L.A. Woman - The Doors

L.A. Woman is the Doors' sixth and final studio album with Jim Morrison, released on April 19, 1971 on Elektra Records. The band self-produced the album with engineer Bruce Botnick after parting ways with longtime producer Paul A. Rothchild, who reportedly called the sessions "cocktail music." Recorded in the band's rehearsal space rather than a professional studio, the album has a looser, more spontaneous feel than its predecessors. Session bassist Jerry Scheff and rhythm guitarist Marc Benno sit in on several tracks, thickening the sound. The album contains some of the band's most enduring material: the seven-minute title track, with its bluesy John Lee Hooker-influenced groove; "Riders on the Storm," a haunting, rain-soaked piece built on Manzarek's electric piano and Krieger's tremolo guitar; and "Love Her Madly," a more conventional pop single. Krieger's guitar playing is central throughout, moving between slide blues on "Crawling King Snake" and the driving rock of "The Changeling." Morrison died in Paris less than three months after the album's release, on July 3, 1971. L.A. Woman reached number nine on the Billboard 200 and is regarded as one of the band's strongest albums.