When a band is as original and unique as the Doors were during their heyday, it is often less of a challenge to name those they have inspired than it is their own key influences. But there is one pivotal genre of music running in the background of numerous Doors classics: that of course, is the blues. Jim Morrison loved the dark recordings of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker almost as much as he did the novels of Huxley, Kerouac and Joyce, or the poetry of Rimbaud and Blake. And with Ray Manzarek growing up on the south side of Chicago, home of electric blues, the band had a common thread to indulge in their songwriting. But co-existing on this compilation with the scorching blues records of the names above and many others from a similar impulse, are songs by Kurt Weill and George Gershwin, free jazz from Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, and primal rock n’ roll performances by Elvis Presley. Doors’ members were heavily informed by these names and many others, and this selection acts as a fitting tribute to both a band who knew where to look for inspiration and a selection of artists who were so powerful in their chosen field they had the balls – albeit unknowingly - to influence one of the finest band this world has ever witnessed.
1. Hoochie Coochie Man – MUDDY WATERS
2. Smokestack Lightnin’ – HOWLIN’ WOLF
3. Little Rain – JIMMY REED
4. Crawlin’ King Snake – JOHN LEE HOOKER
5. I’m a King Bee – SLIM HARPO
6. The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception – JACK KEROUAC
7. Mystery Train – ELVIS PRESLEY
8. Farruca – SABICAS
9. Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground – BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON
10. Travelling Riverside Blues – ROBERT JOHNSON
11. Cafe De Chinitas – CARLOS MONTOYA
12. Russian Lullaby – JOHN COLTRANE
13. Money (That’s What I Want) – BARRETT STRONG
14. Summertime – BILLIE HOLIDAY
15. Straight, No Chaser – THELONIOUS MONK
16. Mack The Knife – LOUIS ARMSTRONG
17. Carol – CHUCK BERRY
18. Blue In Green – MILES DAVIS
19. Who Do You Love – BO DIDDLEY
20. Louie Louie – RICHARD BERRY
21. On The Road (Extract) – JACK KEROUAC
22. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) – LOTTE LENYA
23. Close To You – MUDDY WATERS
24. Fever – LITTLE WILLIE JOHN
25. St James Infirmary – JOSH WHITE