Live at the Hollywood Bowl is the third official live album by the American rock band the Doors, released in May 1987 by Elektra Records. The concert was recorded on July 5, 1968, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Doors' hometown. A VHS video of the concert was also released, containing 14 songs. The full version of the concert, entitled Live at the Bowl '68, was released in October 2012 on CD, LP and Blu-ray Disc. A shortened version of the concert is on The Doors - 30 Years Commemorative Edition DVD.

Recording

The entire concert was recorded using several cameras and is one of only two live performances of the band that was professionally recorded in color (the other being Live at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970). The Doors' longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick recorded the concert direct from the soundboard onto an 8-track machine. The recording of "The End" was used in the film project Feast of Friends, which was not released until November 2014. Problems with Morrison's microphone made the opening song ("When the Music's Over"), as well as three other songs ("Hello, I Love You", "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" and "Spanish Caravan") somewhat distorted. This was digitally rectified for the 2012 release by Bruce Botnick, using various clips of Morrison's voice from other recordings, including their 1970 live album Absolutely Live. The 2012 edition of the concert also made use of some different camera angles than the version released on video in 1987.

Critical reception

Bruce Eder, in a review for AllMusic, gave the album three and a half out of five stars, calling it "a good companion to the other live archival issues of its era, although none of it holds a candle to the New York concert included in The Doors: Box Set [1997]".

Track listing

1987 LP version

All tracks are written by the Doors (Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore), except where noted. Details are taken from the 1987 Elektra Records album and may differ from other sources.

1987 CD version

2012 version (Live at the Bowl '68)

Video version

1987/2000 version

2012 version

Special Features

Personnel

The Doors