Liner Notes

George Winston
NIGHT DIVIDES THE DAY-THE MUSIC OF THE DOORS

Dedicated to the Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore and the late Jim Morrison (1943-1971). Also to their engineer Bruce Botnick, their late producer Paul Rothchild, and their manager Danny Sugerman, who all helped make it happen and keep the flame alive to this day. And to the memory of my late father, George Winston, Jr., who got me my first instrument, the organ, in 1967, and my best friend’s late father, Fred Dreifuss.

As the story of the Doors is best told by the members and their closest associates, I am keeping these notes focused on my own personal experiences with their music. If you would like to learn more about how it all happened, check out the historical bodies of work produced by the Doors members themselves—especially THE DOORS COLLECTION, a 3 hour DVD of videos and live performances, and the books, LIGHT MY FIRE: MY LIFE WITH THE DOORS by organist Ray Manzarek and RIDERS ON THE STORM by drummer John Densmore. (Additional recommended recordings, books and DVDs are listed later in the notes.)

My favorite music when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s was by the great instrumental artists of that time: Booker T & the MGs, Floyd Cramer, King Curtis, The Ventures, and many others. I also loved the great jazz organists: Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Gene Ludwig, Richard “Groove” Holmes, the late Jack McDuff, the late Larry Young (Khalid Yasim), Shirley Scott and others. My favorite instrument to listen to, although I did not play it yet, was the organ. I was always looking for records with organ on them, and I got the Doors first album in January 1967, before I had ever heard them—because they had an organist. The album had just been released, and the radio airplay had not yet reached Miami, where I was living during my senior year of high school. At that time, the Doors were only well known in Los Angeles, where they played regularly on the Sunset Strip, and some in San Francisco and New York City, where they had also played live.

When I put the record on that night and heard the first song, Break on Through (to the Other Side), to me it was the greatest piece of music I had ever heard. (It didn’t work out for me as a solo piano piece, unfortunately.) It was a perfect song—the arrangement, dynamics, lyrics, the great jazz-influenced drumming by John Densmore, the beautiful guitar lines by Robby Krieger, the incredibly powerful and unique organ instrumental break by Ray Manzarek with his simultaneous hypnotic bass lines, and those vocals by Jim Morrison. It was deeper to me than anything I had ever heard. It was also the first time I had ever really paid attention to the lyrics of a song, and the first time I had been that affected by a whole album, musically and otherwise. I had never heard anything like this. (If you hear the 1965 demo songs from the 4 CD release, THE DOORS BOX SET, you can see that Jim and the band made a Robert Johnson-like* transformation in a very short time.)

*Robert Johnson (1911-1938) was the great and legendary Mississippi Delta Blues guitarist / vocalist who was initially an average musician, until he dropped from sight and re-emerged as an incredibly powerful musical force, who continues to be a deep and profound influence and inspiration to this day. The legend is that he made a deal with “the devil,” but of course what happened was he found himself musically, studied other great players, such as Charley Patton and Son House, practiced and practiced, and finally made the quantum leap through his own processes (see the 1990 reissue ROBERT JOHNSON – THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS, and the website www.deltahaze.com/johnson). When I asked Ray Manzarek how the Doors had made their transformation, he said it was from playing six nights a week at the London Fog, a club on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, in 1965-1966. Mythologies aside, the leap remains mysterious—hard work opens the door, but the gift comes on its own accord, in its own time.

The Doors usually featured a great instrumental break on organ (or piano / electric piano / harpsichord) and / or guitar in most of their songs. Each member was a very unique musician. Robby Krieger usually played with his fingers rather than with a pick and had the unique amalgam of flamenco, blues, jazz and his signature bottleneck style. Ray Manzarek had classical, blues and jazz influences, as well as film and literature. He also played the hypnotic bass lines on a Fender keyboard bass with his left hand, which created the grounding for the complex parts played simultaneously with his right hand on the organ, as well as by the other band members. Ray was a direct role model for me to strive to play the bass with my left hand and organ with the right in the bands I played in—and this was the precursor to my later becoming a solo pianist. John Densmore had extensively studied the subtleties and dynamics of jazz drumming, and his shadings and percussive statements were an integral part of the Doors’ unique sound. Jim Morrison had a huge array of influences and inspirations from the great writers and poets of all eras, film, theater, blues musicians and singers. He sang, crooned and screamed from the depths of agony and ecstasy—with the band right there with him on every level. They were not just a singer with a back-up band. The four musicians weaved around each other as equals, and created a synergistic whole, more than the sum of the parts. They were like the light in the darkness, the darkness in the light, and the shifting aspects of the yin and the yang. The Doors are historically one of the great teams in music, or in any endeavor for that matter.

The Doors immediately became my favorite band and were the major impetus for me to begin playing the organ in the glorious summer of 1967 (what a great music year that was). I never did get to see them live, but I will never forget their great performances of People Are Strange and Light My Fire on the Ed Sullivan television show on December 2, 1967. (Listen to the way Jim sang the word “fire.” You can watch this, along with their other television appearances and other great footage on their DVD, THE DOORS COLLECTION.) Their six studio albums were very different from each other, and each one was conceptual. Together they represent a deep, cathartic, ecstatic and complete statement, from the first song on the first album, Break On Through (to the Other Side), to the last song on the sixth album, Riders on the Storm. The Doors continued to inspire me after I switched from organ to solo piano in 1971. They were the main inspiration for me to record conceptual albums, especially AUTUMN. I also love what each of them has done individually after the last album with all four members was released in 1971. (See their website www.thedoors.com for current and historical information.)

