"Hello, I Love You"
Single by the Doors
from the album Waiting for the Sun
B-side"Love Street"
ReleasedJune 11, 1968 (1968-06-11) by Nipper Music Co., Inc.[1]
RecordedFebruary–May 1968
Genre
Length2:13
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)The Doors[1]
Producer(s)Paul A. Rothchild
The Doors singles chronology
"The Unknown Soldier"
(1968)		 "Hello, I Love You"
(1968)		 "Touch Me"
(1968)

"Hello, I Love You" is a song recorded by American rock band the Doors for their 1968 album Waiting for the Sun. Elektra Records released it as a single that same year, which topped the charts in the U.S. and Canada. Although the Doors are credited as the songwriters, songs by other artists have been identified as likely sources.

Apart from the single's success, a portion of the band's fans have dismissed the tune, arguing that it does not represent the Doors sound, due to its commercial nature and shallow lyrics.[4]

Composition

"Hello, I Love You" was written and first recorded in 1965. It was one of six songs recorded by Rick & the Ravens (a forerunner of the Doors) at World Pacific Jazz studios that the group used to try to secure a record deal.[5] The lyrics were inspired by a young black girl whom Jim Morrison saw at Venice Beach: "Do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel".[5]

Both the single and Waiting for the Sun liner notes list the song as a group composition; the performance rights organization ASCAP shows the writers as each of the individual Doors members.[6] The majority of the track's structure is notated in the key of A Major.[7]

Plagiarism controversy

In the liner notes to The Doors: Box Set, Robby Krieger denied allegations that the song's musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies, where a riff similar to it is featured in the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night".[5][8] Instead, Krieger said the song's drum beat was taken from Cream's song "Sunshine of Your Love".[5][8] But Davies commented in a 2012 interview with Mojo magazine:

The funniest thing was when my publisher came to me on tour and said the Doors had used the riff for "All Day and All of the Night" for "Hello, I Love You". I said rather than sue them, can we just get them to own up? My publisher said, "They have, that’s why we should sue them!" (laughs) Jim Morrison admitted it, which to me was the most important thing. The most important thing, actually, is to take (the idea) somewhere else.[9]

In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Davies suggested that an out-of-court settlement had been reached with the Doors.[10] Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, admitted in an interview with Musician magazine that it was "a lot like a Kinks song."[11]

Release and charts

Stereo single

At the time the single was released, stereo 45 rpm records were generally unknown – especially in the Top 40 format. This recording by the Doors was promoted as one of the first rock 45 rpm records in stereo.[12] It includes a long musical sweep about 1:20 into the song, starting at the left channel and panning across into the right channel, in a very ostentatious demonstration of stereo effect. This release, along with the Rascals' hit song, "A Beautiful Morning", are credited with initiating the industry changeover to stereo recordings as the norm for 45 rpm singles.[13] Early American pressings of the single used the title "Hello I Love You Won’t You Tell Me Your Name".[14]

Reception

In a 1968 interview, Morrison said, "Sure, 'Hello, I Love You' isn't one of our best songs, but I am not ashamed of it. Really I like the other side better. I was hoping they would flip it and play that, but they haven't.”[15] The single was declared by Billboard as a "solid dance beat throughout."[16] Cash Box said that it is "a steady paced blues track with explosive close (and a stereo gimmick)."[17] Record World said that "The Doors have fun with [the song] and so will their teen following."[18]

Charts and certifications

The song spent two weeks at No. 1 and was also in the Top 5 at the same time as Jose Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire". This put two of the Doors' tunes simultaneously in the Top 5.[19] On its first appearance on the Canadian charts it was listed under the B-side title.[20]

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[31] Gold 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Luhrssen, David; Larson, Michael (2017). Encyclopedia of Classic Rock. ABC-CLIO. p. 97. ISBN 978-1440835148. Also on Waiting for the Sun was the brisk rocker 'Hello, I Love You' ...
  2. 1 2 Planer, Lindsay. "The Doors – 'Hello, I Love You'". AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2021. This very pop-oriented tune also demonstrates the multiplicity of the Doors as both a definitive envelope-pushing and conscious-shattering psychedelic band and a straight-ahead '60s pop/rock combo.
  3. ↑ Botnick, Bruce; Williams, Paul (2007). "Introduction by original Doors engineer-producer". Waiting for the Sun (CD booklet). Rhino Records. p. 7.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lane, Karen "Gilly" (8 December 2011). "The Doors, 'Hello, I Love You' – Lyrics Uncovered". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  5. ↑ "ACE Repertory: Hello I Love You (Work ID:380129048)". ASCAP. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Digital Sheet Music – The Doors – 'Hello, I Love You'". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing. 22 October 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  7. 1 2 The Doors: Box Set (Liner notes). The Doors. Elektra Records. 1997. 62123-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ↑ Locker, Melissa (August 21, 2013). "The Kinks 'All Day and All of the Night' (1964) vs. The Doors 'Hello, I Love You' (1968)". Time. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ Greene, Andy (November 27, 2014). "Ray Davies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 10, 2017. My publisher wanted to sue. I was unwilling to do that. I think they cut a deal somewhere, but I don't know the details.
  10. ↑ Swanson, Dave (July 11, 2013). "How the Doors Scored Their Only No. 1 LP with Waiting for the Sun". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  11. ↑ Grow, Kory (July 30, 2018). "Hear the Doors' Rare 'Hello, I Love You' Rough Mix". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  12. ↑ Everett, Walter (May 2010). "'If You're Gonna Have a Hit': Intratextual Mixes and Edits of Pop Recordings". Popular Music. 29 (2): 233. doi:10.1017/s026114301000005x. S2CID 162240986.
  13. ↑ "BBC Radio 2 - Sounds of the 60s - Brian's Weekly Sleevenotes - 19 July 14". bbc.co.uk. July 19, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  14. ↑ Rutherford, Glenn (October 17, 1968). "Elvis Influenced". Thedoors.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. June 29, 1968. p. 95. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  16. ↑ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 29, 1968. p. 20. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  17. ↑ "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. July 6, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
  18. ↑ "The Doors: A Billboard Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  19. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - July 6, 1968" (PDF).
  20. ↑ Saulnier, Jason (23 April 2013). "The Doors Songs: Greatest Hits and Billboard Charts". Music Legends. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  21. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 127. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  22. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  23. ↑ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  24. ↑ "DOORS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  25. ↑ "The Doors Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 8, 1968". Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  28. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1968". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1968". Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  30. ↑ "American single certifications – Hello I, Love You (Won't You Tell Me Your Name?)". Recording Industry Association of America.
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