Essential Rarities

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Essential Rarities is a compilation album by The Doors, originally released as part of the boxed set The Complete Studio Recordings in 1999, but reissued in 2000 as a single CD, containing studio cuts, live cuts and demos taken from the 1997 The Doors: Box Set.

All the tracks on this album have been officially released on the 1997 box set, with the exception of the bonus track "Woman Is a Devil", that was edited from the 1969 Elektra Studios "Rock Is Dead" sessions, and was not included in the box set version of the album.

Also, some songs appear in more complete form than their Box Set versions: "Roadhouse Blues" has a 35-second section that was cut from the bridge of the song, and "Who Scared You" has an extra verse.

Track listing

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

1. "Hello to the Cities" (Live on The Ed Sullivan Show, 1967 and at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan, 1970) – 0:56
2. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" (Jim Morrison) (Recorded live at the Isle of Wight Festival, England, UK, 1970) – 4:44
3. "Roadhouse Blues" (Recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, 1970) – 4:31
4. "Hyacinth House" (Ray Manzarek, Morrison) (Demo recorded at Robby Krieger's home studio, 1969) – 2:38
5. "Who Scared You" (Recorded at Elektra Studios, 1969) – 3:55
6. "Whiskey, Mystics and Men" (Recorded at Elektra Studios, 1970, though it was actually recorded the previous year with overdubs put in by the surviving members in 1977) – 2:23
7. "I Will Never Be Untrue" (Recorded live at the Aquarius Theater, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, 1969) – 3:58
8. "Moonlight Drive" (Morrison) (Demo recorded at World Pacific Studios, 1965) – 2:31
9. "Queen of the Highway" (Morrison, Krieger) (Alternate version recorded at Elektra Studios, 1969) – 3:35
10. "Someday Soon" (Recorded live at the Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, 1970) – 3:49
11. "Hello, I Love You" (Morrison) (Demo recorded at World Pacific Studios, 1965) – 2:31
12. "Orange County Suite" (Recorded at Elektra Studios, 1970) – 5:44
13. "The Soft Parade" (Morrison) (Recorded live on PBS Television, New York, 1969) – 10:09
14. "The End" (Recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, 1970) – 17:46
15. "Woman Is a Devil" (Recorded at Elektra Studios, 1969) – 4:08

Personnel

• Robby Krieger – guitar
• Jim Morrison – vocals, piano on "Orange County Suite"
• Ray Manzarek – organ, piano, keyboards & bass
• John Densmore – drums
• Paul A. Rothchild – original producer
• Bruce Botnick – producer
• Danny Sugerman – management
• Richard Evans – art direction and design
• Todd Gray – photo archivist