30. David Johansen & Billy Sherwood- People Are Strange
No one remembers your name when you’re strange? Some remember David Johansen as the Jaggeresque front man for the proto-punk New York Dolls. They may also remember him as Buster Poindexter, the jump-blues singing cabaret star with a cult following. (See Personality Crisis, Martin Scorsese’s documentary about this strange artist.)
As for “People Are Strange,” Johansen’s take is singular, but not that strange. It’s a one-off, recorded for a forgettable 2014 Doors tribute album produced by Billy Sherwood. The Doors had nothing in common with the Dolls, except that Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, and David Johansen all had a strong fascination with composer Kurt Weill.
With Bertolt Brecht, Weill revolutionized musical theater back in Weimar Germany; the Doors covered Brecht/Weill’s “Alabama Song” in 1966, Johansen in 1994. My guess is Billy Sherwood heard the hints of Weill in “People Are Strange” and thought of Poindexter/Johansen. Apart from Tom Waits, no American artist has engaged with Weill’s legacy more than the ex-Doll.
If Mr. Mojo Risin’ had lived long enough to catch a performance by the Dolls, it might have pointed a way forward for him artistically. Why not? It happened with David Bowie, Patti Smith, and a few other transgressive performers of that era. – Tom McDonald
29. Lloyd Price — Light My Fire
More than any other Doors song, “Light my Fire” is dominated by Ray Manzarek’s organ, first in the intro and then in the two minute organ solo on the album version. (Though, to be fair to Manzarek, Krieger’s guitar solo is even longer.) It’s no surprise a lot of covers stay away from the long organ passages, given how identified they are with the player himself. R&B singer Lloyd Price goes even farther, moving the organ to a backing instrument and instead opening his cover with horns. It’s “Light My Fire” as a soul song, and it works really well. Price delivers a passionate vocal but it’s the note-perfect arrangement that makes the cover just as much as his great performance. There are the aforementioned horns and a fantastic bass part, but there is also a fun, quirky backing vocal part, which starts out conventionally but gets staccato in the break, reminiscent of Cass Elliot’s backing vocal on the coda of The Electric Flag’s “Groovin’ Easy.” It’s a wholly different genre, but it works. – Riley Haas
28. Travis Meeks — The End
In the year 2000, the surviving members of the Doors–John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek–filmed an episode of VH1’s Storytellers with several lead singers filling in for the late Jim Morrison. In my view, the most memorable performance came from Travis Meeks, who helped the band deliver this stunning version of “The End.” Meeks is largely known for his work as the lead singer for the rock band Days of the New, which released several albums in the late ‘90s and the aughts. With an acoustic guitar in hand, Meeks plays the role of the brooding rock n’ roll front man to perfection. Singing in a style meant to imitate Morrison, Meeks captures the song’s dark brutality, verse by tormented verse. As the song builds and changes tempos, Meeks takes on the role of a storyteller. Switching between spoken word and singing, he acts as though he was living out Morrison’s twisted fantasies. It’s a great piece of performance art that is raw, powerful and terrifying. The Doors themselves, along with several backing musicians, play with the dexterity of a band who had never split up. While the song showcases Meeks’ talent as a singer, it also highlights Morrison’s influence over generations of singers who followed him. – Curtis Zimmermann
27. Alien Sex Fiend – Five to One
Imagine The Crystal Method gets a hold of “Five to One” and substitutes the original vocals with a slightly rabid Jim Morrison and you’ve got a pretty good idea of this cover by Alien Sex Fiend. Lead singer Nik Fiend is backed by a four-on-the-floor beat, pulsating synths, and repeating samples galore. The buzzsaw guitar that drops in squeals aimlessly before focusing into a lick that is recognizable as a twisted facsimile of the original Doors’ backing melody. The pieces are there, but it’s as if someone took the puzzle apart, and then put it back together wrong and filled in the gaps with whatever they could find. Somehow, it’s all of that and also maybe the perfect song for a late night drive down the highway with the windows open: there’s something compelling in the chaos, a familiar core that manages to keep it all on the rails. – Mike Misch
26. Siouxsie and the Banshees — You’re Lost Little Girl
In Allmusic’s review of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ cover album Through the Looking Glass, they mention nine of the album’s ten tracks by title. The forgotten tenth track originally appeared on Strange Days, the Doors’ follow-up to their debut. Considered a slight step down, it still featured some real winners, including “You’re Lost Little Girl,” a track that is both eerie and beautiful, and therefore right up Siouxsie and the Banshees’ alley. They bring the echo, some new instruments, and a feminine point of view that make for a whole new listening experience. – Patrick Robbins
25. Mathilde Santing — Yes, the River Knows
Composed by Robbie Kreiger, “Yes, the River Knows” is the most delicate and twinkly (!) song The Doors ever recorded. It is also home to a compelling, amusingly cabaret-like and low-key torchy vocal from the Jim (Go on Lizard King, drape yourself over that piano).
