Seems like every time we turn around these days, there comes another tribute to the legendary psychedelic rock band The Doors. Cleopatra Records have now unleashed Light My Fire-A Classic Rock Salute to the Doors, a collection of some of the bands most memorable songs, covered by a wide assortment of guest stars from the prog, hard rock, and classic rock genres. With musicians & singers representing such acts as Deep Purple, Foreigner, Mountain, The Moody Blues, Yes, Rainbow, Focus, Uriah Heep, Hawkwind, Ambrosia, ELP, The Doobie Brothers, The NY Dolls, Booker T & the MG's, Dream Theater, Ten Years After, Grand Funk Railroad, Wishbone Ash, Survivor, Mr. Big, and many others, this is indeed a star studded event that, as far as tribute records go, is a lot of fun.
Melodic rock powerhouse Jimi Jamison (Survivor) lends his amazing vocal chops to a supercharged version of "L.A. Woman", complete with sizzling guitar licks courtesy of legendary Wishbone Ash shredder Ted Turner and excellent keyboard layerings from former Yes/Moody Blues member Patrick Moraz. Original Foreigner vocalist Lou Gramm tackles "Love Me Two Times", and while he's a shadow of his early days with that band, he does a capable job here alongside jazz fusion legend Larry Coryell's searing guitar and the tasty keyboards of Focus mainman Thijs Van Leer. Mountain's Leslie West lends his beefy riffs and smoky vocals to "Roadhouse Blues" alongside the still classy keyboards of Brian Auger, while the Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein makes "Love Her Madly" his own alongside the scorching solos of Uriah Heep's Mick Box. Ex-Yes/Badger/Detective/Circa Hammond organ master Tony Kaye saddles up next to '80s era Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner for a bluesy take on "Riders on the Storm", one of the best tracks here that also features some tasteful guitar leads from the legendary Steve Cropper.
"The Crystal Ship" is sung by an almost unrecognizable Edgar Winter, but it's a dreamy, psychedelic take on this classic with some great lazy slide guitar patterns from Chris Spedding. Keith Emerson makes an appearance with his grand piano & Moog on the intro to "People Are Strange" alongside ex-Doobie Brothers/Steely Dan guitarist Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, and then for the main part of the song, Billy Sherwood (who handles the bulk of the bass on the album) pulls guitar & keyboard duty alongside NY Dolls vocalist David Johansen. It's another very successful rendition, and has a sort of psychedelic / western feel. "Touch Me" features Jordan Rudess' acrobatic keyboard textures underneath a solid vocal from Robert Gordan, eventually giving way to sizzling solos from Deep Purple/Dixie Dregs guitarist Steve Morse and ex-Hawkwind visionary Nik Turner on saxophone. One of my favorite Doors tunes, "The Soft Parade", is given royal treatment, thanks to a mysterious vocal from ex-Rainbow/MSG/Alcatrazz vocalist Graham Bonnet, spacey guitar leads from Gong legend Steve Hillage, and sumptuous, psychedelic keyboards courtesy of Ambrosia's Christopher North. It's a really enjoyable version of a classic song. Original Uriah Heep keyboard player Ken Hensley lets his trademark Hammond organ drip all over "Hello, I Love You", and also contributes solid lead vocals, with Nektar's Roye Albrighton firing off some beefy guitar licks. The alluring "Spanish Caravan" sees Mr. Big's Eric Martin spinning Jim Morrison's tale just fine alongside The Cars' Elliot Easton's lovely guitar lines, and Todd Rundgren tackles the bluesy romp "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)" with Yes/Asia keys man Geoff Downes & Captain Beefheart's Zoot Horn Rollo also joining in on the fun.
The final three tracks could just be the strongest on the album, as Grand Funk Railroad legend Mark Farner adds his still strong lead vocals and raunchy guitar work to the hard rocking "Break On Through (To the Other Side)", with help on piano from Ten Years After member Chick Churchill. "Light My Fire" sees Rick Wakeman delighting with his fantastic Hammond lines alongside his former member in Yes, Steve Howe, and Deep Purple belter Ian Gillan. Howe for his part throws in some sizzling solos and gets into a great battle with old pal Wakeman, and though Gillan sounds reserved here, he's playing his part as the elder statesman of hard rock quite nicely. This tribute album can only 'end' with, "The End", and leave it to Pat Travers to kick things up a notch with a lethal, scorching, dark blues rendition of this haunting song. Featuring white hot guitar work and Travers' underrated vocals, this is a memorable, heavy blues rock version of this song, made even greater by the presence of Three Dog Night's Jimmy Greenspoon on ominous organ.
I'm finding it hard to rate this one, as it's highly enjoyable and expertly put together. An argument might be made that none of these versions actually do anything that drastically different from the originals (save for maybe "The End"), but each player really sticks out and makes a statement, plus the vocalists overall really did a fine job. A very solid 4 stars is well deserved for this assemblage of great talent that successfully pay tribute to a legendary band.
Track Listing
1) L.A. Woman (Jimi Jamison/Patrick Moraz/Ted Turner/Scott Connor)
2) Love Me Two Times (Lou Gramm/Thijs Van Leer/Larry Coryell/Scott Connor)
3) Roadhouse Blues (Leslie West/Brian Auger/Rod Piazza/Scott Connor)
4) Love Her Madly (Mark Stein/Mick Box/Scott Connor)
5) Riders on the Storm (Joe Lynn Turner/Tony Kaye/Steve Cropper/Scott Connor
6) The Crystal Ship (Edgar Winter/Chris Spedding/Scott Connor)
7) Intro (People Are Strange) (Keith Emerson/Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter/Joel Druckman
8) People Are Strange (David Johanssen/Billy Sherwood/Scott Connor)
9) Touch Me (Robert Gordon/Jordan Rudess/Steve Morse/Nik Turner/Adam Hamilton
10) The Soft Parade (Graham Bonnet/Christopher North/Steve Hillage/Scott Connor
11) Hello, I Love You (Ken Hensley/Roye Albrighton/Scott Connor)
12) Spanish Caravan (Eric Martin/Elliot Easton/Billy Sherwood)
13) Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) (Todd Rundgren/Geoff Downes/Zoot Horn Rollo/Scott Connor)
14) Break on Through (Mark Farner/Chick Churchill/Glenn Grossman)
15) Light My Fire (Ian Gillan/Rick Wakeman/Steve Howe/Ricky Joyce)
16) The End (Pat Travers/Jimmy Greenspoon/Scott Connor)
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