Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

2. The DoorsStrange Days

Psychedelia, 1967 and around that era, LSD. A friend of mine who was a fellow imbiber of psychedelic substances was selling his collection of records and Strange Days was among those. I’m into music that makes me want to stretch myself that bit further. I found that with Strange Days – such an interesting combination. You had Ray Manzarek who played organ, heavy on the pedals. No bass player. John Densmore on drums and Robby Krieger on guitar. I just found the band, and of course Jim Morrison – the cherry on the top – so exciting and different. They were very art rock and Jim Morrison was very clever poetically. I found his recitations and his lyrical ideas very interesting. Nobody else was doing anything like that really. I’d always loved the sound of the organ. I ended up doing a version of ‘Strange Days’ – I think I’ve got a recording of it at Dingwalls – with Inner City Unit. They were a lot darker than most of the other hippy bands that were around at the time.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Echo & The Bunnymen, Elias Rønnenfelt, John Garcia, Agnes Obel
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