Roadhouse Blues

In November 1969, the Doors were holed up in the studio working on material for Morrison Hotel, the follow-up to The Soft Parade. "Roadhouse Blues" came together over two days of sessions, November 4 and 5, with producer Paul A. Rothchild insisting on take after take. Jim Morrison was apparently drunk through much of it, flubbing lyrics and repeating the phrase "Money beats soul every time" between attempts. Some of those rough takes later surfaced on the album's 2006 reissue.

Things moved faster on the second day. Lonnie Mack, the guitarist then working as an Elektra Records A&R representative, was brought in to play bass because the band's regular session bassist, Ray Neapolitan, was stuck in traffic. Mack had retired from professional music at the time, but the session convinced him to return to his career. Although some speculated that he also played the guitar solo, he confirmed he handled bass and nothing else; Robby Krieger played all the guitar parts, and Morrison can be heard shouting "do it, Robby, do it!" at the start of the solo. John Sebastian, the ex-Lovin' Spoonful frontman, added harmonica under the pseudonym G. Puglese for contractual reasons.

The track became a concert staple for the band despite modest chart numbers, peaking at No. 76 on the Cash Box Top 100. Alice Cooper later claimed that the line "woke up this morning and I got myself a beer" came from something he said to Morrison while they were drinking together.