If there are two relatively short-lived bands who, in spite of their short careers, had a big influence on American popular music in the glorious 60s, they are - at least to my mind - the Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Doors. In a span of barely 6/7 years, both acts recorded some fantastic songs and albums that have lingered in the history of rock.
Indeed it's hard for me to choose just the one favourite song (or album for that matter) but recently, after many years, I listened once again to this particular one on BBC Radio in the velvety voice of a fantastic Puerto-Rican artist who was very popular in Spain when I was a child: the extraordinarily gifted singer and guitar virtuoso - despite his blindness from birth - Jose Feliciano. I don't think many of you will be familiar with his name but I'm sure you will instantly recognize this tune:
Only years later, already a teenager in the early eighties, did I discover that Feliciano's splendid, critically acclaimed (it even won a Grammy in 1969) big-selling rendition of Light my Fire was actually a cover of one of the most popular and successful songs by The Doors, from his amazing namesake debut album released in 1967, a couple of years before Feliciano's cover:
Letra Light My Fire de Divididos
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
You know, to me this is one of those rare occasions when a cover version is as good - if not better - than the original. But however much I like Feliciano's Latin-tinged delivery and his brilliant guitar riff, I guess I'll stick to the original stuff anyway. I just love Jim's sexy, suggestive voice (sheer class!) and those beautiful, lengthy organ and electric guitar solos in the 7-minute plus single by Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, respectively. I never ever get tired of listening to "Light my Fire", and I sing along whenever and wherever I hear it: at home, on my car's radio, in a pub ...
There are a lot of stories behing this legendary song, like who wrote most of its words despite the fact that Jim Morrison, always a poet before a singer, was kind of the band's "official" lyricist. Or how the group had to cut down its play time to a mere 3 minutes so that it could be aired more often in US radio stations, as well as the controversy around their performance in the hugely popular Ed Sullivan Show, when Jim was asked not to sing the seemingly "infamous" line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" because it sort of implied the use of drugs - of course he couldn't care less and did utter the explicit words in the end. But hey, better than told by myself, you can hear all these things in this enlightening 6-minute clip:
Very sadly, Jim Morrison had an untimely death (like many other rock legends before and after him) at only 27 years of age in Paris in 1971, but the songs he left, like this one here, are the best tribute to his memory. I do hope that you will enjoy Light my Fire, whether you didn't know The Doors or you've listened to them many times before. And also it will encourage you guys to share your own favorite songs!
