Break on Through (To the Other Side)

"Break on Through (to the Other Side)"
Single by The Doors
from the album The Doors
B-side "End of the Night"
Released January 1, 1967 (1967-01-01)
Format 7" vinyl
Recorded August 1966 (1966-08)
Genre Psychedelic rock, bossa nova, jazz fusion, protopunk
Length 2:26
Label Elektra
Writer(s) The Doors
Producer Paul A. Rothchild
The Doors singles chronology
"Break on Through (to the Other Side)"
(1967)		 "Light My Fire"
(1967)
The Doors track listing
  1. "Break on Through (to the Other Side)"
  2. "Soul Kitchen"
  3. "The Crystal Ship"
  4. "Twentieth Century Fox"
  5. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
  6. "Light My Fire"
  7. "Back Door Man"
  8. "I Looked at You"
  9. "End of the Night"
  10. "Take It as It Comes"
  11. "The End"

"Break on Through (to the Other Side)" is a song by The Doors from their debut album, The Doors. It was the first single released by the band and was unsuccessful compared to later hits, reaching only #126[1] in the United States. Despite this, it remains one of the band's signature and most popular songs and became a concert staple.

Twenty-four years after its original US release, "Break on Through" became a minor hit in the UK, peaking at #64 in the singles chart.

Contents

Overview

The song also appears as track one on the band's debut album. Elektra Records' censors objected to the drug use implied by the line "she gets high", which is repeated in the middle section of the song (after the line "everybody loves my baby"). The original album version and all reissues until the 1990s have the word "high" deleted, with Morrison singing "she gets" four times before a final wail. Live versions and more recent, remastered releases have the full line portion restored.

Musical structure and composition

The song is in 4/4 time and quite fast-paced, the tune being similar to that of blues guitarist Elmore James' "Stranger Blues".

The piece begins with a jazz-flavored drum groove similar to the opening phrases played by Billy Higgins on Dexter Gordon's "Soy Califa", in which a clave pattern is played as a rim click underneath a driving ride cymbal pattern. John Densmore appreciated the new (at the time) bossa nova craze coming from Brazil, so he decided to use it in the song.

It is then joined in by a disjointed quirky solo on the organ quite similar to introduction of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", which has a few intentional misplaced notes in it, while the bass-line, similar to a typical bass line used in bossa nova, continues almost unhindered all of the way through the song.

Robby's guitar riff initially came from the Paul Butterfield cover of Elmore James' song "Shake Your Money Maker".[2][3] He changed around some of the notes, as well as the beat and came up with the guitar for the song.

Covers

Stone Temple Pilots covered the song for The Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate. Mexican hard rock band La Cuca has done a cover as a hidden track in their album La Racha.

When the Doors were featured on an episode of VH1 Storytellers, various guest singers filled in for Jim Morrison. Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland filled in and sang "Break on Through", along with the song he said inspired him to rock, "Five to One".

Serbian rock band Night Shift covered the song in 2002 on their debut album Undercovers.

Appearances in media

References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel. Bubbling Under Singles & Albums (1998): 66
  2. ^ "Mellow Down Easy by Paul Butterfield on The Paul Butterfield Blues Band". grooveshark.com. http://grooveshark.com/#/s/Mellow+Down+Easy/3A5nu7?src=5. Retrieved 2011-12-21. 
  3. ^ "Classic Albums The Doors". jambands.com. http://www.jambands.com/reviews/dvds/2008/06/20/classic-albums-the-doors. Retrieved 2010-03-16.