OPEN DOORS: The surviving Beatles aren’t the...

OPEN DOORS: The surviving Beatles aren’t the only ones recording “new” songs using old taped vocals by their deceased colleague. The three surviving members of the Doors just completed new tracks built around old tapes of Jim Morrison’s voice.

The three new pieces will be “bonus” tracks on the first-ever CD release of “An American Prayer,” due in May. The original 1977 album featured new instrumental work by Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger and John Densmore accompanying spoken-word recordings by Morrison, who died in 1970. A video is also being put together for one new piece, “The Ghost Song,” featuring new studio footage, archival clips of Morrison and old shots of Native Americans.

“This was the first time the three Doors had been in the studio together since the first ‘American Prayer’ recordings,” says Manzarek. “What was amazing is it really was like taking up where we left off. The only change is everyone plays a little better now.”

Doors spokesman Danny Sugerman adds that there is more unreleased material, both spoken word and songs, that is likely to be included in a long-discussed box-set anthology, now tentatively scheduled for fall of ’96. Sugerman says the set will include at least two CDs of previously unreleased material, both live and studio.