The Soft Parade

By mid-1968, the Doors had established themselves as one of the most popular groups in the US. The band's third studio album, Waiting for the Sun, released in July of that year, became the Doors' only number one hit on the Billboard 200 while spawning "Hello, I Love You", their second number one single. The album was the first commercial breakthrough for the band in the UK, reaching number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. After the release of Waiting for the Sun, the Doors commanded substantial performance fees and played before large crowds in such arenas as the L.A. Forum, the Hollywood Bowl, and Madison Square Garden. Additionally, local Los Angeles Top 40 radio stations, KHJ Radio in particular, which had previously refused to play the band's records, began sponsoring the Doors' live performances. Initial sessions for the album occurred on July 26, 1968, when the band recorded "Wild Child" and "Wishful Sinful". ("Easy Ride" was a Waiting for the Sun leftover, recorded on March 3, 1968.) In September 1968, the group played dates in Europe with Jefferson Airplane, before ending their long, grueling tour schedule with nine concerts in the US. While the 1968 tours managed to capitalize on the chart success of Waiting for the Sun, it left little time for the Doors to compose new songs for The Soft Parade, having already exhausted all the material from Morrison's songbooks. Throughout 1968, Morrison's behavior became increasingly erratic: he began drinking heavily and distanced himself from studio work to focus on his more immediate passions, poetry and filmmaking. At the time, Morrison was also struggling with anxiety, and felt like he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. He considered quitting the Doors, but was persuaded by keyboardist Ray Manzarek to finish recording The Soft Parade before making such a decision. In November 1968, the band entered the newly established studio Elektra Sound West on La Cienega Boulevard to continue work on The Soft Parade, a process that was not completed until May 1969. Without any album-ready material to work with, record producer Paul A. Rothchild took control of the recording sessions and insisted on numerous retakes of songs, much to the group's indignation. "It was like pulling teeth to get Jim into it", sound engineer Bruce Botnick recalled. "It was bizarre ... the hardest I ever worked as a producer." Rothchild, who by this time was addicted to cocaine and incredibly strict in his leadership, caused severe strife in the studio, especially with his advisor Jac Holzman, who argued that the drive for perfection was "grinding them [The Doors] into the ground". The album was by far the most expensive by the group, costing US$80,000 to create, compared to the US$10,000 required for their debut. == Music ==

The Doors wanted to redefine what could be accomplished within the rock medium. Looking for a new, creative sound, Rothchild hired Paul Harris to arrange string and orchestral arrangements for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and local jazz horn players. Session musicians Doug Lubahn and Harvey Brooks also served as additional bass guitarists. The group incorporated elements of jazz rock, funk, psychedelic rock, art rock and experimental sounds, alongside their usual blues rock. Drummer John Densmore and Manzarek, who both had jazz backgrounds, asserted they were receptive to Rothchild's jazz concept: "We'd [Densmore and Manzarek] always talk about using some jazz musicianslet's put some horns and strings on, man, let's see what it would be like to record with a string section and a big horn section," recalled Manzarek. Although Morrison was less involved in the Doors' studio sessions at this point, he demanded the band receive individual writing credits after initially refusing to sing Krieger's lyric, "Can't you see me growing, get your guns" on the track "Tell All the People". As a result, The Soft Parade was the first Doors album to list band members separately rather than collectively as "Songs by the Doors." Krieger continued to hone his songwriting skills to fill the void left by Morrison's absence. He wrote half of the album's tracks, while Morrison is credited with the other half (they share co-credits on "Do It"), ultimately creating an album that lacks the unified musical stance found in the Doors' early works. Krieger's songs, written almost independently from the rest of the band, most noticeably incorporated the jazz influences. Only his tracks, "Tell All the People", "Touch Me", "Runnin' Blue", and "Wishful Sinful", were written to include string and horn arrangements; Morrison, though not totally opposed to the concept, declined to go in the direction Densmore and Manzarek championed. "Touch Me" (penned under the working titles "Hit Me" and "I'm Gonna Love You") was chosen as the first single taken from The Soft Parade, becoming one of the Doors' biggest hits. The band brought in the saxophone player Curtis Amy to perform a solo instrumental on the song, which was influenced by the works of John Coltrane. Journalists Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard found "Wild Child" as "Morrison parodying himself." "Shaman's Blues" and the title track were both examples of the singer's penchant for using symbolism and autobiographical insights. The latter song, a stylistic return to a lengthy track closing a Doors album, was penned with the help of Rothchild, who organized pieces of Morrison's poetry with him to align rhythmically and conceptually. Introduced with a mock-fiery sermon by Morrison, "The Soft Parade" displays his Southern roots through his portrayal as a preacher. The song's ambiance is heightened by the striking imagery which outlines a need for sanctuary, escape, and pleasure. Critic Doug Sundling noted that "The Soft Parade", with its display of funk, jazz, acid rock and psychedelic pop influences, is more diverse than any other composition of the group. == Release and reception ==

