Roadhouse Blues
Encyclopedia
"Roadhouse Blues" is a blues-rock
song written and recorded by the American rock band The Doors
. The song, which appeared on 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 #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
. 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.
striving for perfection. Several takes from these sessions were included on the new 2006 remastered album. Rothchild can be heard instructing the band members on their musicianship, notably when he exclaims to Robbie Krieger about his introductory guitar riff that "we're going to the roadhouse, Robbie, not the bathroom!" 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 flubbing several lyrics and repeating the blues phrase "Money beats soul every time".
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 Manzarek switched from his Wurlitzer electric piano to a tack piano
(the same used on The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations"). Morrison's shout of "Do it, Lonnie! Do it!" just before the guitar the solo is often misquoted as "Do it, Robby! Do it!" (Robby Krieger
).
Mack had borrowed Krieger's guitar to develop some blues guitar lines. Mack also played the lead guitar solo on the track, but was only credited as bassist, so as to not embarrass Krieger. Krieger copied some of Mack's lines in later takes. It is unknown which take of "Roadhouse" made the final cut.
Blue Öyster Cult
performed the song on their Extraterrestrial Live
album, with Robbie Krieger joining the band. Creed
played the song at Woodstock '99 and were joined on stage by Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger. This version of the song was released on a bonus version of the Creed album Human Clay
. The song was also covered by Mahogany Rush
on the What's Next album. Ministry
performed a cover on their final album, The Last Sucker
. The Jeff Healey
Band performs the song in the movie Road House
. Frankie Goes To Hollywood
cover it on the b-side of their 1986 single "Rage Hard". Elkie Brooks
covered the song on her 2005 album Electric Lady. Robby Krieger joined Stone Temple Pilots
at the House of Blues in 2000 for a performance of this song. He again joined STP onstage on March 18, 2010 to play the song as the encore for STP's performance at the SXSW music festival at the Austin Music Hall. STP frontman Scott Weiland
also performed live covers of it with Velvet Revolver
.
Imperiet
covered the song on their 1985 live album 2:a augusti 1985.
The jam-bluegrass group Railroad Earth
covered the song twice during the summer of 2008, once at High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California, and again at Yarmony Grass in Copper Mountain, Colorado. The latter performance featured over 20 musicians on stage, including most of the members of the jam band The String Cheese Incident. They also covered the song in December 2009 at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon, and in May 2010 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Swedish band Imperiet have also done a cover of "Roadhouse Blues" at a concert at Orionteatern in Stockholm in 1985.
It was in the stage repertoire of Eric Burdon
from 1989 to 1998. He performed it also with Robby Krieger
in 1990 and 1991. A live version he recorded with the Brian Auger
band was released on "Access All Areas
" in 1993. Live versions he recorded with his "I band" were released on "Official Live Bootleg#1" and with his "New Animals" on the DVD "Live at the Coachhouse".
Los Lonely Boys
perform this song on their 2009 tribute EP entitled 1969. Guitarist Henry Garza's use of the wah-wah pedal
marks the most distinguishing feature of the band's cover version.
American band Bon Jovi
have also covered the song in medley with "Bad Medicine
", most notably during their 2010 The Circle Tour
.
did a Remix of Roadhouse Blues. It can be found on their albums Community Service II
and Drive: Nike + Original Run
. It was featured also in the short lived TV show Drive
. In 2010, it was used as the promotional song for the third season of FX's Sons of Anarchy
.
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
song written and recorded 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 song, which appeared on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of "You Make Me Real", was first released as a single from the album Morrison Hotel
Morrison Hotel
Morrison Hotel is The Doors' fifth album. It was released in 1970. After their experimental work The Soft Parade was not as well received as anticipated, the group went back to basics and back to their roots...
in March 1970 and peaked at #50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. 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
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...
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 Doors (film)
The Doors is a 1991 biopic about the 1960s-1970s rock band of the same name which emphasizes the life of its lead singer, Jim Morrison. It was directed by Oliver Stone, and stars Val Kilmer as Morrison, Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson , Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger,...
; 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
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
as stated on his Planet Rock
Planet Rock
Planet Rock may refer to:* "Planet Rock" , a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force* Planet Rock: The Album, a 1986 album containing the song...
morning show.
Sessions
The song took two days to record (November 4–5, 1969) with the producer Paul A. RothchildPaul A. Rothchild
Paul A. Rothchild was a prominent American record producer of the late 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rothchild grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated from Teaneck High School in 1953....
striving for perfection. Several takes from these sessions were included on the new 2006 remastered album. Rothchild can be heard instructing the band members on their musicianship, notably when he exclaims to Robbie Krieger about his introductory guitar riff that "we're going to the roadhouse, Robbie, not the bathroom!" 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 flubbing several lyrics and repeating the blues phrase "Money beats soul every time".
The sessions only took off on the second day, when resident Elektra guitarist Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack
Lonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
joined in on bass and harmonicist 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...
(appearing under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
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 Manzarek switched from his Wurlitzer electric piano to a tack piano
Tack piano
In music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound...
(the same used on The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations"). Morrison's shout of "Do it, Lonnie! Do it!" just before the guitar the solo is often misquoted as "Do it, Robby! Do it!" (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."...
).
Mack had borrowed Krieger's guitar to develop some blues guitar lines. Mack also played the lead guitar solo on the track, but was only credited as bassist, so as to not embarrass Krieger. Krieger copied some of Mack's lines in later takes. It is unknown which take of "Roadhouse" made the final cut.
