The Doors - Absolutely Live (Live) (1970)

The Doors - Absolutely Live (Live) (1970)

Tracklist front / back album covers

Side one

1. "Who Do You Love?"   8:42

2. "Medley":   10:35

"Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)"

"Back Door Man"

"Love Hides"

"Five to One"

Total length:   19:17

Side two

1. "Build Me a Woman"   3:33

2. "When the Music's Over"   14:49

Total length:   18:33

Side three

1. "Close to You"   5:27

2. "Universal Mind"   4:54

3. "Break On Thru, #2"   7:26

Total length:   18:00

Side four

1. "Celebration of the Lizard"   14:28

2. "Soul Kitchen"   7:15

Total length:   21:42

The Doors Band Members / Musicians

Jim Morrison – vocals

Ray Manzarek – organ, keyboard bass, lead vocals on "Close to You", backing vocals

Robby Krieger – guitar

John Densmore – drums

Paul A. Rothchild – producer

Bruce Botnick – engineer

Remote recording facilities: Fedco Audio Labs and Wally Heider Recording

Absolutely Live is the first live album by the American rock band the Doors, released on July 20, 1970, by Elektra Records. The double album features songs recorded at concerts held in 1969 and 1970 in several U.S. cities. It includes the first full release of the performance piece "Celebration of the Lizard" and several other tracks that had not previously appeared on any official Doors release. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 in September 1970.

Many shows were recorded during the band's 1970 Roadhouse Blues Tour to create the Absolutely Live album. The Doors' producer and longtime collaborator Paul A. Rothchild claimed to have painstakingly edited the album from many different shows to create one cohesive concert. According to Rothchild, the best part of a song from one performance may have been spliced together with another part of the same song from another performance, in an attempt to create "the ultimate concert". Rothchild said, "I couldn't get complete takes of a lot of songs, so sometimes I'd cut from Detroit to Philadelphia in mid-song. There must be 2,000 edits on that album."[2] However, most of the tracks were taken from the Doors' performances at the Felt Forum in New York City on January 17 and 18, 1970.

Absolutely Live marks the first release of the Doors' performance piece "Celebration of the Lizard" in its entirety, which had originally been attempted in the studio during the Waiting for the Sun sessions but was eventually abandoned.[4] The album also included several new songs: "Love Hides", "Build Me a Woman", "Universal Mind", "Dead Rats, Dead Cats" (performed as a preamble to "Break on Through") and cover versions of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" and Willie Dixon's "Close to You" (the latter featuring lead vocals by keyboardist Ray Manzarek).

Reflecting on the live album in a interview, Jim Morrison remarked, "I think [Absolutely Live is] a fairly true document of what the band sounds like on fairly good night. It's not the best we can do and it's certainly not the worst. It's a true document of an above average evening." In his autobiography, Manzarek explained the group's intentions with the album: "We wanted to get the Doors experience on tape. Live. One time. For the ages. And in doing so, perhaps we could capture the moment of escape. Live."

According to the biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, Morrison hated the album cover for Absolutely Live. He had changed his appearance dramatically since the band's early days, growing a beard and discarding his onstage leather attire in an attempt to overcome his "rock god" image, but was dismayed to find that his record label opted for an earlier photograph of him for the cover.