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Rhino is continuing its ongoing series celebrating the music of The Doors with a new 50th anniversary edition of the band’s fourth studio album, The Soft Parade. Originally released 50 years ago today on July 18, 1969, The Soft Parade introduced the hit “Touch Me” and became Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore’s fourth consecutive Top Ten album. The Soft Parade was further distinguished by the presence of orchestral arrangements for the first time on a Doors record. On October 18, Rhino will revisit the classic LP on a new 3CD/1 LP box set.
The Soft Parade: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition, limited to 15,000 individually numbered copies, includes the original studio album – and the non-LP B-side of “Wishful Sinful,” “Who Scared You” – as newly remastered by the band’s longtime collaborator, Bruce Botnick on CD and 180-gram vinyl plus new liner notes by rock journalist David Fricke.
13 previously unreleased tracks are spread across Discs 2 and 3, including stripped-down “Doors Only” mixes sans the brass and strings of “Tell All The People,” “Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” “Runnin’ Blue,” and “Who Scared You.” The set additionally features three of those stripped-down (“Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” and “Runnin’ Blue) versions with new guitar parts added by Robby Krieger.
Three more tracks have been culled from studio rehearsals – with Ray Manzarek (a.k.a. Screamin’ Ray Daniels) on vocals – that include an early version of “Roadhouse Blues,” a song that would arrive the following year on Morrison Hotel. These three songs feature newly recorded bass parts by Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, who joined Krieger and John Densmore at a tribute concert for Manzarek in 2016, three years after the organist died of cancer. Manzarek’s take on “Roadhouse Blues” is available now on all digital download and streaming services. Among the three studio outtakes collected on the set’s final disc is much-bootlegged, hourlong jam “Rock Is Dead,” which appears on this set in its entire, surviving form for the first time ever.
A hand-numbered 36 x 18 lithograph of the interior vinyl gatefold artwork, limited to 500 copies, is available with orders of the new Soft Parade exclusively at Rhino.com and TheDoors.com while supplies last.
The Soft Parade: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is due on October 18 along with a single-disc of the remastered original album only. You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below!
The Doors, The Soft Parade: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Elektra/Rhino, 2019)
3CD/1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
CD 1 & LP: The Original Album (Elektra LP EKS-75005, 1969)
- “Tell All The People”
- “Touch Me”
- “Shaman’s Blues”
- “Do It”
- “Easy Ride”
- “Wild Child”
- “Runnin’ Blue”
- “Wishful Sinful”
- “The Soft Parade”
- “Who Scared You” (Bonus Track) (Elektra single EK-45656-B, 1969)
CD 2
- “Tell All The People” (Doors only mix)*
- “Touch Me” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
- “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
- “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*
- “Who Scared You” (Doors only mix)*
- “Roadhouse Blues” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
- “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
- “I’m Your Doctor” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*
- “Touch Me” (Doors only mix)*
- “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix) *
- “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix)*
CD 3
- “I Am Troubled”
- “Seminary School” (aka “Petition The Lord With Prayer”) *
- “Rock Is Dead” – Complete Version *
- “Chaos” *
(*) denotes previously unreleased track
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Will there be a 3 CD or 2 CD only release without the record? I hope so, otherwise it does not make much sense for most people
Only a single-CD remaster of the original album has been announced.
Anyone know if the original album CD will be MQA-encoded, like last year’s “Waiting For The Sun” reissue was? Thanks.
I doubt that “The Soft Parade” will be MQA encoded. For Warner Music, the use of MQA on the “Waiting For The Sun” set was clearly an experiment. (You’ll note that it was used only on “Disc One”). The online rumor that MQA CD’s have a maximum playing time of 45 minutes is false, by the way. (some Japanese MQA CD’s have far exceeded 45 minutes). The problem is that the only disc player with on board MQA-CD compatability (Oppo UDP-205) is discontinued and its manufacturer is defunct. As for those of you hoping to digitally connect any other disc player to an MQA-compatable DAC, be cautioned that many MQA-compatable DAC’s support MQA only at their USB input, but not at their toslink or coaxial inputs, and so they can’t decode an MQA-CD. For example, DAC’s by Pro-Ject don’t support MQA-CD. The hardware manufacturers seem unwilling to openly tell consumers which forms of MQA that they support(Discs, Streams or Files)
And the bottom line is this: The non-MQA 192 Khz/24-bit download of the “Waiting For The Sun” set far sounds better (more natural) than the heavily processed-sounding MQA CD….and the 192Khz/24-bit downloaded is the only Hi-Rez source for the “Disc Two” material. The MQA system is snake oil, and in every video where MQA inventor Bob Stewart discusses MQA, he looks highly uncomfortable, as he should, since he’s the frontman for a sinister music industry scam to gradually take lossless Hi-Rez audio off the market, and keep real master fidelity audio out of consumers’ hands.
I own an Oppo UDP 205 Blu-Ray player, and so I’m MQA-equiped, but I’m not impressed by MQA. You don’t see me rushing to have MQA-CD’s sent from Japan (where approximately 100 titles have been released). For the same price as a Japanese MQA-CD, you could buy a Japanese SACD (available for many of the same albums)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about MQA. I too own the same Oppo but haven’t unsealed the box yet. (Debating whether to keep it or not.)
In the meantime I’ve been collecting MQA-encoded discs and have been following various online forums which discuss the merits of the format. Some claim it is a definable improvement, even non-decoded. Others lean towards your opinion. IOW I don’t know what to believe!
Gee I wonder what John and Robbie think? (If they even bothered to compare.)
WHY do they feel the need to add new overdubs to historic material? Hated it when the Stones and Springsteen did that, don’t like the idea of it here.
At least those three “Doors only” tracks are included without the new guitar parts.
But the Manzarek outtakes? Why add bass? Didn’t Ray usually play bass pedals on the organ? I think (Doors experts, correct me as needed) they had actual bass guitar in the studio, at least on some songs, but not always. Just put this stuff out as is, warts and all.
You’re absolutely right. Couldn’t agree more!
But wait! Maybe there will be another version with orchestra added just like the Roy Orbison, Elvis and other artists, that are currently clogging the market.
Frank Sinatra was Jim’s favorite singer. They could wipe off all the original Doors backings and then with added orchestra and only Jim there’ll be record Jim The Crooner!
Re-recording is a compulsion fo guitaristr Robbie Kreiger. All the guitar playing on the “Isle of wight” & “Live at The Hollywood Bowl” videos is re-recorded, as is John Densmore’s drumming on the “Isle of Wight” video.
Does anyone know if there is a longer version of Rock is Dead? There is a noticeable edit about 40 minutes in. Jim starts talking and it’s cut off and next thing you hear is the band playing Pipeline.