Absolutely Live

This 'organic documentary' of the Doors' 1970 tour was painstakingly assembled by producer Paul Rothchild to create the ultimate Doors concert experience from a series of explosive live performances. Some fans witnessed these performances firsthand, others vicariously through the headlines that seemed to follow every incendiary show. For all, 'Absolutely Live!' emerged as the document of a band pushing the limits of what was possible on stage... and in rock 'n' roll itself.

This 1970 double LP proved to be about as good an approximation of the singular methodology of a Doors concert as was possible in the pre-video era. Alternately short and to the point (like the AM radio hits "Touch Me," "People Are Strange," and "Hello, I Love You," among those featured here) and long and meandering (like such open-ended excursions as "When the Music's Over" and "The Celebration of the Lizard"), Morrison and crew displayed the full slate of their estimable powers as both musicians and motivators--continuing to daringly break through whatever sonic and thematic doors they opened. --Billy Altman