title: Murcia

text: The territory has been inhabited by humans since prehistory. People also lived in the current municipality during the Bronze and Iron Ages. During the late Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age, the occupancy of part of the current municipality was performed by the Argaric people. During the late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the people who inhabited the current municipality were the Iberians. A remarkable site is a religious building, whose name is the De la Luz Iberian Sanctuary. There are traces of people presence during the Roman rule in the Iberian Peninsula era. A construction of the late Roman period in the Iberian Peninsula is a fortress, "Castillo de los Garres", located in the south of the northern half of the municipality.


title: Murcia

text: It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin word "myrtea" or "murtea", meaning land of the myrtle (the plant is known to grow in the general area), although it may also be a derivation of the word "Murtia", which would mean Murtius Village (Murtius was a common Roman name). Other research suggests that it may owe its name to the Latin "Murtae" (Mulberry), which covered the regional landscape for many centuries. The Latin name eventually changed into the Arabic Mursiya, and then, Murcia.


title: Murcia

text: The city in its present location was founded with the name Madinat Mursiyah ( 'city of Murcia') in AD 825 by Abd ar-Rahman II, who was then the emir of Córdoba. Umayyad planners, taking advantage of the course of the river Segura, created a complex network of irrigation channels that made the town's agricultural existence prosperous. In the 12th century the traveller and writer Muhammad al-Idrisi described the city of Murcia as populous and strongly fortified. After the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031, Murcia passed under the successive rules of the powers seated variously at Almería and Toledo, but finally became capital of its own kingdom with Ibn Tahir (). After the fall of the Almoravide empire, Ibn Mardanis made Murcia the capital of a new independent kingdom. At this time, Murcia was a very prosperous city, famous for its ceramics, exported to Italian towns, as well as for silk and paper industries, the first in Europe. The coinage of Murcia was considered as model in all the continent. The mystic Ibn Arabi (1165–1240) and the poet Ibn al-Jinan (d.1214) were born in Murcia during this period.


title: Murcia

text: In 1172 Murcia was conquered by the north African Almohades, the last Muslim empire to rule southern Spain, and as the forces of the Christian Reconquista gained the upper hand, was the capital of a small Muslim emirate from 1223 to 1243. By the treaty of Alcaraz, in 1243, the Christian king Ferdinand III of Castile made Murcia a protectorate, getting access to the Mediterranean sea while Murcia was protected against Granada and Aragon. The Christian population of the town became the majority as immigrants poured in from almost all parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Christian immigration was encouraged with the goal of establishing a loyal Christian base. These measures led to the Muslim popular revolt in 1264, which was quelled by James I of Aragon in 1266, conquering Murcia and bringing Aragonese and Catalan immigrants with him.


title: Murcia

text: After this, during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile, Murcia was one of his capitals with Toledo and Seville.


title: Murcia

text: The Murcian duality: Catalan population in a Castillian territory, brought the subsequent conquest of the city by James II of Aragon in 1296. In 1304, Murcia was finally incorporated into Castile under the Treaty of Torrellas.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia's prosperity declined as the Mediterranean lost trade to the ocean routes and from the wars between the Christians and the Ottoman Empire. The old prosperity of Murcia became crises during 14th century because of its border location with the neighbouring Muslim kingdom of Granada, but flourished after its conquest in 1492 and again in the 18th century, benefiting greatly from a boom in the silk industry. Most of the modern city's landmark churches, monuments and old architecture date from this period. In this century, Murcia lived an important role in Bourbon victory in the War of the Spanish Succession, thanks to Cardinal Belluga. In 1810, Murcia was looted by Napoleonic troops; it then suffered a major earthquake in 1829. According to contemporaneous accounts, an estimated 6,000 people died from the disaster's effects across the province. Plague and cholera followed.


title: Murcia

text: The town and surrounding area suffered badly from floods in 1651, 1879, 1946 and 1948, though the construction of a levee helped to stave off the repeated floods from the Segura. A popular pedestrian walkway, the Malecon, runs along the top of the levee.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia has been the capital of the province of Murcia since 1833 and, with its creation by the central government in 1982, capital of the autonomous community (which includes only the city and the province). Since then, it has become the seventh most populated municipality in Spain, and a thriving services city.


title: Murcia

text: The 5.1 Lorca earthquake shook the Region of Murcia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII ('Very strong') on 11 May 2011. Nine people were killed and over 400 were injured.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia is located near the center of a low-lying fertile plain known as the "huerta" (orchard or vineyard) of Murcia. The Segura River and its right-hand tributary, the Guadalentín, run through the area. The city has an elevation of above sea level and its municipality covers approximately .


title: Murcia

text: The best known and most dominant aspect of the municipal area's landscape is the orchard. In addition to the orchard and urban zones, the great expanse of the municipal area is made up of different landscapes: badlands, groves of Carrasco pine trees in the precoastal mountain ranges and, towards the south, a semi-steppe region. A large natural park, the "Parque Regional de Carrascoy y el Valle", lies just to the south of the city.


title: Murcia

text: The Segura River crosses an alluvial plain ("Vega Media del Segura"), part of a Mediterranean pluvial system. The river crosses the city from west to east. Its volumetric flow is mostly small but the river is known to produce occasional flooding, like the times when the capital was inundated, in 1946, 1948, 1973 and 1989.


title: Murcia

text: The Segura river's Valley is surrounded by two mountain ranges, the hills of Guadalupe, Espinardo, Cabezo de Torres, Esparragal and Monteagudo in the north and the Cordillera Sur in the south. The municipality itself is divided into southern and northern zones by a series of mountain ranges, the aforementioned "Cordillera Sur" (Carrascoy, El Puerto, Villares, Columbares, Altaona, and Escalona). These two zones are known as Field of Murcia (in the south of Cordillera Sur) and Orchard of Murcia (the Segura Valley in the north of Cordillera Sur). Near the plain's center, the steep hill of Monteagudo protrudes dramatically.


title: Murcia

text: The territory of Murcia's municipality is made up of 54 "pedanías" (suburban districts) and 28 "barrios" (city neighbourhood districts). The barrios make up the the main urban portion of the city. The historic city center is approximately of the urbanised downtown portion of Murcia.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: "BSh"). It has mild winters and very hot summers because of its inland location. It averages more than 320 days with sun per year. Occasionally, Murcia has heavy, torrential rain.


title: Murcia

text: In the coldest month, January, the average temperature range is a high of during the day and a low of at night. In the warmest month, August, the range goes from during the day to at night. Temperatures almost always reach or exceed on at least one or two days per year. In fact, Murcia holds close to the highest recorded in southern Europe since reliable meteorological records commenced in 1950. The official record for Murcia stands at , at Alcantarilla airport in the western suburbs on 4 July 1994 with and Murcia - Guadalupe de Maciscoca the same day being recorded at a station near the city centre on 15 August 2021, being only lower than the measured in Athens and the measured in Amareleja, Portugal.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia has 460,349 inhabitants (INE 2021) making it the seventh-largest Spanish municipality by population. When adding in the municipalities of Alcantarilla, Alguazas, Beniel, Molina de Segura, Santomera, and Las Torres de Cotillas, the metropolitan area has 672,773 inhabitants making it the twelfth most populous metropolitan area in Spain. Nevertheless, due to Murcia's large municipal territory, its population density (547 inhabitants/km, 760 hab./sq.mi.) does not likewise rank among Spain's highest.


title: Murcia

text: According to the official population data of the INE, 12.52% of the population of the municipality reported belonging to a foreign nationality – 3.22% from other countries of Europe, 5.01% Africans, 3.68% Americans and 0.61% Asians .


title: Murcia

text: The table below shows the population trends of the municipality from the late 19th century to the 21st century by the beginning of their decades.


title: Murcia

text: The Cathedral of Murcia was built between 1394 and 1465 in the Castilian Gothic style. Its tower was completed in 1792 and shows a blend of architectural styles. The first two stories were built in the Renaissance style (1521–1546), while the third is Baroque. The bell pavilion exhibits both Rococo and Neoclassical influences. The main façade (1736–1754) is considered a masterpiece of the Spanish Baroque style.


title: Murcia

text: Other buildings in the square shared by the cathedral (Plaza Cardinal Belluga) are the colorful 'Bishop's Palace' (18th century) and a controversial extension to the town hall by Rafael Moneo (built in 1999).


title: Murcia

text: The "Glorieta", which lies on the banks of the Segura River, has traditionally been the center of the town. It is a landscaped city square that was constructed during the 18th century. The "ayuntamiento" (city hall) of Murcia is located in this square.


title: Murcia

text: Pedestrian areas cover most of the old town of the city, which is centered around Platería and Trapería Streets. Trapería goes from the cathedral to the Plaza de Santo Domingo, formerly a bustling market square. Located in Trapería is the "Casino", a social club erected in 1847, with a sumptuous interior that includes a Moorish-style patio inspired by the royal chambers of the Alhambra near Granada. The name "Plateria" refers to "plata" (silver), as this street was the historical focus for the commerce of rare metals by Murcia's Jewish community. The other street, "Traperia", refers to "trapos", or cloths, as this was once the focus for the Jewish community's garment trade.


title: Murcia

text: Several bridges of different styles span the river Segura, from the "Puente de los Peligros", an 18th century stone bridge with a Lady chapel on one of its sides; to modern bridges designed by Santiago Calatrava or Javier Manterola; through others such as the "Puente Nuevo" (new bridge), an iron bridge of the early 20th century.


