An American Prayer

An American Prayer
Studio album by Jim Morrison & The Doors
Released	November 17, 1978
Recorded	March 1969 and December 1970 (spoken word) 1978 (music)
Genre	Psychedelic rock, spoken word, poetry, funk rock, musique concrète
Length	38:28
Label	Elektra/Asylum Records (1978 LP) Rhino (1995 CD) [1]
Producer	Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, Frank Lisciandro, John Haeny
Jim Morrison & The Doors chronology
Full Circle (1972) An American Prayer (1978) Greatest Hits (1980)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
MusicHound	2/5[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

An American Prayer is the ninth and final studio album by The Doors.^[5] In 1978, seven years after lead singer Jim Morrison died and five years after the remaining members of the band broke up, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore reunited and recorded backing tracks over Morrison's poetry (originally recorded in 1969 and 1970). Other pieces of music and spoken word recorded by the Doors and Morrison were also used in the audio collage, such as dialogue from Morrison's film HWY: An American Pastoral and snippets from jam sessions.

The album received mixed reviews and still divides critics, yet it has managed a platinum certification in the US. When the album was originally released, longtime Doors' producer Paul Rothchild labeled the album a "rape of Jim Morrison".^[6] Rothchild claimed that he had heard all of the reels of master tapes from both the 1969 and the 1970 poetry sessions, insisting that the three remaining Doors failed to realize Morrison's original intent for an audio presentation of the poetry. Morrison himself, prior to leaving for Paris, had approached composer Lalo Schifrin as a possible contributor for the music tracks meant to accompany the poetry, with no participation from any of the other Doors members. In addition, he had developed some conception of the album cover art work by January 1971, and was in correspondence with artist T. E. Breitenbach to design this cover in the form of a triptych (a three-paneled painting with various images embedded in each panel).

Track listing

Poetry, lyrics and stories by Jim Morrison; music by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore.

Original release

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Awake Ghost Song Dawn's Highway Newborn Awakening"	7:10
2.	"To Come of Age Black Polished Chrome Latino Chrome Angels and Sailors Stoned Immaculate"	8:41
3.	"The Poets Dreams The Movie Curses, Invocations"	3:28

Side two
No.	Title	Length
4.	"World On Fire American Night Roadhouse Blues Lament The Hitchhiker"	11:59
5.	"An American Prayer"	6:52

DJ Promotional release (edited for broadcast)

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Awake"	0:35
2.	"Ghost Song"	2:48
3.	"Dawn's Highway"	1:25
4.	"Newborn Awakening"	2:20
5.	"Black Polished Chrome / Latino Chrome"	2:47
6.	"Stoned Immaculate"	1:34

Side two
No.	Title	Length
7.	"American Night"	0:40
8.	"Roadhouse Blues (Live)"	4:55
9.	"Astrology Rap"	0:44
10.	"The World on Fire"	1:10
11.	"The Hitchhiker"	2:10
12.	"An American Prayer (Ghost Song II) The End – 1:38 Albinoni: Adagio – 2:10"	3:00

1995 remastered edition

Awake
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Awake"	0:36
2.	"Ghost Song (edit)"	2:50
3.	"Dawn's Highway"	1:21
4.	"Newborn Awakening"	2:26

To Come of Age
No.	Title	Length
5.	"To Come of Age"	1:01
6.	"Black Polished Chrome"	1:07
7.	"Latino Chrome"	2:14
8.	"Angels and Sailors"	2:46
9.	"Stoned Immaculate"	1:33

The Poet's Dream
No.	Title	Length
10.	"The Movie"	1:35
11.	"Curses, Invocations"	1:57

World on Fire
No.	Title	Length
12.	"American Night"	0:28
13.	"Roadhouse Blues"	5:53
14.	"The World on Fire"	1:06
15.	"Lament"	2:18
16.	"The Hitchhiker"	2:15

An American Prayer
No.	Title	Length
17.	"An American Prayer"	3:04
18.	"Hour for Magic"	1:17
19.	"Freedom Exists"	0:20
20.	"A Feast of Friends" (also known as "The Severed Garden")	2:10

Bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
21.	"Babylon Fading"	1:40
22.	"Bird of Prey"	1:03
23.	"The Ghost Song (Extended Version)" (There's a "hidden track" at about 4:41)

Personnel

1969 readings

• Jim Morrison – vocals, spoken word (recorded on February 9, 1969)

1970 readings

• Jim Morrison – vocals, spoken word (recorded on December 8, 1970)

The Doors

• Ray Manzarek – keyboards, piano bass
• Robby Krieger – guitar
• John Densmore – drums

Additional personnel

• Arthur Barrow – synthesizer programming on "The Movie"
• Reinol Andino – percussion
• Bob Glaub – bass on "Albinoni – Adagio"
• Jerry Scheff – bass

Production

• Producer – Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Densmore, Frank Lisciandro, John Haeny
• Assistant producer – Paul Black
• Engineers – John Haeny, Paul Black, Bruce Botnick, Cheech d'Amico, Paul Ferrara, Ron Garrett, Babe Hill, James Ledner, Frank Lisciandro, Rik Pekkonen, Fritz Richmond, Dr. Thomas G. Stockham, John Weaver
• Assistant engineer – Paul Black
• Directors – John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Frank Lisciandro
• Mastering – Bernie Grundman
• Remastering – Bruce Botnick, Paul Rothchild
• Synthesizer programming – Arthur Barrow on "The Movie"
• Art direction – Ron Coro, Johnny Lee, John Van Hamersveld
• Illustrations – Jim Morrison
• Photography – Joel Brodsky, Paul Ferrara, Art Kane, Edmund Teske, Frank Lisciandro

Notes

• Morrison's vocals in "Bird of Prey" were later sampled for the 2000 Fatboy Slim song "Sunset (Bird of Prey)."
• Morrison's shout, "Wake up!" in "Awake" was sampled in the 1991 Orbital song "Choice."
• Morrison's vocals from "Angels and sailors" appeared on Bad Company's track "Ladies of spain".

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Pop Albums	54

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	"Ghost Song" Promotional Singles	Pop Singles	1
1979	"Roadhouse Blues" (live) B-side: "Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor (The Severed Garden)"	Pop Singles	?

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[7]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

External links

• The Making Of Jim Morrisions "An American Prayer" Producer's John Haeny's in-depth article about the creation of the album.

References

1. "L.A. Woman 40th Anniversary Editions". The Doors. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
2. AllMusic review
3. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 358. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
4. "The Doors: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
5. Amazon CD – Retrieved July 18, 2009
6. BAM Interview with Paul Rothchild - July 3, 1981
7. "American album certifications – The Doors – An American Prayer". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH