An American Prayer

The surviving band members (keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore) recorded two additional albums as a trio, but broke up in 1973.

[12] The first session included poems like "Bird of Prey", "Under Waterfall" and "Orange County",[10] sung a cappella by Morrison with the latter cut featuring piano played by him.

[14] Prior to leaving for Paris in March 1971, Morrison had also approached composer Lalo Schifrin as a possible collaborator on the music to accompany the poetry, instead of the other members of the Doors.

The left panel depicting a radiant moon-lit beach and an endless stream of young naked couples running silently along the water's edge.

"[20]After Morrison's death however, the album's producers were unaware of his intention to use the painting,[21] and used for the front and back cover photos taken by Edmund Teske and Joel Brodsky respectively.

[33] In a review published in Creem magazine in January 1979, musician Patti Smith felt that the record had some "certain flaws", but commended the fact that it "documents a fragment of the passion of Jim Morrison", adding that, "An American Prayer has been pieced together delicately with obsessive devotion.

"[28] On the occasion of the 1995 reissue release, Entertainment Weekly journalist David Browne similarly wrote that An American Prayer is "primarily for those who place great weight on Jim Morrison.

"[25] More recently, Vik Iyengar of AllMusic found the album "interesting", but concluded that it's "not for everyone, but is a must-own for Doors completists and fans of Jim Morrison's poetry.

"[37] Poetry, lyrics and stories are written and recited by Jim Morrison; the music is composed by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore.

A 1970 privately printed version of the An American Prayer poetry book
Artist T. E. Breitenbach with The Jim Morrison Triptych that was supposed to be the cover art of An American Prayer .