Light My Fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Light My Fire" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:The Doors - Light My Fire.jpg | ||
| Single by The Doors | ||
| from the album The Doors | ||
| Released | 1967 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock | |
| Length | 7:07 | |
| Label | Elektra | |
| Writer(s) | Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison | |
| Chart positions | ||
| ||
| The Doors singles chronology | ||
| "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" (1968) | "Light My Fire" (1967) | "People Are Strange" (1967) |
"Light My Fire" is a song written by Robby Krieger (music/lyrics) and Jim Morrison (lyrics) and performed by The Doors on their self-titled first album, which was recorded in September of 1966, and released in January of 1967. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1967, then was re-released in 1968, peaking at number 87.
Cover versions were recorded by Astrud Gilberto, Will Young (whose version hit number one in the United Kingdom), Amii Stewart (whose version got to number 6 in the United Kingdom, in 1979, and to number 8 as a remix in 1985) Natalia Oreiro, Jose Feliciano (Light My Fire in the Feliciano's cover won a Grammy in 1968 like the Best Pop song of the year), Nancy Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Cibo Matto, Divididos, UB40, Massive Attack, Amorphis, hide, Minnie Riperton, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Ananda Shankar and Train, whose version can be found on the tribute compilation Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors. The Challengers did an instrumental version in 1969, as title track to one of their last albums.
"Light My Fire" is a prime example of psychedelic rock and an early example of jazz-rock, with long, seemingly extemporaneous instrumental solos (though it was shortened from seven to three minutes for the radio version) and some Eastern influences. Its harmonic progression and catchy rhythm (particularly Ray Manzarek's swirling, barrel organ-style keyboard motif) lent itself readily to pop or MOR styled cover versions.
"Light My Fire" was performed by The Doors on their infamous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. In an oft-told legend, The Doors were asked to change the lyrics of the song (specifically, the line "girl, we couldn't get much higher" to "girl, we couldn't get much better") to be more suitable for a coast-to-coast live audience. The band promised to do so, but according to Jim Morrison he forgot to change the lyrics at the last minute and performed the unedited version live on-air. He attributed this to being too nervous. [1]. Ed Sullivan was so upset that he refused to shake Morrison's hand as he left the stage and the band was subsequently banned from appearing on the show again. Morrison then said, "Hey, man, we just did the Sullivan show."
John Densmore recalls [2] that when Buick wanted to buy the piece for use in a 1967 TV commercial ("Come on, Buick, light my fire" [3]) and Morrison, who had been out of town, learned that other group members agreed, Morrison called Buick and threatened to have a Buick smashed with a sledgehammer on a TV show should the (presumably ready) commercial be aired.
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[edit] Jose Feliciano version
| "Light My Fire" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:Nocover.png | ||
| Single by José Feliciano | ||
| from the album Feliciano! | ||
| B-side(s) | "California Dreamin'" | |
| Released | 1968 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Genre | Soft rock | |
| Length | 3:33 | |
| Label | RCA Victor | |
| Writer(s) | Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison | |
| Producer(s) | Rick Jarrard | |
| Certification | Gold (USA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
| ||
| José Feliciano singles chronology | ||
| "La Copa Rota" (1968) | "Light My Fire" (1968) | "Hi-Heel Sneakers" / "Hitchcock Railway" (1968) |
Vocalist and Virtuoso Guitarist José Feliciano become a world pop star when He in 1968 recorded his version of Light my Fire, under the Label RCA Victor and new producer Rick Jarrard, Jose Feliciano, the blind Puertoricaner been famous in Latin America for his Bolero recordings from 1965, reinvented the Doors hit in a new way from the original, perhaps the first example of a "Crossover song" from two differents music fields and cultures: anglo pop with latin influences: infact Jose applies his latin soul way to sing with spanish guitar, played in a personal mixture of flamenco and classical (Jose is considerated one of the best guitar players of ever, won 5 times prize like Best pop guitarist from Guitar Player Magazine) and also add congas, strings and flute (played by jazzist Ray Brawn): so his Light My Fire become a hit in Usa and after in many countries around the world and the same for his album "Feliciano!": both artist and records was awarded in april 1969 with 5 Grammy nominations and won 2 Grammy: Best Pop Song of the Year and Best New artist, but before the arrangement by Feliciano become a standard, many artists after him sing this song in his way, from Stevie Wonder in 1969 to Minnie Ripperton in 1979 to, in recent years, Will Young, but also, more important, that style of blend from american pop rock and latin sounds are now replicated from many young latin artists in their hits in Usa charts. Here a 1968 video of the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C45mye89Kgs
[edit] Will Young cover
| "Light My Fire" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:WY LMF.jpg | ||
| Single by Will Young | ||
| from the album From Now On | ||
| B-side(s) | "Ain't No Sunshine" "Beyond the Sea" | |
| Released | 27 May 2002 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Recorded | 2002 | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Writer(s) | BMG | |
| Producer(s) | Absolute | |
| Chart positions | ||
| ||
| Will Young singles chronology | ||
| "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" (2002) | "Light My Fire" (2002) | "The Long and Winding Road" / "Suspicious Minds" (2002) |
Pop Idol UK series 1 winner Will Young covered the song in 2002. Young originally performed a piano version the song in the final 50 of Pop Idol, and again, with a backing track, in the final 10. It was later released as his second single. It went straight to the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart, selling 177,000 copies in its first week of release. The single stayed at number one for two weeks. The cover version was recorded in the style of José Feliciano's version.
Young also performed the song on World Idol, where he came in fifth place.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 |
| Italy | 4 |
| Republic of Ireland | 5 |
| Netherlands | 35 |
| Germany | 44 |
| Switzerland | 76 |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: "Windy" by The Association | Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 29, 1967 | Succeeded by: "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles |
| Preceded by: "Without Me" by Eminem | UK Singles Chart number one single (Will Young cover version) June 2, 2002 | Succeeded by: "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis and JXL |
