Riders On The Storm.......Doors Icon?

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

The last song Morrison ever recorded and the last song on the last 'Doors' album 'Riders On The Storm' has become a cipher for the conspiracy nuts as Jim sets out the way he was planning to dissapear from the world he had created and subsequently trapped himself inside. Caught in a prison of his own device.

Fashioned in part from a screenplay he wrote called The Hitchhiker (An American Pastoral) and a poem from US writer Hart Crane (where the phrase 'riders of the storm' came from) it is said that ROTS evolved out of a jam session when the band was messing around with "Ghost Riders In The Sky," a cowboy song by Stan Jones. (big fave of mine when I was little....now would it NOT be something if that jam survived in someones desk or basement.... )

Musically hypnotic due to Ray Manzareks mesmeric piano playing backed up by John Densmores rythmicly soothing drum work and Robby Kriegers sparse but chillingly effective guitar playing Riders is one of the most beloved of Doors tunes and was released here in the UK as a fitting tribute to the fallen star reaching the #25 spot.

One of the Doors most beautiful and mysterious songs it takes more than one listen to really appreciate the quiet menace that pervade the simple meagre lyric.
Whispers and double tracking along with the unsettling addition of a rainstorm track make this song one of the legends of rock music history.

During the LA Woman sessions Botnick and Densmore had the idea of adding Jim's whispered vocals whilst Jerry Scheff came up with the distinctive bass line after Manzarek played him what he had in mind on his keyboard.
It took a while to figure out, since it was much harder to play on a bass than a keyboard.
The song lingers long after the track finishes and can be thought of as the most bewildering track in Doors history as it started so much of the myth we see woven around the history of The Doors and many of us have subscribed to theories and rumours that stem from this wonderful piece of Doors magic.
So what if anything do you guys think about Riders On the Storm?

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out alone
Riders on the storm

There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin' like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah

Girl you gotta love your man
Girl you gotta love your man
Take him by the hand
Make him understand
The world on you depends
Our life will never end
Gotta love your man, yeah

Wow!

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out alone
Riders on the storm

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm

[ensenada]

i think the lyrics are great, like delving into the mind of a serial killer on the road. i have always loved ROTS. the first lyrics (dont know tech term)

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out alone
Riders on the storm

I think it sort of describes how we as people have no choice of being born. we are thrown into a harsh world were we are forced to make something of ourselves that can be respected and if not, then we are ridiculed by society...like a dog without a bone, we become easily lost in this strange, mean and sometimes wonderful world. shame its controlled by humans all i can say!
fuck me that was heavy!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Very cool analogy dude they must have some shit hot weed at this new school you are teaching at....

[ensenada]

think the lack of sleep is doing strange things to my head!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Jim's handwritten lyrics to 'Riders'.

There is an interesting rumour going around in tape trader circles that 'Away In India' was actually incorporated into ROTS during the LA Woman session.
This apparently can be heard on the Snoop Dog version.
I have listened to it a lot lately and its pretty inconclusive as the snippet of 'Away In India' could be either live or studio?
There is however a fascinating bit at the end where Jim says 'well lets ride...wow!' at the end of the Snoop version so there are probably bits that never made it to the album.
Who knows the truth of this? The band obviously!
It would be one hell of surprise if this all surfaces during the next round of rip off releases when Doors PLC
re-re-re-release the first six albums next year.
'Away In India' as part of 'Riders'...cool!

[wyldlizardqueen]

;DThanks for posting,!! one of my favs..by the DOORS:)!

[ensenada]

well thats interesting about the away in india. it is on the snoop cover. where else have i heard this? i think it is somewhere in one of the box sets, but i dont no which one or which song its on. as for the "lets ride! i have heard them somewhere else aswell but cant put my finger on where!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Away In India is common during the 70s as part of the rather tedious Black Train Song/People Get Ready jam The Doors did in concert so often.

[ensenada]

TheWallsScreamedPoetry said:

Away In India is common during the 70s as part of the rather tedious Black Train Song/People Get Ready jam The Doors did in concert so often.

thats where ive heard that monkey before!

[danceonfire]

Riders on the Storm is by far my number one favorite song by The Doors. I love the rain and thunder effect and the lyrics. Great song!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Japanese single cover with rare photo of the band!


Inner sleeve


original Japanese ROTS single

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

Riders On The Storm Gold Disc.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

2000 German Promo CD in a very special digipak.

1. Baez & Cornell Tunnel Radio Mix
2. Ibizarre Remix
3. N.O.W Mix



I remember seeing this in an Indi record store in Stockton High Street in 2000. The remixes varied from crap to crapper!

[stuart]

Alex,What do you think will happen with this live version of ROTS from N.O 70 ? is it meant to be any different from the studio version? didnt densmore say in his book that it got a good response.

I would love to hear the live version.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

I doubt we will ever hear it even if it exists which it may or may not do....it's hard to seperate the bullshit from the bigger bullshit on the issue of a live ROTS.
Densmore says in the 1981 Creem Special they played it during the Texas gig but that the next night the New Orleans show was horrendous. So then to say ROTS went down well in NO contradicts 1981.
Nobody from the Doors has EVER come out and said ...yes we without doubt played ROTS live at Texas/New Orleans in 1970......to be honest i am past the stage now where if any of these people told me my own name I would have to check my birth certificate......

[jym]

Riders is kind of another take on The End, from the killers point of view, into this world we're born/into this house we're thrown

then we have: give this man a ride/sweet family will die-that's the oedipal section, but here comes the new part the solution to this existential angst; girl you gotta love your man/take him by the hand/make him understand-love is the answer.

Alex-those Japanese albums you been posting look pretty cool, I think cooler than the American. Also the German one with the snakeskin is cool. Thanks!

[stuart]

"here comes the new part the solution to this existential angst; girl you gotta love your man/take him by the hand/make him understand-love is the answer."

Yo Jym, That's Pretty Good that, i had never thought of that part of the song in that way Nice One .

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

jym said:

Alex-those Japanese albums you been posting look pretty cool, I think cooler than the American. Also the German one with the snakeskin is cool. Thanks!

I just think its interesting to have all this info on one place rather than have to go trawling the net for it....been checking out a lot of collectors stuff and will post any I find here!

[sparky]

i find it ironic that riders on the storm was the doors last song recorded, as it was the first song that i had ever heard of the doors. i never get tired of hearing it. i think it is one of the greatest songs ever recorded and written.

[jym]

stuart said:

"here comes the new part the solution to this existential angst; girl you gotta love your man/take him by the hand/make him understand-love is the answer."

Yo Jym, That's Pretty Good that, i had never thought of that part of the song in that way Nice One .

I think it shows the growth of Jim in that short span of time. The End is a fairly straightforward telling of the Oedipal tale, where Jim clearly see's the existential questions & can put forth something to give voice to those questions. And by the time of Riders he of course still knows and is aware of the question but he can now offer a solution to the question.

I think L.A. Woman the album was very much of a closing of a circle for Jim, Riders is sort of reiteration of The End, L'America, I think can be read as the autobiography of The Doors at least from Jim's perspective, & I think you can even hear echoes of lyrics from Light My Fire in the lyrics of the song L.A. Woman. "you know that it would be untrue/you know I would be liar/if I were to say to you/girl, we couldn't get much higher"
and in L.A. Woman "if they say I never loved you/know they are a liar" even the phrasing sounds the same.