Cover versions
Status Quo discovered The Doors' version whilst touring Germany in 1970, and it quickly became an integral part of the band's setlist, fitting their change in musical direction. Their arrangement added an additional verse and featured slightly different lyrics. A studio version appeared on the album Piledriver, while a live version appeared on the album Live!. The band still perform the song regularly today.Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
performed the song on their Extraterrestrial Live
Extraterrestrial Live
Extraterrestrial Live is a Blue Öyster Cult live album released in 1982. It documents their 1981 tour in support of Fire of Unknown Origin. Midway through the tour, the band fired drummer and founding member Albert Bouchard, replacing him with roadie Rick Downey...
album, with Robbie Krieger joining the band. Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
played the song at Woodstock '99 and were joined on stage by Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger. This version of the song was released on a bonus version of the Creed album Human Clay
Human Clay
Human Clay is the second album by Creed released on September 28, 1999. It was certified 11x platinum and 1x diamond by the RIAA, and is 54th on the top 100 selling albums of all time in the United States . The album was the band's first to hit #1 in the U.S., where it debuted with first week...
. The song was also covered by Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush is a Canadian rock band led by guitarist Frank Marino. The band had its peak of popularity in the 1970s, playing such venues as California Jam II together with bands such as Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Heart....
on the What's Next album. Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
performed a cover on their final album, The Last Sucker
The Last Sucker
The Last Sucker is the eleventh studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 2007 through 13th Planet Records. For three years until their reformation in 2011, it was band's last studio album featuring new material....
. The Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
Band performs the song in the movie Road House
Road House (1989 film)
Road House is a 1989 American action film partially based on the life of Norman "Storm" Cantwell, directed by Rowdy Herrington and starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly-refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman. Sam Elliot also plays a...
. Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...
cover it on the b-side of their 1986 single "Rage Hard". Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
covered the song on her 2005 album Electric Lady. Robby Krieger joined Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
at the House of Blues in 2000 for a performance of this song. He again joined STP onstage on March 18, 2010 to play the song as the encore for STP's performance at the SXSW music festival at the Austin Music Hall. STP frontman Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
also performed live covers of it with Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
.
Imperiet
Imperiet
' were a Swedish 1980s rock band from Stockholm, that existed from 1983 to 1988. They were arguably the most influential band in Sweden of the period, but definitely dominated the new wave scene, which at the time was seen as the same as the punk rock scene....
covered the song on their 1985 live album 2:a augusti 1985.
The jam-bluegrass group Railroad Earth
Railroad Earth
Railroad Earth is a roots and Americana-based newgrass band from Stillwater, New Jersey. Their name was borrowed from the Jack Kerouac short story "October in the Railroad Earth," to which the band also has a song by the same name...
covered the song twice during the summer of 2008, once at High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California, and again at Yarmony Grass in Copper Mountain, Colorado. The latter performance featured over 20 musicians on stage, including most of the members of the jam band The String Cheese Incident. They also covered the song in December 2009 at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon, and in May 2010 at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Swedish band Imperiet have also done a cover of "Roadhouse Blues" at a concert at Orionteatern in Stockholm in 1985.
It was in the stage repertoire of Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
from 1989 to 1998. He performed it also with 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."...
in 1990 and 1991. A live version he recorded with the Brian Auger
Brian Auger
Brian Auger is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon...
band was released on "Access All Areas
Access All Areas (1993 album)
Access All Areas is a live album by Eric Burdon and Brian Auger Band recorded in on May 10, 1993.-History:When they first met in 1991, Auger asked Burdon if he wants to play with him. Burdon agreed and they formed the "Eric Burdon – Brian Auger Band"...
" in 1993. Live versions he recorded with his "I band" were released on "Official Live Bootleg#1" and with his "New Animals" on the DVD "Live at the Coachhouse".
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys
Los Lonely Boys is a Chicano rock power trio from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll," combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown eyed soul, country, and Tejano....
perform this song on their 2009 tribute EP entitled 1969. Guitarist Henry Garza's use of the wah-wah pedal
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
marks the most distinguishing feature of the band's cover version.
American band Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
have also covered the song in medley with "Bad Medicine
Bad Medicine (song)
"Bad Medicine" is a number-one single by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child. It was released in 1988 as the lead single from the band's album New Jersey...
", most notably during their 2010 The Circle Tour
The Circle Tour
The Circle Tour is a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Bon Jovi. The arena leg of the tour has finished and the stadium run has begun, starting off in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and then heading to East Rutherford, New Jersey for the grand opening of New Meadowlands Stadium...
.
Remix
The Crystal MethodThe Crystal Method
The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
did a Remix of Roadhouse Blues. It can be found on their albums Community Service II
Community Service II
Community Service II is the second collaboration album from The Crystal Method, and features remixes from The Crystal Method and other Nu skool breaks artists.- Track listing :# The Crystal Method - Intro – 1:38...
and Drive: Nike + Original Run
Drive: Nike + Original Run
Drive is the product of The Crystal Method's teaming up with Nike. It is part of a series of mixes intended to assist joggers on their workout routines known as Original Run. The album is a nearly 45 minute continuous mix of ten tracks, some new, some remixes and edits of songs off of the London...
. It was featured also in the short lived TV show Drive
Drive (TV series)
Drive is a short-lived American action drama television series created by Tim Minear and Ben Queen, produced by Minear, Queen, and Greg Yaitanes, and starring Nathan Fillion, four episodes of which aired on the Fox network in April 2007...
. In 2010, it was used as the promotional song for the third season of FX's Sons of Anarchy
Sons of Anarchy
Sons of Anarchy is an American television drama series created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in Northern California...
.