From our pals at The Second Disc:

Rhino continues to give The Doors their due this Fall when it unveils a special 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of L.A. Woman. This two-disc collection contains the original album along with a selection of rare and previously unreleased session outtakes and studio dialogue.

Recorded mostly live in their rehearsal space, the 10-song album was produced by the band with longtime engineer Bruce Botnick, who created a comfortable vibe in the studio. In an interview with Modern Drummer, Densmore recalled the L.A. Woman sessions. “We just did a couple takes, on everything. There were some mistakes, and I would say, ‘Ray, remember on Miles Davis Live At Carnegie Hall, on the intro of ‘So What’ there’s this horrible trumpet error? Miles said he didn’t care, because of the feeling.’ That’s what L.A. Woman is. Just passion — in our rehearsal room, not in a fancy studio. It was the first punk album! It was made cheap, in a couple weeks.”

There are more surprises are in store for the L.A. Woman celebration, so stay tuned to The Doors (http://www.thedoors.com, http://www.facebook.com/thedoors) and Rhino (http://www.rhino.com, http://www.facebook.com/rhino) for additional announcements.

Renny, 'tis your cue.

I was hoping for a "Live At The Matrix" Box Set from the REAL master tapes. I recently ripped my Doors collection to iTunes. I have been using multiple sources for metadata and artwork editing and came across this on wikipedia:

Master Tape issues:
PopMatters music critic Steve Horowitz observed in his review of Live at the Matrix 1967, entitled "Money...That's What I Want," that the Rhino CD was not sourced from Peter Abram's master tapes, despite Rhino's press release claim that "first generation tapes" were used.
On December 2, 2008, Peter Abram allowed photos to be taken of his master tape boxes. These photos were published online at the Steve Hoffman Forums on December 4, 2008
Abram's notations on the master tape boxes indicate that a 'jam' was performed between "Soul Kitchen" and "Get Out of My Life Woman" during the March 7, 1967 show.
Since that time, the Doors management has purchased the original master tapes and are planning on re-releasing the concert as a gold-disc limited edition box set due out sometime in 2011.

I recently heard Matrix for the 1st time & found the sound quality to be awful, so I strongly suspect Horowitz is correct. I can't imagine paying big $'s for a gold box of that show.

I'm going to need to hear the 2nd disc of LA Woman before making a purchasing decision.

Jeff, I agree on the sound quality of the Rhino version. When it came out there was quite a bit of controversy over wheter the original tapes were used. See the article below:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/662 ... trix-1967/

I have a copy of the Italian KTS label 4 disc set, It is a nicely done digibook. The sound quality is decent, though the tape runs a bit slow. No worse than the official release. If the DMC released a box from the first gen master in complete form, i would buy it for sure. According to the Wiki on the tapes "Peter Abram revealed in an online posting the equipment he used to record The Doors at The Matrix. "I used an Akai tape recorder (tubes), 4 Calrad mics on the stage and a Calrad mic mixer on the instrumental channel. On the vocal channel: a Knight mixer with 3 Electrovoice 676 and Shure mics. The Calrad mics that I used on the instrumental track were model DM-21" said Abram.
The original master 1/4 track stereo tapes were recorded at 7.5 ips on Abram's Akai reel-to-reel vacuum tube tape recorder."

How bad can that sound?

My comment on the proposed gold box is based on a belief that they're going to charge a fortune for it!

I'm not Renny, but I think it's pretty fair to say that once you're getting down to "studio dialogue" that you're pretty much at the bottom of the barrel.

From antimusic.com:

Rhino Records will release a 40th anniversary version of The Doors’ 1971 classic album L.A. Woman on November 25.

The two-CD set includes a bonus disc featuring covers of Willie Dixon’s “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” and Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want).”

According to Noise11.com, the remastered album features several noticeable changes compared to the original. For instance, the fade-out of “Love Her Madly” is 18 seconds longer than on the original album; an extra verse has been reinstated to “Cars Hiss by My Window,” and the title track includes the guitar intro “My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” adding an extra 10 seconds to the track.

Meanwhile dubstep producer Skrillex has collaborated with The Doors’ Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore on the song “Breakin’ a Sweat” for a documentary film titled RE:GENERATION, which pairs five DJs with music legends from other genres.
The film premieres in early 2012.

In addition to 2011 marking the 40th anniversary of L.A. Woman, it’s also the 50th birthday of the Gibson SG. As part of that milestone, Krieger is being honored by Gibson Guitar with his own 50th Anniversary signature model Gibson SG.

