MATRIX, with Morrison in particular not completely settled into his brooding shaman/poet persona, the concert still makes for a fascinating aural document of a legendary band in the making.

Rolling Stone (p.128) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he two dozen rough but vivid tracks on LIVE AT THE MATRIX are the closes we will get to hearing the live Doors in their early heated maturity..." Magnet (p.105) - "LIVE AT THE MATRIX spotlights a few numbers that never found their way onto any of the Doors' six albums." Mojo (Publisher) (p.117) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Best of all is 'The End,' here with additional lyrics, which still sounds extraordinary: raga-rock lying somewhere between the Velvets and early Floyd." Record Collector (magazine) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The Doors truly cut their teeth in public: Krieger's languid guitar is in place of Manzarek's later ubiquitous intro to 'Light My Fire,' while trial lyrics fly through the likes of 'The End'..."

Like a trippier, more mystical, West Coast equivalent of the Velvet Underground, the Doors went against the 1960s flower-power grain, taking an uncompromising look at the underbelly of the American psyche. Jim Morrison's dark, surreal poetry gave the band's blues-based rock a cerebral edge, and his wild, shamanistic on-stage presence electrified audiences. From their debut single, "Light My Fire," to their later recordings such as "Riders on the Storm," the Doors remained consistently intriguing even when their songs didn't, a feat largely credited to Morrison and his volatile personality. Eventually, Morrison's hard living caught up to him--he died in Paris at only 27 years of age, leaving behind a legacy that would inspire countless younger musicians.

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