Morrison was a total natural singer….he could just DO that. No training, no lessons or anything. He loved crooners like Elvis and Frank Sinatra which has a lot to do with his tone.
Truly remarkable how good Morrison was with no training. Beautiful tone in the comfortable part of his range and his screaming yelling high notes were perfect for rock music.
Jim nailed this 1967 live performance. Everything is perfect: his vocal range, posture, gestures, spontaneity. We will never see the likes of the Doors again.
People do not remember that he was 1st a POET, then a singer. The base voice he had along with good lucks is what got the chicks. But L A Woman with Riders on the Storm is his epic.
I´m so glad when you analyse Jim Morrison. He never regarded himself as a singer and didn´t have the confident to begin with at least. But listen to songs like Crystal Ships tells you how good he was. RIP. Thank you Beth :)
This perfprmance was from the Ed Sullivan show and has an interesting story. The Doors were told not to use the lyric "Girl we couldn't get much higher" as "higher" was considered a drug reference. Morrison of course didn't change anything. After the performance a very conservative Ed Sullivan was furious and the Doors were told that they'd never appear on the show again. Morrison's reply? "That's ok, we just did the Ed Sullivan show.
Though, if you watch Val Kilmer's performance as Jim Morrison, he EMPHASIZES on the word "higher", like "girl, we couldn't get much HIGHER!" Plus, Ed Sullivan was so conservative, he made the Rolling Stones change part of the chorus of "Let's Spend The Night Together" to "let's spend some time together" so they could come back.
I just found out that part isn't true. Robby Krieger, in his newly released memoir, denies that reaction from the Ed Sullivan show crew actually happened. The book actually busts a lot of Doors myths. Great book btw.
@@andydnyc so you are probably right to believe him and think so. Probably just a rumor if he says so... But sometimes when a person says "everything you believed is wrong, buy my book" they are the ones making things up 😆
@@JohnJacksonJohnson Jim as portrayed by Val Kilmer is a huge asshole most of the time. I've never seen a recording by the real Doors where he is making this sort of spectacle.
@@mokane86 yup, but he didn't market his book that way. He'd actually sell more books if he perpetuated the myths and exaggerations and went even further with them. He explains in the book the reason for these Doors myths and that he is grateful to them, to an extent, for promoting the music. I've read all the books by Sugarman, Densmore, and Manzerek. Krieger's is by far the best. A 'warts and all' memoir.
I swear the statue of David came to life and became a rockstar named Jim Morrison for a few short years. Unnatural good looks that match the charisma, persona and talent.
The way Manzarek plays the melody and the bass at the same time on the keyboard is mind blowing. Plus he produced and appeared on the first X album! RIP!
My favorite band of all time. Seeing them and “him” in particular just makes me smile… Jim was the king of the primal scream. So full of life… so sad he died so young.
That performance is maybe the best musical performance by anybody on youtube - the performance was from 1967 - see how Jim carries himself, his physicality, listen to his vocal -- this performance is 55 years old - and yet he is more contemporary and hipper then any musical performer from 2022 -- IN-CREDIBLE
I always love seeing vocal analysis of Jim Morrison. Love how he had a Sinatra-like croon but could suddenly do a proto-metal scream out of nowhere. Particularly impressive as he had no vocal training afaik. Jim may have left us too soon but the Doors left us with some timeless art
I saw this on live TV as a teen, watching in my parents den (family room). Before Zeppelin burst on the scene, Jim Morrison and John Kay (Steppenwolf) were the epitome of cool. I'd gladly go back to 1968 or so and pick up my life from there, if that were possible.
Yessss! What a classic. My Dad said he saw these guys live and he was blown away. Oh and they are the only band totally banned from Ed Sullivan because they refused to censor themselves lol. Oh and you should do Three Dog Night any song from them next!
Well yeah, they were banned AFTER they peformed the song as written. This video is that actual performance on the Ed Sullivan show. Ed did't like the vague drug reference ("Girl we couldn't get much higher) and wanted it changed to "Girl there is nothing I require." This was the 60s folks. TV was squeaky clean. Anyway, Jim and band supposedly agreed to change to the wording but then sang it as it was on the record because, well, that was Jim Morrison. And the band was then banned from Ed's show, which in that era was where EVERY rock band of any consequence performed to prove they had arrived. They did not care Ed was mad since, as you see here, they had already peformed. The show was live so it could not be bleeped or edited out. Now you know the rest of the story. BTW, if Disney every does a live version of "Brave." Beth here would seem to be the perfect choice to play the lead. Looks just like the cartoon character.
