Song of the Day-Hyacinth House

"The gypsies have no home and the Doors have no bass player" so sayeth Bruce McCullough from the classic Kids In The Hall sketch "Into The Doors."

Ever have one of those nights where, for no reason whatsoever, you can't sleep. You got off to sleep easily enough. Fell asleep watching the Letterman rerun, you wake up in the middle of the night, waking your wife in the process. Of course, she is annoyed at you, accusing you of snoring. So you go downstairs, get on the computer, check up on people (old girlfriends) on Facebook. Check out the scores of the game you had in the football pool. Read up on the latest Republican debate inanity. Still not tired, so you blog.

I don't quite know how I feel about the Doors. First of all, they probably got way more attention then their career warrants. Jim Morrison, by the time he died, had become somewhat of a joke. Overweight and alcoholic, the cover shot of their final album LA Woman reveals little trace of the Lizard King that captured the public's imagination. They had started off with a bang, a great first album with a classic single "Light My Fire (unbelievably the second single) that, even in it's edited version was probably the most powerful thing they ever did. Then pissed it away over a seven album career.

Second, Morrison became even more and more pretentious, his epic poems being among the more unlistenable items in their catalog. If I never hear "Horse Latitudes" again, it will be too soon. The powerful Doors sound got watered down with horns and strings. A sax solo in "Touch Me," a horn section in "Tell All The People" and MORish strings in "Wishful Sinful." The tunes are catchy and sound good on AM radio, but they were veering vary far from the rock n roll they built their rep on.

The LA Woman album was a bit of a renaissance but there were not enough strong tunes to say they were headed in the right direction. Haunted by self-inflicted legal woes, and an alcohol problem in a time before the concept of rehab was developed, Jim left the country after the album was completed, never to return. For all intents and purposes, it appeared he had quit the band and turned his back on music.. Ultimately Jim's death of a heart attack in Paris (and yes, he's really dead) rendered it all moot. Two Doors albums followed as a 3 piece, each, believe it or not, having some fine moments.

But the fascination with the Doors continues. Remember the Jim Morrison Rolling Stone magazine cover years after Morrison's Death? "He's Hot, He's Sexy, He's Dead" or some such was the tagline.

"Hyacinth House" was one of my favorites from LA Woman. The Doors alone, with Morrison's mysterioso lyrics being interpreted by those into such things as hints of his unhappiness and hinting that he would possibly commit suicide. Uh, yeah. But the vocals have real bite to them. And the band sounds great. Ray Manzarek's solo includes a Frederic Chopin quote from "Polonaise in A Flat Major, Opus 53." Dig it!