title: Murcia

text: In the metropolitan area are also the "Azud de la Contraparada" reservoir and the "Noria de La Ñora" water wheel.


title: Murcia

text: The Holy Week procession hosted by the city is among the most famous throughout Spain. This traditional festival portrays the events which lead up to and include the Crucifixion according to the New Testament. Life-sized, finely detailed sculptures by Francisco Salzillo (1707–1783) are removed from their museums and carried around the city in elegant processions amid flowers and, at night, candles, pausing at stations which are meant to re-enact the final moments before the crucifixion of Jesus.


title: Murcia

text: The most colorful festival in Murcia may come one week after Holy Week, when locals dress up in traditional "huertano" clothing to celebrate the ' (Orchard parade) on Tuesday and fill the streets for The Burial of the Sardine in Murcia. parade the following Saturday. This whole week receives the name of ' (Spring Fest).


title: Murcia

text: Murcia's Three Cultures International Festival happens each May and was first organised with the intent of overcoming racism and xenophobia in the culture. The festival seeks to foster understanding and reconciliation between the three cultures that have cohabited the peninsula for centuries, if not millennia: Christians, Jews and Muslims. Each year, the festival celebrates these three cultures through music, exhibitions, symposiums and conferences.


title: Murcia

text: Sundry festivities are held throughout the municipality and districts and patron saint festivities are included each part. Month where some occur are June and September. An activity that is slightly frequent in these festivities are the one that is named "Coronación de las reinas", which usually consists in awarding the symbolic status of queens to three female children and three female teenagers. Holy Week festivities are also held in some districts on their own. "Pasacalles" (similar to standard parades) are also performed and so the desfiles de carrozas, which are parades in which floats play an important role. A religious activity includes processions (festive religious marches) in which there are statues of the Patron Virgin on a platform that is carried on the shoulders.


title: Murcia

text: Economically, Murcia predominantly acts as a centre for agriculture and tourism. 33.1% of the municipality is utilised with crops purposes. 35.3% of the agreements of 2019 were written for jobs in agriculture and fishing sectors and 9.84% workers had signed agreements for crop land labouring in the second half of 2016.


title: Murcia

text: 7.79% agreements corresponded to the industry sector in 2019 and 5.91% workers had signed agreements for industry labouring in the second half of 2016. 53.12% agreements corresponded to jobs of the service sector in 2019 and 14.26% workers had signed agreements for the waiter job in the second half of 2016.


title: Murcia

text: The economy of Murcia is supported by fairs and congresses, museums, theatres, cinema, music, aquariums, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres, campings, sports, foreign students, and tourism.


title: Murcia

text: As generally in Spain, the governors are elected indirectly by voting for a political party in a day for municipal and autonomous community (the regions in Spain) elections every four years. The governors that are elected compose a government body named "pleno", which has 30 members in Murcia. The "alcalde" (head governor in a municipality) chooses 10 members from the "pleno" in order to compose a governing cabinet named "junta de gobierno", which has 10 members in Murcia. There are 7 partisans (including the "alcalde") of Partido Popular party and 3 partisans of Ciudadanos in the "junta de gobierno". The largest government body also includes 9 partisans of PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español), 3 partisans of Vox and 2 partisans of Podemos and Equo.


title: Murcia

text: A national highway named A-30, which connects Cartagena and Albacete, traverses the municipality from south to north, A national motorway named A-7 also occurs in Murcia, specifically in its northwest. There is also a highway named MU-30 and it connects Alcantarilla municipality and El Palmar district, so it occurs in the northwestern quarter of Murcia. 52 regional pavement lines also occur in the municipality. The RM-1 road, which is intended to connect Santomera and San Javier, takes place in the east and the RM-15 highway, which connects Alcantarilla and Cehegín, occupies part of the northwest.


title: Murcia

text: Region of Murcia International Airport (RMU) is located 20 km south from the city centre, in the suburban district of Corvera. The airport operates several international and domestic routes. It was opened 15 January 2019. Alicante–Elche International Airport is located 60 km north-east from the city centre. This is 5th busiest airport in Spain with 15 million annual passengers.


title: Murcia

text: Bus service is provided by LatBus, which operates the interurban services. Urban bus https://www.murcia.es/web/portal/composicionservices is offered by a new operator, , an UTE (Joint Venture) formed by Ruiz, Marín & Fernanbús.


title: Murcia

text: The Murcia tram is managed by Tranvimur. , of line were available. Two lines connect the city center (Plaza Circular) with the University Campus and the Football Stadium. Line 1B or Line L connects the neighbourhood of Espinardo with the UCAM and Los Jerónimos.


title: Murcia

text: Train connections are provided by Renfe. Murcia has a railway station called Murcia del Carmen, located in the neighbourhood of the same name on the Chinchilla–Cartagena railway. Several long-distance lines link the city with Madrid, through Albacete, as well as Valencia, and Catalonia up to Montpellier in France. Murcia is also the center of a local network. The line C-1 connects the city to Alicante, and the line C-2 connects Murcia to Alcantarilla, Lorca and Águilas. It also has a regional line connecting it to Cartagena and a medium-range linea to Valencia and Zaragoza.


title: Murcia

text: The hospitals and other public primary healthcare centers belong to the Murcian Healthcare Service. There are three public hospitals in Murcia:


title: Murcia

text: Large part of the municipality belongs to the Health area I (Murcia/Oeste), which main place is the main town. Nevertheless, the districts that are located in the northeastern quarter are included in Health area VII (Murcia / Este) and the district Cabezo de Torres is included in Health area VI (Vega Media del Segura).


title: Murcia

text: There are several high schools, elementary schools, and professional schools. Murcia has three types of schools for children: private schools such as El Limonar International School, Murcia (a British international school) and King's College, Madrid, The American School of Murcia (an American international school), semi-private schools ("concertado"), which are private schools that receive government funding and sometimes offer religious instruction, and public schools such as Colegio Publico (CP) San Pablo, IES Licenciado Francisco Cascales or the centenary CP Cierva Peñafiel, one of the oldest ones. The French international school, Lycée Français André Malraux de Murcie, is in nearby Molina de Segura.


title: Murcia

text: The private schools and "concertados" can be religious (Catholic mostly but any religion is acceptable) or secular, but the public schools are strictly secular. "Concertado" or semi-private or quasi-private schools fill a need by providing schools where the government isn't able to or predate the national school system. The private schools in Murcia are not only English language schools. They also include Nelva, a religious school, and San Jorge, a secular bilingual Spanish school.


title: Murcia

text: Murcia also offers Adult Education for people who want to return to complete high school and possibly continue on to the university.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: During and after the reign of the flamboyant and powerful Empress Catherine II of Russia, whose long rule led to the modernisation of the Russian Empire, many urban legends arose, some legends based on true events, concerning her sexual behaviour.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: Catherine had between 10 and 17 male lovers throughout her life, some of whom would reap political benefits from their relationship with her, and many of whom were relatively younger. In addition to her sexual relationships, her multiple relationships with Russian nobles, as well as unfounded allegations of her being a nymphomaniac or a libertine, and unfounded rumours that she liked to collect erotic furniture, and an atmosphere of palace intrigue cultivated by her son Paul I of Russia, led to negative portrayals of Catherine.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: Some called her the "Messalina of the Neva", while others termed her a nymphomaniac. There is also a legend that she died while having sex with a horse.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: Rumours of Catherine's private life had a small basis in the fact that she took many young lovers, even in old age. (Lord Byron's Don Juan, around the age of twenty-two, becomes her lover after the siege of Ismail (1790), in a fiction written only about twenty-five years after Catherine's death in 1796.) This practice was not unusual by the court standards of the day, nor was it unusual to use rumour and innuendo of sexual excess politically. One of her early lovers, Stanisław August Poniatowski, was later supported by her to become a king of Poland.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: One unfavourable rumour was that Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov and her later lovers were chosen by Prince Potemkin himself, after the end of the long relationship Catherine had with Potemkin, where he, perhaps, was her morganatic husband. After Mamonov eloped from the 60-year-old Empress with a 16-year-old maid of honour and married her, the embittered Catherine reputedly revenged herself of her rival "by secretly sending policemen disguised as women to whip her in her husband's presence". However, another account claims that there is no truth in this story.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: According to some contemporaries close to Catherine, Countess Praskovya Bruce was prized by her as "L'éprouveuse", or "tester of male capacity." Every potential lover was to spend a night with Bruce before he was admitted into Catherine's personal apartments. Their friendship was cut short when Bruce was found "in an assignment" with Catherine's youthful lover, Rimsky-Korsakov, ancestor of the composer; they both later withdrew from the imperial court to Moscow.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: In his memoirs Charles François Philibert Masson (1762-1807) wrote that Catherine had "two passions, which never left her but with her last breath: the love of man, which degenerated into licentiousness, and the love of glory, which sank into vanity. By the first of these passions, she was never so far governed as to become a Messalina, but she often disgraced both her rank and sex: by the second, she was led to undertake many laudable projects, which were seldom completed, and to engage in unjust wars, from which she derived at least that kind of fame which never fails to accompany success".