The Soft Parade was released on July 18, 1969. It peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, during a chart stay of 28 weeks, but fared poorly in the UK where the album failed to reach the charts. The album's front cover photograph was taken by Joel Brodsky, who had also been responsible for the cover of the Doors' debut album and Strange Days. Three singles had already been released prior to the album's distribution, much more than usual for a Doors album. The "Touch Me" single was released in December 1968 and became one of the band's biggest hits, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Two additional singles, "Wishful Sinful" and "Tell All the People", were also distributed but fared less favorably, peaking at numbers 44 and 57 respectively. Following the release of The Soft Parade, the Doors earned another minor hit with the "Runnin' Blue" single, charting at number 64 upon its release in August 1969. '' advertisement, July 26, 1969 The album was rejected by the group's original audience and the underground scene, particularly for the use of horns and strings. The underground press was less than complimentary, with David Walkey, writing in New York's East Village Other, stating the album was "badly messed up by the syrupy arrangement of Paul Rothchild and could be renamed, 'The Rothchild Strings Play the Doors'." Another scathing review by Miller Francis Jr. of The Great Speckled Bird expressed disdain for what he felt was "a misfire in poetic Art Rock", feeling The Soft Parade "comes on so fucking pretentious, like something written rather than something sung." Rob Cline of Northwest Passage questioned why a band like the Doors needed to record with violins and trombones when the group was "best when getting it on straight and hard as witness to their first two albums". In Rolling Stone, Alec Dubro found much of the songs to be "pale shadows of their earlier works". Jazz and Pop magazine analyst Patricia Keneally, on the other hand, praised the band's experimentation, claiming, "most of it is very superior music and some is absolutely glorious". Reviewing for The Village Voice in January 1970, Robert Christgau wrote: "This is an acceptable record, with predictable pretensions and two or three first-rate songs ('Touch Me,' 'Wild Child'). Nothing to get excited about, either way." It was remastered again in 1999 for The Complete Studio Recordings box set by Bernie Grundman and Botnick at Bernie Grundman Mastering, using 96khz/24bit technology; it was also released as a standalone CD release. In 2006, the album was reissued on a CD/DVD set featuring the 2006 stereo and 5.1 remixes done by Botnick for the Perception box set, and it includes a clip of the Doors performing the title track live. The 2006 stereo remix was also released on a standalone CD release in 2007 with six bonus tracks including the rarities "Whisky, Mystics, and Men" and "Push Push"; this edition was mastered by Botnick at Uniteye. In 2009, it was reissued on 180g vinyl featuring the original mix, which was cut by Grundman. The same year, Audio Fidelity reissued the album on 24kt gold CD, remastered by Steve Hoffman. However, this edition was criticized due to the use of limiting and compression applied during mastering, despite it being advertised as maintaining the original dynamic range of the recording. Analogue Productions reissued the album on hybrid SACD (2013) and double 45 RPM vinyl (2012); both editions were mastered by Doug Sax and Sangwook Nam at The Mastering Lab. The CD layer of the Super Audio CD contains the original stereo mix while the SACD layer contains Botnick's 2006 5.1 surround mix. In 2019, Rhino Records released a 1-LP/3-CD deluxe edition to commemorate the album's 50th anniversary release, which was remastered by Botnick, utilizing the Plangent Process. The CDs are encoded with MQA technology. It included the namely "Doors only" versions of "Tell All the People", "Touch Me", "Runnin' Blue" and "Wishful Sinful", where the orchestral arrangements are removed and features some new overdubbed guitar parts by Krieger. == Track listing ==

The 40th Anniversary edition includes a longer version of "The Soft Parade", running to over 9:41 length. However, the liner notes of the original US Elektra Records album released on July 18, 1969, show the details as listed below: == Personnel ==

Details are taken from the 2019 Rhino Records CD 50th Anniversary Edition liner notes with accompanying essays by Bruce Botnick and David Fricke and may differ from other sources. The Doors • Jim Morrisonvocals • Ray Manzarekkeyboards • Robby Kriegerguitar, chorus lead vocals on "Runnin' Blue" • John Densmoredrums Additional musicians • Harvey Brooksbass guitar on "Tell All the People", "Touch Me", "Shaman's Blues", "Do It", "Runnin' Blue" and "The Soft Parade" • Doug Lubahnbass guitar on "Easy Ride", "Wild Child" and "Wishful Sinful" • Paul Harrisorchestral arrangements • Curtis Amysaxophone solos • George Bohanontrombone solo • Champ WebbEnglish horn solo • Jesse McReynoldsmandolin on "Runnin' Blue" • Reinol Andinocongas Technical • Paul A. Rothchildproduction • Bruce Botnickengineering • Joel Brodskyphotography • Peter Schaumanninside illustration • William S. Harveyart direction and design == Charts ==

Album Singles == Certifications ==