Post Description

The Doors
Jimbo’s Blues 
The Civic Auditorium, Bakersfield,
California,
August 21, 1970.
Excellent - stage recording in stereo.

Including artwork.

The first indication that a fine recording of The Doors live at Bakersfield emerged in 2000 with the limited release of the CD, The Bright Midnight Sampler: 14 Songs, 8 Concerts. Tucked away as the second to final track was this medley: Love Me Two Times/ Baby Please Don’t Go/ St James Infirmary. It was identified as a “stage recording”.

We’re not sure who first mentioned this but it is believed that “Vince Treanor, The Doors’ tour manager, recorded the show for the band on a Sony reel-to-reel using two microphones placed on the stage. While not a multitrack high fidelity recording, it is clean, quiet, and clear, allowing the unbridled energy of the performances to shine through”.

On the net, fan bumina added, “The Doors never used a soundboard while Jim was with them. They tuned on stage and adjusted levels. Vince (Treanor) would use a reel-to-reel recorder and just raw fed some well-placed microphones. To my knowledge, all the Bright Midnight releases are from this kind of source which is really evident in the Boston shows released a couple of years back. Jim’s mic goes out during Alabama Song and you still hear him faintly over the music… pretty impressive stuff.”

This concert comes a week before the Doors’ performance at the Isle Of Wight. Whoever did the cover art and titled this “Jimbo’s Blues” must bereferencing the Miami incident as Jim’s mugshots are on display on the cover art. That sense of despondency is clear in the ragged singing. The recording industry was rewarding hard rock and heavy metal for bringing in large crowds but The Doors’ revolution was not to be encouraged.

What we are sharing here is ghostryder14’s copy of this recording. Thanks ghostryder14.


Track 01. Roadhouse Blues 
Track 02. Medley: Alabama Song / Back Door Man / Old Stone Road / Five To One 
Track 03. Universal Mind 
Track 04. When The Music’s Over 
Track 05. Tuning 
Track 06. Mystery Train 
Track 07. Ship Of Fools 
08. Medley: Love Me Two Times / Baby Please Don’t Go / St. James Infirmary - Omitted *
Bonus Track
Track 09. Break On Through 
(live in Seattle, June 5, 1970)

* Medley found on the official release, The Bright Midnight Sampler, released in 2000.