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The Doors‘ vaults are being raided yet again for a new box set due out November 10th. Live in New York is a six-disc set that features the band’s four complete shows at the Felt Forum on January 17th and 18th, 1970. These shows were The Doors’ last in New York with Jim Morrison.

Although I didn’t attend the show, I was able to listen in – even all the way out in St. Vital Island Lakes!  Approximately 10:45 pm Saturday night I heard a loud “thumpa thumpa”, which I believe to be somebody’s souped up care stereo turned up to eleven – burning up Shorehill Drive.  After a few minutes it occured to me this had to be the AC/DC show across town…sure enough, stepped outside and was able to decipher a few notes of “Whole Lotta Rosie”.  I can only imagine how things must have been for those of you at the show!  Cosmo took some amazing pictures…I believe you’ll see those when you first log on to the website! 

As you begin to just now catch your breathe, don’t forget April Wine and the Tragically Hip are here in September; Metallica in November, and the latest – KISS for November 9 (…at least it’s posted on the KISS website.  Official confirmation forthcoming)

There were essentially three albums that comprised the soundtrack to the Summer of Love in 1967:  “Surrealistic Pillow” by Jefferson Airplane, “Sgt. Pepper’s ” from the Beatles, and the eponymous debut from the fabulous DOORS!  The first of eight consequetive gold albums for the band, “THe Doors” remains a quint essential cornerstone to the most creative year in rock history.  The album was recorded live with virtually no overdbubs; basically a replication of the band’s live set from the Whiskey a Go Go.  The hallmark of that incredible debut was Ray Manzerek’s Vox Continental organ; its signature sound at the heart of the band’s first #1 single – “Light My Fire”.  Robbie Krieger wrote the music and the first chorus for the track…he recalls how the song came together during those early rehearsals:

Jim had said, ‘Hey you guys go home and write some.’ And so, the next day, or maybe it was a week later, I came back with ‘Light My Fire.’ John [Densmore] made the drums more of a Latin kind of thing. I was thinking more of a folk-rock type of feel, kind of like ‘Hey Joe,’ by The Leaves. They Ray [Manzarek] came up with the Bach organ thing. And Jim came up with the second verse about the funeral pyre. And that was how The Doors put songs together.”

Larry Knechtel [pr: NECK tull], the keyboardist in Bread and one of the top session players in L-A since the 1960s, died Thursday of heart attack in Yakima, Washington. Knechtel, who also won a Grammy for arranging the Simon and Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” worked with a “who’s who” in rock, including The Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, The Byrds, Ray Charles and The Doors. Larry double-tracked the bass parts behind Ray Manzereks’ keyboard bass on the Doors’ debut disc from 1967.

John Fogerty will debut his rootsy new album The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again with a free concert in New York on September 2nd. The outdoor show at the South Street Seaport will include drummer Kenny Aronoff (a longtime member of John Mellencamp‘s band) and guitarist Billy Burnette, Lindsey Buckingham‘s onetime replacement in Fleetwood Mac.

Fogerty’s New York stop will include T-V appearances with David Letterman (September 3rd) and Jimmy Fallon (September 8th).

The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again goes on sale August 31st.

KISS have just announced the dates for their KISS Alive 35 North American tour, which will start on September 25th in Detroit and run through December 6th in Dallas. The two-and-a-half hour show will consist of the songs on their first concert album, Alive, as well as hits and highlights of their new album, Sonic Boom, which goes on sale at Wal-Mart October 6th. Gene Simmons says, “For 35 years, KISS raised the bar for what a rock concert should really be. This year is no different — all new, all killer… all KISS! The master’s class in rock is in session.” The cities on the tour were selected by fans’ online voting. Buckcherry will be the opening act. 

The second Beatles mini-documentary from the forthcoming re-mastered album Beatles for Sale can now be seen at The Beatles.com. All 13 Beatles albums will be re-released on September 9th.

Meat Loaf, former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley and Yes singer Jon Anderson will all take part in the next Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. The session, which will take place in Hollywood, will be split between a three-and-a-half day camp — November 12th to the 15th — and a five-and-a-half-day one — November 17th to the 22nd. Counselors include Cars guitarist Elliot Easton, guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS/Grand Funk), drummer Kenny Aronoff and drummer Danny Seraphine (Chicago). This session will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin, and campers will get to record with Eddie Kramer, the engineer on five Zeppelin albums

The new KISS album will be called Sonic Boom. The band’s manager, Doc McGhee, confirmed the title to Classic Rock magazine. KISS’s first studio album in 11 years will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart starting October 6th. In addition to such new tracks as “Modern Day Delilah,” “Russian Roulette,” “Never Enough,” “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect),” “Stand” and “Hot & Cold,” the package will include a live D-V-D and bonus C-D of re-recorded KISS classics.