10 Perfect Rock Songs Written At The Last Second

Part of the mindset that the Doors had going into the studio to make LA Woman was to bring everything back to their roots as a band. Their last few records like the Soft Parade had been flirting with some strange sounds and were often affected by Jim Morrison's drug intake, and this was the kind of bluesy jam session that the band had been used to when they were first jamming on the streets of Los Angeles. In between the Howlin Wolf covers though, the band actually got a whole new tune out of playing some old cowboy songs.

When the band were taking a break from recording, Robby Krieger started playing the beginnings of the song Ghost Riders in the Sky, which Jim said that he had a lyric for. They may have had a new song, but plagiarizing an old cowboy song wasn't in the cards, with the band quickly shifting the chord progression around and putting a bit of jazz into the mix, along with Ray Manzarak's keyboard adding the subtle raindrop sounds that make you feel like you're on the highway with Jim in the dead of night.

Outside of its spooky feel, this also serves as one of the final documents of Jim Morrison while he was alive, being the last song that he sang with the Doors before he departed to Paris, never to return to Los Angeles after passing away in a bathtub from heart failure. Jim may no longer be with us on this earthly plane, but hearing his whispers at the end of this track feels like you're listening to a ghost from the past.