Light My Fire

"Light My Fire"
Single by The Doors
from the album The Doors
B-side	The Crystal Ship
Released	April 1967
Recorded	August 1966
Genre	Psychedelic rock, acid rock
Length	7:05 (album version) 4:40 (long radio version) 2:52 (single version)
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	The Doors
Producer	Paul A. Rothchild
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
The Doors singles chronology
"Break on Through (To the Other Side)" (1967) "Light My Fire" (1967) "People Are Strange" (1967)

"Light My Fire" is a song originally performed by The Doors which was recorded in August 1966 and released the first week of January 1967 on the Doors' debut album. Released as a single in April, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100. It re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 following the success of Jose Feliciano's version of the song, peaking at number 87. The song was largely written by Robby Krieger, and credited to the entire band. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1967, representing sales of one million units.^[1] A live version was released in 1983 on their album Alive, She Cried, the first of several live albums released in subsequent decades to include the song.

"Light My Fire" also achieved modest success in Australia, where it peaked at #22 on the ARIA chart. The single originally reached #49 in the UK in 1967, but experienced belated success in that country in 1991 when a re-issue peaked at #7. The re-issue occurred on the back of revived interest in the band following Oliver Stone's film biopic "The Doors".

The song is #35 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[2] It was also included in the Songs of the Century list and was ranked number 7 in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

José Feliciano's cover version won a 1969 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, the same year he won another Grammy for Best New Artist.

History

The song originated as a Robby Krieger unfinished composition, which the other band members then expanded upon.^[3] The single version was edited to just under three minutes with nearly all the instrumental break removed for airplay on AM radio.^[3]

The Ed Sullivan Show

The band appeared on various TV shows, such as American Bandstand, miming to a playback of the single. However, "Light My Fire" was performed live by The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast on September 17, 1967. The Doors were asked by producer Bob Precht, Sullivan's son-in-law, to change the line "girl, we couldn't get much higher", as the sponsors were uncomfortable with the possible reference to drug-taking.^[4][5] The band agreed to do so, and did a rehearsal using the amended lyrics; however, during the live performance, Morrison sang the original lyric.^[4] Ed Sullivan didn't shake Morrison's hand as he left the stage. The band had been negotiating a seven-episode deal with the producers; however, after breaking the agreement not to perform the line, they were informed they would never be on the Sullivan show again.^[6]

The Buick Incident

John Densmore recalls^[7] that Buick offered $75,000 in October, 1968 to adapt the song for use in a Buick Opel TV commercial ("Come on, Buick, light my fire".^[8]) Morrison, however, was still in London after a European tour had just ended on September 20 and could not be reached by the other group members who agreed to the deal in his absence. As the band had agreed in 1965 to both equal splits and everyone having veto power in decisions, Morrison consequently called Buick and threatened to smash an Opel with a sledgehammer on television should the (presumably ready) commercial be aired. Various sources claim that this was a turning point in the band's career and Jim started losing faith in the other members for selling out just for quick cash.

Chart positions

Covers

The song's chord progression, based on John Coltrane's version of My Favorite Things, and catchy rhythm (particularly Ray Manzarek's swirling, barrel organ-style keyboard motif) lent itself readily to pop or MOR styled cover versions.

Cover versions were recorded by Astrud Gilberto, Will Young (whose version hit number one in the United Kingdom), Amii Stewart (whose version got to number 5 in the United Kingdom, in 1979, and to number 7 as a remix in 1985) Natalia Oreiro, Jose Feliciano (whose version won a Grammy in 1969 Best Pop song of the year), Nancy Sinatra, Julie London, Friedrich Gulda, Julie Driscoll & the Brian Auger Trinity, Shirley Bassey, Erma Franklin, Baccara, Cibo Matto, Africa, Divididos, UB40, Massive Attack, The Mike Flowers Pops, the LN Elektronische Ensemble. Amorphis, Hide, Minnie Riperton, Stevie Wonder, Lil' Brown who was eventually sampled by J Dilla, Tammi Lynn, Type O Negative, Al Green, Electric Screwdrivers, B.J. Thomas, Ananda Shankar, Trini Lopez, John Tartaglia, Zacharias and Train, whose version can be found on the tribute compilation Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors. The Challengers did an instrumental version in 1969, as title track to one of their last albums.

