Full Circle (The Doors album)

Full Circle
Studio album by The Doors
Released	August 15, 1972 (1972-08-15)[1]
Recorded	Spring 1972, A&M Studios, Hollywood, California[2]
Genre	Funk rock, jazz fusion
Length	40:05
Label	Elektra
Producer	The Doors
The Doors chronology
Other Voices (1971) Full Circle (1972) An American Prayer (1978)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	C[4]
Classic Rock	4/10[5]
Record Collector	[6] (combined score for Full Circle and Other Voices)

Full Circle is the eighth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released in August 1972. It is the second album after Jim Morrison's death, and the last they compiled until 1978's An American Prayer. The album includes "The Mosquito", the last Doors single to chart.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger provided lead vocals. Also, unlike their earlier work, bassists were used collaboratively on every track.

Track listing

B-side

In 1972, the Doors released "Get Up and Dance" as a single in the UK; the B-side was the non-album "Tree Trunk", one of only three non-album studio tracks released by the band.

According to Robby Krieger, the track was left off the album because "it sounded too commercial."^[7] The song was finally given official release as part of the Japan edition of the Doors Singles Box in 2013.^[8]

Related releases

The Doors have largely disregarded the two post-Morrison albums, with no official American CD releases. Full Circle was released on CD October 23, 2006 by the Timeless Holland label, along with the previous (post-Morrison) Doors album Other Voices.

It is relatively easy to find unofficial CD copies of Full Circle and Other Voices on the Internet, but most of these vinyl-to-CD transfers do not contain the single-only "Treetrunk", except for the Howling Wolf Records 2010 release of the two albums on one CD. This release also featured the edited single versions of "The Mosquito" and "The Piano Bird."^[9] "Treetrunk" was finally given official release as part of the Japan edition of the Doors Singles Box in 2013.^[10]

The Doors' management has stated they are not in possession of the master tapes to the two post-Morrison albums, but remastered tracks from both of them can nevertheless be found on later official releases. The only track from Full Circle the Doors have reissued is "The Mosquito", released in 2000 as "No Me Moleste Mosquito" on the double-disc version of The Best of the Doors.

On September 27, 2011, the Doors finally gave Full Circle, along with Other Voices, its first official reissue that's currently available only for digital download via stores such as iTunes, Amazon.com and eMusic. It was confirmed that the original master tapes were used for these reissues.^[11]

On May 29, 2015, it was announced that Full Circle would be re-released on CD and 180-gram vinyl.^[12]

Personnel

The Doors

• Ray Manzarek – lead vocals, keyboards
• Robby Krieger – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
• John Densmore – drums

Additional personnel

• Chico Batera – percussion on "The Piano Bird" and "The Peking King and the New York Queen"
• Jack Conrad – bass on "4 Billion Souls", "Good Rockin", "The Piano Bird" and "The Peking King and the New York Queen"
• Chris Ethridge – bass on "Get Up and Dance"
• Venetta Fields – vocals
• Bobbye Hall – percussion on "Verdilac", "The Piano Bird" and "The Peking King and the New York Queen"
• Clydie King – vocals
• Charles Larkey – bass on "Verdilac" and "The Piano Bird"
• Charles Lloyd – tenor saxophone on "Verdilac", flute on "The Piano Bird"
• Melissa MacKay – vocals
• Leland Sklar – bass on "Hardwood Floor", "The Mosquito" and "It Slipped My Mind"

Technical staff and artwork

• The Doors – producer
• Henry Lewy – engineer
• Pacific Eye & Ear – cover concept
• Joe Garnett – cover illustration

Chart information

Album

Billboard (North America)

Singles

References