Morrison Hotel - The Doors

The Doors have a lot to answer for and, despite countless great songs, live performances and classic rock albums these achievements all pale into insignificance when measured against one heinous act.... 'Roadhouse Blues' inspired Status Quo. Shocking. OK you could argue that It is unreasonable to expect Jim Morrison to predict the future but that is not enough. He should've known that a white, denim clad rock trio from Dulwich in London would take one of their songs and play it over and over again. Actually is is quite telling that, whilst most bands are influenced by a number of sources, Status Quo were influenced by a single song. Maybe that's doing them a disservice. If it is then even better! Rocking' all over the world indeed. The very idea. Where was I? Oh yes, The Doors.

So putting aside that one gruesome fact, I know it's hard, let me concentrate on 'Morrison Hotel'. The whole album. Not just one song. Actually 'Roadhouse Blues' is a great opening song and, as the title suggests, a blues orientated boogie. And boogie we did as this was a regular track on the playlist at the Gemini Club in Hartlepool. Mixed in with indie, show-gazing, metal and goth was this track from The Doors, a guaranteed floor filler with its distinctive opening riff, great lyric and imitative guitar solo. Air guitars aloft we'd dance the night away whilst drinking Mad-Dog from bottles. You had to drink Mad-Dog to take away the taste of the dodgy burgers they sold in the night club, and hopefully nullify the fact that they were raw in the middle. Ah great times indeed!

If 'Roadhouse Blues' was the only track on the album worth a listen then it would still be an essential purchase. But there's more. In 'Peace Frog' The Doors predicted the rise of indie-dance music, almost twenty years before it happened, taking a guitar riff and melding it to a dance back beat and a bubbling bass line that wouldn't have sounded out of place in the Hacienda.

Then there is 'Blue Sunday'. A lovely quiet blues ballad with one of Jim Morrison's best yet often overlooked vocal tracks. Seriously, this would give 'Ol Blue Eyes a run for his money.

Steering The Doors into blues territory was a smart move. It suited their style, Morrison's increasingly resonant vocal and gave then a more substantial and deeper sound. A smart move all round, even if it did help create Status Quo!