We’ve written about the angelically-voiced, eclectic-cover-chooser and Dutch legend Mathilde Santing before (Read here). To gushingly recap, she is a masterful song re-interpreter with brilliant taste, specifically favoring songs by melodic cult heroes like Todd Rundgren, Scritti Politti and Aztec Camera. Her 1991 cover of the Robbie Kreiger-composed “Yes, The River Knows” is a quietly gorgeous and bold enterprise. There are lush strings. There is sensuality. And is that a triangle being struck? Mathilde and her ensemble honor the song majestically… and, as is always the case, that Santing voice lifts the whole damn thing to heaven. – Hope Silverman
24. Ian McNabb — The Crystal Ship
“The Crystal Ship” is Morrison’s paean to a former girlfriend, who he claims he won’t forget even though he’s a huge star now. It features perhaps Ray Manzarek’s most tasteful piano solo of his career. Icicle Works lead singer Ian McNabb leans into the original mood, with acoustic guitar and bass backing his soothing tenor. There are no drums, but there are multiple keyboards, primarily an electric piano to start. When it comes time for the keyboard solo, it is instead handled by both electric and acoustic pianos playing two very distinct parts, neither of which ape or even allude to Manzarek’s original. There’s also an organ that joins at the end of the solo and continues through the rest of the song. This sort of keyboard orchestra adds a new dimension to McNabb’s otherwise straightforward version of this Doors chamber pop effort, giving us arrangement subtleties to bite into. – Riley Haas
23. The Dead South — People Are Strange
The Dead South are skilled players and purveyors of Canadiana, that never more Nashville brand of country and bluegrass that puts often their more southern peers in the shade. As well as their own material, they enjoy shifting and subverting songs from other styles and traditions into their tightly hewn mix of banjo, guitar, mandolin and cello. In their hands, “People Are Strange” seems faster and lurches along lithely, like a rickety wagon. The vocals hinge on just the right side of lairy, emoting the tone of the local you might cross the road to avoid. Let alone his weird buddy, creeping out the alley for the finale. – Seuras Og
22. Gov’t Mule — Break on Through
Gov’t Mule frontman and guitarist Warren Haynes is one of those artists who has seemingly played with everyone and covered just about everything. He’s been a member of the Allman Brothers Band, various Grateful Dead spinoffs, and spent decades fronting Gov’t Mule. Several times over the years, starting in 2013, Gov’t Mule has performed the Doors’ “Break on Through (to the Other Side).” The intro is similar enough to the original, so much so that when the band starts playing there’s an immediate cheer of recognition from the crowd. Haynes’ voice is different from Jim Morrison’s and his delivery is more laid back. With the words “Chased our pleasures here, dug out treasures there,” there’s a hint of nostalgia in his voice. The band doesn’t jam heavily on the song. But it seems to fit well with the group’s neo-classic rock vibe. A great addition to their show anytime it’s performed. – Curtis Zimmermann
21. Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood – Light My Fire
After his run with Miles Davis in the ’70s, and highly-regarded solo albums issued throughout the ’80s and ’90s, guitarist John Scofield surprised his fans by hooking up with a funk/jam band, MMW (Medeski, Martin, and Wood). Groove-oriented, highly improvisational, and sometimes deeply weird, the collaboration won over jazz snobs and jam band scenesters alike. On their 2014 album Juice, the band covered two classic rock staples: “Sunshine of Your Love” and “Light My Fire.” The former they transformed into a barely-recognizable fun-house mirror reflection of Cream’s hit. But they play the Doors track almost straight. Almost. It’s Scofield, not the keyboardist Medeski, who rips into the song’s signature keyboard figure, but otherwise they give jazzhead antics a rest, and rock out in common 4/4 time. They even keep the melody on the front burner. The band applies the grease and heat to “Light My Fire,” but they don’t burn it up. It’s browned and crispy by the end, like a marshmallow held the correct distance from the flame. – Tom McDonald