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: Several stories about the circumstances of her death at age 67 in 1796 originated in the years following her death. An urban legend claims that she died as a result of her attempting sexual intercourse with a stallion—the story holds that the harness holding the horse above her broke, and she was crushed.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: Another story claiming that she died on the toilet when her seat broke under her is partly true, in that she did collapse in a bathroom from a stroke, and died in her bed a day later.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: This tale was widely circulated and even jokingly referred to by Aleksandr Pushkin in one of his untitled poems. ("Наказ писала, флоты жгла, / И умерла, садясь на судно."—literal translation: "Decreed the orders, burned the fleets / And died boarding a vessel," the last line can also be translated as "And died sitting down on the toilet.") There existed also a version on alleged assassination, by spring blades hidden in a toilet seat.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: An urban legend states that an erotic cabinet was ordered by Catherine the Great, and was adjacent to her suite of rooms in Gatchina. According to said urban legend, the furniture was highly eccentric with tables that had large penises for legs. Penises and vulvae were carved out on the furniture, the walls were covered in erotic art, statues of a naked man and woman inside, and some versions of the legend state that some erotic artifacts from Pompeii were even brought into Russia to augment this collection.


title: Legends of Catherine the Great

text: There are unconfirmed reports of photographs of this cabinet. The rooms and the furniture were allegedly seen in 1940 by two Wehrmacht officers during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, but even if that were true, the rooms and furniture seem to have vanished since then. The account says the Wehrmacht officers filed a report, but no report has ever been found, nor are any other records from anyone from before, during, or after the Second World War; other than the aforementioned legend. Also, the account says the rooms and furniture were seen in 1940, during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, but the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany did not start in 1940, but on 22 June 1941. For this reason, historical experts challenge the veracity of such claims. But as all of these stories did not even originate until some years after Catherine the Great's death, it is most likely the cabinet never existed, and the whole story was simply fabricated as another bawdy tale.


title: L.A. Woman

text: L.A. Woman is the sixth studio album by the American rock band the Doors, released on April 19, 1971, by Elektra Records. It is the last to feature lead singer Jim Morrison during his lifetime due to his death three months after the album's release, though he would posthumously appear on the 1978 album "An American Prayer". Even more so than its predecessors, the album is heavily influenced by blues. It was recorded without record producer Paul A. Rothchild after he fell out with the group over the perceived lack of quality of their studio performances. Subsequently, the band co-produced the album with longtime sound engineer Bruce Botnick.


title: L.A. Woman

text: "Love Her Madly" was released as a single in March 1971, preceding the album's release, and reached the Top 20 in the "Billboard" Hot 100. Upon release, the album peaked at number nine on the "Billboard" 200 and reached number 28 on the UK Albums Charts. The track "Riders on the Storm" also achieved chart success.


title: L.A. Woman

text: Critics including Richie Unterberger and David Quantick have called "L.A. Woman" one of the Doors' best albums, citing Morrison's vocal performance and the band's stripped-down return to their blues-rock roots.


title: L.A. Woman

text: The Doors had achieved commercial and critical success by 1969, but for much of that year they were blacklisted from radio playlists and their concert bookings dwindled after singer Jim Morrison had been charged with profanity and indecent exposure at a concert in Miami, Florida. Morrison had mentioned leaving the group at the end of 1968, only to be convinced by keyboardist Ray Manzarek to stay on another six months. On September 20, 1970, Morrison was convicted for the Miami incident. In a 1971 interview with Ben Fong-Torres, Morrison said of Miami, "I think subconsciously I was trying to get across in that concert, I was trying to reduce it to absurdity. And it worked too well."


title: L.A. Woman

text: In November 1970, shortly after Morrison's trial ended, the Doors entered Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles to record early versions of the songs "L.A. Woman", "Riders on the Storm" and "Love Her Madly". The new songs were a departure from the heavily orchestrated pieces on the earlier album "The Soft Parade", which burdened the group with long, drawn-out recording sessions. The simplified and straightforward style, progressing from "Morrison Hotel", was well-received, noted by "Jazz & Pop" magazine as "a return to the tight fury of early Doors' music". The band conflicted with their record company, Elektra Records, who released the Doors' first compilation album, "13", to have a product for the Christmas market. It was released without the band's input, and featured a large image of a younger Morrison, upsetting him enough to threaten signing with another label. As their contract required one more album, the group were unable to follow through with the threat, so they continued rehearsing the new material.


title: L.A. Woman

text: Record producer Paul A. Rothchild, who worked with the band on their first five albums, attended the early sessions but quit following friction with the band. This included his dissatisfaction with the song "Love Her Madly," which "drove [him] out of the studio." He felt that recording the composition was a step backwards artistically, calling it "cocktail music." Rothchild has denied a popular rumor that claimed he directed the remark toward "Riders on the Storm", explaining that he thought that song and "L.A. Woman" were "excellent in rehearsal". He maintains that his cocktail music comment was said to "make [the group] angry enough to do something good." Rothchild was frustrated that the group was slow in developing new material, especially as the band contained three songwriters. He was unable to persuade Morrison to consistently attend rehearsals. As Bruce Botnick revealed in the book "Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre", another issue that led to Rothchild's leaving was the emotional devastation he felt at the death of Janis Joplin, having worked with her on "Pearl". Rothchild left before any master takes were complete, recommending that the Doors co-produce "L.A. Woman" with Botnick, the sound engineer who had worked with Rothchild on the band's previous recordings.


title: L.A. Woman

text: The group and Botnick organized a makeshift recording studio at their private rehearsal space, the Doors' Workshop, a two-story building at 8512 Santa Monica Boulevard. They could then record in a more comfortable and relaxed setting while avoiding the expenses of a professional studio. A mixing console previously owned by Elektra was installed upstairs in the Workshop, while studio monitors, microphones, and keyboards were set up downstairs. To compensate for the lack of an isolated vocal booth, Morrison recorded in the bathroom doorway, singing into the same microphone used on the Doors' final tour. According to Botnick, Morrison was easy to work with and spent long hours in the studio with little consumption of alcohol.


title: L.A. Woman

text: For recording, Elvis Presley's bassist Jerry Scheff and rhythm guitarist Marc Benno were brought in to provide additional backing. Densmore characterized Scheff as "an in-the-pocket man" for his steady supportive role, and praised how Scheff "allowed me to communicate rhythmically with Morrison, and he slowed Ray down, when his right hand on the keyboards got too darn fast". By all accounts, Morrison – a huge Presley fan – was excited by Scheff's participation. In addition, Benno was asked to participate as a result of his recent notoriety from working with Leon Russell. The songs were completed in a few takes on a professional-quality 8-track recorder, and the album was finished in six days. Morrison was a blues enthusiast and proclaimed the final recording session as "blues day", recording "Crawling King Snake", "Cars Hiss by My Window", and "L.A. Woman". The album had a raw, live sound with overdubs mostly limited to additional keyboards. Botnick explained, "The overall concept for the recording session was to go back to our early roots and try to get everything live in the studio with as few overdubs as possible". Mixing was completed at Poppi studios in West Hollywood, by which time Morrison had moved to Paris, France.


title: L.A. Woman

text: The band began recording without much material and needed to compose songs on the spot, either by jamming or talking through ideas. In a 1994 interview, guitarist Robby Krieger stated, "Rothchild was gone, which is one reason why we had so much fun. The warden was gone." Despite its troubled beginnings, "L.A. Woman" contains some of the Doors' most critically acclaimed songs, as well as some of their most blues-oriented. Lyrically, the album deals with contemporary topics such as love, life in Los Angeles, and complex aspects of the human experience. Manzarek explained the band did not "approach the album with one vision, but after we started working on the songs, we realized that they're talking about L.A. They're about men, women, boys, girls, love, loss, lovers-lost, and lovers-found in Los Angeles". The album, as a whole, demonstrated Morrison's songwriting abilities, combined with his poetic phrasing and enthusiasm for Los Angeles but still a desire to leave the city with his partner, Pamela Courson. Artistically, "L.A. Woman" saw the band mixing blues and rock, with some elements of psychedelic and jazz rock of their early career.


title: L.A. Woman

text: "L.A. Woman" opens with the Morrison-penned track "The Changeling", which the Doors wanted to be the album's first single. Taken from one of Morrison's journals written in 1968, Holzman overruled the group's decision in favor of "Love Her Madly" and the non-album B-side "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further".


title: L.A. Woman

text: Morrison also contributed "Been Down So Long", a song inspired by folk singer Richard Fariña's book "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me" and Furry Lewis's tune, "I Will Turn Your Money Green". A conventional blues song reminiscent of Morrison's potential imprisonment from earlier Doors performances, the lyrics showed depression, liberation, and sexuality. Additionally, Morrison wrote the blues number "Cars Hiss by My Window". Unlike most of the other tracks, it was composed in the studio. Manzarek recalled that "Jim said it was about living in Venice [Beach], in a hot room, with a hot girlfriend, and an open window, and a bad time. It could have been about Pamela Courson". Of the remaining self-written material on "L.A. Woman", Krieger wrote "Love Her Madly", which echoed his songs of romance and insecurity. He wrote the song, at home, to alleviate his boredom during his trial.


title: L.A. Woman

text: "L.A. Woman" closes its first side with the title track, the lengthiest song on the album. Thought of as Morrison's final goodbye to Los Angeles, it communicated his mixed feelings of passion and disdain for "the city of night". The lyrics feature an anagram for Morrison: "Mr. Mojo Risin'". Krieger's electric guitar effect at the introduction impersonates the sound of an accelerated automobile engine.


