YouTube clips spur nostalgia
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Searching for music online on YouTube is still as addictive as ever.
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The 40th anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison made me take a trip down memory lane. The lead singer of the Doors died on July 3, 1971, in a bathtub in Paris. The French officials found no signs of foul play and didn't do an autopsy; so we're still in the dark about why he died.
My memory trip was spurred by a car trip on July 2 with my wife and 20-year-old son, Dan, through Ohio for a holiday weekend wedding. Listening to Deep Tracks, Classic Vinyl and other classic rock channels on XM, we heard "LA Woman," which spurred us to talk about when Morrison died. Not surprisingly, out popped the smartphone to look it up. Wikipedia gave the date; and the coincidence that it was 40 years ago the next day was readily apparent.
The next morning, I tweeted the anniversary to my followers -- as I often tweet old rock trivia -- and proceeded to YouTube to play some Doors. That's when I did something that deviates far from my normal habits -- I spent the next several hours playing online. (I spend so much time working on my computer that I rarely use it in long spurts for fun anymore.)
I found several YouTube videos that would interest almost any Doors fan. The first was a great clip of their hit, "Touch Me," which was first broadcast on a 1960s "Smothers Brothers" TV show. Aside from Morrison's vocals, and the tight playing of the rest of the band, we got to see how many accompanists it took to create the lush sound. There were four violins on stage right behind Morrison; and there were three saxophones, four trumpets, three slide trombones and one additional sax player, who later played the solo.
With the exception of the saxophone soloist, they were all older white men with conservative white shirts, black ties and jackets. The soloist wore a casual jacket. The long-haired Doors were dressed in traditional '60s garb befitting teens and 20-somethings. Based on what I remember from the era, it was quite astonishing to think that this group would be able to work together, let alone put together such a fine rendition of a very manic song like that.
First Published July 10, 2011 12:00 am
