An American Prayer Tracklist
Before Jim Morrison joined The Doors as lead singer, he wrote poetry and was a film student at UCLA. He carried these interests on in his little free time outside the band. In 1969 and on December 8, 1970 (the date of his 27th birthday), he recited his poetry at a professional recording studio, hoping he could make someone release an album made of his poems someday.
Unfortunately, Morrison died in 1971, before he could complete this vision. However, seven years after his death, the remaining members of the Doors convened to score Morrison’s verses, by publishing not only this selection of recorded poems, but also two books (Wilderness and The Lords and the New Creatures): even though the results sparked controversy among the main collaborators of the band, An American Prayer was actually greeted by hardcore fans.
In reality, the compilation is not all about Jim’s poems: an excellent live version of “Roadhouse Blues” is also included, while bits and pieces of old Doors' songs pop up in different contexts, along with some pieces of dialog from Morrison’s forays into film.
The poetry itself is visceral, unafraid of courting controversy with sexual and religious imagery; as a reader, Morrison has a flare for the dramatic and an appealingly deep voice.
Among the most notable pieces of work, there are the title track and the extended version of “The Ghost Song”, added as a bonus cut to the 1995 remastered edition.
