"Love Her Madly" is a song by American rock band

the Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

. It was released in March 1971 and was the first single from '' L.A. Woman'', their final album with singer

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredictable and err ...

. "Love Her Madly" became one of the highest-charting hits for the Doors; it peaked at number eleven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart and reached number three in Canada. Session musician

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

played bass guitar on the song. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' described the song as being "a precision combination of FM and top forty potentials." In 2000,

Robby Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits " Light My Fire", " Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and ...

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965. Manzarek was induc ...

and drummer

John Densmore John Paul Densmore (born December 1, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band the Doors, and as such is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He appeared on every recordi ...

recorded a new version of "Love Her Madly" with

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

for the Doors

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

'' Stoned Immaculate''.

Background

Band guitarist Robby Krieger wrote "Love Her Madly" during the period of Jim Morrison's trial in September 1970. He composed the music while experimenting on a twelve string guitar, and he was inspired to write the lyrics from his troubles and fights with his then-girlfriend and later-wife Lynn. Ray Manzarek has said that the song's title was taken by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

's line "We love you madly," a catchphrase which he uttered to the audience at the end of his concerts. According to longtime Doors producer Paul A. Rothchild, "Love Her Madly" was the song that instigated his departure from the original ''L.A. Woman'' sessions, with Rothchild dismissing the song as "cocktail music." Conversely, Krieger has claimed that " Riders on the Storm" was the song to which Rothchild was referring. Following Rothchild's departure from the project, the Doors opted to self-produce the album, in association with longtime engineer

Bruce Botnick Bruce Botnick (born 1945) is an American audio engineer and record producer, best known for his work with the Doors, the Beach Boys, Eddie Money, Love and film composer Jerry Goldsmith. Early work Botnick engineered Love's first two albums, and ...

. The B-side of the single, "You Need Meat (Don't Go No Further)," is the only studio recording released by the Doors during Jim Morrison's tenure with the group to feature a lead vocal by keyboardist Ray Manzarek. It is also one of only three non-album B-sides by the Doors, the other two being "Who Scared You?" (B-side of "

Wishful Sinful "Wishful Sinful" is a song by American rock band the Doors. Group guitarist Robby Krieger wrote the tune, which was first released in March 1969 as a single, and later in July on the band's fourth album, '' The Soft Parade'' as well. "Wishful Sin ...

") and the relatively rare post-Morrison track " Treetrunk" (B-side of "Get Up and Dance"). "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further" met its first official album release on the '' Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine'' compilation, and was subsequently included in the 2006 ''

Perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

'' box and as a bonus track on the 2007 reissue of ''L.A. Woman''.

Personnel

The Doors *

vocals *

electric and acoustic guitar *

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

drums, tambourine Additional musicians *

bass

Chart history

References

Footnotes Citations Sources * {{authority control The Doors songs 1971 singles Songs written by Robby Krieger Song recordings produced by Bruce Botnick Elektra Records singles 1971 songs