The Doors in Concert's tribute to Alabama Song / Backdoor Man / Five To One
Alabama Song / Backdoor Man / Five To One performed live
About Alabama Song
This is a cover of a German opera song written in 1929 by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. It was used in a controversial 1930 German operetta called The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahogany. The themes of materialism, despair, and illicit pleasures from the operetta this was taken from would be revisited often by The Doors. The Doors usually played this song live in a medley, containing Backdoor Man and Five To One.
About Backdoor Man
Backdoor Man is a Willie Dixon blues song from 1961, which has been covered by John Hammond Jr. and Howlin' Wolf, among others. The Doors decided to cover this after Robby Krieger heard John Hammond Jr.'s version. A "back door man" is a guy who has relations with a woman while her husband has been out slaving away to provide for her. The guilty perpetrator if a wife was caught cheating was typically a tradesman caller like the ice man, or an insurance salesman. He would run out the back door to avoid detection when the husband entered through the front.
About Five To One
"Five to one" was the approximate ratio of whites to blacks, young to old, and non-pot smokers to pot smokers in the US in 1967. It was also the amount of Vietnamese to American soldiers in Vietnam, although Jim Morrison said the lyrics were not political.
Relive the sixties
Take a trip back to the 1960s with The Doors in Concert – an authentic tribute to legendary psychedelic rock band The Doors. Click on the button below and check out our upcoming tour dates. Maybe we'll be performing somewhere near you!
