When the Music’s Over: The Doors’ “Live at the Bowl ’68” Gets a New Lease on Life

Though Jim Morrison died more than 41 years ago, the fire of The Doors continues to burn bright.  The past year, once christened The Year of the Doors, has brought a number of projects to light, such as the DVDs, CDs and LPs pertaining to the 40th anniversary of the seminal L.A. Woman album, and the campaign from Analogue Productions that will eventually encompass both 45 RPM LP and multichannel SACD reissues of the core catalogue.

On October 23, The Doors’ July 5, 1968 performance at the Hollywood Bowl will receive the deluxe treatment in a variety of formats.  Live at the Bowl ’68 will be released by Eagle Rock Entertainment as a Blu-Ray, DVD and digital video, while Rhino will handle the CD, digital audio and double-LP versions.  The concert, long a fan favorite, has been restored from the original camera negatives, while the audio has been remixed and mastered from original multi-tracks by engineer Bruce Botnick.

Live at the Bowl ’68 also will include three previously unreleased performances from the concert.  “Hello, I Love You,” “The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)” and “Spanish Caravan” have all finally been restored to the line-up.  The DVD, Blu-Ray and digital video each feature a 16×9 high-definition digital transfer with stereo and 5.1 audio soundtracks.  In addition, over one hour of bonus material will be included.  “Echoes from the Bowl” and “You Had To Be There” look back at the performance, while “Reworking The Doors” explores the concert’s restoration for this release.  Three bonus songs have also been unearthed: “Wild Child” from a 1968 episode of The Smothers Brothers Show, “Light My Fire” from The Jonathan Winters Show in December 1967, and a version of Van Morrison’s “Gloria” with specially created visuals.  Ray Manzarek, who took the stage that July night with bandmates Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, has commented of the new release:  “You can hear it as if you were at the Hollywood Bowl, on stage with us.”

Doors manager Jeff Jampol, also a producer of the film, stated, “The Doors’ live performances were a shamanistic journey into dark rock and roll psychedelic theater – a swirling mixture of rock ‘n’ roll heat, poetry, danger, drama and unbridled musical virtuosity. Captured at the height of The Doors’ magical powers, in one of the world’s greatest venues, this brand new restoration, edit and mix, corny as it may sound, made me fall in love a hundred times, all over again.”  Geoff Kempin, executive producer for Eagle Rock Entertainment, added, “The Doors were one of THE most incredible live bands ever – we wanted to apply the top technology so that everyone can fully appreciate the phenomenon of The Doors captured at their height on July 5, 1968.”

Hit the jump for more, including pre-order links and the track listing!

The CD and vinyl issues will be the most comprehensive audio editions of this concert yet, as well.  The 1987 compact disc release of Live at the Hollywood Bowl clocked in at a mere 22 minutes and eight songs.  The Doors’ 1999 Collection DVD included a truncated version of the Bowl show as one of its three segments.  (It had previously been available on VHS, too.)

The restored and expanded Live at the Bowl ’68 arrives on October 23.  You can pre-order it in various formats below!

The Doors, Live at the Bowl ’68 (Eagle Rock/Rhino, 2012 – DVD/Blu-ray/CD/Vinyl)

  1. Show Start/Intro
  2. “When The Music’s Over”
  3. “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)”
  4. “Back Door Man”
  5. “Five To One”
  6. “Back Door Man” (Reprise)
  7. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”
  8. “Hello, I Love You”
  9. “Moonlight Drive”
  10. “Horse Latitudes”
  11. “A Little Game”
  12. “The Hill Dwellers”
  13. “Spanish Caravan”
  14. Hey, What Would You Guys Like To Hear?
  15. “Wake Up!”
  16. Light My Fire (Segue)
  17. “Light My Fire”
  18. “The Unknown Soldier”
  19. The End (Segue)
  20. “The End”
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Tags:
Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

You Might Also Like

0 thoughts on “When the Music’s Over: The Doors’ “Live at the Bowl ’68” Gets a New Lease on Life”

  1. Sure wish they’d stop using terms like shamanistic to describe these shows. It really sets off the old BS detector. Lots of good music, but also a lot of jive.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.