The Doors: Waiting for the Sun (Rhino High Fidelity series, indie exclusive) [RHINO]

Why you'll love it

This Rhino High Fidelity edition was cut from the original analog masters by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media. Waiting for the Sun topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks, a first for the band, and gave them a second US No. 1 single in "Hello, I Love You."

This edition

• Rhino High Fidelity series
• Indie exclusive
• 180g vinyl
• Cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray
• Pressed at Optimal Media
• Heavyweight gatefold jacket
• Obi strip
• Insert with band and studio recollections
• Stereo mix

About the album

Two albums in, The Doors had used up most of Jim Morrison's old notebook of songs, so the third one had to be built from scratch. They started at Sunset Sound in late 1967 with early takes of "The Unknown Soldier" and "Spanish Caravan," then moved to TTG Studios in Hollywood, where producer Paul A. Rothchild's appetite for retakes became legend; "The Unknown Soldier" alone took 130 of them. A planned side-long suite, "Celebration of the Lizard," was set aside, though its lyrics went inside the gatefold and its "Not to Touch the Earth" section made the record.

What came out of all that is the band's most varied LP. "Hello, I Love You" is an older song they'd once passed on and then dusted off, "Love Street" is a gentle, sunny stroll, and Robby Krieger's flamenco playing drives "Spanish Caravan." "Summer's Almost Gone" and "We Could Be So Good Together" date back to the Strange Days sessions, and "Five to One" closes things with a heavy, swaggering stomp. This set adds an insert of recollections from the band and studio staff, gathered by Doors archivist David Dutkowski.

It was also the record that finally broke them in Britain, reaching No. 16 there. Joan Didion spent an afternoon at Sunset Sound watching three Doors wait for the fourth to turn up and got a celebrated essay out of it, which is more than most of us manage from waiting for a bandmate.

Also at Kops: more The Doors on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Elektra / Rhino (cat# RHF1 74024), a reissue of the 1968 album.