- Writers: The Doors
- Producer: Paul A. Rothchild
- Recorded: Fall and winter 1969
- Released: February 1970
- Players:
Jim Morrison — vocals
Ray Manzarek — keyboards
Robby Krieger — guitar
John Densmore — drums
Lonnie Mack — bass
G. Puglese — harmonica - Album: Morrison Hotel (Elektra, 1970)
- Also On:
13 (Elektra, 1970)
An American Prayer (Elektra, 1978)
The Doors Greatest Hits (Elektra, 1980)
Classics (Elektra, 1985)
The Best Of The Doors (Elektra, 1987)
The Doors (soundtrack) (Elektra, 1991)
In Concert (Elektra, 1991)
The Complete Studio Recordings (Elektra, 1999)
The Absolute Best Of The Doors (Rhino, 2003) - Though “Roadhouse Blues” eventually became one of the Doors‘ most popular songs, it was actually the B-side of the single “You Make Me Real,” which only peaked at Number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later re-released as a single in 1979, but did not chart.
- “Roadhouse Blues” was originally considered as the title song for the album that became Morrison Hotel.
- Doors frontman Jim Morrison wrote the song about his girlfriend Pamela Courson. He came up with many of the lines while they were driving to a cottage they’d purchased in the Los Angeles area.
- The song features some unusual guest appearances for the Doors, including blues guitarist and singer Lonnie Mack on bass.
- Morrison Hotel reached Number Four on the Billboard 200 and Number 12 in the U.K.
- Morrison Hotel was certified gold shortly after its release, making the Doors the first American band to score five consecutive gold albums. But it was the first Doors album not to produce a hit single.
- The album was named after a real low-end hotel in Los Angeles where rooms cost $2.50 a night. The hotel turned down the band’s request to shoot photos there, so they simply walked in while nobody was paying attention, and had a photographer take the cover photo.
FAST FORWARD:
- Morrison died of mysterious causes on July 3rd, 1971, in Paris. Recently, the owner of a club in Paris has offered a conflicting version of the events of the night of Morrison’s death, which could possibly lead to a new investigation.
- The three surviving members recorded two more albums before breaking up in 1973.
- The Doors’ own label Bright Midnight Records has issued rare and unreleased music from the Doors’ vaults. The CDs are available at the band’s official website, thedoors.com.
- The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 12th, 1983, with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder joining the surviving musicians for two songs.