Musical Structure and Composition
The song is in 4/4 time and quite fast-paced, the tune being similar to that of blues guitarist Elmore James' "Stranger Blues".
The piece begins with a jazz-flavored drum groove similar to the opening phrases played by Billy Higgins on Dexter Gordon's "Soy Califa", in which a clave pattern is played as a rim click underneath a driving ride cymbal pattern. John Densmore appreciated the new (at the time) bossa nova craze coming from Brazil, so he decided to use it in the song.
Later, a disjointed quirky organ solo is played quite similar to the introduction of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say", which has a few intentional misplaced notes in it. The bassline, similar to a typical bass line used in bossa nova, continues almost unhindered all of the way through the song.
Read more about this topic: Break On Through (To The Other Side)
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