Absolutely Live

iTunes Review

The one official live album released while the Doors were a working unit, 1970’s Absolutely Live was recorded in a number of U.S. cities just as the band was finding its blues roots. However, this album was carefully balanced to include all sides of the group, so while it begins with a scorching take on Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?,” it also features the first LP appearance of their concert favorite “The Celebration of the Lizard” (which includes “Not to Touch the Earth” at its center). Morrison is in bluesman form for “Build Me a Woman,” hands the microphone over to keyboardist Ray Manzarek for “Close to You,” and brings it all home with the previously unreleased “Universal Mind” and an extended read of the group’s first single “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” (listed here as “Dead Cats, Dead Rats.”) “When the Music’s Over” retains its epic stance. “Soul Kitchen” closes things with one of their earliest numbers from the L.A. club days and the medley of “Alabama Song,“ “Back Door Man,” “Love Hides” and “Five to One” shows the band’s impeccable improvisatory instincts.