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Post by casandra on Aug 29, 2012 15:45:16 GMT
THE DOORS' 1968 HOLLYWOOD BOWL CONCERT GETS TRICKED-OUT AUDIO AND VIDEO RE-RELEASESby: Dave Lifton For the first time ever, fans of the Doors will be able to hear the entirety of their famous concert at the Hollywood Bowl on July 5, 1968. On Oct. 23, the band will release 'Live at the Bowl' in both video (DVD, Blu-ray, digital) and audio (CD, LP, digital) formats. Previous audio and video versions of this concert omitted several songs due to technical problems with the original multi-track masters. However, original engineer Bruce Botnick has used state-of-the-art technology to bring the audio to pristine condition. The video has also been restored from the original negatives and given a 16x9 high-definition video transfer. The video also contains more than an hour's worth of additional footage. The bonus material includes a history of the group up to that point, memories of the concert, an account of the restoration process and three television performances by the band. 'The Doors' live performances were a shamanistic journey into dark rock and roll psychedelic theater -a swirling mixture of rock'n'roll heat, poetry, danger, drama and unbridled musical virtuosity,' Doors manager Jeff Jampol declares. 'Captured at the height of The Doors' magical powers, in one of the world's greatest venues, this brand new restoration, edit and mix, corny as it may sound, made me fall in love a hundred times, all over again.' The Doors 'Live at the Bowl' Tracklisting 1. Show Start/Intro 2. When The Music's Over 3. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 4. Back Door Man 5. Five to One 6. Back Door Man (Reprise) 7. The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) 8. Hello, I Love You 9. Moonlight Drive 10. Horse Latitudes 11. A Little Game 12. The Hill Dwellers 13. Spanish Caravan 14. Hey, What Would You Guys Like To Hear? 15. Wake Up! 16. Light My Fire (Segue) 17. Light My Fire 18. The Unknown Soldier 19. The End (Segue) 20. The End ultimateclassicrock.com/the-doors-live-at-the-bowl-68/RHINO MEDIAArtist Name: The Doors Release Date: Tue, 10/23/2012 LOS ANGELES - The Doors supplied plenty of post-Independence Day fireworks on July 5, 1968 when the legendary quartet played the Hollywood Bowl, a concert that is considered to be the band's finest on film. For the first time, the film from the historic performance has been painstakingly restored using the original camera negatives and the audio has been remixed and mastered from original multi-tracks by the group's engineer Bruce Botnick. This new restoration offers a stunning visual upgrade from earlier versions and will give fans the closest experience to being there live along side Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, who opined, 'You can hear it as if you were at the Hollywood Bowl, on stage with us.' LIVE AT THE BOWL '68 will include three previously unreleased tracks from the performance. Technical issues with the recording of Hello, I Love You, The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat), and Spanish Caravan prevented them from being released in the past. Now, through meticulous restoration of the audio, all three will be included, marking the first time the concert has been available in its entirety. LIVE AT THE BOWL 68 - the definitive version of this concert - is coming October 23 in several formats. Eagle Rock Entertainment will present the concert on Blu-Ray ($19.98), DVD ($14.98), and digital video ($12.99). Rhino will release the remixed audio for the entire concert on CD ($18.98), digital audio ($11.99) and double-LP ($34.98). The DVD, Blu-Ray and digital video each feature a 16x9 high-definition digital transfer with both a stereo and 5.1 audio soundtrack as well as over an hour of bonus material. Included in the additional content are 'Echoes From The Bowl', 'The Doors' route to the Hollywood Bowl; 'You Had To Be There,' memories of The Doors' performance at the Bowl; 'Reworking The Doors,' an in-depth look at how the film was restored; and three bonus performances: 'Wild Child' from The Smothers Brothers Show in 1968, 'Light My Fire' from The Jonathan Winters Show in December 1967 and a version of Van Morrison's 'Gloria' with specially created visuals. Jeff Jampol, Doors manager and producer of the film said 'The Doors' live performances were a shamanistic journey into dark rock and roll psychedelic theater -a swirling mixture of rock'n'roll heat, poetry, danger, drama and unbridled musical virtuosity. Captured at the height of The Doors' magical powers, in one of the world's greatest venues, this brand new restoration, edit and mix, corny as it may sound, made me fall in love a hundred times, all over again.' Geoff Kempin, executive producer for Eagle Rock said 'The Doors were one of THE most incredible live bands ever -we wanted to apply the top technology so that everyone can fully appreciate the phenomenon of The Doors captured at their height on 5 July 1968'. LIVE AT THE BOWL ¡¯68Track Listing 1. Show Start/Intro 2. When The Music's Over 3. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) 4. Back Door Man 5. Five To One 6. Back Door Man (Reprise) 7. The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) 8. Hello, I Love You 9. Moonlight Drive 10. Horse Latitudes 11. A Little Game 12. The Hill Dwellers 13. Spanish Caravan 14. Hey, What Would You Guys Like To Hear? 15. Wake Up! 16. Light My Fire 17. Light My Fire (Segue) 18. The Unknown Soldier 19. The End (Segue) 20. The End media.rhino.com/press-release/live-bowl-68THE DOORS TALK HOLLYWOOD BOWL EXPERIENCE 1968, REPAIR RUINED TRACKSThe Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek talk about their 1968 Hollywood Bowl show which has been restored and remastered and now ready for release October 23 as Live At The Bowl '68 on Blu-Ray, DVD and CD -- with songs that once were thought ruined being brought to life by new technology, details here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i11u1yrt9E
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Aug 30, 2012 12:31:12 GMT
 Yeah saw that mentioned. Been a while coming but certainly should be worth a look. All we have had is that shitty audience tape so nice to see they have finally done what they promised so long ago I can't even remember.  Would bet there will be nothing in the way of special features though as The Doors don't do value for money. I will get this hopefully this year. 'a concert that is considered to be the band's finest on film'
Not much in the way of competition. It's hardly a great concert either visually or aurally but it's all we have so we make the best of it Rhino are a bunch of idiots. 'The Doors' live performances were a shamanistic journey into dark rock and roll psychedelic theater -a swirling mixture of rock'n'roll heat, poetry, danger, drama and unbridled musical virtuosity,' Doors manager Jeff Jampol declares. 'Captured at the height of The Doors' magical powers, in one of the world's greatest venues, this brand new restoration, edit and mix, corny as it may sound, made me fall in love a hundred times, all over again.'
And the less said about this lying fucking idiot the better   Like the cover but it does smack of milking the shit out of Morrison. I would have preferred to see all 4 on the cover in a nice shot we have not seen before. |
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Sept 12, 2012 14:25:06 GMT
It's interesting as it is getting a limited cinema release.
It is here in Stockton on the 24th for one showing.
I don't really think it is THAT good but may go along and watch it on the big screen.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Sept 24, 2012 14:17:19 GMT
Won't be going to see the film tonight as it is pissing down all day and those 3 are not worth getting wet for....especially to line thier pockets.
Saw this blurb on Amazon for the BluRay.
On 5 July 1968 The Doors took to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl for a concert that has since passed into legend. The Doors were performing on the back of their 3rd album release Waiting For The Sun and the US No.1 single Hello, I Love You .
They had been honing their live performances over the previous 2 years and were on absolute peak form.
Now for the first time the original film footage from the Hollywood Bowl has been digitally scanned and restored to present the show better and more complete than it s ever been seen before, with 2 previously cut tracks returned to the running order and with sound newly remixed and mastered from the original multitrack tapes by The Doors engineer and co-producer Bruce Botnick. This is now the definitive edition of this famous performance.
AnyDoors fan who thinks that this concert was The Doors at their 'peak' form must be pretty gullible.
Morrison was trying to get a break from touring and was becoming bored with stage work.
This concert was pretty lacklustre and the band peaked before this gig and were in a steady decline after it (with one or two notable exceptions).
It is interesting as it is pretty much all we have of a full Doors set on film.
And that is pretty much it.
If I can get a free copy then I will have it.
If not then I will not be bothered one way or the other.
