A keenly awaited re-press for this 2005 release, the official follow up to The Golden Scarab once again sees Doors keyboard man Ray Manzarek on true rocking form. This digitally remastered record features legendary Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh and also Lou Reed collaborator Dick Wagner. The track Wake Up Screaming is actually a poem written by one James Douglas Morrison and which features Patti Smith .
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This was one of the sleeper albums of 1974. Anyone who owns this on vinyl has been waiting 30 years for this to finally come out. Of course, it never sold well. Jim Morrison casts a long shadow, and if you approach a listen to this album expecting to hear “Roadhouse Blues,” you’ll be disappointed. But if you give this a listen as a Ray Manzarek album, you’ll wonder why this album didn’t get more airplay. It’s a strong piece of work throughout, and stands up well to this day through repeated listens. If you own the vinyl, you’ll be interested to know that the sound quality is excellent. If you own the original CD release of “The Golden Scarab,” which had three songs from this album, yes, it’s worth it to buy this to get the other 5 tracks. My favorite is “Bicentennial Blues,” which has an updated version of his organ solo from “Light My Fire” that totally rocks.
It’s a pity that the many great talents that comprised the Doors were so overshadowed by Jim Morrison’s lugubrious presence. I was lucky enough to have ready access to cut-out bins full of vinyl records, from which I plucked such post-Doors gems as Full Circle, Other Voices, Golden Scarab, The Whole Thing and Butts Band (Robbie and John’s project with Jess Roden). Too, I was lucky enough to be at an age where I was seeking for the words of wisdom that fill both this album and the Golden Scarab, for Ray’s deep, experiential spirituality flows through these works like a river. This isn’t the Mrs. Grundy spirituality peddled in your Sunday school sermons, either–this is the spirituality of a life on fire for experience, knowledge, good times and rock and roll! It is the stuff of dreams, but the dream is Life itself. Those with ears to hear will hear everything that is needed to survive this life intact in this work and, of course, in the Golden Scarab.
Ray must have had his absolute pick of the label’s stable, for the greatest lights in modern music strut beautifully upon his stage, lending a brilliance to his words and music that I’ve not seen equaled since. Musical allusions will delight Doors fans, while those fond of obscure talents will scratch their heads and ask: isn’t that Flo and Eddie? The Danny Sugarmen singers (Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, et al)? George Segal on Banjo? John Klemmer on Sax?
Don’t miss this treat!