Doors Debut Album Deluxe Edition Due in March

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The Doors’ debut album in its deluxe edition

On the 50th anniversary of the release of their debut album—proclaimed the “Day of The Doors” in Los Angeles—Rhino Records today announced the March 31 release of an expanded version of that self-titled LP. The Doors: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will be released as a 3-CD/LP set, featuring stereo and mono mixes and rare live recordings. (Pre-order is available here.)

Packaged in a 12×12 hardcover book, The Doors: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes a remastered version of the album’s original stereo mix, available on CD for the first time in a decade and remastered for the first time in nearly 30 years. The album’s original mono mix was also remastered for this set and is making its CD debut here. An LP version of the mono mix is also included. The third disc features a live performance from the Matrix in San Francisco recorded just weeks after The Doors was released. Music journalist David Fricke provides detailed liner notes for the set, which includes a selection of rare and previously unseen photographs.

According to a press release from Rhino, The Doors: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition “offers a rare opportunity to hear the band on the verge of superstardom with live performances recorded during a March 7, 1967 show at the Matrix in San Francisco. The Matrix recordings heard on this deluxe edition were sourced from the recently discovered, original tapes, previously thought to be lost. The Matrix recordings originally released in 2008 were from a third-generation source, so the sound quality of the versions debuting here is second to none.”

The disc contains live versions of eight tracks on The Doors, including “Twentieth Century Fox,” “The Crystal Ship” and “Back Door Man.”

Today (January 4) has been proclaimed “Day of the Doors” in Los Angeles. The proclamation will be made this afternoon by Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Bonin during a public event at the intersection of Pacific and Windward Avenues, the location of the iconic “Venice” sign. Founding Doors members John Densmore and Robby Krieger were expected to be on hand at the event as were family members of the late Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison.

Read more about “Day of the Doors”

The Doors (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Track Listing