title: L.A. Woman

text: In addition to "The Changeling", the Doors chose to incorporate three other compositions written before 1971: "L' America", "Crawling King Snake", and "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)". "L'America" was intended for the soundtrack of director Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 counterculture film "Zabriskie Point", but ultimately rejected. Manzarek recalled, "Antonioni was interested in using it in "Zabriskie Point". So we played it for him, and it was so loud, it pinned him up against the wall. When it was over, he thanked us and fled. So he turned to Pink Floyd, as European filmmakers tend to do when they want rock & roll." Previously titled "Latin America", it was originally written and recorded during the sessions for "Morrison Hotel", and the only work during the "L.A. Woman" sessions with a few drum overdubs. The Doors' arrangement of the traditional "Crawling King Snake" dates back to their early tours, and was sometimes coupled with Morrison's poem "Celebration of the Lizard". "The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)" is a reworking of Morrison's sample of poetry first appearing on the group's souvenir books in 1968.


title: L.A. Woman

text: "L.A. Woman" also features "Hyacinth House", with lyrics written by Morrison and music by Manzarek. The song shows Manzarek being influenced by the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, during its organ solo. The final track was "Riders on the Storm", a collective effort by the Doors. Based on the arrangement "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and the line "delicate riders of the storm", taken from Hart Crane's poem "Praise for an Urn", the track melded Morrison's hitchhiker imagery from his own poetry projects. The faint, ghostly backdrop heard throughout the song was the last recording of Morrison as a member of the Doors.


title: L.A. Woman

text: After Morrison recorded poetry at Village Recorders on December 8, 1970, he felt encouraged to play some "L.A. Woman" material on tour. On December 11, the Doors performed in front of two sold-out audiences at the State Fair Music Hall in Dallas. The band opened the first concert with an extended "Love Her Madly", but struggled on older material as they had not played live since the Isle of Wight FestivaI that August. The set included "The Changeling" and "L.A. Woman" and closed with "When the Music's Over". The concerts were well received, proving the Doors were still a capable live act and leading to an extra performance in Louisiana. Audience recordings from the Doors' performances of "Love Her Madly", "The Changeling", "L.A. Woman", and the "Morrison Hotel" track "Ship of Fools" were included on the 2003 album "".


title: L.A. Woman

text: On December 12, the Doors played the Warehouse in New Orleans for what turned out to be their last live performance with Morrison. Midway through the set, a drunk Morrison began slurring the lyrics to "Light My Fire", interrupted with speeches and jokes. He sat in front of the drum platform in between Krieger and Manzarek's solos, but did not stand up to finish the song. After prompting by Densmore, he tried to sing, before bashing the mic stand into the stage until its wood splintered. The Doors agreed to stop touring and focus on completing "L.A. Woman".


title: L.A. Woman

text: For years, fans speculated over the possible recordings of the New Orleans concert. In 2011, George Friedman, a stage manager of the Warehouse, revealed he had a reel to reel recording of the gig secured in a safety deposit box. He explained he discovered the tapes "when Beaver Productions moved its offices out of the Warehouse, Uptown into a building at the Riverbend. The Doors tape, along with a stack of other Warehouse show tapes, were cast off and left behind as debris during the move". Despite the confirmation of their existence, there has yet to be an official release of the recordings.


title: L.A. Woman

text: "L.A. Woman" was released on April 19, 1971. It reached number nine on the "Billboard" 200, remaining on the charts for 36 weeks, and reached number 28 in the UK, spending four weeks on the UK Albums Charts. The first cover pressing had a burgundy-colored, curved-corner cardboard cutout sleeve, framing a clear embossed cellophane insert, glued in from behind. Photography was credited to Wendell Hamick. According to Jac Holzman, chief executive officer of Elektra Records: "I wasn't sure there would be another album ever, so I had Bill Harvey create a collector's cover. The Doors' faces were printed on clear film. The backing color of the inner sleeve could be changed and would affect the mood of the package. This is the first album in which Jim is bearded [on the cover]. His photo is on the right, no bigger, no smaller than the others, just another guy in the band."


title: L.A. Woman

text: Three months after release, on July 3, Morrison was found dead. There had been discussions between Morrison and the others for future recording after he returned from Paris. The album was accompanied by the "Love Her Madly" single, which was released in March and charted at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for a stay of 11 weeks, but failed to chart in the UK. An additional single, "Riders on the Storm", was edited and released in June, and reached number 14 on the "Billboard" chart, while managing to peak at number 22 in the UK chart.


title: L.A. Woman

text: The album received mostly positive reviews. "Rolling Stone"s Robert Meltzer was impressed by the sense of fun and the togetherness of the band, saying it was "the Doors' greatest album" and the best album of the year. "Melody Maker" wrote a not-so-favorable review, commending some cuts, especially the "effective electric piano" of "Riders on the Storm", but deemed the rest of the album as just "staleness", and that it's "all so obvious that originality has left them". In "" (1981), Robert Christgau appreciated Morrison's sense of humor in some of the lyrics and believed "the band has never sounded better", although he was disappointed with "Been Down So Long" and "L'America". More recently, Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic, described "L.A. Woman" as "uneven", but noted that the album contains compositions that "rate among their finest and most disturbing work".


title: L.A. Woman

text: Sal Cinquemani, reviewing the album for "Slant Magazine", considers "L.A. Woman" to be "the sound of a band in perfect harmony". He describes the Doors' material as "disturbing and cynical over the years, and these songs were no exception".<ref name="Cinquemani/Slant"></ref> "PopMatters"s Nathan Wisnicki said Morrison's lyrics were less pretentious than previous work because of "L.A. Woman"s "more conventional blues". Stephen Dalton of "Classic Rock", reviewing the 40th Anniversary Edition of the album, remarks how "the original "L.A. Woman" still stands proud, an all-time classic journey into bright shining darkness." David Quantick from "BBC Music" attributed the record's success to "a stripped-down yet full sound, a developed mysticism tied tightly to the band's brand of rock, and confidence born of having been a functioning unit for several years". In his 1994 book "The Complete Guide to the Music of The Doors", Peter K. Hogan describes the album as an expansion on the style from "Morrison Hotel", but in a more coherent form. He also believed "L.A. Woman" was a fitting swan song for Morrison, who was pleased to finally record a blues-oriented album.


title: L.A. Woman

text: In 2003, "L.A. Woman" was ranked at 362 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". When the list was revised in 2012, to accommodate a number of albums released since 2003, the album was repositioned at number 364. Both "Ultimate Classic Rock" and "Stereogum" named it the Doors' second best album, with the latter's Ryan Leas adding in the website, "It traveled the same raw blues-rock lane as its predecessor, but now the Doors sounded ragged, bleary. It's one of those early-'70s records that comes off like a beleaguered hangover from the end of the '60s." Online newspaper "The Independent" cited "L.A. Woman" the twelfth best album of 1971, while "Ultimate Classic Rock" included it among the 100 top rock albums of the 70s.


title: L.A. Woman

text: In 1988, "L.A. Woman" was digitally remastered by Botnick and Paul A. Rothchild at Digital Magnetics, using the original master tapes. DCC Compact Classics reissued the album on 24kt gold CD in 1993 and on 180g vinyl in 1998, both versions were mastered by Steve Hoffman. It was remastered again in 1999 for "The Complete Studio Recordings" box set by Bernie Grundman and Botnick at Bernie Grundman Mastering, using 96khz/24bit technology; it was also released as a standalone CD release. This was followed by a 5.1 surround version of the album, released on DVD-Audio on December 19, 2000; the surround mix was created by Botnick from the original eight-track analog 1" master tapes. In 2006, all six of the Doors' albums with Morrison were remixed in stereo and 5.1 for the "Perception" box set. This edition of "L.A. Woman" includes two bonus tracks ("Orange County Suite" and "(You Need Meat) Don't Go No Further") and was made available with or without an accompanying DVD that features the 5.1 surround sound version of the album along with Doors' rehearsal footage. This remix series has been criticized because "the band chose to remix and tinker with [the albums], adding and cutting from a few tracks and including unused instrumental parts." For example, "Cars Hiss By My Window" features an extra verse and other additions for a new length of 4:58 (as opposed to 4:10 on the original). In 2009, the album was reissued on 180g vinyl featuring the original mix, cut by Grundman.


title: L.A. Woman

text: In 2012, "L.A. Woman" was digitally remastered again as a part of "The Years of the Doors" series to commemorate its 40th Anniversary release. This edition was reissued in an expanded format on January 24, 2012, by Elektra and Rhino Records in CD and digital formats, and it includes the 2006 stereo remix done and mastered by Botnick at Uniteye. It also features seven alternate versions of songs, and two previously unreleased tracks, "She Smells So Nice" and "Rock Me". This remaster has been praised for leaving the original album "untouched". To accompany this release, a documentary titled "Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman" was distributed. The film includes interviews with all three remaining band members, as well as live and studio performances. Analogue Productions also reissued the album on hybrid SACD (2013) and double 45 RPM vinyl (2012), both editions were mastered by Doug Sax and Sangwook Nam at The Mastering Lab; the CD layer of the Super Audio CD contains the original stereo mix while the SACD layer contains Botnick's 2006 5.1 surround mix. To commemorate the album’s 50th anniversary, Rhino released a three-CD/one-LP set on December 3, 2021. It was remastered by Botnick including the original stereo mix and two bonus discs of unreleased studio outtakes.


title: L.A. Woman

text: Rhino released on April 23, 2022 (as a RSD exclusive) the studio outtakes from the 50th Anniversary three-CD/one-LP set as a special edition quadruple vinyl entitled "L.A. Woman Sessions".


title: L.A. Woman

text: All songs written by the Doors, except where noted. Details are taken from the 1971 Elektra Records album and may differ from other sources.