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wplj
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Post by wplj on Sept 29, 2012 19:30:47 GMT
I went to see this on the 24th in Peterborough. I had never, that I could recall, even seen the edited version in its entirety. It was much better than I expected. Sure, it's not the best Doors show ever, but I was glad I went to see it. There were several things I didn't expect and was very pleased to see. The main one being the killer medley of Moonlight Drive/Horse Latitudes/A Little Game/The Hill Dwellers. Great to see them get "out" for Horse Latitudes, rather than just have Jim do a straight reading over the vamp before the out-chorus of Moonlight Drive. Film looked good. Audio was nice. I could pick out the fixes on the unreleased tracks ... especially HILY, which seems to use the studio vocal in place of the live vocal. I don't care one way or the other ... it looks and sounds good on film. I just hope they cop to all the fixes in the restoration feature on the Blu-ray. I have a feeling they won't.  |
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Oct 2, 2012 9:52:44 GMT
I wold have went but it was pissing down with rain and I don't think the individual Doors are worth getting wet for to line their pockets anymore. So I stayed in the dry. If I can download it for free I will get a copy of both bluray and CD. If not then I won't  I just hope they cop to all the fixes in the restoration feature on the Blu-ray. I have a feeling they won't. Of course they WON'T They are experienced LIARS and managed by an habitual LIAR. |
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Post by casandra on Oct 17, 2012 18:07:57 GMT
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wplj
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Post by wplj on Oct 28, 2012 20:56:19 GMT
I purchased the CD on Monday and have listened to it straight through once, returning to my favourite bits once or twice since. Good sounding release, but with the now-usual "controversies:" VERY OBVIOUS use of the studio vocal for HILY (more on this later). Also, other obvious vocal fixes, most likely flown-in from other pro live recordings (read: 1970). On the flipside, the post-prodction done in 1987 has been removed, leaving the gig ESSENTIALLY as it sounded on the night ... this is most apparent on Unknown Soldier, which was SEVERELY sexed-up for the 1987 CD/VHS/Laserdisc. I didn't know until I read it tonite on the Steve Hoffman forum that Robby did extensive guitar over-dubs for the 1987 release. His original performance appears to be intact on the new CD. I can't personally vouch for this, but folks on the Hoffman board who have seen the extras on the DVD claim that Botnick claims they used various live vocals from the 1970 recordings to stitch together the HILY vocal. And he goes so far as to play you the vocal on its own. He could get away with this lie with casual Doors fans, except for the fact that, as far as I know, THE DOORS NEVER PLAYED HILY LIVE IN 1970. If I am wrong, someone let me know. But, to these ears, the HILY vocals on Live At The Bowl '68 are taken from the studio multitrack. Also, I haven't heard this, but someone pointed out some of the crowd noise includes an audience member shouting out a request for The Soft Parade!! I hope I don't have to point out that this is a MAJOR anachronism! (Apparently they used some audience ambience from 1970 recordings ... probably Felt Forum as I remember there being a guy at one of the shows repeatedly shouting for TSP. I will have to go back and listen. ... In the end I must say, even with all the now-requisite bullshit surrounding this release, I am rather pleased! I'll get the Blu-ray eventually ... when I can find it cheap. I do recommend this album/video. Go get it. Not the best show they ever did, but certainly the best filmed!  |
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Oct 30, 2012 14:01:44 GMT
It is amusing the way The Doors are so lazy they would rather just lie than actually find out stuff. Whilst is is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility they did HILY in 1970 the year was well documented probably better than any year live wise. But they are only talking nowadays to the new generation who are just fed bullshit and sadly take these people's word for things whilst I would not believe these fuckers if they told me night was dark without checking. The tape trader guys are freaking experts on Doors boots and leave the likes of Botnick/Jampol/The Doors standing on that subject. I listened to HILY a bit on Thursday (will check the album out more this week) and it's obviously the studio track. Remember the lies these clowns told about Live In NY on the box set? The so called soundcheck on ASC? They are just liars. That's why I have no time for the individuals any more. Xcept maybe Densmore.....I have a bit of a soft spot for the guy. The other two and Jampol I would not trust with my morning shit |
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 1, 2012 16:38:12 GMT
Interesting review. Seems that not just HILY benefits from the wonders of overdubbing.
I don't mind things like this being done but am not keen on being lied to about it.
The Doors "LIVE AT THE BOWL '68"
On July 5 1968 just two weeks before the release of their third album "WAITING FOR THE SUN", The Doors headlined the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Performing in front of just under 18,000 people, the band delivered one if it's most precise and prepared shows.
Although famously inconsistent in concert, for this gig the group showed enormous respect for the legendary venue by holding pre-show rehearsals, an almost unheard of concept for the spontaneity loving musicians. Jim Morrison in particular has a level of focus and concentration on delivering his vocals as faultless as possible which is noticed on film as the usually animated front-man spends much of the first half of the show standing still at his microphone stand. As the gig progresses successfully, he gradually gets more physical, no doubt partly due to the LSD tab he took pre-show finally kicking in. By "Light My Fire" he's clearly enjoying the show (and the trip). The rehearsals paid off for the band big time, the swirling patterns leading to the climax of "The End" for example accelerate at a dizzying pace.