I haven't heard or seen anything about this. Seems awfully quiet for such a release. Is this still happening?

Looks like it's been delayed until January 2012, according the to the Doors' website and the Amazon link to the DVD. Hopefully, it will still happen, as I'm really looking forward to it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DJ62MS/?tag=imwan-20

Yeah-I saw this link before and it's for a DVD not this CD release, so I'm not sure what's happening with this.

If it's only 2 bonus trax & a couple extended beginnings/endings I probably would pass. Hopefully they'll fill up D2 with something worthwhile.

I thought it was going to be a 4 CD set. I guess I was wrong.

The intro to L.A. Woman "My Country, Tis of Thee" and the extra verse on "Cars Hiss by My Window" first appeared on the DVD-A and then again on the 40th Anniversary Mixes. Same with "Love Her Madly" and its longer fade-out, and "Riders of the Storm" with its shorter fade-out (poor choice).

Willie Dixon’s “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” was the B-side of "Love Her Madly" and is also a bonus track on the 40th Anniversary Mixes, along with "Orange County Suite" (which first appeared on the box set). I don't recall a studio version of Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)" ever being officially released.

I'm curious if this release will use the 40th Anniversary Mixes or the original. The remixes were hit or miss. I felt L.A. Woman's new mix was inferior, although, I prefer the lengthened songs. Conversely, I felt the Morrison Hotel remix was fantastic and definitive. The speed-corrected debut throws me off. Some of the songs work better, but I just can't get used to the faster "Light My Fire."

Here's a new article from Billboard about the release (shame that most of the unused sessions were taped over):
http://www.billboard.com/news/the-doors ... 1562.story

Sorry to go over old territory but on Perception, where are the 40th anniversary mixes and where are the original ones (CD or DVD-A) and which ones are available in high-res and which ones are not?

Also, am I right in thinking that the mixes on the current commonly-available redbook CDs are the new (40th anniversary) ones?

Thanks

The 2006 Perception box contains CD's of the 1999 remasters (using the original mixes), w/ bonus tracks added for the first time. The DVD's contain the new 40th anniversary 5.1 mixes. On a side note, L.A. Woman had previously been issued in 5.1 on DVD-Audio, back in 2000 (w/o bonus tracks, but with the noted changes to some of the songs).

In 2007, the 40th anniversary mixes made their debut on CD, adding the bonus tracks from the Perception box. At the same time the 1999 remasters w/ the original mixes, and w/o bonus tracks, were discontinued. So the 40th anniversary mixes have been the only CD's on the market the past four years (sans the American Fidelity gold discs w/ original mixes). Both the original mixes and 40th anniversary mixes are available on iTunes.

Hi ajc68,

Many thanks for that comprehensive response.

Just one more query - if I may! - what about the recently announced SACDs?...where do they fit into what seems to be becoming a complicated situation?

PS: I understand that the 5.1 mixes on the DVDs are the 40th anniversary ones but what about the hi-res stereo layer?....40th or original?

Here's some info on a new track to be included in the new Deluxe Edition:


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... e-20111117

Great...the obligatory ONE TRACK unavailable anywhere else as bait.

AUDIO: Preview lost L.A. Woman track by The Doors
A newly discovered track by The Doors has been found in time for the 40th Anniversary reissue of the band’s 1971 release, “L.A. Woman.”

Rolling Stone reports producer Bruce Botnick recently discovered "She Smells So Nice" while reviewing the album's session tapes for the reissue, due January 24.

The 2-disc set features alternate takes including "Love Her Madly," "Riders on the Storm" and the title track.

“Love Her Madly” has an extended fade-out making in 18 seconds longer than the original version; “Cars Hiss By My Window” has had an additional verse added making it 4:58 instead of 4:12. “L.A. Woman” includes the guitar intro “My Country, 'Tis Of Thee,” making it 7:59, 10 seconds longer.

For the bonus disc, two first time releases include The Doors' versions of Willie Dixon's “(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further” and Barrett Strong's “Money (That's What I Want),” as well as the Jim Morrison composition “Orange County Suite.”

The album, and a companion DVD on the making of it, will mark the start of Year of the Doors 2011-2012.

“L.A. Woman” was the 6th album for The Doors and the last album Jim Morrison recorded before his death. The album was released in April, 1971; Morrison died in July, 1971.

Bump:
Updated new release date.

All the details from hennemusic.com:

A new DVD/Blu-Ray "Mr. Mojo Risin'" the story of The Doors L.A. Woman is set to be released on January 24, 2012 and will include "She Smells So Nice," a newly-discovered original song from the l.A. Woman sessions.
Here are the details: The group's final album--1971's L.A. WOMAN, with the signature hits "L.A. Woman," "Love Her Madly" and "Riders On The Storm"--is being celebrated with a special two-CD release from Rhino and a behind-the-scenes DVD/Blu-ray from Eagle Rock Entertainment.
The L.A. Woman 40th anniversary edition (Rhino 2-CD) features a never-before-heard song, "She Smells So Nice," which captures the band--organist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, drummer John Densmore and late singer Jim Morrison--joyfully barreling through a full-throttle original before segueing into the blues standard "Rock Me."

As the song closes, Morrison can be heard chanting, "Mr. Mojo Risin'"--an anagram of his name that was made famous during the bridge of "L.A. Woman." Recently discovered by producer Bruce Botnick while reviewing the L.A. Woman session tapes, a teaser clip of "She Smells So Nice" can be heard here.

In addition to "She Smells So Nice," the second disc of the L.A. Woman reissue includes eight never-before-heard versions of songs from the album. Alternate takes of "L.A. Woman," "Love Her Madly" and "Riders On The Storm" offer a fresh view on this landmark album, which was the group's sixth straight Top 10. The studio chatter between the songs is a revelation, transporting listeners to The Doors Workshop: the West Hollywood rehearsal space where they recorded the album with Botnick. One segment in particular captures a fascinating moment of inspiration when Morrison suggests they add the now-iconic thunderstorm sound effects to the beginning of "Riders On The Storm." Rhino will also release L.A. Woman: The Workshop Sessions, a double LP featuring all of the previously unreleased material found on the CD collection on three sides of vinyl, with the fourth side featuring a laser etching of the original "Electric Woman" art originally included with the L.A. WOMAN album.

"Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman"(Eagle Rock Entertainment DVD/Blu-ray) is told through new interviews with Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore as well as Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman, original manager Bill Siddons, engineer/co-producer Bruce Botnick and others. The high-definition video also features live and studio performances as well as rare archival photos. This fascinating documentary contains rare footage of The Doors in the studio and on stage. The documentary was made with the full involvement, approval and cooperation of The Doors.

MR. MOJO RISIN': THE STORY OF L.A. WOMAN
DVD and Blu-ray Track Listing

MAIN PROGRAM -
Intro
Early Doors
The Changeling
Been Down So Long / The Miami Effect
The Doors Workshop
Crawling King Snake
Love Her Madly
L.A. Woman
The Wasp (Texas Radio & The Big Beat)
Riders On The Storm
Cars Hiss By My Window / Jim In Paris
Hyacinth House
Closing Doors

BONUS FOOTAGE -
John Densmore On L.A. Woman
Riders On The Storm
The Doors Guide To L.A.
Thoughts On Performing Live
Crawling King Snake

L.A. WOMAN: 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
CD Track Listing

Disc One
1. "The Changeling"
2. "Love Her Madly"
3. "Been Down So Long"
4. "Cars Hiss By My Window"
5. "L.A. Woman"
6. "L'America"
7. "Hyacinth House"
8. "Crawling King Snake"
9. "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)"
10. "Riders On The Storm"

Disc Two: All Selections Previously Unissued
1. "The Changeling" - Alternate Version*
2. "Love Her Madly" - Alternate Version*
3. "Cars Hiss By My Window" - Alternate Version*
4. "L.A. Woman" - Alternate Version*
5. "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" - Alternate Version*
6. "Been Down So Long" - Alternate Version*
7. "Riders On The Storm" - Alternate Version*
8. "She Smells So Nice"
9. "Rock Me"*

L.A. WOMAN: THE WORKSHOP SESSIONS
LP Track Listing

Side One
1. "The Changeling" - Alternate Version*
2. "Love Her Madly" - Alternate Version*
3. "Cars Hiss By My Window" - Alternate Version*
4. "L.A. Woman" - Alternate Version*

Side Two
1. "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" - Alternate Version*
2. "Been Down So Long" - Alternate Version*
3. "Riders On The Storm" - Alternate Version*

Side Three
1. "She Smells So Nice / Rock Me"*

* Previously unreleased