title: L.A. Woman

text: Details are taken from the 2007 Rhino Records CD remaster liner notes with producer Bruce Botnick's accompanying essay, and may differ from other sources.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the autumn of 1950 as a two-pickup version of its sister model, the single-pickup Esquire, the pair were the first guitars of their kind manufactured on a substantial scale. A trademark conflict with a rival manufacturer (Gretsch Broadkaster) led to the guitar being renamed in 1951. Initially, the Broadcaster name was simply cut off of the labels placed on the guitars (leading to a limited run of nameless guitars known as "No-casters") and later in 1951, the final name of Telecaster was applied to the guitar to take advantage of the advent of television. The Telecaster quickly became a popular model, and has remained in continuous production since its first incarnation.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Like the three-pickup Stratocaster which followed it in 1954, the Telecaster is a versatile guitar and has been used in many genres, including country, reggae, rock, pop, folk, soul, blues, jazz, punk, metal, alternative, indie rock, and R&B. The base model has always been available, and other than a change to the pickup selector switch configuration, a thinning of the neck, and a few variations on the bridge design, it has remained mostly unchanged from the 1950s. Several variant models have been produced over the years including those with different pickup configurations and electronics, semi-hollow body designs, and even a twelve string model.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The archetypical Fender Telecaster is a solid-body electric guitar with a flat asymmetric single-cutaway body; the body is usually made from alder or ash. The neck is usually made from maple and attached to the body with screws (though characteristically referred to as a "bolt-on neck") and has a distinctive small headstock with six tuning pegs mounted inline along a single side; the fingerboard may be maple or another wood, e.g. rosewood, and has at least twenty-one frets. The Telecaster's body is front-routed for electronics; the bridge pickup is mounted in a metal plate attached to the guitar's bridge, other pickups are mounted in a plastic pickguard, and the controls are mounted in a metal plate on the lower bout of the guitar. Most Telecasters have two single-coil pickups, a pickup selector switch, a single volume control and a single tone control. Fixed bridges are almost universal, and the original design has three individually adjustable dual-string saddles whose height and intonation can be set independently. (Many newer models have six saddles.) The output jack is mounted on the edge of the lower bout of the guitar. Many different colors have been available. The Telecaster's scale length is .


title: Fender Telecaster

text: There have been minor changes to the design over the years and models with features that differ from the archetypical design. However, the essential character of the design has remained constant.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Fender Telecaster was developed by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California, in 1950. In the period roughly between 1932 and 1949, several craftsmen and companies experimented with solid-body electric guitars, but none had made a significant impact on the market. Leo Fender's Telecaster was the design that made bolt-on neck, solid body guitars viable in the marketplace.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Fender had an electronics repair shop called Fender's Radio Service where he first repaired, then designed, amplifiers and electromagnetic pickups for musicians — chiefly players of electric semi-acoustic guitars, electric Hawaiian lap steel guitars, and mandolins. Players had been "wiring up" their instruments in search of greater volume and projection since the late 1920s, and electric semi-acoustics (such as the Gibson ES-150) had long been widely available. Tone had never, until then, been the primary reason for a guitarist to go electric, but in 1943, when Fender and his partner, Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman, built a crude wooden guitar as a pickup test rig, local country players started asking to borrow it for gigs. It sounded bright and sustaining.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Fender's operations expanded to include a line of lap steel guitars, and several of the features of those instruments would be borrowed for a new electric solid-bodied guitar. In 1949, he began prototyping the new instrument. Though it was long understood that solid construction offered great advantages in electric instruments (and by the 1930s, Audiovox had offered a solid-body makeshift electric guitar), no commercial solid-body had ever caught on. Leo felt that it could be successfully done. It was designed in the spirit of the solid-body Hawaiian guitars manufactured by Rickenbacker — small, simple units made of Bakelite and aluminum with the parts bolted together — but with wooden construction. (Rickenbacker, then spelled "Rickenbacher", also offered a solid Bakelite-bodied electric Spanish guitar in 1935 that seemed to presage details of Fender's design.)


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Most development guitars were discarded by Fender, but two prototypes survived destruction. An earlier 2-piece pine example was built in summer of 1949 with a headstock design borrowed from the company's lap steels, but otherwise possessing most of the features of what would become the Esquire (as the neck pickup had not been added at this stage). The second prototype from later that year featured an ash body and the final headstock design. The bridge pickup was based on a modified version of the company's Champion lap steel guitar's pickup.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The new model had not been made available for the 1949 NAMM Show and Fender's boss of sales, Don Randall, complained that other manufacturers had featured guitars with multiple pickups.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The initial single-pickup production model appeared as the Fender Esquire in 1950. Ash and maple were used to construct the body and neck respectively and the guitar came in one color — blond. It was priced at $139.95 (). Fewer than fifty guitars were originally produced under that name, and most were replaced under warranty because of early manufacturing problems. In particular, the Esquire necks had no truss rod and many were replaced due to bent necks. Later in 1950, this single-pickup model was discontinued, and a two-pickup model was renamed the Broadcaster. From this point onward all Fender necks incorporated truss rods. The Esquire was reintroduced in 1951 as a single pickup variant, at a lower price.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: As a result of legal action from the Gretsch company over the guitar's name, the "Broadcaster" (Gretsch already had the "Broadkaster" name registered for a line of drums), factory workers simply snipped the "Broadcaster" name from its existing stock of decals, so guitars with these decals are identified simply as "Fender", without any model name.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The term "Nocaster" was later coined by collectors to denote these transitional guitars that appeared without a model name on the headstock. Since they were manufactured in this form for 8–9 months in 1951, original Nocasters are highly prized by collectors. There are no official production numbers, but experts estimate that fewer than 500 Nocasters were produced. Fender has since registered "Nocaster" as a trademark to denote its modern replicas of this famous rarity.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Around September 1951, Fender renamed the guitar to "Telecaster" and started placing these decals on the headstock. Debuting with a transparent butterscotch finish, single ply 'Blackguard', maple neck with walnut back stripe, the "Telecaster" would go on to become the most successfully mass-produced electric guitar in history.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In 1951, Fender released the innovative and musically influential Precision Bass as a similar looking stable-mate to the Telecaster. This body style was later released as the Fender Telecaster Bass in 1968 after the Precision Bass had been changed in 1957 to make it more closely resemble the Fender Stratocaster guitar. This double cut away style was the shape that influenced how the Fender Stratocaster was created. At the time Leo Fender began marketing the newly designed Stratocaster in 1954, he expected it to replace the Telecaster, but the Telecaster's many virtues and unique musical personality have kept it in demand to the present day.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: By 1952 Leo Fender was clear of any patent or naming infringements, and the Fender company began producing the "Telecaster" guitar in larger numbers. These early models produced between 1950 and 1954 would become known as "Blackguards".


