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Morrison Hotel by  ReleasedFebruary 9, 1970RecordedNovember 1969 – January 1970Studio, Los Angeles   Length37:47 chronology
(1969)Morrison Hotel
(1970)
(1970) from Morrison Hotel "You Make Me Real" / ""
Released: February 1970

Morrison Hotel is the fifth studio album by American  band , released on February 9, 1970, by . After the use of brass and string arrangements recommended by producer  on their previous album, , the Doors returned to their  style and this album was largely seen as a return to form for the band. The group entered  in Los Angeles in November 1969 to record the album which is divided into two separately titled sides: "Hard Rock Cafe" and "Morrison Hotel". Session bassists  and Ray Neapolitan featured on the album's songs.

The album reached No. 4 on the , and performed better overseas than the preceding album (it was the group's highest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 12). The accompanying "You Make Me Real" / "Roadhouse Blues" single peaked at No. 50 in May 1970 on the  chart. The cover photo was taken by .

Background

On March 1, 1969,  performed while  at the  in , in front of a crowd of nearly 12,000; he was charged for his performance and behavior with indecent exposure, on April 4. The incident negatively reflected on the band's publicity, sparking a "March for Decency" at the .

Consequently, twenty-five dates on the band's next tour were cancelled, and their records were  from radio airplay, resulting in the band abandoning the rest of their potential tour, costing what Densmore characterized as "a million dollars in gigs." Nevertheless, the band gradually regained momentum by playing concerts throughout the rest of the year, including the . In July, the Doors released their fourth album, , a heavily orchestrated affair that augmented the band's sound with horns and strings. Around early 1969, Morrison traded in his stage leathers for more conventional attire, grew a beard and gained weight as he attempted to live down his "Lizard King" image; however, his worsening alcoholism often undermined his efforts.

In November, a drunken Morrison caused such a disturbance on a flight to Phoenix, Arizona to see a  concert that he was charged with a new skyjacking law that carried up to a $10,000 fine and a ten-year prison sentence.

Recording and composition

Morrison Hotel's back to basics approach largely stemmed from the group's dismay over the protracted sessions for The Soft Parade, which took nine months to record and cost $86,000 (equal to $606,917 today), far more expensive than any previous Doors record. The band had also been stung by the critical reception to the record. On this album, there is a slight steer toward , which would be fully explored by the band on their next album . Morrison Hotel was recorded between November 1969 and January 1970 with the exception of "Indian Summer", which was recorded in August 1966 during sessions for , while "Waiting for the Sun" was actually written during the sessions for the band's .

Although Morrison Hotel contains no major hit singles, it features some of the band's most popular songs, including "" and "", which would go on to become staples of  radio. "Roadhouse Blues" took two days to record (November 4–5, 1969) with Paul Rothchild striving for perfection. Several takes from these sessions were included on the 2006 remastered album, with Morrison repeating the phrase "Money beats soul" over and over again. The sessions only took off on the second day, when distinguished blues guitarist  (also signed to Elektra Records) joined in on bass and former  bandleader  (appearing under the  G. Puglese due to the constraint of his  recording contract) joined in on harmonica. Over the course of the session, keyboardist  switched from his  to a  previously used on  "".

The  of "Peace Frog" is a   played three times by Krieger, followed by a brief percussive  effect. Morrison, who took the words from a notebook entitled Abortion Stories, begins nearly every line with the word "blood", often referring to "Blood in the streets". A brief musical interlude is next, followed by a guitar solo, and a spoken word verse ("Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding"). The song ends with a final chord as it segues into the next track, "Blue Sunday".

"The Spy" and "Queen of the Highway" celebrate Morrison's intense but troubled relationship with longtime girlfriend . Originally "The Spy" was called "Spy in the House of Love", as shown on the Master Reel Control File, a line borrowed from , a novel by  published in 1954. Both songs are tinged with ambivalence; on "The Spy" Morrison cautions, "I know your deepest, secret fears", while on "Queen of the Highway" he sardonically concludes, "I hope it can continue a little while longer". According to the 1980 Doors biography , it was during the Morrison Hotel sessions that Morrison and Courson had a violent argument after she drank his bottle of liquor so he could not drink it, with engineer  recalling: "So here were the two of them, completely out of their minds and crying. He started shaking her violently. I think he was putting me on. She was crying out of control, telling him he shouldn't drink anymore and that's why she drank it. And I'm cleaning up and I said, "Hey man, it's pretty late." He looked up, stopped shaking her, said, "Yeah, right", hugged her and they walked out arm in arm ... he'd always give you a funny look afterward, to see your reaction."

