Jim Morrison Was In A Great Mood Making The Doors ‘L.A. Woman'

Three months after The Doors released their classic ‘L.A. Woman’ Jim Morrison was dead. The album was Morrison’s final record with the band but according to guitarist Robby Krieger, Morrison was in a great mood while they made the album.

The Doors had just faced massive legal issues. Morrison was arrested multiple times for language and lewd behavior. ‘L.A. Woman’ began at the end of the legal issues in Florida where Morrison was accusing for flashing his penis on stage.

Watch the Noise11 interview with Robby Krieger.

Robby tells Noise11.com, “It was more stressful for Jim because he had the Miami thing hanging over his head as well. For all of us, we couldn’t play anywhere. We had no gigs. There was a thing called the Hall Managers Association at the time. After the Miami thing we got banned from playing anywhere so we decided to concentrate on recording which ended up being a good thing for Jim”.

Giving the consistent run-ins with the law Morrison was glad to settle back in California and make the ‘L.A. Woman’ album with no fear of arrest. “I think in a way it was relief to him to not have to go out and tour,” Robby says. “That’s where he would get into a lot of trouble, but he would also get into a lot of trouble at home. I think he seemed in a pretty good mood during that time. For one thing we recorded it at our own little studio, or rehearsal place really. That was kind of cool not having to worry about going to the studio and money by the hour. We just made our own hours. He seemed pretty relaxed during the making of the album”.

Robby says Jim was more on edge with previous albums, especially working with producer Paul Rothchild. “I think with a lot of the other albums he was worse because Paul Rothchild was a tough producer. He was a great producer but he would take two hours to get a snare drums sound. Poor Jim would be the last one to sing. We would make the musical track first and the vocal would be the last track to put on. The way we recorded ‘L.A. Woman, it was live, mostly live. We had a rhythm guitar player, Marc Benno, so I didn’t have to overdub anything. Jim sat in the bathroom and sang along with us. It was really more like making a live album”.

‘L.A’ Woman’ was the sixth and final album for The Doors with Jim Morrison. The album was released on 19 April 1971. Jim Morrison died on 3 July 1971.

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