Live at the Matrix 1967
Encyclopedia
Live at the Matrix 1967 is a double live album
by The Doors
, compiled and resequenced from recordings made on March 7 and 10, 1967 at The Matrix
in San Francisco by club co-owner Peter Abram. The recording is notable because it is one of the earliest live recordings of the band known to exist: The Doors
had recorded only one album
by March 1967, "Light My Fire
" had yet to be released as a single , and they were still relatively unknown outside Southern California.
This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by The Doors.
The original master 1/4 track stereo tapes were recorded at 7.5 ips on Abram's Akai reel-to-reel vacuum tube tape recorder.
On December 2, 2008, Peter Abram allowed photos to be taken of his master tape boxes. These photos were published online at the Steve Hoffman Forums on December 4, 2008
Abram's notations on the master tape boxes indicate that a 'jam' was performed between "Soul Kitchen" and "Get Out of My Life Woman" during the March 7, 1967 show.
Since that time, the Doors management has purchased the original master tapes and are planning on re-releasing the concert as a gold-disc limited edition box set due out sometime in 2012.
, Robby Krieger
, Ray Manzarek
and John Densmore
, except where noted.
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by 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...
, compiled and resequenced from recordings made on March 7 and 10, 1967 at The Matrix
The Matrix (club)
The Matrix, a renovated former pizza shop, was a nightclub in San Francisco from 1965 to 1972 and was one of the keys to what eventually became known as the "San Francisco Sound" in rock music...
in San Francisco by club co-owner Peter Abram. The recording is notable because it is one of the earliest live recordings of the band known to exist: 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...
had recorded only one album
The Doors (album)
The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967. It was originally released in significantly different stereo and mono mixes...
by March 1967, "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...
" had yet to be released as a single , and they were still relatively unknown outside Southern California.
This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by The Doors.
Recording equipment
On November 22, 2008, recording engineer Peter Abram revealed in an online posting the equipment he used to record The Doors at The Matrix. "I used an Akai tape recorder (tubes), 4 Calrad mics on the stage and a Calrad mic mixer on the instrumental channel. On the vocal channel: a Knight mixer with 3 Electrovoice 676 and Shure mics. The Calrad mics that I used on the instrumental track were model DM-21" said Abram.The original master 1/4 track stereo tapes were recorded at 7.5 ips on Abram's Akai reel-to-reel vacuum tube tape recorder.
Master Tape issues
PopMatters music critic Steve Horowitz observed in his review of Live at the Matrix 1967, entitled "Money...That's What I Want," that the Rhino CD was not sourced from Peter Abram's master tapes, despite Rhino's press release claim that "first generation tapes" were usedOn December 2, 2008, Peter Abram allowed photos to be taken of his master tape boxes. These photos were published online at the Steve Hoffman Forums on December 4, 2008
Abram's notations on the master tape boxes indicate that a 'jam' was performed between "Soul Kitchen" and "Get Out of My Life Woman" during the March 7, 1967 show.
Since that time, the Doors management has purchased the original master tapes and are planning on re-releasing the concert as a gold-disc limited edition box set due out sometime in 2012.
Disc one
All songs written by Jim MorrisonJim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, Robby Krieger
Robby Krieger
Robert 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."...
, Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond 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...
and John Densmore
John Densmore
John 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...
, except where noted.
- "Break on Through (To the Other Side)Break on Through (To the Other Side)"Break on Through " is a song by The Doors from their debut album, The Doors. It was the first single released by the band and was unsuccessful compared to later hits, reaching only #126 in the United States...
" – 3:47 - "Soul KitchenThe Doors (album)The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967. It was originally released in significantly different stereo and mono mixes...
" – 5:51 - "MoneyMoney (That's What I Want)"Money " is a 1959 hit single by Barrett Strong for the Tamla label, distributed nationally on Anna Records. The song was written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, and became the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise....
" (Janie BradfordJanie BradfordJanie Bradford is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money ", originally recorded by Barrett Strong and used by The Beatles on their second album With The Beatles...
, Berry GordyBerry GordyBerry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
) – 3:02 - "The Crystal Ship" – 2:50
- "Twentieth Century Fox" – 2:46
- "I'm a King BeeI'm a King Bee"I'm a King Bee" is a swamp blues song that has been performed and recorded by numerous blues and other artists. In 2008, Slim Harpo's "I'm a King Bee" received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance".-Original song:Written and...
" (Slim HarpoSlim HarpoSlim Harpo was an American blues musician. He was known as a master of the blues harmonica; the name "Slim Harpo" was derived from "harp," the popular nickname for the harmonica in blues circles.-Early life:...
