R-Evolution

Liner Notes

R-Evolution brings together a wealth of rare footage of The Doors. Combining early TV appearances with their own films, R-Evolution illustrates how The Doors evolved from the constraints of late sixties television to a point where they had the creative input and power to shape how they were portrayed on screen. Throughout, the unique charisma and talent of The Doors comes across, whether it is on a lightweight pop show or in a film created from their own imaginations, as they perform some of the most influential music ever made.

Track Listing

Break On Through	1967 Elektra Promo Film
Break On Through	Shebang TV show, 1967
The Crystal Ship	American Bandstand, 1967
Light My Fire	American Bandstand, 1967
Light My Fire	Malibu U TV show, 1967
People Are Strange	Murray The K, 1967
Moonlight Drive	Jonathan Winters, 1968
The Unknown Soldier	1968 Elektra Promo
Hello, I Love You	4-3-2-1 Hot & Sweet TV show, 1968
Touch Me	Smothers Brothers TV show, 1968
Wild Child	Studio session, 1968
Roadhouse Blues	Archival Footage
Crawling King Snake	Get To Know TV show, 1970
The Changling	Archival Footage
Gloria	Archival Footage
People Are Strange	’80s edit
Strange Days	Video by Kit Fitzgerald
LA Woman	Ray Manzarek video
Ghost Song	Music video

Bonus Features

Love Thy Customer	1966 Ford Training Film
Break On Through	Isle of Wight, 1970
Breaking Through The Lens	New Documentary

Archivist Notes

This is by far one of my favorite releases, not only because I had a hand in putting it together as The Doors’ archivist, but I really do think it’s an amazing collection of Doors videos, some never seen before, and all in the best quality possible. The release came in two flavors, the first being a regular DVD with a really nice ten page booklet with liner notes, the second being a deluxe version that comes in a 40 page, high quality, hard-cover book with in depth details of each performance, plus photos, memorabilia and trivia. This book is well worth the extra money. It will definitely be a sought after collectible some day. Now.. random notes on some of the performances.

Break On Through: Shebang	This was the very first television performance the Doors ever did on a local LA show called “Shebang” hosted by Casey Casem. This was before the band had really hit it big with Light My Fire, so most people didn’t even know who they were at this time. Ray, Robby and John seem to be right at home miming to the studio track of “Break On Through”, but Jim is definitely out of his element and barely even moves his lips at times. One other thing to point out is that Jim hadn’t really finished crafting his look yet and was wearing a brown sport-coat, similar to what he wore when The Doors played at Ondine in New York. He would switch to leather soon after. The way the band is setup on the stage is a little strange on this one as well with John right at the front of the stage next to Jim and Robby all the way in the back. All in all, great footage of the band at the beginning of their career. This had only been available to hardcore collectors previously in horrible quality. Really nice to see a pristine copy of this released for the first time.
American Bandstand	Portions of “The Crystal Ship” from this performance had been released previously, but this is the first time we get to see Light My Fire and the great interview in between the songs. Jim looks great in this performance, and although it’s lip synced, Jim and the band nail it. Hard to believe it’s the same Jim from the Shebang performance. Great interview, especially when Ray is asked to classify The Doors music. Funny moment right after the interview when the intro drum crack of Light My Fire occurs before John is even sitting at his drums!
Malibu U and Outtakes	Not a lot was known about this performance up until around 2002 when a black and white 16mm copy showed up on eBay. The Doors acquired it at that time, but it was never released (until now). Back in ’02 I tracked down Al Burton, who produced, directed and was the main cameraman for the show and he told me the story of what went down that day. For some reason, Jim decided not to show up for the filming, so they convinced Robby Krieger’s brother Ron to stand in for Jim with his back to the camera. Al then convinced Jim to meet him at the roof of the 9000 building the next day where he filmed Jim singing while wearing the same shirt Ron had worn. Al then edited it all together that night for the broadcast the next day. In a stroke up luck, not only was the original color version of this show found for the R-Evolution release, but the outtakes from the 9000 building roof filming were also found and included as a DVD extra.
Unknown Soldier	Although the Unknown Soldier video had been released many times over the years, this is the first time the complete, unedited version has been used. Snippets of the intro were used on the composite version seen on The Soft Parade, but for this version, the complete “birdcage” intro is included for the first time.
Hello I Love You	This is another one where different edited versions have been used in the past, but this is the first time we get to see it as it was originally broadcast.
Crawling King Snake	This performance was initially included as a DVD “extra” on the 12 disc “Perception” box set in 2007, so this is really the first time many are seeing this. This black and white footage shows The Doors rehearsing in the Doors Workshop on Santa Monica Blvd in late 1970. Shot a few weeks after their last concert in New Orleans, it is the last known footage of the band performing together. A few months after this footage was filmed, Jim would leave for Paris. It originally appeared on an Australian TV show called “GTK – Get To Know“.
Gloria	This was the “live footage” compilation video that started it all. Released in 1983 for MTV in conjunction with the “Alive She Cried” release, it set the bar pretty high for future videos. Other than “Roadhouse Blues”, I think this is the best of the Doors produced compilation videos. They do a great job making it look like the video and audio are synced in some areas. In also includes 1980s footage of Los Angeles, an actress that looks like Pam going and meeting up with “Jim”. There is also new footage of Robby playing the guitar edited in. This was originally produced for MTV and was later included on the “Best Of” video, which was only available on VHS tape until now. Danny Sugerman always referred to this video as being “banned” from MTV, but I’m still trying to find out the story behind that one! If anyone knows the real story, please contact us through Ray’s social media sites.
Strange Days	This is the “directors cut” of the “Strange Days” video created by Kit Fitzgerald back in 1997 for the “Best Of The Doors” release. This video starts with a perfect recreation of the “Strange Days” album cover that essentially comes to life before your eyes. This, to me, is the highlight of the video. They did an amazing job at this recreation, and on top of that were able to track down the original midget from the album shoot. This video follows three performers (the midget, the juggler and the acrobat) from the album cover as they walk (and run) throughout New York City. Both Ray and John have multiple cameos throughout the video including Ray as a pretty intimidating priest! Back in ’97, after the video as completed, they decided to move away from the original idea and include archival footage throughout the video. We still got to see some of the scenes, but it really didn’t have the feel of a story. With this release, we get to see the entire video for the first time as it was envisioned.
Ghost Song	Another one from the 1997 “Best of” video. First time available on DVD.
Love Thy Customer	For the hardcore Doors collector, this was by far the highlight of the release. Previous to it’s discovery and acquisition in 2002, this was considered one of the “holy grails” of Doors recordings. In 1966, The Doors were hired to do the instrumental soundtrack for a training film for Ford mechanics. This occurred in between the time that The Doors were with Columbia and before Jac Holzman signed them to Elektra records. Unlike many “training films” you will see, the production value is very high and the dialog well written. One of the narrators is Frank Nelson, who was already an established entertainer. Click here for a video featuring Frank about a year after Love Thy Customer was produced. Over the course of the film, Ray’s Vox Continental and Robby’s guitar style come through with flying colors. Although Jim doesn’t sing (it’s an instrumental) he was in the studio and contributed sound effects and hand percussion throughout. At the end of the film, during the closing credits, they include an instrumental jam that is “all Doors”. Some say that this sounds little like the future “I Looked At You”. You can envision the band jamming to this at The London Fog.