The list is superb; I would only add the Apocalypse Now opening credits as an essential Doors cover. That aside, I’m bewildered and somewhat put off by why Cover Me editors would open with calling out derisive and insulting comments about the band, continue this thread through some of the accompanying song choices copy, yet go through the exercise of compiling 40 cover versions,. Why do that with this bias, editorializing them mostly with comments about the covers and not the power of the originals. Take a stand, Personally, I think the band deserves all the accolades: their music was revolutionary in the beginning, constantly captivating, composed and played by spectacularly competent musicians, and immaculately produced. As to Morrison’s shtick, it is no less outrageous and perhaps manufactured as what has been applied by countless others in every genre of music for the last 70 years; why single Morrison out as iconically shameless and shameful? (And why not give him the street credit for dying as a tortured artist in exile, assume it wasn’t all artificial?) Anybody can have an opinion about any music, whether they’re just a fan or a self-important critic. But to casually, cruelly, and completely dismiss the impact of this band, in its time and for all these years, seems to indicate these are indeed some curated salacious opinions, in the minority and undeserving of the slant of this article. If 40 artists have managed to find deep and enduring meaning in this band’s music and this man’s image — let’s go with that. Or don’t offer the playlist in the first place. Whatever, but don’t be agnostic or lopsidedly critical on a site all about the passionate love of music.
Stan –
It’s a fair cop, but society’s to blame.
Our readers and commenters are very often passionate about their subjects. More than once they’ve lit into us when their confirmation bias is not supported. When I chose the Doors for this month’s Best Covers Ever artist, quite frankly, I didn’t want to deal with that.
So I made a number of preemptive strikes. Like Eminem at the rap battle in 8 Mile, I acknowledged the bad things that could be said before the other guy could say them. After nuclear disarmament had been accomplished, I said that there were twice as many good things that could be said, and gave a good lengthy example.
Now, could I have given four “not only do the Doors not suck, they’re great” quotes? Yes, I could have. But I felt like we had forty good examples of their greatness and proceeded accordingly. If my accentuating the positive didn’t match my eliminating the negative, that’s on me.
In the end, I don’t feel like my quoting others sullies the band’s legacy, which is already intricate enough without my two cents. What matters is the music, which will last long after you and I are gone.
Thank you for commenting, and for your appreciation of what we selected.
Patrick, thanks for your thoughtful response. Looking at it this way–that you chose to feature Doors’ covers and that 40 artists were represented, some obscure and still worthy but many of them better known and respected–is a hefty counterweight to the argument that the Doors were all veneer, no depth. Passion about music inevitably leads to “your band sucks” arguments. Considering all the things that polarize the world today, it’s a pretty benign argument. But not a meaningless one. Music has meaning, possibly now more than in a long time. So thanks for all you and yours are doing to make this site happen.