) – 3:48 - "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)Alabama SongThe "Alabama Song" was originally published in Bertolt Brecht's Hauspostille . It was set to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel" Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny...
" (Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Kurt WeillKurt WeillKurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
) – 3:16 - "Summer's Almost GoneSummer's Almost Gone"Summer's Almost Gone" is the fourth track on Waiting for the Sun, the third album by American rock band The Doors. The song was covered by pianist George Winston on his album Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors....
" – 3:46 - "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...
" – 8:14 - "Get Out of My Life, Woman" (Allen ToussaintAllen ToussaintAllen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
) – 3:58 - "Back Door ManBack Door Man"Back Door Man" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961. It was released by Chess Records as the B-side to Wolf's "Wang Dang Doodle"...
" (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...
) – 5:14 - "Who Do You LoveWho Do You Love?"Who Do You Love?" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Bo Diddley. The record features Jody Williams, then a member of Bo Diddley's band, on lead guitar.-Legacy:...
" (Ellas McDaniel) – 4:31 - "The EndThe End (The Doors song)"The End" is a song by The Doors. Originally written by Jim Morrison as a song about breaking up with girlfriend Mary Werbelow, it evolved through months of performances at Los Angeles' Whisky a Go Go into a nearly 12-minute opus on their self-titled album. The band would perform the song to close...
" – 13:54
Disc two
- "Unhappy Girl" – 3:56
- "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...
" – 5:39 - "Woman Is a Devil/Rock MeRock Me Baby (song)"Rock Me Baby" is a blues standard that has become one of the most recorded blues songs of all time. When B.B. King released "Rock Me Baby" in 1964, it became a Top 40 hit reaching #34 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song is based on earlier blues songs and has been interpreted and recorded by a...
" (Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
) – 8:08 - "People Are StrangePeople Are Strange"People Are Strange" is a single released by The Doors in September 1967 from their second album Strange Days which was also released in September 1967. The single peaked at the #12 position of the U.S. Hot 100 chart and made it to the top ten in the Cash Box charts...
" – 2:14 - "Close to You" (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...
) – 2:56 - "My Eyes Have Seen You" – 2:56
- "Crawling King SnakeCrawling King SnakeCrawling King Snake is a song written and performed by John Lee Hooker. The Doors often performed the song at their live shows, and recorded it for their 1971 album L.A. Woman. Also, Eric Burdon recorded it as a two minute-track for his 1982 album Comeback...
" (John Lee HookerJohn Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
) – 4:53 - "I Can't See Your Face in My Mind" – 3:07
- "SummertimeSummertime (song)"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
/DuBose HeywardDuBose HeywardEdwin DuBose Heyward was a white American author best known for his 1925 novel Porgy. This novel was the basis for the play by the same name and, in turn, the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin.-Life and career:Heyward was born in 1885 in Charleston, South Carolina and was a...
) – 8:29 - "When the Music's OverWhen 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...
" – 11:11 - "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...
) – 5:36
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...
- vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - 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...
- organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, 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...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
on "I'm a King BeeI'm a King Bee"I'm a King Bee" is a swamp blues song that has been performed and recorded by numerous blues and other artists. In 2008, Slim Harpo's "I'm a King Bee" received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which "honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance".-Original song:Written and...
", "Get Out of My Life, Woman" & "Close to You" - 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."...
- electric 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... - 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...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Production
- Produced by: Bruce BotnickBruce BotnickBruce Botnick is an American audio engineer and record producer, best known for his work with The Doors, and with Love. He engineered Love's first two albums, and co-produced their third album, Forever Changes, with the band's singer-songwriter, Arthur Lee.In November 1970, he took over production...
- Production Supervisor and Personal Management: Jeffrey Jampol
- Artists and Repertoire: Robin Hurley
- Product Manager: Kenny Nemes
- Project Coordinator: Cory Lashever
- Project Assistance: John Espinoza, Steven Gorman, Bob Martin, Peter Tarnoff, Alessandra Quaranta
- Cover Artwork: Stanley MouseStanley MouseStanley George Miller , better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, is an American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and Grateful Dead album cover art.-Early life:...
- Art Direction & Design: Bryan Lasley, Maria McKenna, and Joshua Petker
- Doors Archivist: David Dutkowski
- Photos: Bobby Klein, Jim Marshall, and Tim Boxer
- Legal Representation: John BrancaJohn BrancaJohn G. Branca is an entertainment lawyer who specializes in representing rock and roll acts, as well as independent investors, music publishing catalogs, and independent music labels...
and David Byrnes