Absolutely Live is good but not great
It saddens me how absolutely devoted many Doors fans are. Albums such as Absoultely Live and An American Prayer should not be praised so highly. I consider myself a Doors fan but I see the Doors as a group with good albums such as The Doors, Strange Days, Morrison Hotel, and L.A. Woman and OK or bad albums like everything else. Yes, it's true that each album has at least one or two songs that make the album worth it's cost, but this group is not perfect. I have never been a fan of Jim's The Celebration of the Lizard or his poetry, and I'm glad it only takes up 15 minutes or so on Absolutely Live. I prefer Alabama Song, Five to One, When the Music's Over, and Soul Kitchen live over the original versions. Who Do You Love, Love Hides, Universal Mind, and the Dead Cats, Dead Rats/ Break On Through medley are good. This is a purchase made only by true Doors fans; it's best to start with the studio albums.
The Original Doors' Live Album
This album is the only live album released during The Doors' brief (and heartbreaking...see my review on the Morrison/Courson book) career. The cover has been changed, although I have no idea why. My original LP is blue with a picture of Morrison from the Hollywood Bowl in 68. Anyways, the sound is raw, mistakes are made (and left in...AS THEY SHOULD ALWAYS BE...THIS IS LIVE). My only gripe is that The Doors, in my opinion, were only good for 2 albums (the first two), and would recapture some of their INCREDIBLE musical prowess on 71's LA Woman. At the time Absolutly Live was recorded, Miami was still fresh, and Morrison was at a crossroad in his life...ie. "should I start acting like a grown, mature, incredibly intelligent man, or should I continue acting as a rich, immature, slobbering no-talent drunk?" Oh what this band could have accomplished had Mojo grown up a bit. I recommend this album as a testament to a by-gone era. Several covers are on this album, as well as some Door's standards. I stil don't know why the record company changed the cover.
Absolutely Awesome!
The Doors could play blues better than ANYONE. Don't believe me? Just listen long and hard to "Close To You", by far the most excellent song on this album. To be quite honest, it makes the Muddy Waters version sound pitiful (with all due respect). Just listen to Ray's thunderous, masculine vocals and tell me that this isn't blues at it's absolute best. And Jim sings background vocals on this one, too. That part where they keep wailing "CLOSER AND CLOSER BABY!" is just too awesome for me to describe in words, as is the driving beat of the song. And listen to the way that John keeps thrashing his cymbals. Man oh man, you'll never find a blues tune better than this one, so don't even try. IT'S JUST TOO FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!!
Okay. the rest of the album is wonderful too. In particular, the version of "Five To One" is practically surreal in it's intensity. And Robby throws in the most devastating solo that I've ever heard him play. "Who Do You Love" is also great, much better than the dorky George Thorogood version. "Back Door Man" features another blistering solo by Robby, and "Soul Kitchen" may even be better than the original version.
But none of those songs can compare to the raw, fiery, unmatched blues that is "Close To You". That song alone is worth the price of the whole album.
Absolutely Live [LIVE]
Beauty in one of its purest forms...
Just as simple as that.
Absolutely unnecessary
As good as the sound and live recording is for "Absolutely Live", it only gets better on a more comprehensive and perhaps slightly better engineered "In Concert" double cd album. Even the song order arranged here is maintained and duplicated on "In Concert". Yet if you need a quick fix of live Doors music, or are an [avid] Doors collector (like me), than "Absolutely Live" will do the job.But mind you, once you've also purchased "In Concert" with the exact song structure and recordings and more inclusive with Hollywood Bowl recordings and others from Alive She Cried, you will regret having purchased "Absolutely Live" in the first place. Essentially, all three could be avoided purchases with a single "In Concert" purchase. The Box Set would be the next logical purchase with even additional collections and a rarity set with select choices from "In Concert".
I do think the sound engineering is slightly clearer or less muted on "In Concert" than it is on "Absolutely Live". Regardless, for a live recording both are enjoyable on an audiophile level of integrity. But I say again, there is nothing you are missing here, only depriving yourself of what lays awaiting in the expanded selections of "In Concert". My review there on May 31st is more descriptive and detailed of the very same recordings, albeit shortened, on "Absolutely Live".
This 1970 double LP proved to be about as good an approximation of the singular methodology of a Doors concert as was possible in the pre-video era. Alternately short and to the point (like the AM radio hits "Touch Me," "People Are Strange," and "Hello, I Love You," among those featured here) and long and meandering (like such open-ended excursions as "When the Music's Over" and "The Celebration of the Lizard"), Morrison and crew displayed the full slate of their estimable powers as both musicians and motivators--continuing to daringly break through whatever sonic and thematic doors they opened. --Billy Altman
