Track Listing (remastered CD edition): 1) Awake (0:36); 2) Ghost Song (2:50); 3) Dawn's Highway (1:21); 4) Newborn Awakening (2:26); 5) "To Come of Age (1:01); 6) Black Polished Chrome (1:07); 7) Latino Chrome (2:14); 8) Angels and Sailors (2:46); 9) Stoned Immaculate (1:33); 10) The Movie (1:35); 11) Curses, Invocations (1:57); 12) American Night (0:28); 13) Roadhouse Blues Live (5:53); 14) The World on Fire (1;06); 15) Lament (2:18); 16) The Hitchhiker (2:15); 17) An American Prayer (3:04); 18) Hour For Magic (1:17); 19) Freedom Exists (0:20); 20) A Feast of Friends (2:10); 21) Babylon Fading (1:40); 22) Bird of Prey (1:03); 23) Ghost Song (5:16)
Personnel: Jim Morrison (vocals, spoken word); Ray Manzarek (keyboards); Robbie Krieger (guitar); John Densmore (drums); Reinol Andino (percussion); Bob Glaub, Jerry Scheff (bass)
Seven years after Jim Morrison (possibly?) checked out of this world, his surviving bandmates in The Doors went to the studio to record instrumental background accompaniment to a 1969-1970 session of Jimbo reciting some of his "poetry". The concept of adding new music to a posthumous session is hardly new, yet when AN AMERICAN PRAYER debuted, some writers thought that this was a pitiful way of making more money from a dead(?) rock star. Well, this album is hardly artistic rape: it is far less scandalous than, say, SONGS IN THE KEY OF G. In fact, when I first picked up this record, I was excited by the prospect of hearing what a more modern-sounding Doors would be like. As such, this is an ambitious collage of Jim's poetry, snippets from his film HWY, sound effects as well as some solid background music. Hearing this album again for the first time in ages, I only wish that the musical aspect of the record was more developed. Only in rare instances, such as "Ghost Song", "Black Polished Chrome" or "A Feast of Friends" (the latter of which is a variation on Albinoni's "Adagio"), do The Doors get to show they still "have it" musically, and surely they are rock solid. I've always loved the hypnotic, woozy groove of "Ghost Song" and the street funk of "Black Polished Chrome". Otherwise, Jim's verse is coloured with spare chords, sound effects and even familiar bars from "Peace Frog" or "Riders on the Storm". The Doors generously let their deceased frontman dominate their proceedings, allowing his words to stand out and apart from everything else. How much of a Doors fan you are will determine how wise a prospect that is. In other words, if you think Morrison's words are anything less than gospel, than you will likely agree that Jim's bandmates allow his sometimes corny verse to call too much attention to itself. It's a little hard to aggrandize this man as a great poet with such profundities as "Her cunt gripped him like a warm friendly hand", and of course (my favourite) "Lament for my cock".
But for the true Doors fan, AN AMERICAN PRAYER is absolutely essential. It is obviously the most personal of all of Jim Morrison's recordings. His words explore his favourite themes of sex, religion and death, with ample touches of self-loathing and weariness of his demi-god status. The album's halfway point features a live version of "Roadhouse Blues" which absolutely cooks with Robbie Krieger's blistering solo and Jimbo's fun-silly scat in the midsection. In fact, I prefer it to the studio version on MORRISON HOTEL. This track gives a better glimpse of their live work than LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL and ALIVE SHE CRIED, but also, with its audible audience pandemonium, exemplifies the out of control circus that Morrison was trying to escape by this point in his career.
And to be certain, one's opinion of this album will vary greatly depending upon how important Saint James Douglas Morrison is in one's life. This is one of those records that I've actually owned three times. Yes, dear readers, even The Tightwad Music Collector has once fallen prey to the corporate world's ploy of selling consumers something they already have. Initially I had this on a discounted sealed LP, and then replaced it with a better-sounding used cassette. 10 years later, after selling the record and being unable to play the squeaky tape, I found the CD used. In addition to wanting to hear the album again, I was also interested in the additional tracks for the CD, which are okay on their own, but disrupt the way the album naturally flowed from one song to the other up to a logical conclusion. But this third purchase also occurred in a time when I no longer needed Jim Morrison in my life.
Yes, in my college days when I sewed my wild oats, ole Jimbo was my role model, but soon I outgrew my twentysomething angst and realized I didn't have to jump around like a crazy idiot to get attention, or to burn out at a young age. Therefore, once the idolatry fades, we can only analyze the work. To be certain, I still enjoy MORRISON HOTEL, L.A. WOMAN and (yes!) THE SOFT PARADE almost as much as I did then. Despite how much the fans worship Morrison, any true Doors fan knows how important the remaining quartet are to the music. But since AN AMERICAN PRAYER largely relies upon Morrison's words, in my post-Saint James phase, I sheepishly admit that much of his verse here is silly nonsense.
Good night, Jim.
Tightwad rating: ***/5
Happy record hunting!
Love,
The Doctor
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