Now Streaming: The Doors, “Touch Me” (Doors Only Mix)

“Strings? We don’t need no stinking strings!”

 

That’s our impression of Robby Krieger if he was reacting to the suggestion that The Doors should add orchestral strings to “Touch Me” and if he was also one of the stars of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

 

As you might imagine, we don’t really get a lot of opportunities to break out that particular impression, but we saw our chance when we read Rolling Stone’s new interview with Krieger.

 

“I said [to producer Paul A. Rothchild], ‘Oh, God. Now we’re copying the Beatles,’ and the Stones had just done their version of the orchestra thing,” recalled Krieger in the interview. “So it was like we were keeping up with the Joneses or something.”

 

You can check out the whole piece right here, and you certainly should, given that Rolling Stone is offering up a stream of the Doors Only Mix of “Touch Me,” but if you need a reminder about the contents of the set as a whole, well, we can certainly make that happen:

 

THE SOFT PARADE: 50TH ANNIVRERSARY DELUXE EDITION, which was be released as a limited-edition, individually-numbered set of only 15,000 copies, will include the original studio album and the B-side “Who Scared You” in newly remastered form – thank you, Bruce Botnick! – along with more than a dozen unreleased songs. There are five tracks called “Doors Only” which have been stripped of their horns and strings: “Tell All the People,” “Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” “Runnin’ Blue,” and “Who Scared You,” three of which (“Touch Me,” “Wishful Sinful,” and “Runnin’ Blue”) feature new guitar parts by Robby Krieger. There are also three songs from studio rehearsals that feature the late Ray Manzarek on vocals, including an early version of “Roadhouse Blues,” and feature newly recorded bass parts by Robby DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots. Also on this set: the hour-long jam “Rock Is Dead,” which appears in its entirety (what survives of it) for the first time ever. And if that isn’t enough, the set also includes liner notes by David Fricke!

 

Oh, and one more thing: if you hurry over to Rhino.com and/or TheDoors.com, you can get one of the even more limited edition sets – we’re talking only 500 copies – that includes a hand-numbered 36”x18” lithograph of the interior vinyl gatefold artwork.

 

How’s that for awesome?

 

Here’s the full track listing, so you can drool to your heart’s content...

 

THE SOFT PARADE: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION

Track Listing:

 

Disc One

1.      “Tell All The People”

2.      “Touch Me”

3.      “Shaman’s Blues”

4.      “Do It”

5.      “Easy Ride”

6.      “Wild Child”

7.      “Runnin’ Blue”

8.      “Wishful Sinful”

9.      “The Soft Parade”

Bonus Track

10.  “Who Scared You” – B-side

 

Disc Two

1.      “Tell All The People” (Doors only mix)*

2.      “Touch Me” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*

3.      “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*

4.      “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix w/new Robby Krieger guitar overdub)*

5.      “Who Scared You” (Doors only mix)*

6.       “Roadhouse Blues” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*

7.      “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*

8.      “I’m Your Doctor” – Screamin’ Ray Daniels (a.k.a. Ray Manzarek) on vocal*

9.      “Touch Me” (Doors only mix)*

10.  “Runnin’ Blue” (Doors only mix) *

11.  “Wishful Sinful” (Doors only mix)*

 

Disc Three

1.      “I Am Troubled”

2.      “Seminary School” (aka “Petition The Lord With Prayer”) *

3.      “Rock Is Dead” – Complete Version *

4.      “Chaos” *

* previously unreleased