In a short period of 24 months, Jim Morrison went from shirtless sex symbol to pudgy, bearded public outlaw. Conscious or not, it was the kind of destructive, outward rejection of fame and success that wouldn't be seen again from a rock star until Kurt Cobain a quarter of a century later. Morrison had also run out of material to draw from for the Doors's fourth LP and the band was forced to start writing in the studio. The resulting album, 1969's critically reviled The Soft Parade, was a rather disjointed collection of songs—half written by Morrison and the other half by guitarist Robby Krieger—that displayed a significant decline in quality from the band's first three releases.
If Strange Days was the spiritual cousin to the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's, Soft Parade tracks like "Tell All the People," with its swells of strings and brass, were more literal sonic nods to the hugely influential Beatles record. The title track is a 9-minute "A Day In The Life"-style suite that begins with a spoken word intro ("You cannot petition the Lord with prayer!" Morrison preaches like an evangelist) and a lovely, forlorn refrain accompanied by a stately harpsichord melody before settling into a familiar and comfortable Doors groove with spry guitar and bluesy organ work. But that's where the similarities end. The Soft Parade is decidedly more Americana than Brit-pop: "Shaman's Blues" features an atypical 6/8 swing rhythm, while "Runnin' Blue" is a mandolin and fiddle-filled ode to Otis Redding that finds Krieger taking up vocal duties on the song's bluegrass hook.
If Strange Days was the spiritual cousin to the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's, Soft Parade tracks like "Tell All the People," with its swells of strings and brass, were more literal sonic nods to the hugely influential Beatles record. The title track is a 9-minute "A Day In The Life"-style suite that begins with a spoken word intro ("You cannot petition the Lord with prayer!" Morrison preaches like an evangelist) and a lovely, forlorn refrain accompanied by a stately harpsichord melody before settling into a familiar and comfortable Doors groove with spry guitar and bluesy organ work. But that's where the similarities end. The Soft Parade is decidedly more Americana than Brit-pop: "Shaman's Blues" features an atypical 6/8 swing rhythm, while "Runnin' Blue" is a mandolin and fiddle-filled ode to Otis Redding that finds Krieger taking up vocal duties on the song's bluegrass hook.