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Leo Fender's simple and modular design was both geared to mass production and simplified servicing broken guitars. Rather than being constructed individually as in traditional luthiery, instruments were produced quickly and inexpensively from components on an assembly line. The bodies were bandsawn and routed from slabs, rather than hand-carved individually, as with other guitars made at the time, such as Gibsons. Fender did not use the traditional hide-glued set-in neck, but rather a bolt-on neck (which is actually attached using screws). This simple but crude production method also allowed the neck to be easily removed and serviced, or quickly replaced entirely. In addition, the classic Telecaster neck was fashioned from a single piece of maple "without" a separate fingerboard, its frets slid into a groove cut directly into the wood. The very design of the headstock (inspired by Croatian instruments, according to Leo Fender) followed that simplicity principle: it is very narrow, since it was cut in a single piece of wood (without glued "wings"). Nonetheless, it is very effective, as the six strings are kept straight behind the nut, keeping the guitar in tune. While this has changed over time with new reincarnations of the guitar, this was a highly unorthodox approach in its day as guitars traditionally featured rosewood or ebony fingerboards glued onto mahogany necks. The electronics were easily accessed for repair or replacement through a removable control plate, a great advantage over the construction of the then-predominant hollow-body instruments, in which the electronics could be accessed only through the sound holes.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In its classic form, the guitar is simply constructed, with the neck and fingerboard comprising a single piece of maple, screwed to an ash or alder body inexpensively jigged with flat surfaces on the front and back. The hardware includes two single coil pickups controlled by a three-way selector switch, and one each of volume and tone controls. The pickguard was first Bakelite, soon thereafter it was celluloid (later other plastics), screwed directly onto the body with five (later eight) screws. The bridge has three adjustable saddles, with strings doubled up on each. In its original design nearly all components are secured using only screws (body, neck, tuners, bridge, scratchplate, pickups to body, control plate, output socket), with glue used to secure the nut and solder used to connect the electronic components. With the introduction of the truss rod, and later a rosewood fingerboard, more gluing was required during construction. The guitar quickly gained a following, and soon other, more established guitar companies (such as Gibson, whose Les Paul model was introduced in 1952, and later Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and others) began working on wooden solid-body production models of their own.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Telecaster has always had a three-position selector switch to allow for different pickup configurations, as well as two knobs for controlling volume and tone. However, different eras had different functions for these controls. The original switch and knob configuration was used from 1950 to 1952. The first position (switch towards neck) activated the neck pickup with treble tone cut, which produced a muffled, bass-heavy tone (sometimes called the "dark circuit"). The middle position selected the neck pickup without the treble cut, giving it a fuller sound, and in the third position had both pickups together and activated the tone knob. On these models, the tone knob acted as a blending knob, with the "0" position using only the bridge pickup, blending to a 50/50 neck/bridge mix in the "10" position. The first knob functioned normally as a master volume control.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In late 1952, Fender made several changes to the circuitry of the guitar. First, a true tone control knob was installed, that could be used to alter the tone from bass-heavy (in the 0 position) to treble-heavy (in the 10 position). The first position stayed the same as before, with the neck pickup in "dark circuit" treble-cut mode. In this position, the tone knob was disabled. The middle position turned off the dark circuit, and turned on the tone control knob for the neck pickup. The third position selected the bridge pick-up alone, again with an active tone control knob. Although this provided the player with a proper tone control, the change also made it impossible to blend the signal from both pickups. In late 1967 Fender again modified the circuit. They removed the "dark circuit" from the first position, and installed what has become the standard twin pickup switching system: neck pickup alone with tone control in the first position, both pickups together with the tone control in the middle position and in the third position the bridge pickup alone with the tone control.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Pickguards were exclusively black until 1955. The same year, the serial number was moved from the bridge to the neck plate.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Typical modern Telecasters (such as the American Standard version) incorporate several details different from the classic form. They typically feature 22 frets (rather than 21) and truss rod adjustments are made at the headstock end, or the body end depending on the model (typically at the head-stock in newer models). The body end requires removal of the neck. (The Custom Shop Bajo Sexto Baritone Tele was the only Telecaster featuring a two-octave 24-fret neck.) The three-saddle bridge of the original has been replaced with a six-saddle version, allowing independent length and height adjustment for each string. The long saddle bridge screws allow a wide range of saddle bridge positions for intonation tuning. The stamped metal bridge plate has been replaced with a flat plate, and the removable chromed bridge cover (often called the "ashtray" for its secondary use) has been discontinued for most models; it improved shielding but prevented players from muting strings at the bridge and made it impossible to pick near the saddles and produce the characteristic Telecaster 'twang'.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: During the CBS era in the 1970s, the Telecaster body style was changed to a new "notchless" shape, having a less pronounced notch in the crook where the upper bout meets the neck. The notchless body style was discontinued in 1982.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The short-lived Elite Telecaster of 1983 incorporated two specially designed humbucking pickups powered by an active circuitry that featured a specialized "TBX" tone control and an MDX midrange booster with 12 decibels of gain. Other features included a "Freeflyte" hardtail bridge and die-cast tuning machines with pearloid buttons. This guitar was among the latest CBS-era Fenders to feature a BiFlex truss-rod system, low-friction EasyGlider string trees and active electronics. After CBS sold Fender to a group of employees led by Bill C. Schultz in 1985, production ceased on the Elite Telecaster and other Elite models. Fender Japan made its own version of the Elite Telecaster in late 1984, which featured a 22-fret neck with medium-jumbo fret wire and a modern 9.5-inch fingerboard radius. Notable Elite Telecaster players include Johnny Hallyday, Dave Davies of The Kinks, Michael Houser with Widespread Panic, and Andy Summers of The Police.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Telecaster is known for its ability to produce both a bright, rich cutting tone (the typical Telecaster country twang) and a mellow, warm, bluesy jazz tone depending on the selected pickup, respectively "bridge" pickup or "neck" pickup, and by adjusting the tone control. This makes the Telecaster a versatile instrument that can be used for different musical styles and sounds, allowing performers to change styles and sounds without changing instruments. The bridge pickup has more windings than the neck pickup, hence producing higher output, which compensates for a lower amplitude of vibration of the strings at the bridge position. At the same time, a capacitor between the slider of the volume control and the output allows treble sounds to bleed through while damping mid and lower ranges. Slanting the bridge pickup also increased the guitar's treble response. The solid body allows the guitar to deliver a clear and sustaining amplified version of the strings' sound; this was an improvement over previous electric guitar designs, whose resonant hollow bodies made them prone to unwanted acoustic feedback when volume was increased. These design elements intentionally allowed guitarists to emulate steel guitar sounds, as well as "cut through" and be heard in roadhouse Honky-Tonk and big Western Swing bands, initially making this guitar particularly useful in country music. Since this, Fender has developed even more in the way of pickups and tones for the Telecaster, with changes from Alnico III magnets to Alnico V magnets. Its wide range of tonalities allows the Telecaster to be used successfully for many styles of music including country, pop, rock, blues and jazz.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Telecaster has long been a favorite guitar for "hot-rod" customizing. Several variants have appeared throughout the years with a wide assortment of pickup configurations, such as a humbucker in the neck position, three single-coil pickups, and even dual humbuckers with special wiring schemes. Fender offered factory hot-rodded Teles with such pickup configurations, the US Fat and Nashville B-Bender Telecasters around 1998. The Deluxe Blackout Tele was also equipped with three single-coil pickups, a "Strat-o-Tele" selector switch and a smaller headstock than a standard Telecaster. Some also preferred vibratos on their Telecasters, installing a Bigsby on them. The most common variants of the standard two-pickup solid body Telecaster are the semi-hollow "Thinline", the "Custom," which replaced the neck single coil-pickup with a humbucking pickup, and the twin-humbucker "Deluxe". The "Custom" and "Deluxe" were introduced during the CBS period and reissues of both designs are currently offered.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Designed by German luthier Roger Rossmeisl, the Telecaster Thinline model first appeared in 1968. It is characterized by a body having a solid center core with hollow wings to reduce weight. The '68 version has two standard Telecaster single-coil pickups, string-through-body bridge, and a choice of an ash or mahogany body. A later version was introduced in 1972 based on the Fender Telecaster Deluxe with two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups. In 2011, Fender released the Modern Player Telecaster Thinline as a part of the Modern Player series. This guitar features two MP-90 pickups, similar to the Gibson P-90 and a mahogany body. The Fender Custom Shop has produced a variation referred to as the "50s Telecaster Thinline" with an ash body, maple neck and a Twisted Tele neck pickup matched with a Nocaster bridge pickup.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The first edition of the Telecaster Custom was produced between 1959 and 1970, and featured a double-bound body but otherwise-standard configuration. While the guitar was known as the Telecaster Custom, the decal on the headstock read "Custom Telecaster". Later editions of the Telecaster Custom were popularized by Rolling Stones' guitarist and composer Keith Richards, featuring a Fender Wide Range humbucker in the neck position and a single-coil pickup in the bridge. To distinguish this model from the mid-1960s Custom with body binding, the market generally refers to the guitar as the "1972 Custom", indicating the year this model was released.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: This model includes two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and was originally produced from 1972 to 1981 and has since then been reissued. The Telecaster Deluxe sported a large headstock similar to the Stratocaster, maple neck and a contoured body, as well as a tremolo bridge option on models manufactured after 1973/74. This model also had two volume and two tone control knobs on the front of the guitar, rather than the usual one.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Designed to restore Fender's reputation after a group of employees led by William C. Schultz took over ownership from CBS in the early 1980s. The pickups used in early models were dual humbucking Red Lace Sensors in the bridge position and a single Blue Lace Sensor in the neck position. Later models (post-1995 or so) used three Gold Lace Sensors or a Red/Silver/Blue set in a Stratocaster-like configuration, as well as low-friction roller nuts, locking synchronized vibrato bridge and tuners, and a bound contoured alder body with ash veneers. These instruments were discontinued in 1998 with the advent of the American Deluxe series. In 2011 Fender released the entry level Modern Player Telecaster Plus as a part of the Modern Player series. The guitar has a humbucker in the bridge, a Stratocaster style single coil pickup in the middle, and a Telecaster covered neck pickup.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Fender Tele Jr. is a variant of the Telecaster that the Fender Custom Shop produced in a limited run of 100 units in the early 1990s. It uses a Telecaster body shape, scale length, and electronics controls (albeit, with a reversed control plate). However, many of its construction and electronic features—for example its set-in neck and P-90-style pickups—are similar to those of a Gibson Les Paul Junior and Gibson Les Paul Special electric guitars.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 has had several signature models produced by Fender. The J5 Triple Tele Deluxe is similar to the regular Telecaster Deluxe, in that it has 22 frets and a 3 way selector switch for the pickups, but it featured three Fender Wide Range humbuckers and a chrome pickguard.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Cabronita (and Custom Shop variant La Cabronita) is a model that is distinguished by the use of Fidelitron or the more expensive TV Jones Classic humbucking pickups, which look like the original Gretsch humbuckers. The "La Cabronita" is an American-made, custom-built-to-order instrument. It typically has one TV Jones Classic pickup in the bridge position although being custom built, in can be ordered in any configuration. All Cabronitas can be distinguished by use of a smaller pickguard that covers the lower horn only, similar to the pickguard used in the original prototype for the Telecaster in 1949.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The versions built in Mexico offered either a solid body or Thinline body, with both featuring two Fender Fidelitron pickups, a volume knob and pickup selector. They both have maple necks, 25.5" scale, a 9.5 inch radius fretboard, "Medium C" profile and 1 5/8" nut width, common to many standard Telecasters made in Mexico, although the Cabronita comes with 22 frets instead of the more common 21. For a brief period, Fender offered an American made "Telebration Cabronita" that used two of the TV Jones pickups.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: While "Cabronita" is not a proper Spanish word, it roughly translates to English as "little bastard" or "little devil".


