The Soft Parade

Untitled

The Soft Parade is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Doors, and was released on July 18, 1969, on Elektra Records. It saw the group departing from the material that encompassed their past three albums. The Doors incorporated brass and string arrangements into their compositions at a point in which the group was experiencing personal issues, particularly related to Jim Morrison. In addition, the album fulfilled the band's desire to feature more jazz and blues influences in their work.

Upon release, the album peaked at number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart. It was preceded by "Touch Me" in December 1968, which awarded the Doors an unexpected top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and several other accolades, including a number-one listing in the Cashbox charts. Three additional singles, "Wishful Sinful", "Tell All the People", and "Runnin' Blue", also became moderate hits on the Billboard singles charts.

Background

The Doors, on the tail-end of their lengthy recording period, initiated a national tour that abruptly ended in disaster. On March 1, 1969, Morrison allegedly performed while intoxicated, and exposed himself in front of a crowd of nearly 12,000 in Miami, Florida, which Morrison's bandmates deny actually occurred. A month later, on April 4, Morrison was charged with indecent exposure, and paid a $5,000 bail, after Morrison had turned himself in to the authorities. The incident negatively reflected on the band's publicity, sparking a "March for Decency" at the Orange Bowl. Consequently, 25 dates on the Doors next tour were cancelled, and their records were blacklisted from radio airplay, resulting in the band abandoning the rest of their potential tour.

Recording

Following rehearsals in June 1968, the Doors commenced a grueling nine month recording period which concluded in May 1969 at Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, California, in contrast to the six days their debut album required. Morrison became increasingly uncooperative and disruptive when recording for the album commenced, as he regularly missed sessions or was intoxicated when he managed to be present. The alcoholic dependencies caused Morrison to become estranged from his bandmates, prompting Manzarek to name Morrison's sometimes aggressive alcoholic state "Jimbo". Morrison later reflected on the drawn-out sessions, saying in 1970, "It kinda got out of control, and took too long in the making. It spread over nine months. An album should be like a book of stories strung together, some kind of unified feeling and style about it, and that's what The Soft Parade lacks". The album differed from past efforts for its addition of brass and string arrangements. A staggering $86,000 was required to pay for the creation of the album. The complexity and difficulty of the developments prompted George Harrison, who appeared at the sessions in November 1968, to be reported as stating it resembled "the complexity required for the Sergeant Pepper recordings".

Composition

Morrison on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, December 6, 1968

The Soft Parade album marked the first time in which each songwriter was credited under his own name, instead of the band name. This stemmed from Morrison not wanting to be associated with the lyrics of Krieger's "Tell All the People", as one line urges listeners to "grab your guns" while the hook implores listeners to "follow me down". According to Bruce Botnick's liner notes, the song "Touch Me" was initially referred to by its various working titles: "I'm Gonna Love You", from a line in the chorus, or "Hit Me", a reference to blackjack. The opening line was originally "C'mon, hit me...I'm not afraid", the line thus reflecting the first person vantage point of a blackjack player.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	B–
MusicHound	3.5/5
Rolling Stone	(unfavorable)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Slant Magazine

The Soft Parade was released on July 18, 1969. Despite a lukewarm critical reception, the album became the band's fourth top-ten hit album in a row, and the single "Touch Me" was hugely successful. However, despite making number six in the US, the album did not chart in the UK, perhaps due to the band's lack of a supporting hit single ("Touch Me" did not chart in the UK). Whereas the first three Doors albums had two singles pulled from each of them, The Soft Parade had a grand total of four, though some of them had initially been released as non-album singles significantly prior to the album's release. The Soft Parade received some scathing reviews at the time of its release, with Alec Dubro of Rolling Stone writing, "The Soft Parade is worse than infuriating – it's sad. It's sad because one of the most potentially moving forces in rock has allowed itself to degenerate", writing that it "represents a clear and present decline in musicianship" and that it is "not vital, not very listenable and is certainly not interesting. It sounds for all the world like the stuff they had the good sense to leave off their first albums." Jazz and Pop magazine analyst Patricia Keneally-Morrison, on the other hand, praised the band's attempt as experimentation, writing, "Most of it is very superior music … and some is absolutely glorious". In his retrospective review, Richie Unterberger of AllMusic called it "the weakest studio album recorded with Jim Morrison in the group" but conceding that "about half the record is quite good."

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tell All the People"	Robby Krieger	3:21
2.	"Touch Me"	Krieger	3:12
3.	"Shaman's Blues"	Jim Morrison	4:49
4.	"Do It"	Morrison, Krieger	3:08
5.	"Easy Ride"	Morrison	2:43

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Wild Child"	Morrison	2:36
7.	"Runnin' Blue"	Krieger	2:27
8.	"Wishful Sinful"	Krieger	2:58
9.	"The Soft Parade"	Morrison	8:36

40th Anniversary Edition CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Who Scared You"	Morrison, Krieger	3:58
11.	"Whiskey, Mystics and Men (Version 1)"		2:28
12.	"Whiskey, Mystics and Men (Version 2)"		3:04
13.	"Push Push" (previously unreleased Doors jam)		6:05
14.	"Touch Me (Dialogue)"		0:28
15.	"Touch Me (Take 3)"		3:40

Personnel

The Doors

• Jim Morrison – lead vocals, maracas, tambourine
• Ray Manzarek – piano, Gibson G-101 organ, RMI Electra Piano on "Shaman's Blues" and "The Soft Parade", Hammond organ on "Wild Child", "The Soft Parade" and "Do It", harpsichord on "Touch Me" and "The Soft Parade"
• Robby Krieger – guitar, chorus vocal on "Runnin' Blue"
• John Densmore – drums

Additional musicians

• Curtis Amy – saxophone solo on "Touch Me"
• Reinol Andino – conga
• George Bohanan – trombone
• Harvey Brooks – bass guitar (tracks 1 to 4, 7 and 9)
• Jimmy Buchanan – fiddle on "Runnin' Blue"
• Douglass Lubahn – bass guitar (tracks 5, 6 and 8)
• Jesse McReynolds – mandolin
• Champ Webb – English horn solo on track 8
• Paul Harris – orchestral arrangements (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8 and 10)

Technical

• Paul A. Rothchild – production
• Peter Schaumann – sleeve illustration

Chart positions

• Billboard Music Charts (North America)

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1969	Pop Albums	6

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1968	"Touch Me" B-side: "Wild Child"	Pop Singles	3
1969	"Wishful Sinful" B-side: "Who Scared You"	Pop Singles	44
1969	"Tell All the People" B-side: "Easy Ride"	Pop Singles	57
1969	"Runnin' Blue" B-side: "Do It"	Pop Singles	64

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)	Platinum	100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	60,000^
United States (RIAA)	Platinum	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

External links

• The Soft Parade at Discogs (list of releases)