I'm glad you chose this one. He is one of the greats, as is the band The Doors. One of my all time favorites, and yes.....one of the most natural best voices ever. The thing I love the most is that this was filmed in September of '67 (The Ed Sullivan Show). Barely two years prior to this Jim Morrison had never sung before and he had absolutely zero training whatsoever. Just natural, raw, incredible, talent.
@@zeke2566 I know. It was sad. The interview he did in 2008 covers that a bit. You can tell there is genuine honesty when he says "I don't get it." but sad nonetheless. Ultimately his father added to his gravestone in Paris a latin phrase with a translation of "True to his own spirit." It tells me that, despite his lack of understanding of his son (in so many ways), he ultimately understood and respected the fact that he was his own man and followed his own path. The Admiral probably feared that in himself to some degree, hence his "issues" with it.
One of the few groups/performers that I missed seeing live back in the day... However, I was, and still am, mesmerized by Jim and the Doors! Thanx for reacting to classic rock tunes like this; I have so many memories of growing up with this music.
"super super relaxed" at 1:14....believe me, being a Sagittarius like me, Morrison, Hendrix, u can tell inside when the nerves build up, but we like to perform on stage; off stage we are shy, quiet, most of the time....
Oops, dating myself here, but I attended a concert of the Doors on Sept 11, 1967 in Oswego, NY. There is an audio recording of an interview with the Doors a few days before the concert. I listened to it a few years ago, and will have to search my saved files to listen again. The student group at Oswego booked many name groups over the next 15 years. The songs from this performance were from their classic and first album. The song belies a very stressful time in my life and without saying, of our country. After two semesters I flunked out, got drafted but chose to enlist in the Air Force, went to Vietnam, Okinawa, and Italy, and finally finished college in 1976. Morrison was so laid back in his style. Elvis came to Las Vegas in his white sequined bell bottom jump suits, and Jim came on stage with curls, leather pants with Concho Belt, and black shirt. Dude dressed way ahead of his time. Lots of other stories I could tell. This review brings back so many memories - bad and good.😢😎
That vocal distortion was due to the primitive equipment back in the mid-60's as compared to today's PA. There were no compressors or limiters or anything like that and if you noticed, he didn't pull away from the mic when his vocal levels went up, thus the distortion. He simply over drove the mic.
This performance on Ed Sullivan is one of my all time favorites and a rare video so kudos on reviewing this! This is the Doors at the height of their powers early on in their success. Jim is a force of nature delivering a perfectly controlled but furious performance. His voice was so cool, he could croon, growl, and scream with the best of them.
He was such a magnetic person. I wasn’t alive in the 60’s or in the early 70’s when he passed but he managed to capture me as a fan and I am still broken that he died so young. He had the cool factor of a James Dean, the natural singing abilities of a Frank Sinatra and the sex appeal to the women as a Brad Pitt. Seriously amazing!!!
What a great video.. I've seen Morrison sing this song a thousand times, but watching this video again through your expert-eyes was like something new! Thank you for that!
He also seems to be using the mic for distortion. He screams straight into it instead of moving it away, causing that crunchy, clipping sort of effect. I love to see the ways singers create effects without having to work too hard. I guess that's what most vocal techniques are about.
Paint it how you want but someone like Jim Morrison could only exist as a bright burning candle talent like that is just natural and no amount of lesson can teach it. Great vid btw ✌️
This was brilliant, thank you! He's only been singing about 2 years by this time. Note Ray yelling 'come on' during the crescendo, which together with John and Robbie often pushed Jim to these heights.
Jim Morrison had amazing phrasing and to me was the greatest front man ever. He was a mix of old blue artists, Frank Sinatra, and Edger Allan Poe. His most amazing vocal caught on video was the live version of When the Music's Over in Sweden 1968. Would love to see your reaction and take on it.
Actually, I believe Jim wasn't sure of himself as the singer, if memory serves me correctly when they played early on at the Whiskey a go go, he frequently sang facing the band and not the audience.
That is true, but Ray Manzerek admitted that the reason why was because the audience was small and that he was used to facing his band in practice. That little worm Oliver Stone tended to distort everything about Jim. Made him into a death-crazed maniac, which he wasn't
@@middlegroundlogic I agree with that wholeheartedly, (about Oliver Stone) horrible depiction of Jim Morrison. That's not where I got that information from though. It was from one of the many book's I have about the Doors and Morrison, although I don't recall which one. Been a huge fan all my life, theirs was the first LP I scraped enough money together to get when I was a teenager. ( My mother was thrilled 😂)
Rock history's bad boy. BUT he was so misunderstood. He was of a genius mind and had to escape through drugs and alcohol. He also did not really want to be a rock star, he wanted to be a poet. He was tortured in his mind. When he escaped to Paris to pursue his poet dream with his life mate, Pamela, he lost the battle. FYI: When he performed on Ed Sullivan, Sullivan wanted the word "higher" taken out of the song and Morrison decided he was not going to comply and used it anyway. He was banned from the show, but Morrison didn't care. BTW, Jim Morrison knew nothing about technique, he just sang the way he wanted to sing. That was just him being a natural, he knew nothing about music comp or vowels or consonants, etc. That was just Morrison being Morrison; unapologetically raw and real.