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Modern Player Telecaster is offered in two distinct styles: a "Plus" model and a "Thinline" model. The "Plus" utilizes a pine body, a standard Telecaster pickup in the neck position, a reverse wound single-coil Stratocaster-style pickup in the middle position and a humbucker in the bridge position. It is equipped with coil splitting and a five-way switch to provide seven different pickup combinations.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Modern Player Thinline adopts a pickguard similar to the Deluxe models and a Stratocaster style bridge, without tremolo. It features a mahogany body, two P-90 style single-coil pickups, individual volume and tone controls and the three-way pickup selector in the upper horn position.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Both use the standard 25.5" scale on 22 fret maple necks that are unlike any other Telecasters in that they do not utilize an overhang to accomplish the 22nd fret, but instead use a longer, square ended neck that is not fully compatible with previous Fender parts.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The sub-sonic Telecaster was first made in 2002 and is still produced. It is made in the US and was produced as a custom guitar. It has a 22 fret maple neck with an extended scale size (27"). It consists of a humbucker in the neck pickup and a slanted single coil in the bridge position. There is a three-way pickup selector switch and a volume and control knob as found on most telecasters.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: This 12-string Telecaster was produced from 1995 until 1998. It had six tuners per side of the headstock with the Fender logo in-between. There were two options for the fretboard: maple and rosewood; the necks were all maple. Pickguards came in white or black and there was a 12 saddle bridge to accommodate the strings.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: This Telecaster was produced from 1996 to 2000. The B-Bender device was used to change the B string's pitch to a C# at the press of a lever located on the guitar strap peg. The styles of music usually utilizing this device were country and country-rock.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The American Deluxe Telecaster (introduced in 1998; upgraded in 2004, 2008, and 2010) features a pair of Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups and the S-1 switching system. Models made prior to 2004 featured two Fender Vintage Noiseless Tele single-coils, Fender/Fishman Powerbridge piezo system and four-bolt neck fixing. Other refinements include a bound contoured alder or ash body and an abalone dot-inlaid maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, rolled fingerboard edges, and highly detailed nut and fret work. The HH model sported an ebony fingerboard, quilted or flamed maple top and a pair of Enforcer humbuckers with S-1 switching (discontinued as of 2008). As of March 23, 2010, Fender updated the American Deluxe Telecaster with a compound radius maple neck, N3 Noiseless Tele pickups and a reconfigured S-1 switching system for wider sonic possibilities. The new model now sports staggered, locking tuning machines, which provide a better break angle over the nut for increased sustain and improved tuning stability. The Thinline version has been introduced in 2013. Fender discontinued the American Deluxe series in 2016.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The American Series model used two single-coil pickups with DeltaTone system (featuring a high output bridge pickup and a reverse-wound neck pickup). Other features included a parchment pickguard, non-veneered alder or ash bodies and rolled fingerboard edges.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In 2003 Fender offered Telecasters with a humbucking/single coil pickup arrangement or two humbucking pickups featuring Enforcer humbucking pickups, and S-1 switching. These models were discontinued in 2007. As of 2008, all American Standard Telecasters came with a redesigned Tele bridge with vintage-style bent steel saddles, and a bridgeplate made of chromed brass instead of steel. In March 2012 the American Standard Telecaster was updated with Custom Shop pickups (Broadcaster in the bridge, Twisted in the neck); the body is now contoured for reduced weight and more comfort. In 2014 the American Standard Telecaster HH was introduced, sporting a pair of Twin Head Vintage humbucking pickups (open-coil with black bobbins in the bridge, metal-covered in the neck). Controls include a dual concentric volume pot for each pickup, a master tone and 3-way pickup switching.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The American Nashville B-Bender guitar is modeled after the personally customized instruments of some of Nashville's top players, featuring a Fender/Parsons/Green B-Bender system, two American Tele single-coils (neck, bridge), a Texas Special Strat single-coil (middle) and five-way "Strat-O-Tele" pickup switching. Ideal for country bends and steel guitar glisses, this Tele is available only with a maple fingerboard.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The American Series Ash Telecaster is based on the '52 vintage reissue. It features an ash body, one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 22 frets and two Modern Vintage Tele single-coil pickups. Fender discontinued this guitar in 2006.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Custom Classic Telecaster was the Custom Shop version of the American Series Tele, featuring a pair of Classic and Twisted single-coils in the bridge and neck positions, as well as a reverse control plate. Earlier versions made before 2003 featured an American Tele single-coil paired with two Texas Special Strat pickups and 5-way switching. Discontinued in 2009 and replaced by the Custom Deluxe Telecaster series models. The 2011 version of the Custom Shop "Custom Deluxe" Telecaster featured a lightweight Ash body with contoured heel, Birdseye maple neck, and a pickup set that included a Twisted Tele neck pickup and a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop BG-1400 stacked humbucker in the bridge position.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Highway One Telecaster (introduced in 2000) featured a pair of distortion-friendly alnico III, single-coil pickups, super-sized 22 frets, Greasebucket circuit, satin nitrocellulose finish, and 1970s styling font(since 2006). A change over came in 2005/2006 with the line until 2011. Limited colors from previous years down to at least satin nitrocellulose Crimson Transparent, honey blonde, black, daphne blue and 3-color sunburst. The Fender Highway One series came in both maple and rosewood fretboards. The Highway One Texas Telecaster sported a one-piece maple neck/fretboard with a modern 12" radius and 21 medium jumbo frets, bone nut, single ply pickguard, round string guide, brass saddles, "spaghetti" style Fender font, solid ash body, vintage tuners, offered in two satin nitrocellulose colors, honey blonde and 2-color sunburst with a pair of Hot Vintage alnico V pickups.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In 2010, the American Special Telecaster was introduced. While retaining such features from the Highway One as jumbo frets, changing to a 9.5 radius neck, Greasebucket tone circuit and 1970s logo, the American Special also includes some upgrades such as a glossy urethane finish, compensated brass 3-saddle bridge and Highway One Texas Tele pickups (alnico III). In the Fall of 2013, Fender upgraded the pickups on the American Special line to Custom Shop Texas Special pickups. As of 2018 the American Special Telecaster is available in 3-color sunburst, lake placid blue, sherwood green metallic and vintage blonde.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In 2019, the American Performer Telecaster was introduced as the successor to the American Special. The American Performer retains most of the American Special's features, but with upgrades such as the Fender Yosemite pickups, Classic Gear tuners, and new colors. Also released is the American Performer Tele Hum, which features a Double Tap humbucker on the neck position, and a push-pull pot to split the humbucker to single coil.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Artist Series Telecasters have features favored by world-famous Fender endorsees James Burton, John 5, Muddy Waters, Jim Root, G. E. Smith, Joe Strummer and Jim Adkins. Custom Artist models are made at the Fender Custom Shop, differing slightly quality and construction-wise; their prices are much higher than the standard production versions.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In September 2010, Fender introduced the Mexican-made Black Top Telecaster HH, featuring dual hot vintage alnico humbucking pickups, a one-piece maple neck with rosewood or maple fretboard and 22 medium-jumbo frets. Other features include a solid contoured alder body, a reversed control assembly and black skirted amp control knobs.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In 2011, Fender released the Modern Player series, which featured the Modern Player Telecaster Thinline and the Modern Player Telecaster Plus.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Acoustasonic Telecaster is a combination of an acoustic and electric guitar. First produced in 2010, this 22 fret guitar was then reintroduced in 2019 after some changes were made. They are made in Corona, California and come in 5 colors, (Black, Sonic Gray, Natural, Sunburst, and Surf Green).


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Acoustasonic is equipped with a Fender Acoustasonic Noiseless-TM pickup and uses Fender's Stringed Instrument Resonance System (SIRS) system to allow the guitar to still maintain a loud sound when it is unplugged, as an acoustic guitar would generally sound. The guitars are made out of a spruce top with an ebony fret board and a mahogany neck. The neck is bolt on and the fender logo is engraved on the head-stock next to the staggered-height tuners. There is a 5 way switch to select between sounds and a USB port for charging the electronics in the guitar.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: Squier model Telecasters are sold by Squier, a Fender-owned import brand. These can bear the Telecaster name, since Squier is owned by Fender. Squier guitars, especially the Telecasters, have gained popularity and a good reputation amongst guitar players, since it has expanded its production of guitar models. Squier has a wide range of different Telecaster-type guitars available, from the entry-level Bullet Series to the better quality Standard and Classic Vibe Series. Also available are the Artist Series and Vintage Modified Series. Among other famous musicians, Sheryl Crow has occasionally used a Squier Telecaster for recordings and live performances.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: The Telecaster was important in the evolution of country, electric blues, funk, rock and roll, and other forms of popular music. Its solid construction let guitarists play loudly as a lead instrument, with long sustain if desired. It produced less of the uncontrolled, whistling, 'hard' feedback ('microphonic feedback') that hollowbodied instruments tend to produce at volume (different from the controllable feedback later explored by Pete Townshend and countless other players). Even though the Telecaster is almost three quarters of a century old, and more sophisticated designs have appeared since the early 1950s (including Fender's own Stratocaster), the Telecaster remains in production. There have been numerous variations and modifications, but a model with something close to the original features has always been available.


title: Fender Telecaster

text: In an article for "Music Aficionado", Alex Lifeson of Rush wrote "I bought a reissue 1959 Telecaster back in 1981, and that guitar has since become my primary writing guitar for all of these years, especially for the electric work. Every time I pick it up, it feels like an old friend. I took all of the finish off of the neck, so it's raw wood, and I feel very connected to it when I'm playing it. That is my number-one "go to" for writing new music." Sometimes identified as a Telecaster, the natural wood guitar slung over the shoulder of Bruce Springsteen on the iconic 1975 album cover "Born to Run" is actually a Fifties-era Fender Esquire with considerable modifications.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other Ancient Greek ecclesiastical texts as part of the Christianization of the Slavs. It is thought to have been based primarily on the dialect of the 9th-century Byzantine Slavs living in the Province of Thessalonica (in present-day Greece).


