10. Dark Horses — Hello, I Love You
A Psych Tribute to the Doors delivers exactly what it promises on the tin. It makes a great front-to-back listen, with better-known current psychedelic-rock acts like The Black Angels and Psychic Ills mixing with a bunch of lesser-knowns. If one had to pick a highlight, though, this version of “Hello, I Love You” is it. The band is British underground rockers Dark Horses, turning every dial on their amps to 11 for a swampy, extremely psychedelic take on one of the Doors’ biggest radio hits. – Ray Padgett
9. Gomez – Soul Kitchen
One of the more covered songs in the Doors songbook, “Soul Kitchen” has long attracted coverees, on the basis of the funky choppy riff that underpins the melody line. British retro-rockers Gomez do actually very little to the original version, it more a vehicle for the extraordinary vocals of Ben Ottewell. He may occupy a similar timbre to Morrison, but only after gargling his way through a veritable spread of iron filings and pine needles. Take that away and it is merely competent, but, with it, it becomes something altogether more. – Seuras Og
8. Eddie Vedder – Break on Through
Back in 1993, The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The remaining members of the band played a handful of songs that night and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder filled in on vocals. Although Vedder’s voice was certainly different than Morrison’s, there’s a similar wildness and surprising energy that feels kindred to the Lizard King’s. The band plays the tune pretty straight as Vedder enters the song sounding very Eddie Vedder-ish; the breathy vibrato followed by the burst of grungy distortion, the quintessential quiet-loud of the ’90s. As the bridge wraps up we get the unleashed “she gets, she gets, she gets high” and the choice of Vedder to fill-in for Morrison starts to feel understandable. Of course it’s great to hear the Doors as done by Pearl Jam, but Vedder finds a way to sound like himself while also channeling the nostalgia of the original Doors version. – Mike Misch
7. Ministry — Roadhouse Blues
“Ace of Spades.” I could think of nothing else but the Motörhead thrash-metal classic when I heard Ministry’s cover of the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues,” and now neither will you. But really, you didn’t need my help. Those jackhammer drums, that destructo guitar, and Al Jourgensen’s full-throttle roar all but obliterate any thought of the Doors. Play it loud enough and Jim Morrison couldn’t not turn in his grave–which is not to say he wouldn’t love it. – Patrick Robbins
6. The Violent — People Are Strange
A side order of alienation could always form part of the persona of some pop stars. Many are outsiders by personality or from their lived or professional experience. And who, of those lucky to visit New York, have not felt overwhelmed by their first visit, and their first volley of abuse when you hold up someone who has urgent business the other side of you. Punk started to make disaffection central, but they generally lacked grandiosity, at least in the early days. Post-punk turned alienation into an elevated art form. But Goth, Emo, Grunge or the other strands do not lack verve, imagination or musicality. The Violent’s “People Are Strange” has all of these strands, and more. They do not appear to be unhappy or uncomfortable with their disaffection; you could even say that they were enjoying it! As does the listener. – Mike Tobyn
5. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity — Light My Fire
Singer Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger worked together in the legendary blues band Steampacket, which also featured Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry. When that group broke up before ever recording, Driscoll and Auger started their own band, with this confusing name, treating Driscoll as a separate performer, and with The Trinity as the duo or trio that backed up the two featured performers. While they were together this band switched genres freely – from folk to jazz to blues to early prog rock. A key part of their output was covers: their biggest hit was a cover of The Band’s “This Wheel’s On Fire.” One reason they kept Driscoll as the first name in this most awkwardly named of bands is that she was clearly the star. Whereas the original version of “Light My Fire” is mostly a showcase for the instrumental talents of The Doors, this cover of “Light My Fire” is primarily a showcase for Driscoll’s voice. Singing over a jazzier backing than in the original – including Auger’s much more restrained organ solo – Driscoll uses both her range and her power to blow all other vocal performances of this song out of your mind. So, if you listen to this incredible performance and wonder how did this woman not become a bigger star, it’s because she discovered free jazz, married a jazz/prog rock musician, changed her name, and has spent the last 55 years making avant-garde music. – Riley Haas
4. X — Soul Kitchen
For a band remembered in great part for its excesses, “Soul Kitchen,” from the Doors’ 1967 debut album, is restrained, and fits in bluesy organ riffs, twangy, psychedelic guitars, rocking drums and classic Jim Morrison singing in its three and a half minutes. By 1980, though, music was changing, and another band from L.A., X, was performing a high-speed punk cover of the song. When Doors organist Ray Manzarek heard it, he was impressed and ended up producing X’s debut album, which included the cover. Interestingly, Manzarek contributed keyboards to a few songs on the album, but not “Soul Kitchen” (although he sometimes joined X on stage to sing). – Jordan Becker
3. Unwoman — Riders on the Storm
Steampunk cellist Unwoman is no stranger to our Best Cover Ever series, having appeared in our salutes to The Cure, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, and the Police. Her goth sound is a natural for the Doors, and her version of “Riders on the Storm” is more than proof. The cello’s drones haunt the song more than Manzarek’s keyboard could, and the cold dark vocal is a mood all by itself. – Patrick Robbins
2. Jose Feliciano — Light My Fire
Jose Feliciano’s 1968 acoustic version of “Light My Fire” is (arguably) the song’s most famous and popular tribute. It remains, to this day, a beautiful, fabulous mix of infectiousness and virtuosity. As a little ’70s kid, I remember this version being played just as much as the Doors version on AM radio. So much so that whenever the song pops into my head, I default exclusively to Jose’s ad libs in the bright coda aka “Lightmyfire-lightmyfire-lightmyfire” before I even think of Ray Manzarek’s iconic opening. This cover is rainy day-evocative and summer breezy at the same time. Magical. Yes, Jose doesn’t own this song… but he comes damn close. – Hope Silverman
1. Nico — The End
Lou Reed and Jim Morrison are two musicians I cannot envision ever enjoying the other’s company. Yet, one of Reed’s muses ended up being a great interpreter of Morrison’s words. On 1972’s The End…, Nico offers up a great cover of The Doors’ “The End,” a song so closely connected with its composer. You can easily imagine Coppola using Nico’s version of this song in the slow-motion sequence of the destruction of the jungle in Apocalypse Now. Produced by John Cale, the two former Velvet Underground members find a great combination in their more avant-garde sensibilities and Morrison’s dark vision. – Luke Poling
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.