NB The Massive Attack cover actually sampled a combination of the Young-Holt Unlimited cover of “Light My Fire” (1969) and the Jackie Wilson cover version of Light My Fire from his Do Your Ting Album. In 2008, pianist David Benoit offered a rendition of the song Light My Fire from his album “Heroes.”^[15] The next month in that same year, another instrumentalist named Warren Hill released a cover of Light My Life. The song is from the album “La Dolce Vita,” which means "The Sweet Life" in Italian.^[16]

José Feliciano

Vocalist and guitarist José Feliciano experienced significant international success when he released his version of "Light My Fire" in 1968 as a single on the RCA Victor label. It is perhaps the best known cover of this song, reaching #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, only a year after the original had been a #1 hit on the same chart. Feliciano's remake blended Latin influences, including a mixture of classic Spanish guitar and flamenco, with American pop sounds. The single helped to spur the worldwide success of its album, Feliciano!, which was nominated for multiple Grammy awards in 1969. Feliciano's arrangement of "Light My Fire" has influenced several subsequent versions, including that by Will Young and same writer Robby Krieger says in an interview about the cover: "It's really a great feeling to have written a classic. I think I owe a big debt to Jose Feliciano because he is actually the one, when he did it, everybody started doing it. He did a whole different arrangement on it."

Chart performance

Shirley Bassey

Light My Fire Remix is a single released by Shirley Bassey in 1999. This is a remix of the vocal recorded in 1970 for the album Something, which is also included on this release. The single was issued by Blue Note, EMI Music France in two formats a 12" single and a CD single.

In the spring of 1998, Blue Note France and Radio Nova organised a competition to find the best remix, created from the Groove and Jazz back catalogues. The DJ had to me an unknown that had not yet had any work published. DJ Booster was the winner and the Hip-hop, club dance remixes of Light My Fire were released to the public. French musician DJ Olivier Armbuster, alias Booster has origins in the suburbs of Paris, he is a musician who plays a variety of different instruments, he went on to release an album titled Loop in 2001.

Tracklisting

1. "Light My Fire" (Booster-Remix Edit) -3.17
2. "Light My Fire" (Booster Mix) -5.05
3. "Light My Fire" (Shirley Bassey original version) -3.23
4. "Light My Fire" (Booster Jungle Mix) -4.23

Personnel

• Shirley Bassey - Vocal
• Nicolas Gueguen, Rob - Keyboards

"Light My Fire"
Single by Will Young
from the album From Now On
B-side	"Ain't No Sunshine" "Beyond the Sea"
Released	27 May 2002
Format	CD
Recorded	2002
Genre	Pop
Label	BMG
Producer	Absolute
Will Young singles chronology
"Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" (2002) "Light My Fire" (2002) "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" (2002)

Will Young

Pop Idol UK series 1 winner Will Young covered the song in 2002. Young originally performed a piano version the song in the final 50 of Pop Idol, and again, with a backing track, in the final 10. It was later released as his second single. It went straight to the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart, selling 177,000 copies in its first week of release. The single stayed at number one for two weeks. The cover version was recorded in the style of José Feliciano's version.

Young also performed the song on World Idol, where he came in fifth place.

Chart performance

Other covers

• Erma Franklin recorded a soul style version of the song in 1969. It was released on the album Soul Sister^[17].

• Stevie Wonder performed a soulful version of the song for the album My Cherie Amour in 1969.

• Shirley Bassey recorded this song on her 1970 album Something.

• Ananda Shankar released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover version of The Doors' "Light My Fire."

• Etta James also covered the song. It can be found on the 3 CD set, Etta James: The Chess Box,^[18] a compilation of her songs recorded from 1960-1976.

• In 1977, the song was covered by the Spanish group Baccara. The song was called "Light My Fire (Baby, Won't You Reach Out)", and included on their album with the same name.

• Baccara's 1978 version is the second known disco version of the song, and appeared on the album of the same name.

• Minnie Riperton (in a duet with José Feliciano) covered the song in 1979 on her last album Minnie shortly before her death from cancer.

• The song was also covered by disco artist Amii Stewart in 1979 as "Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven".