Jim Morrison's voice is so much different than any lead singer from lead singers who I grew up with in rock music and I've been a die hard fan of the doors since I was in the 10th grade in high school in 1994 and I'm almost 44 years old this year 2022
Although Jim Morrison did take drugs, he always quickly moved on from them. He likes to experience new things but he wasn't terribly interested in usung drugs for any length of time. His big problem was with alcohol.
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HELLO FROM NEW ENGLAND...JIM NEVER HAD ANY FORMAL VOICE TRAINING AND HE STUMBLED INTO BEING A SINGER BY BEING INVITED ON STAGE TO SING BECAUSE HE WAS HECKLING THE BAND PLAYING, WHICH SO HAPPENED TO HAVE WHAT BECAME THE DOORS ORGANIST, AND THE REST IS HISTORY...GREAT PICK...PEACE FROM THE NORTHEAST
I wonder what you might say about this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V1bFr2SWP1I.html Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole
Bonjour de France. J'écoute les Doors depuis 1972. Et je ne m'en lasse pas. J'ai eu ce rêve, dans les années 80, de voir une chorale, d'environ 50 personnes, reprendre '' Riders on the storm ''. En ne conservant que la batterie. J'espère entendre ça avant de quitter ce monde. 🎶🍷🌅
I dunno how the hell he did that metal scream. It’s like he was possessed. The first time I ever watched this video, I was blown away! It came out of nowhere. I could never imagine being able to do that.
The Doors at Town Hall, Philadelphia on June 18, 1967 had the first photographs of Jim Morrison wearing his leather pants and leather jacket. Morrison wore the same clothing the night before in NYC but no photos of that performance have ever surfaced.
Great band with a great sound fronted by a great vioce. JM was so talented, I often wonder where music would have taken him if it had had the chance, such a huge loss. I enjoed seeing your enthusiasm whilst reviewing this track.
And Beth, I just have to add in hopes you see this- I really appreciate you making the comment about drinking probably not being the best avenue to get to that relaxed state that people like Morrison and Joplin took. Any young vocalist with a touch of the blues and a few more romantic notions than they need do need to hear that they don’t necessarily need to lead a life of excess to be true to their voice. Jim’s story is a sad one, he was a special voice that we lost too soon because of the times he sang into 🥺♥️✨ always appreciate your hard work for these videos, thank you for the great content!
Abrazo grande un saludo desde Asturias, soy seguidor de the doors gracias por subirlo es un placer escucharte eres una crack , jim en esa epoca si no me equivoco tendria unos 24 o 25 años miy joven y esa voz brutal
This was their first performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." They were performing live but it was the single version of the song as opposed to the album version that features organ and guitar solos.
I think this is their infamous appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. They were told not to sing the lyric, 'girl we couldn't get much higher', because the censors thought it was a drug reference. They sang it anyway, & were banned from ever returning.
"Riders on the Storm" next time, please! I know you're not taking any more requests, but you gotta listen to that one. That was Jim Morrison's last recorded song.
Morrison had a great High Baritone Rock/Pop voice. He could be real smooth & relaxed like a great Baritone crooner with fabulous tone OR he could sing up in the low tenor range with a lot of edge. The guy was great. His band was great, especially the keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, who played the basslines with his left hand on a key bass so they didn't need a bass layer.
A great early live performance. True to the studio version other than a shortened instrumental section. I second reacting to LA Woman. He sings that with a really deep voice.
The reason you see Robbie (The guitarist) smirking at 00:42 is because Jim sang the line 'Girl we could'nt get much higher'. Before this show, 'Ed Sullivan show'. They were specifically informed that they could not sing that line.
I would love to see a reaction to any of the performances from The Doors 1968 European tour. A lot of the performances were recorded with good quality because they eventually made a documentary with the footage. Jim was at his most Jim. One of the concerts Jim was in no condition to perform so Ray Manzerek played keyboard with his right hand, played bass keyboard with his left, and SANG! I think it was Amsterdam.
The time they got banned from Ed Sullivan? He had one of the best screams in rock! So unpredictably delightful. There will never ever be another Jim Morrison. He just seems so effortless also? 🖤 Man was he cool.
