The Doors’ Morrison Hotel set for 50th anniversary deluxe edition

The Doors’ 1970 album Morrison Hotel is to be re-issued to mark its 50th anniversary.

The 2CD/1LP package will be released on October 9 through Rhino Records and along with the original album, Morrison Hotel will also include a remastered version by the band’s longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, and a disc of more than an hour of previously unreleased studio outtakes.

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

The Morrison Hotel liner notes have been written by journalist David Fricke, who says: “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.”

To mark the announcement, a previously unreleased take on Peace Frog/Blue Sunday has been released which can be listened to below.

Also in October, a graphic novel based on Morrison Hotel will be released through Z2 Comics. The project is a collaboration between the surviving members of the band, writer Leah Moore and a number of artists from the comic book world.

The Doors: Morrison Hotel Deluxe Edition

CD1
1. Roadhouse Blues
2. Waiting For The Sun
3. You Make Me Real
4. Peace Frog
5. Blue Sunday
6. Ship Of Fools
7. Land Ho!
8. The Spy
9. Queen Of The Highway
10. Indian Summer
11. Maggie M’Gill

CD2
Black Dressed In Leather (Queen Of The Highway Sessions)

First Session (15/11/68)
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 (16/01/69)
1. Queen Of The Highway (Take 12, No One Could Save Her)
2. Queen Of The Highway (Take 14, Save The Blind Tiger)

Third Session (Date Unknown)
1. Queen Of The Highway (Take 1, American Boy – American Girl)
2. Queen Of The Highway (Takes 5, 6 & 9, Dancing Through The Midnight Whirlpool)
3. Queen Of The Highway (Take 14, Start It All Over)
4. I Will Never Be Untrue
5. Queen Of The Highway (Take Unknown)

Money Beats Soul (Roadhouse Blues Sessions)

First Session
1. Roadhouse Blues (Take 14, Keep Your Eyes On The Road)
2. Money (That’s What I Want)
3. Rock Me Baby

Second Session
1. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 6 & 7, Your Hands Upon The Wheel)
2. Roadhouse Blues (Take 8, We’re Goin’ To The Roadhouse)

Third Session
1. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 1 & 2, We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time)
2. Roadhouse Blues (Takes 5, 6 & 14, Let It Roll Baby Roll)

Dawn’s Highway (Peace Frog/Blue Sunday Session)
1. Peace Frog/Blue Sunday (Take 4)
2. Peace Frog (Take 12)

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.