The band are running a pretty tight ship on the stage. Songs are followed immediately after one another in rapid fire succession. Usually Doors concerts have long gaps of breaks for tuning and discussions over what to play next between the numbers. Here they have an atypical pre-written set-list and are actually sticking to it, also uncommon in it's own way.
New CD and DVD releases of the Hollywood Bowl show greatly improve upon the previous versions. First of all this is an entirely new edit of the film. The original 1987 is very different than this new one in the choice of camera angles and pacing. This is apparent right away in the opening song "When The Music's Over". The new DVD includes footage not seen in the '87 edit of Jim running quickly towards the mic to begin the song, in the original we simply see him surround the mic stand after rushing it. Also during the "we want the world..." part of the song, the previous release stays on an upshot of Jim standing legs spread at the mic. The new cut adds a dramatic slow motion image of him jumping.
Some of the changes are not for the better however. There is an insert shot during "Texas Radio and the Big Beat", a solo poem performance not included on the old release, that clearly shows Ray Manzarek from behind furiously playing his keyboards although there is no musical backing to this piece. Morrison's vocal on this piece has noticeably been taken from multiple sources. There's also some odd insert shots of guitarist Robby Krieger during "Moonlight Drive" where his breath is visible which seems out of place for an outdoors summer show in L.A.
The song "Hello, I Love You" was left out of previous releases because of technical problems capturing Morrison's vocals. As explained in one of the bonus features, here it is restored using vocal performances from other shows.
Producer Bruce Botnick states that he built the vocal performance word by word using various versions of the song recorded in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Los Angeles. If he's talking about the concerts in those cities which were professionally recorded, he's confused as the song was not played at any of those shows meaning that no other multi-track live version of the song exists.
What's more likely is that he used the studio vocal take from the album mixed somewhat with an alternate take.
For a brief moment the sync is a bit off as well so it's not as unnoticeable as he thinks it is.
The song still sounds good and its nice to have the complete show available but lying about what was done behind the scenes certainly cannot create goodwill between the band and fans, already a delicate relationship due to the mishandling of past releases.
What we are not told is that tracks like "When The Music's Over" and "Light My Fire" also use vocal takes from shows other than the Hollywood Bowl gig.
Apparently even the audience got freshened up a bit in the post-production work as after the first song a member is heard requesting the tune "The Soft Parade" even though that album was a year away from even being released at the time of the Bowl show!
A definite improvement with the new version is that the full song "Spanish Caravan" is now included. The previous release frustratingly only had the last half of the song, apparently edited as an "artistic" choice on then-producer Paul Rothchild's part (he also had Robby Krieger add new guitar parts to the tune, those overdubs remain on the 2012 edition) .
Another noticeable benefit is the increased visual quality.
The overall image is sharper and the colours more vibrant than ever.
Morrison's gold and coblat blue vest jumps off the screen compared to the dull original home video release.
The DVD and Bluray editions also have some noteworthy bonus featurettes: "Echo From The Bowl" a interesting 20 min piece on the history of the venue with the surviving Doors giving background on the band's career leading to the show, "You Had To Be There" 19 minutes of more interviews with The Doors, producer Bruce Botnick and opening act The Chambers Brothers (Steppenwolf were also on the bill, incidently ) and the 14 minute segment "Reworking The Doors" which nicely, if not without controversy, shows the restoration work doing for the project.
Additionally there are a couple of early TV appearances which are lots of fun to see after all these years.
The steady stream of excellant live archival releases from The Doors continues to add to the group's already formidable legacy while doing much to counter their sometimes notorious reputation as an irresponsible live act.
In truth, the band created that history themselves but its nice to see after all these years that the music is coming out on top.
This Side Of The Tracks
R.L. 2012
The beginning of Alabama Song is where someone shouts for The Soft Parade so that bit is obviously not from 1968.
I dunno why they do it as we always find out so why not just be honest but of course they can't as they have lied about Jim Morrison for 40 years so lying to us is small potatoes.
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wplj
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Post by wplj on Nov 1, 2012 20:04:52 GMT
Excellent review, thanks for that!
