The Doors are marking the 45th anniversary of their second album, “Strange Days,” on In The Studio.
Songwriter/keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors joins ITS host Redbeard to discuss the making and impact of “Strange Days.”
By 1967’s all too brief ‘Summer of Love’, The Doors had found themselves at the top of the charts with “Light My Fire” from their debut album. In the ensuing nine months, life in America had changed from, as Jim Morrison would coin it, “casual joys”, to sheer social chaos with the escalating Vietnam War, race riots and soon assassinations.
The Doors were now mirroring the upheaval for a whole generation of youth poetically linking the day’s events to the greater meaning of life.
Manzarek remembers the period that would inspire the “Strange Days” album’s classic songs “People Are Strange”, “Love Me Two Times”, “Moonlight Drive”, “You’re Lost Little Girl” and the epic “When The Music’s Over.”
“Vietnam was happening, social chaos was happening, black people weren’t able to eat at restaurants with white people, big deal, they couldn’t ride a bus, are you insane? What’s going on?” explains Manazarek. “So the social protest was definitely happening. In Vietnam guys were starting to get slaughtered. It was serious, there were no more advisors, we were starting to send troops over there and that was young men off the streets. Things were starting to get really kinda heavy in America and Strange Days definitely reflects that.”
“The Doors: Strange Days” on In The Studio is available to stream at the following links:
Part 1
Part 2
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