Rhino/Bright Midnight ArchivesA new archival live album capturing The Doors performing at the Sunset Strip bar the London Fog in May 1966 will be released as a limited-edition box set on December 9. London Fog 1966 will include seven recently unearthed songs that are some of the earliest known recordings by the band.
The set that The Doors played included covers of classic tunes by Muddy Waters, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett and Big Joe Williams, as well as two originals — early versions of “Strange Days” and “You Make Me Real.”
Limited to 18,000 individually numbered copies, the box set features the seven tracks on a CD, as well as on a 10-inch vinyl disc designed to look like a test pressing. The collection also contains a variety of replica memorabilia, including a poster, a program from the UCLA student-film screening at which The Doors gave their first performance, a handwritten set list by drummer John Densmore, a London Fog coaster and eight-by-10-inch prints of photos of the band performing at the bar.
The box set also features liner notes penned by Ronnie Haran-Mellen, the one-time talent booker at the Whisky a Go Go, where The Doors served as the house band following their stint at the London Fog. Also contributing to the liner notes is Nettie Peña, who is the source of the London Fog recordings. Peña attended the show and taped it on a reel-to-reel recorder she borrowed from her dad, who was a Los Angeles-area teacher.
The London Fog 1966 recordings were mastered recently by longtime Doors engineer Bruce Botnick. The box set is a lead-in to The Doors’ 50th anniversary celebrations, which will feature various special events and releases throughout 2017.
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