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 4, 2012 22:06:43 GMT
Music Blu-ray Review: The Doors - Live at the Bowl '68
However much acid Jim Morrison dropped before The Doors' celebrated Hollywood Bowl performance on July 5, 1968, it wasn't enough to result in a loss of focus or intensity. Sure, Morrison seems to become increasingly heavy-lidded and generally out of it as the show progresses, but he remains magnetic from start to finish. Eagle Rock Entertainment has issued a restored and expanded version of the concert, Live at the Bowl '68, complete with numbers previously unseen due to audio problems inherent in the original soundboard recordings (more on how they circumvented that later).
The band rehearsed for the show and seems well prepared, regardless of whatever state of mind Morrison was in. They open and close with their twin epics, "When the Music's Over" and "The End," respectively. These lengthy pieces allow for plenty of instrumental interplay, ranging from somewhat tedious (Ray Manzarek's sometimes clumsy organ soloing) to quite engaging (the mostly fluid guitar leads by Robby Krieger). These guys were never quite rock's equivalent to a great modal jazz combo, but their flair for the dramatic was consistently arresting.
Morrison draws laughs from the crowd at various times, including the cheesy firing squad routine during "Unknown Soldier" and the improvised "Ode to a Grasshopper" bit in "The End." The show hits the doldrums at the midway point with a series of lesser tunes ("A Little Game," "The Hill Dwellers," "Spanish Caravan"). Most of the time, however, The Doors are at the top of their game. "Moonlight Drive" grooves along slinkily, the "Back Door Man/Five to One" medley rocks, and "Hello I Love You" bounces along aggressively.
Apparently considerable work went into the visual restoration of Live at the Bowl '68. The 1080p AVC-encoded transfer is by no means difficult to watch. The troubling aspect for me was the overall lack of texture. This is a very smoothed out image, missing the natural film grain one would expect (especially from footage of this vintage). I'm guessing noise reduction was quite liberally applied. Sharpness and fine detail are a bit lacking overall. That said, the image is extremely clean, free of dirt, scratches, or other distracting artifacts.
Seattle Pi
October 2012
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 4, 2012 22:09:59 GMT
Interesting that the media are as in the dark as Doors fans to the bands sleight of hand. noise reduction was quite liberally appliedEither that or they just used the studio track |
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wplj
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Post by wplj on Nov 6, 2012 20:42:59 GMT
He's refering to digital video "noise" reduction: does the same for video as it does for audio ... basically that results in the grain inherent in film stock of that era not being there ... ie: a very "clean," smoothed out image.
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Nov 8, 2012 19:10:43 GMT
Well I just watched it and as people who know me will attest it's not very often I say well done to Jeff Jampol but well done Jeff Jampol A completely different concert to the one released on VHS as The Hollywood Bowl. Gone all the bullshit chicanery with the soundtrack and we hear what actually went on rather than a sanitised version. Made me re-evaluate the gig completely as the RK guitar and Jim's vocals are much rawer and RM and JD sound fantastic. Ray owns WT MO at the start of the gig. It was not the greatest gig the band did nor had the best set list but watching and listening helped me remember why it is I think this band the most unique in rock History as well as four extremely talented musicians.... A few observations. The breath expelled by RK which people thought strange on an LA night in July. Jim does the same twice (excluding the fag break he had) and he was definitely at the Hollywood Bowl. So maybe it was a bit chilly down there in the Bowl. HILY now that is interesting. At times I thought it the studio track but I watched Jim's lips all through it and he synchs it perfectly. We know the Bowl vocal was lost or damaged so what they used is uncertain. Botnick said a 1970 take which is unlikely. Whetever it was it fitted in fine with the video and if the studio take then Jim did a pretty good copy of that live as his lips match it nearly Perfectly. Great to see Spanish Caravan and again what they used is unclear but once again fitted perfectly with the video. The edit itself was excellent and showcases the band superbly. One can forgive them using a bit of audience from 1969/70 when someone shouts for a song they have not written yet. I noticed that Jim's nose picking finger was badly bruised under the nail which I missed first time round. Overall a 10 out of 10 and a worthy addition to the YOTD which has been a damp squib apart from this and LAW. Nevertheless well done to all involved but one question bugs me ......... Why not do that in the first place instead of lying and deceiving Doors fans.  |
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