Album cover A photo of the Morrison Hotel building in 2012, when it was restored.

The cover photo was taken by  at the Morrison Hotel on South Hope Street in . The band weren't given permission to photograph, so did so while the clerk was called away from the desk. The band jumped right behind the windows and hit their places without shuffling as Diltz took the shot. The rear cover features a photograph of the Hard Rock Café at nearby 300 East 5th Street. The building is now home to a convenience store. It has been vacant for years, but a new development plan announced in 2018 may restore the building. Thirteen years later parts of 's music video for the song "" were also filmed inside the former Hard Rock Café on 5th Street.

Release and reception Initial release

Upon its release, Morrison Hotel was seen by many as a comeback for the Doors following the critical failure of The Soft Parade. Although the accompanying "You Make Me Real" / "Roadhouse Blues" single only peaked at No. 50 in May 1970 despite strong FM radio play of the latter song, the album was immediately certified gold by  in February 1970 (the band's fifth consecutive album certification, a record among American hard rock bands of the era) before reaching No. 4 on the  album chart in March during a 27-week stay. Additionally, it became the band's highest-charting studio album in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at No. 12.

, the editor of  magazine, called the album "the most horrifying rock and roll I have ever heard. When they're good, they're simply unbeatable. I know this is the best record I've listened to ... so far", while Rock Magazine called it "without any doubt their ballsiest (and best) album to date".  praised it as "possibly the best album yet from the Doors" and "good, hard, evil rock ... and one of the best albums released this decade".  critic  wrote a mixed review, praising the opener "Roadhouse Blues", but criticizing the album's continuation: "It’s really a shame, too, because somehow one held high expectations for this album and wanted so badly to believe it would be good that one was afraid to listen to it when it was finally released."

During this period, the de facto blacklisting continued to persist in more socially conservative markets, particularly the ; consequently, the band's 1970 American tour itinerary was largely confined to the ,  and more progressive  cities amid ongoing (albeit more sporadic) cancellations, including planned concerts in  and at the -operated .

Retrospective reviews Professional ratingsRetrospective professional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRating78/100
(deluxe)Review scoresSourceRatingB+

In his 1981 retrospective review,  rated Morrison Hotel "B+" on an A+ to F scale. He expressed his preference of the A side (Hard Rock Café) over the B side (Morrison Hotel), both lyrically and musically. He noted that the "band is rocking tighter than it ever has, Robbie Krieger's phrasing keeps things moving, and Morrison's gliding vocal presence–arty and self-absorbed though it may be–provides focus."  gave a rating of full five stars out of five, and praised it as the Doors "most cohesive record," and noted that aside "from the throwaway grunter 'Maggie McGill,' every song was masterful—and the band swings tougher and easier than they ever had before."

More recently, Thom Jurek of  expressed that the Doors "employed them to some degree on all of their albums, but never as consistently, adeptly, or provocatively as they did on Morrison Hotel, with absolutely stunning results." Sal Cinquemani of  gave the record three stars out of five; he praised Jim Morrison's vocals as "cleaner and clearer" than before, and hailed particularly "Peace Frog" as one of greatest songs in the Doors catalogue. Morrison Hotel holds currently 78/100 approval rating based on 5 critic reviews on .

Track listing Original album

Details are taken from the 1970 Elektra Records album and may differ from other sources.

Side one: Hard Rock CaféNo.TitleWriter(s)Length1."", music by 4:042."Waiting for the Sun"Morrison3:583."You Make Me Real"Morrison2:504.""Morrison, Krieger2:525."Blue Sunday"Morrison2:086."Ship of Fools"Morrison, Krieger3:06Side two: Morrison HotelNo.TitleWriter(s)Length1."Land Ho!"Morrison, Krieger4:082."The Spy"Morrison4:153."Queen of the Highway"Morrison, Krieger2:474."Indian Summer"Morrison, Krieger2:335."Maggie M'Gill"Morrison, music by the Doors4:24