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On April 19th 1971, The Doors released their sixth studio album L.A. Woman, which would be the last one to feature lead singer Jim Morrison who passed away three months later. To celebrate its 50th birthday, Rhino has announced a 3-CD, 1-LP anniversary edition of the album. The deluxe boxset will feature a remastered version of the original album and two bonus discs comprised of previously unreleased material, studio outtakes (including old blues covers recorded in Robby Krieger’s home studio), demos, and liner notes from David Fricke. This collection will be available December 3rd.

Doors’ engineer Bruce Botnick, responsible for remastering L.A. Woman, said the following about the deluxe boxset. “The previously unreleased reels here — serial takes of ‘The Changeling,’ ‘Love Her Madly,’ ‘Riders On The Storm,’ and ‘L.A. Woman’ — depict a band obsessed with groove while executing turns and flourishes with the precision of a well-drilled soul combo. The idea was to go from song to song, to let it flow.”

Included in the bonus material is the original demo of Riders On The Storm, one of The Doors’ most famous and dramatic songs. This recording was just found from the band’s vault on an unmarked tape reel after being lost for decades. Producer Paul A. Rothchild was working with the band originally on the song, but he felt it was “cocktail music” and quit. That is when Botnick began co-producing the blues-influenced album.

Listen to the demo of Riders On The Storm here:

The Doors, ‘L.A. Woman’ 50th-Anniversary Deluxe Edition Track Listing:
Disc One: Original Stereo Mix Remastered
1. “The Changeling”
2. “Love Her Madly”
3. “Been Down So Long”
4. “Cars Hiss By My Window”
5. “L.A. Woman”
6. “L’America”
7. “Hyacinth House”
8. “Crawling King Snake”
9. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)”
10. “Riders On The Storm”
Bonus Tracks
11. “Hyacinth House” – Demo
12. “Riders On The Storm” – Sunset Sound Version – Original Demo*

Disc Two: ‘L.A. Woman’ Sessions, Part 1
1. “The Changeling” *
2. “Love Her Madly” *
3. “Riders On The Storm” *
4. “L.A. Woman” (Part 1) *

Disc Three: ‘L.A. Woman’ Sessions, Part 2
1. “L.A. Woman” (Part 2) *
2. “She Smells So Nice” *
3. “Rock Me Baby” *
4. “Mr. Mojo Risin’” *
5. “Baby Please Don’t Go” *
6. “L.A. Woman” (Part 3) *
7. “Been Down So Long” *
8. “Get Out Of My Life Woman” *
9. “Crawling King Snake” *
10. “The Bastard Son Of Jimmy & Mama Reed (Cars Hiss By My Window)” *
11. “Been Down So Long” *
12. “Mystery Train” *
13. “The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)” *