ROOMS FOR RENT

Original Released on LP Elektra EKS 75007 (March 1970)

In this day, thirty-five years ago, Jim Morrison was found dead in his hotel bathtub, in Paris, by his girlfriend Pamela. The cause of death was given as a heart attack. He's been buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery and since then his grave has been visited every year by thousands of people.

To remember the charismatic lead singer of The Doors, Rato shares this great album from 1970.

After several albums that found Morrison’s influence shrinking within the band, the singer reasserts himself as the principal dynamic force on the aptly titled Morrison Hotel. It’s not hard to hear why many felt this was a return to their blues-based debut -- the opening “Roadhouse Blues” rumbles and roars like nothing since it. The album is actually divided into two halves: the first, subtitled “Hard Rock Café,” is by far the better half, with the powerful psychedelia of “Waiting for the Sun,” the politically charged “Peace Frog,” the masterfully smooth “Blue Sunday” and the straightahead blues of “You Make Me Real.”

On the second side, which shares the album’s title, the songs settle into storytelling that are less electrically charged but still interesting. “The Spy” slinks like its namesake, “Indian Summer” floats along like a raft on a slow current, but only “Maggie M’Gill” summons the singer’s dark vocal powers. There are a few clunkers on here -- “Ship of Fools” and “Land Ho!” in particular haven’t aged so well -- but Morrison’s performance rights what might have been, material-wise, a listing ship. Apparently, The Doors realized that strings and psychedelic arrangements were no match for Morrison’s raw magnetism, and Morrison Hotel is the better album for it. (Dave Connolly)