Waiting for the Sun

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For other uses, see Waiting for the Sun (disambiguation).
Waiting for the Sun
File:The Doors - Waiting for the Sun.jpg
Studio album by The Doors
Released July 3, 1968 (1968-07-03)
Recorded February–May 1968 T.T.G. Hollywood, California using 8-track recording console
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 32:59
Label Elektra
Producer Paul A. Rothchild
The Doors chronology
Strange Days
(1967)Strange Days1967		 Waiting for the Sun
(1968)		 The Soft Parade
(1969)The Soft Parade1969
Singles from Waiting for the Sun
  1. "The Unknown Soldier"/"We Could Be So Good Together"
    Released: March 1968
  2. "Hello, I Love You"/"Love Street"
    Released: June 1968

Waiting for the Sun is the third studio album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded from February to May 1968 and released in July 1968. It became the band's first and only No. 1 album, spawning their second US number one single, "Hello, I Love You". It also became the band's first hit album in the UK, where it peaked at No. 16 on the chart.

Background and recording

With the exception of two songs, "Hello, I Love You" and "Summer's Almost Gone", which were recorded for the band's original 1965 demo, the material for Waiting for the Sun was written after the band's initial songs from the formation of the group had been recorded for their debut album and second album Strange Days. [1]

The centerpiece of this album was supposed to be the lengthy theatrical piece "Celebration of the Lizard", but in the end only the "Not to Touch the Earth" section was used. "Celebration of the Lizard" was intended to take up an entire album side, but the group was never able to capture a studio recording that they liked. (The band would revisit it later in its full-length form on their 1970 album Absolutely Live.)

The title track "Waiting for the Sun" was left off this album, but would be included on the 1970 album Morrison Hotel.

This album marked keyboardist Ray Manzarek's transition from a Vox Continental to Gibson G-101, the organ he is best known for playing live. The brighter sound of the Vox does appear on a few songs, most notably "We Could Be So Good Together."

Guitarist Robby Krieger's skills with the flamenco guitar can be found present in "Spanish Caravan", with Granainas intro and a reworking of the melody from the classical piece Asturias (Leyenda) composed by Isaac Albéniz.

Release

Waiting for the Sun was released on July 3, 1968. The album has sold over 9 million copies.{http://classicrock.about.com/od/CtoE/tp/Discography-Of-The-Doors.htm}.

The US monophonic pressing, though only a fold down of the stereo mix to mono, is one of the rarest pop/rock LPs and has been sought after by collectors for years. Waiting for the Sun ended up being the shortest studio album by the band.

A studio run-through of "Celebration of the Lizard" (subtitled "An Experiment/Work in Progress") and two early takes of "Not to Touch the Earth" were included as bonus tracks on the 40th anniversary expanded edition release of this album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[2]
MusicHound 3.5/5[3]
Rolling Stone (mixed)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3.5/5 stars[5]
Slant Magazine 4/5 stars[6]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music 3/5 stars[7]

Waiting for the Sun has been generally well received by critics, though with most citing it as a step down in quality for the band's earlier records. Jim Miller of Rolling Stone wrote, "After a year and a half of Jim Morrison's posturing, one might logically hope for some sort of musical growth, and if the new record isn't really terrible, it isn't particularly exciting either."[4]

In his retrospective review, Richie Unterberger of AllMusic wrote, "The Doors' 1967 albums had raised expectations so high that their third effort was greeted as a major disappointment. With a few exceptions, the material was much mellower, and while this yielded some fine melodic ballad rock [...] there was no denying that the songwriting was not as impressive as it had been on the first two records."[2] In his review of the 2007 reissue, Sal Cinquemani of Slant wrote "Despite the fact that Morrison was becoming a self-destructing mess, Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore were never more lucid -- perhaps to compensate. This was a band at its most dexterous, creative, and musically diverse …"[6]

On the cover of the album, Jim Morrison is seen wearing Glen Buxton's black sweater. Having been intoxicated the night before the shooting of the cover photo, the next morning Jim "started freaking out because the band wanted a picture of them at dawn, and he didn't have enough time to go home and get his clothes".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by The Doors (Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore). 

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Hello, I Love You" (written by Jim Morrison; the 40th Anniversary Mix includes a longer fade-out, making it 2:39) 2:14
2. "Love Street" (written by Morrison) 2:53
3. "Not to Touch the Earth" (written by Morrison) 3:56
4. "Summer's Almost Gone" (written by Morrison) 3:22
5. "Wintertime Love"   1:54
6. "The Unknown Soldier"   3:23
Side B
No. Title Length
7. "Spanish Caravan"   3:03
8. "My Wild Love"   3:01
9. "We Could Be So Good Together"   2:26
10. "Yes, the River Knows" (written by Robby Krieger) 2:36
11. "Five to One" (written by Morrison) 4:26

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1968 Billboard Pop Albums (Billboard 200) 1

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1968 "The Unknown Soldier"
B-side: "We Could Be So Good Together"		 Pop Singles 39
1968 "Hello, I Love You"
B-side: "Love Street"		 Pop Singles 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[8] Platinum 1,000,000
Canada (Music Canada)[9] Platinum 100,000
France (SNEP)[10] 2× Gold 200,000
Germany (BVMI)[11] Gold 250,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Gold 100,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Personnel

The Doors
Additional musicians
Technical

References

  1. ↑ {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B9uynU94qI}.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select DOORS and click OK
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Waiting for the Sun in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search

External links

Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
September 7–27, 1968
October 5–11, 1968		 Succeeded by
Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits by The Rascals
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