Alive, She Cried
Encyclopedia
Alive, She Cried is a live album
by the American rock band The Doors
; the title of the album is taken from a line in the song "When the Music's Over
". The recordings are from various concerts during the period 1968–1970; they include "Gloria", originally a hit for Them
, and an extended version of The Doors' best known song "Light My Fire
". John Sebastian
of The Lovin' Spoonful
joined the band on stage to play harmonica on Willie Dixon
's "Little Red Rooster". The album was discontinued as 1991 saw the release of In Concert
, a double-album which included all of the songs from Alive, She Cried and Absolutely Live
, as well as a few other live tracks. The version of "Light My Fire" from this album is actually from a variety of sources. "The Graveyard Poem" is actually a recited poetry piece from Boston in April 1970. It was inserted into the break of "Light My Fire" for this album.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the American rock band The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
; the title of the album is taken from a line in the song "When the Music's Over
When the Music's Over
"When the Music's Over" is a song by American rock band The Doors, featured on their 1967 album Strange Days. The song, at almost eleven minutes long, is their third longest recorded song, behind "The End", at 11:42, and "Celebration of the Lizard", at 17:01...
". The recordings are from various concerts during the period 1968–1970; they include "Gloria", originally a hit for Them
Them (band)
Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
, and an extended version of The Doors' best known song "Light My Fire
Light My Fire
"Light My Fire" is a song by The Doors which was recorded in August 1966 and released the first week of January 1967 on the Doors' debut album. Released as a single in April, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after...
". John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
joined the band on stage to play harmonica on Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
's "Little Red Rooster". The album was discontinued as 1991 saw the release of In Concert
In Concert (The Doors album)
In Concert is a live double album, recorded by The Doors. The album's performances are culled from a variety of different concerts and releases. In Concert includes all the tracks from Absolutely Live and Alive, She Cried...
, a double-album which included all of the songs from Alive, She Cried and Absolutely Live
Absolutely Live (The Doors album)
Absolutely Live is the first live album released by American rock band The Doors in July 1970. Many shows were recorded during the 1970 tour to create the "Absolutely Live" album. The Doors producer, and long time collaborator Paul Rothchild painstakingly edited the album from many different shows...
, as well as a few other live tracks. The version of "Light My Fire" from this album is actually from a variety of sources. "The Graveyard Poem" is actually a recited poetry piece from Boston in April 1970. It was inserted into the break of "Light My Fire" for this album.
Side one
- "Gloria" (Van MorrisonVan MorrisonVan Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
) – 6:17 - "Light My FireLight My Fire"Light My Fire" is a song by The Doors which was recorded in August 1966 and released the first week of January 1967 on the Doors' debut album. Released as a single in April, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after...
" – 9:51 - "You Make Me Real" – 3:06
Side two
- "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)"The WASP " is a 1971 song by The Doors, which appears on their final album with frontman Jim Morrison, L.A. Woman. The music was written by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore. The spoken word lyrics, written by Morrison, come from a poem he wrote in 1968, three years before the music...
" – 1:52 - "Love Me Two TimesLove Me Two Times"Love Me Two Times" is a song by The Doors. It was written by the band and first appeared on the 1967 album Strange Days. It was released as the second single from that album, and reached #25 on the charts in the US....
" – 3:17 - "Little Red RoosterLittle Red Rooster"Little Red Rooster" is a song that is a classic of the blues. Howlin' Wolf recorded "The Red Rooster" in 1961, a song credited to blues arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon, although earlier songs have been cited as inspiration...
" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 7:05 - "Moonlight DriveMoonlight Drive"Moonlight Drive" was one of the seminal tracks on The Doors' second album, Strange Days. Although it was only a B-side , it is a favorite in The Doors canon...
" Incl. "Horse LatitudesHorse latitudesHorse Latitudes or Subtropical High are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees both north and south. This region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm.The consistently warm, dry...
" – 5:34
Reception
Allmusic's Bruce Eder rated Alive, She Cried three out of five stars. He explained that the album "helped solve [Absolutely Live's] problem" of "[leaving] more casual fans rather cold, owing to the absence of any of their biggest hits." However, he pointed out that "it also revealed the reason why "Light My Fire" had not made it onto the prior live album". Robert Christgau gave the album a B-, stating that "the concert and sound-check tapes they've unearthed for the revival are of some quality". However, he also stated that "when [Jim Morrison] emits his poetry or deigns to lay his narcissistic come-on on an imaginary teeny-bopper, it is to duck." Rolling Stones Parke Puterbaugh rated it four out of five stars, explaining that it "brings [...] the Doors' impossibly strange and wonderful music, Morrison's drunken loutishness and his stabbingly sober poetics, and the brilliant, vivid sparking of a machine too mercurial to last." He concluded by stating that ""Light My Fire" [...] flares upward into an intensifying bolt of passion that crescendos with [...] a scream signifying the communal orgasm of a generation and a decade and a band that would flame out and fall silent all too quickly."Personnel
- Jim MorrisonJim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
– vocals - Robby KriegerRobby KriegerRobert Alan "Robby" Krieger is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."...
– guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Ray ManzarekRay ManzarekRaymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
– organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
, keyboard bassKeyboard bassThe keyboard bass is the use of a low-pitched keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the bass guitar or double bass in popular music.-1960s:The earliest keyboard bass instrument was the 1960 Fender Rhodes piano bass, pictured above... - John DensmoreJohn DensmoreJohn Paul Densmore is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors.-Early life and The Doors:Born in Los Angeles, Densmore attended Santa Monica City College and Cal...
– drums - John SebastianJohn SebastianJohn Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
- harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
(track 6)