• In 1988, the Argentinian band Divididos covered the song on their debut album 40 Dibujos Ahi en el Piso (40 Drawings there on the floor).

• The Hampton String Quartet arranged the song and recorded it on an early album, What if Mozart Wrote "Born to be Wild", in 1988^[19].

• Bristol trip-hop group Massive Attack covered the song in 1994 on the album Protection.

• Beastie Boys covered the song for the vinyl release of Aglio e Olio in 1995.

• Chicago based Jazz vocalist and composer Patricia Barber released a very cool and bluesy cover on the Bluenote 1999 release Modern Cool in 1998^[20].

• The song was also covered in 2000 by Scott Stapp with the rest of The Doors on VH1 Storytellers^[21], as well as on a recorded version.

• The Finnish death metal band Amorphis covered the song as a bonus track on the re-release of Tales from the Thousand Lakes in 2000^[22].

• British reggae band UB40 cover the song on their 2000 album, The Very Best of UB40 1980-2000.^[23]

• A piano version of the song was created by pianist George Winston in 2002 on his album Night Divides the Day - The Music of the Doors^[24].

• In 2006, French singer Laurent Voulzy covered the song on the album La Septième vague^[25].

• Jackie Wilson's 1968 cover is sampled in track 2 of Lemon Jelly's Triptych Mix.

• The lyrics from the song's chorus were used by hip hop artist Necro on the track "Light My Fire". The song is off of his 2002 album Gory Days and has nothing in common with the original song other than its chorus lyrics.

• 1967, Bob Thiele And His New Happy Times Orchestra/Gabor Szabo Bob Thiele and Gabor Szabo - Light My Fire^[26].

References

External links

• Ray Manzarek of 'The Doors', an interview on Fresh Air
• Light My Fire from All Things Considered, 2000 interviews about the song with the surviving members of the Doors

The Doors Jim Morrison • Robby Krieger • Ray Manzarek • John Densmore Studio albums The Doors • Strange Days • Waiting for the Sun • The Soft Parade • Morrison Hotel • L.A. Woman • Other Voices • Full Circle • An American Prayer Live albums Absolutely Live • Alive, She Cried • Live at the Hollywood Bowl • In Concert Compilations and soundtracks 13 • Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine • The Best of The Doors (1973) • Greatest Hits (1980) • The Best of The Doors (1985) • The Doors: Original Soundtrack Recording • Essential Rarities • The Best of The Doors (2000) • The Very Best of The Doors (2001) • Legacy: The Absolute Best • The Very Best of The Doors (2007) • When You're Strange: Music from the Motion Picture Bright Midnight Archives The Bright Midnight Sampler • Live in Detroit • Bright Midnight: Live in America • Live in Hollywood Highlights From The Aquarius Theatre Performances • Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The First Performance • Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The Second Performance • No One Here Gets Out Alive • The Lost Interview Tapes Featuring Jim Morrison Volume One • The Lost Interview Tapes Featuring Jim Morrison Volume Two • Backstage and Dangerous: The Private Rehearsal • Live in Hollywood • Boot Yer Butt: The Doors Bootlegs • Live in Philadelphia '70 • Live in Boston • Pittsburgh Civic Arena • Live at the Matrix 1967 • Live in New York Box sets The Doors: Box Set • The Complete Studio Recordings • No One Here Gets Out Alive • Boot Yer Butt: The Doors Bootlegs • Love/Death/Travel Box Set • Perception • The Doors: Vinyl Box Set • Live in New York Singles "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" • "Light My Fire" • "People Are Strange" • "Love Me Two Times" • "The Unknown Soldier" • "Hello, I Love You" • "Touch Me" • "Wishful Sinful" • "Tell All the People" • "Runnin' Blue" • "Roadhouse Blues" • "Love Her Madly" • "Riders on the Storm" • "Five to One" Books American Night • No One Here Gets Out Alive • Light My Fire Video & Film The Doors  • The Doors - 30 Years Commemorative Edition  • When You're Strange Related articles Discography • The Lost Paris Tapes • Rick & the Ravens • Manzarek-Krieger • Bill Siddons • Danny Sugerman • Paul A. Rothchild • Bruce Botnick • London Fog • Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors Book · Category