Tag: Roadhouse Blues

This is one of my favorite songs I like by them. The song peaked at #50 on the Billboard 100 and #41 in Canada in 1970. This was the B side of the song “You Make Me Real.”

John Sebastian from the Lovin’ Spoonful played the harmonica on this recording. He is identified on the album as “G. Puglese” because of Sebastian’s contract with Reprise Records. Lonnie Mack played the bass on this one with is unusual…the Doors usually let the keyboard handle the bass parts.

Morrison was said to write this song about The Topanga Corral, a windowless nightclub in Topanga Canyon. There were also bungalows in the back that Morrison mentions in the song. The club burnt down in the seventies. It is remembered for artists such as Canned Heat, Spanky and Our Gang, Linda Ronstadt, and Little Feat playing there.

Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to six months in jail, but he died while the case was being appealed. In 2010, Florida Governor Charlie Crist granted Morrison a pardon, clearing him of the charges.

It was on the album Morrison Hotel. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in Canada, and #12 in the UK in 1970.

Robby Krieger on Morrison Hotel: “Ray (Manzarek, keyboards) had been driving around downtown LA, and he saw this place called Morrison Hotel. So we decided to go down and shoot some photos there, but the guy who owned the hotel wouldn’t let us inside it. I guess they thought we were hippies. There were a lot of drunks and bums hanging around that area. Anyway, we snuck in there real quick when he wasn’t looking and got the shot that became the cover of Morrison Hotel.”

Outtakes from one of Morrison’s recording sessions were used to dub his voice into this version on the 2000 tribute album Stoned Immaculate, where he duets with John Lee Hooker.

Roadhouse Blues

Ah keep your eyes on the road, 
Your hands upon the wheel. 
Keep your eyes on the road 
Your hands upon the wheel. 
Yeah, we’re going to the roadhouse, 
Gonna have a real good-time. 

Yeah, the back of the roadhouse, 
They’ve got some bungalows. 
Yeah, the back of the roadhouse, 
They’ve got some bungalows. 

They dance for the people 
Who like to go down slow. 

Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, all night long. 

Do it, Robby, Do it! 

You gotta roll, roll, roll, 
You gotta thrill my soul, alright. 
Roll, roll, roll, roll-a 
Thrill my soul. 

*improv* 
Passionate Lady. 
Passionate Lady. 
Give up your vows. 
Give up your vows. 
Save our city. 
Save our city. 
Ah, right now. 

Well, I woke up this morning 
And I got myself a beer. 
Well, I woke up this morning 
And I got myself a beer. 

The future’s uncertain 
And the end is always near. 

Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, baby, roll. 
Let it roll, all night long.