On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison, the famous frontman for The Doors, was supposedly found dead, naked and half-submerged in a Paris apartment bathtub by his wife Pamela Courson. Upon finding Morrison’s reportedly dead body Courson called Dr. Max Vasille, a local French medical examiner. Vasille declared Morrison died of “heart failure” and took charge of the body. No autopsy was performed. The casket was closed at the funeral. At the burial, at a site hand-picked by Morrison just three days before his death, Doors’ drummer John Densmore blurted: “. . . the grave is too short!” Based on these circumstances over four decades of fans have speculated that Morrison staged his death to remove himself from the public limelight.
It might be true. I just listened to the six track EP “Blues for Bobby Solo” by La Muneca De Sal and Anthony Reynolds. La Muneca De Sal is a Spanish band whose name translates to “The Salt Doll.” Anthony Reynolds claims to be a singer who was born in Cardiff, Wales that worked in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with the British pop group “Jack.” He is supposed to have written two full-length biographies - one on the 1960’s group The Walker Brothers and one on singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley. He also claims to have written a collection of poems in English and Spanish called “Calling All Demons.” If Jim Morrison is not dead he could be Anthony Reynolds.
The EP Blues for Bobby Solo is the closest thing to a classic late 1960’s/early 1970’s Doors’ album that I have heard since Morrison purportedly took his final bath.
The songs “Lulu walking,” “Life’s a laugh” and “Lulo“ are the type of drug-induced psychedelic trance music made famous by Pink Floyd but pioneered by the Beatles in “Revolution No. 9.” It evokes the era of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s when the Doors released the classic disks The Soft Parade and Morrison Hotel. These psychedelic tracks set the stage for Reynolds mind-blowing Jim Morrison (or is it him?) vocals. Reynolds powers through “Be my next ex-girlfriend,” a sentiment Morrison would likely have agreed with. The song is a modern day version of a Morrison poem that has been tempered by forty years of musical evolution. It is not all Jim Morrison impersonation. There is a hint of The Cars, a bit of David Bowie flamboyance, and a dash of Hinder theatrics. The band does well in its support of Reynolds’ emotional vocals. The entire package is much like that of the Doors’ Robby Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek - an excellent backing band with a superior poetic vocalist front and center.
The third track “Wonderful life” pulls you back to 1966 when the Doors appeared at the Whiskey A Go Go with Van Morrison and Them. At this point I started asking myself, “is this a lost classic? It is on par with the Doors “Land Ho!” and “Crystal Ship.” I have never believed in the cloak and dagger stuff or the conspiracy theories around Jim Morrison’s death, but at this point I too started questioning whether or not Jim was dead.
It is the fifth track, “For when you were young,” that seals it. It has got to be Jim Morrison - no doubt about it - well maybe a little. “For when you were young” is a Doors’ song if there ever was one. When singing it Reynolds finally becomes Morrison - lock, stock and bathtub. Soaring emotive vocals, a driving beat, polyphonic interplay of words and sound. He is good, very good - extremely good. So good I though about tie-dying a few T-shirts and searching for my copy of “L.A. Woman.”
They say you can never go back. If that is true one of two things has happened. Morrison did not die and is now performing as Anthony Reynolds (in my estimation this is not likely since Morrison was born in 1943 and would now be 67 years old) or, more likely since Reynolds claims to have been born in the early 1970’s and Morrison is supposed have died in the early 1970’s, Morrison was reincarnated as Reynolds. Yes, that must be it. Either way it is good, all good
- Old School
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