I’ve listened to the Doors for well over thirty years now, and originally arranged eleven Doors songs as part of my repertoire for the solo piano dances that I play. From that, this album finally evolved. Six of these—The Crystal Ship, Light My Fire, Love Me Two Times, People Are Strange, Love Her Madly and Riders on the Storm—are included among the thirteen songs on this album.

THE SONGS

Spanish Caravan

In some of the introduction and middle instrumental part of this song, the Doors’ great and versatile guitarist Robby Krieger used the main theme from the song Asturias, by the Spanish pianist (and student of Franz Lizst) Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909). Albéniz wrote two versions for solo piano around 1885, one called Asturias (after the Northern Spanish province of the same name), and the other called Preludio. The song was probably first arranged for solo guitar by Albéniz's contemporary, the great guitarist and composer Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909), and is better known today as a classical guitar piece. I first heard Asturias in 1968, at a guitar concert by the French / American classical guitarist Alfred Eric Street, while in college at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. Before that, I had only heard the song within the Doors’ version of Spanish Caravan when the WAITING FOR THE SUN album came out in the summer of 1968, and had not yet heard of Asturias, Isaac Albéniz or Francisco Tárrega. After the concert, I asked Alfred about the song and told him where I had first heard the main melody. He had never heard of the Doors! The Doors’ version bridges the gap of three traditions: Spanish classical, Spanish flamenco and American rock. This recording is a vehicle (finally) for my feelings that I’ve had for forty years for the vast and beautiful music traditions of Spain.

Thanks to the great guitarist Michael Lorimer for his contribution to the notes for this song.

From the Doors’ third album, WAITING FOR THE SUN.

The Crystal Ship

The Crystal Ship is one of the Doors’ most haunting ballads. It was also the B side of the Light My Fire single in the summer of 1967. It may have been partly inspired by Jim Morrison’s reading of Celtic folklore**. Ray Manzarek told me that his instrumental piano solo in the middle of the song was influenced by the great jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi***, particularly Vince’s standard piece, and hit from 1962, Cast Your Fate to the Wind. I played this song as an organist with the first band I was in, the Tapioca Ballroom Band, in central Florida in 1967-1970.

From the Doors’ first album, THE DOORS.

** Interestingly, I have also been inspired by the other well-known musician named James Morrison (1883-1947), the great Irish fiddler who immigrated to America and recorded 84 very influential tracks between 1921 and 1936.

*** Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976) is best known for his music scores for the first sixteen Peanuts? animations, by the late Charles Schulz, from 1965 until Vince passed on in 1976. He is one of my favorite composers, and in 1996, I recorded an album of his compositions, LINUS & LUCY – THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI.

People Are Strange

In this version, I was influenced by the late, great New Orleans pianist James Booker (1939-1983), who was the first one to take R & B, soul music, blues and New Orleans music, and make a whole solo piano style out of those traditions. This song was a hit for the Doors in late 1967.

From the Doors’ second album, STRANGE DAYS.

Love Street

The poignant ending I used here was influenced by the version of this song as arranged and conducted by Jaz Coleman and featuring violinist Nigel Kennedy, with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, on their great tribute album RIDERS ON THE STORM: THE DOORS CONCERTO.

From the Doors’ third album, WAITING FOR THE SUN.

Love Me Two Times

I also played this great blues-based song with the first band I was in, when it was a hit for the Doors in early 1968. James Booker was the inspiration for my version of this song.

From the Doors’ second album, STRANGE DAYS.

Love Her Madly

This was the Doors’ next to last hit, in the spring of 1971. My arrangement is once again influenced by James Booker.

From the Doors’ sixth album, L.A. WOMAN.

Wishful, Sinful

My inspiration, especially at the end of this song, comes from the ocean and the work of the late, great Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete (1923-1987), and his album OCEAN MEMORIES (Samba Moon Records, www.bolasete.com).

From the Doors’ fourth album, THE SOFT PARADE.

Light My Fire

I played Light My Fire, with Ray Manzarek’s great and totally unique organ instrumental, in the first band I was in. Here I also play an arrangement of Robby Krieger’s wonderful guitar solo. My left hand throughout is influenced by James Booker. The last part of my arrangement is from the song, The End, which was the epic last piece on the Doors’ first album.

Listen to the Doors’ original version, to the value these guys gave to each note—that’s why I love them so much. Light My Fire was their biggest hit, going to #1 in the glorious summer of 1967****.

**** A year later, in the summer of 1968, the great guitarist and singer Jose Feliciano had a #3 hit with his rearrangement of Light My Fire, which also featured a great instrumental guitar solo in the middle.

From the Doors’ first album, THE DOORS.

My Wild Love

Originally recorded by the Doors with only vocals and percussion, as a group chant led by Jim Morrison. Here I play much of it by plucking and muting the strings directly inside the piano, and using an occasional harmonic chime, done the same way as played on the guitar.

From the Doors’ third album, WAITING FOR THE SUN.

Summer's Almost Gone

From the Doors’ third album, WAITING FOR THE SUN.

I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind

This was one of Jim Morrison’s most beautifully sung love ballads.
From the Doors’ second album, STRANGE DAYS.

Riders On The Storm

This was the last song on the last Doors album with all four members, the last song that they recorded with Jim Morrison, and their last hit in 1971. Some of the improvisation in the scale I often use in this song (in the key of E flat minor, with the notes of Eb-F-Ab-Bb-Db-Eb) was influenced by the recording of Jaz Coleman and Nigel Kennedy with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, from their album RIDERS ON THE STORM: THE DOORS CONCERTO. My left hand part was inspired by James Booker.

From the Doors’ sixth album, L.A. WOMAN.

Bird of Prey

Originally sung a cappella by Jim Morrison, during his 1970 poetry studio sessions. This song was first issued in 1995 as a bonus track on the CD version of his posthumous poetry album, AN AMERICAN PRAYER.

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