The Doors ‘Morrison Hotel’ 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Coming In October

The Doors’ 1970 album, Morrison Hotel, is receiving the 50th anniversary deluxe edition treatment. The expanded LP, featuring previously unheard outtakes and more, will arrive on October 9 via Rhino.

The Doors’ Morrison Hotel saw the band returning to their blues and rock ‘n’ roll roots after the experimentation on 1969’s The Soft Parade. Morrison Hotel was the legendary band’s fifth studio album as well as their fifth album to achieve gold status.

Renowned Rolling Stone rock writer David Fricke offered some context around the landmark record in his liner notes for the deluxe edition. Read an excerpt below:

As spring turned to summer in the last year of the 1960s, The Doors were a band in suspended animation. Singer Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore were off the road and in serious legal jeopardy after Morrison’s profane meltdown during a show at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium…The Doors were also exhausted and uncertain of their recording future after the protracted studio drama and uneven experiment of their fourth album, The Soft Parade…It was a season of chaos and anxiety. But The Doors were on the road to Morrison Hotel.

Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edtion will arrive as a 2-CD/1-LP set featuring the original album on CD and 180-gram vinyl, freshly remastered by The Doors’ longtime mixer and engineer Bruce Botnick. Botnick detailed the bonus disc as well.

“There are many takes, different arrangements, false starts, and insightful studio conversations between the band – who were in the studio – and producer Paul Rothchild – who was in the control room,” Botnick said in a statement. “It’s like being a fly on the wall.”

To preview the expanded Morrison Hotel, Rhino shares an unreleased cut of “Peace Frog/Blue Sunday.” Stream it below:

Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edtion Tracklist:

Disc One: The Original Album

Side One: Hard Rock Cafe
1. Roadhouse Blues
2. Waiting For The Sun
3. You Make Me Real
4. Peace Frog
5. Blue Sunday
6. Ship Of Fools
Side Two: Morrison Hotel
7. Land Ho!
8. The Spy
9. Queen Of The Highway
10. Indian Summer
11. Maggie M’Gill

 

Disc Two: Mysterious Union

Black Dressed In Leather (Queen Of The Highway Sessions) First Session (11/15/68)

1. Queen Of The Highway (Take 1, She Was A Princess) *
2. Queen Of The Highway (Various Takes) *
3. Queen Of The Highway (Take 44, He Was A Monster) *
Second Session (1/16/69)
4. Queen Of The Highway (Take 12, No One Could Save Her) *
5. Queen Of The Highway (Take 14, Save The Blind Tiger) *
Third Session (Date Unknown)
6. Queen Of The Highway (Take 1, American Boy – American Girl) *
7. Queen Of The Highway (Takes 5, 6 & 9, Dancing Through The Midnight Whirlpool) *
8. Queen Of The Highway (Take 14, Start It All Over) *
9. I Will Never Be Untrue *
10. Queen Of The Highway (Take Unknown) *
Money Beats Soul (Roadhouse Blues Sessions) First Session
11. Roadhouse Blues (Take 14, Keep Your Eyes On The Road) *
12. Money (That’s What I Want) *
13. Rock Me Baby *
Second Session
14. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 6 & 7, Your Hands Upon The Wheel) *
15. Roadhouse Blues (Take 8, We’re Goin’ To The Roadhouse) *
Third Session
16. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 1 & 2, We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time) *
17. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 5, 6 & 14, Let It Roll Baby Roll) *
Dawn’s Highway (Peace Frog/Blue Sunday Session)
18. Peace Frog/Blue Sunday (Take 4) *
19. Peace Frog (Take 12) *

* previously unreleased

LP tracklisting same as original album