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Old Church Slavonic played an important role in the history of the Slavic languages and served as a basis and model for later Church Slavonic traditions, and some Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches use this later Church Slavonic as a liturgical language to this day.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: As the oldest attested Slavic language, OCS provides important evidence for the features of Proto-Slavic, the reconstructed common ancestor of all Slavic languages.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The name of the language in Old Church Slavonic texts was simply "Slavic" (словѣ́ньскъ ѩꙁꙑ́къ, "slověnĭskŭ językŭ"), derived from the word for "Slavs" (словѣ́нє, "slověne"), the self-designation of the compilers of the texts. This name is preserved in the modern native names of the Slovak and Slovene languages. The language is sometimes called "Old Slavic", which may be confused with the distinct Proto-Slavic language. Different strains of nationalists have tried to 'claim' Old Church Slavonic; thus OCS has also been variously called "Old Bulgarian", "Old Croatian", "Old Macedonian" or "Old Serbian," or even "Old Slovak", "Old Slovenian". The commonly accepted terms in modern English-language Slavic studies are "Old Church Slavonic" and "Old Church Slavic".


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The term "Old Bulgarian" (, ) is the only designation used by Bulgarian-language writers. It was used in numerous 19th-century sources, e.g. by August Schleicher, Martin Hattala, Leopold Geitler and August Leskien, who noted similarities between the first literary Slavic works and the modern Bulgarian language. For similar reasons, Russian linguist Aleksandr Vostokov used the term "Slav-Bulgarian". The term is still used by some writers but nowadays normally avoided in favor of "Old Church Slavonic".


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The obsolete term "Old Slovenian" was used by early 19th-century scholars who conjectured that the language was based on the dialect of Pannonia.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Byzantine missionaries standardized the language for the expedition of the two apostles, Cyril and his brother Methodius, to Great Moravia (the territory of today's Czechia and western Slovakia; see Glagolitic alphabet for details). For that purpose, Cyril and Methodius started to translate religious literature into Old Church Slavonic, allegedly basing the language on the Slavic dialects spoken in the hinterland of their hometown, Thessaloniki, in present-day Greece.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: As part of preparations for the mission, in 862/863, the Glagolitic alphabet was developed and the most important prayers and liturgical books, including the "Aprakos Evangeliar" (a Gospel Book lectionary containing only feast-day and Sunday readings), the Psalter, and the Acts of the Apostles, were translated. (The Gospels were also translated early, but it is unclear whether Cyril or Methodius had a hand in this.)


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The language and the Glagolitic alphabet, as taught at the Great Moravian Academy (), were used for government and religious documents and books between 863 and 885. The texts written during this phase contain characteristics of the West Slavic vernaculars in Great Moravia.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: In 885 Pope Stephen V prohibited the use of Old Church Slavonic in Great Moravia in favour of Latin. King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia expelled the Byzantine missionary contingent in 886.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Exiled students of the two apostles, then brought the Glagolitic alphabet to the Bulgarian Empire. Boris I of Bulgaria () received and officially accepted them; he established the Preslav Literary School and the Ohrid Literary School


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Both schools originally used the Glagolitic alphabet, though the Cyrillic script developed early on at the Preslav Literary School, where it superseded Glagolitic as official in Bulgaria in 893.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The texts written during this era exhibit certain linguistic features of the vernaculars of the First Bulgarian Empire. Old Church Slavonic spread to other South-Eastern, Central, and Eastern European Slavic territories, most notably Croatia, Serbia, Bohemia, Lesser Poland, and principalities of the Kievan Rus' – while retaining characteristically Eastern South Slavic linguistic features.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Later texts written in each of those territories began to take on characteristics of the local Slavic vernaculars, and by the mid-11th century Old Church Slavonic had diversified into a number of regional varieties (known as "recensions"). These local varieties are collectively known as the Church Slavonic language.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Apart from use in the Slavic countries, Old Church Slavonic served as a liturgical language in the Romanian Orthodox Church, and also as a literary and official language of the princedoms of Wallachia and Moldavia (see Old Church Slavonic in Romania), before gradually being replaced by Romanian during the 16th to 17th centuries.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Church Slavonic maintained a prestigious status, particularly in Russia, for many centuriesamong Slavs in the East it had a status analogous to that of Latin in Western Europe, but had the advantage of being substantially less divergent from the vernacular tongues of average parishioners.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Some Orthodox churches, such as the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric, as well as several Eastern Catholic Churches, still use Church Slavonic in their services and chants as of 2021.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Initially Old Church Slavonic was written with the Glagolitic alphabet, but later Glagolitic was replaced by Cyrillic, which was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire by a decree of Boris I of Bulgaria in the 9th century.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The local Bosnian Cyrillic alphabet, known as "Bosančica", was preserved in Bosnia and parts of Croatia, while a variant of the angular Glagolitic alphabet was preserved in Croatia. See Early Cyrillic alphabet for a detailed description of the script and information about the sounds it originally expressed.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: For Old Church Slavonic, the following segments are reconstructible. A few sounds are given in Slavic transliterated form rather than in IPA, as the exact realisation is uncertain and often differs depending on the area that a text originated from.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: For English equivalents and narrow transcriptions of sounds, see Old Church Slavonic Pronunciation on Wiktionary.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Several notable constraints on the distribution of the phonemes can be identified, mostly resulting from the tendencies occurring within the Common Slavic period, such as "intrasyllabic synharmony" and the "law of open syllables". For consonant and vowel clusters and sequences of a consonant and a vowel, the following constraints can be ascertained:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: As a result of the first and the second Slavic palatalizations, velars alternate with dentals and palatals. In addition, as a result of a process usually termed "iotation" (or "iodization"), velars and dentals alternate with palatals in various inflected forms and in word formation.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: In some forms the alternations of /c/ with /č/ and of /dz/ with /ž/ occur, in which the corresponding velar is missing. The dental alternants of velars occur regularly before /ě/ and /i/ in the declension and in the imperative, and somewhat less regularly in various forms after /i/, /ę/, /ь/ and /r/. The palatal alternants of velars occur before front vowels in all other environments, where dental alternants do not occur, as well as in various places in inflection and word formation described below.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: As a result of earlier alternations between short and long vowels in roots in Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Balto-Slavic and Proto-Slavic times, and of the fronting of vowels after palatalized consonants, the following vowel alternations are attested in OCS: /ь/ : /i/;   /ъ/ : /y/ : /u/;   /e/ : /ě/ : /i/;   /o/ : /a/;   /o/ : /e/;   /ě/ : /a/;   /ъ/ : /ь/;   /y/ : /i/;   /ě/ : /i/;   /y/ : /ę/.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Vowel:∅ alternations sometimes occurred as a result of sporadic loss of weak yer, which later occurred in almost all Slavic dialects. The phonetic value of the corresponding vocalized strong jer is dialect-specific.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: As an ancient Indo-European language, OCS has a highly inflective morphology. Inflected forms are divided in two groups, nominals and verbs. Nominals are further divided into nouns, adjectives and pronouns. Numerals inflect either as nouns or pronouns, with 1–4 showing gender agreement as well.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Nominals can be declined in three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), three numbers (singular, plural, dual) and seven cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, dative, genitive, and locative. There are five basic inflectional classes for nouns: "o/jo"-stems, "a/ja"-stems, "i"-stems, "u"-stems and consonant stems. Forms throughout the inflectional paradigm usually exhibit morphophonemic alternations.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Fronting of vowels after palatals and "j" yielded dual inflectional class "o" : "jo" and "a" : "ja", whereas palatalizations affected stem as a synchronic process (N sg. "vlьkъ", V sg. "vlьče"; L sg. "vlьcě"). Productive classes are "o/jo-", "a/ja-" and "i"-stems. Sample paradigms are given in the table below:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Adjectives are inflected as "o/jo"-stems (masculine and neuter) and "a/ja"-stems (feminine), in three genders. They could have short (indefinite) or long (definite) variants, the latter being formed by suffixing to the indefinite form the anaphoric third-person pronoun "jь".


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Synthetic verbal conjugation is expressed in present, aorist and imperfect tenses while perfect, pluperfect, future and conditional tenses/moods are made by combining auxiliary verbs with participles or synthetic tense forms. Sample conjugation for the verb "vesti" "to lead" (underlyingly "ved-ti") is given in the table below.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Written evidence of Old Church Slavonic survives in a relatively small body of manuscripts, most of them written in the First Bulgarian Empire during the late 10th and the early 11th centuries. The language has a South Slavic basis with an admixture of Western Slavic features inherited during the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia (863–885).


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The only well-preserved manuscript of the Moravian recension, the Kiev Folia, is characterised by the replacement of some South Slavic phonetic and lexical features with Western Slavic ones. Manuscripts written in the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) have, on the other hand, few Western Slavic features.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Old Church Slavonic is valuable to historical linguists since it preserves archaic features believed to have once been common to all Slavic languages such as these:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Old Church Slavonic is also likely to have preserved an extremely archaic type of accentuation (probably close to the Chakavian dialect of modern Serbo-Croatian), but unfortunately, no accent marks appear in the written manuscripts.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The language was standardized for the first time by the mission of the two apostles to Great Moravia from 863. The manuscripts of the Moravian recension are therefore the earliest dated of the OCS recensions. The recension takes its name from the Slavic state of Great Moravia which existed in Central Europe during the 9th century on the territory of today's eastern Czechia, northern Austria and western Slovakia.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Bohemian recension is derived from Moravian recension and had been used in the until 1097. It's preserved in religious texts (e.g. Prague Fragments), legends and glosses. Its main features are:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Old Church Slavonic language is developed in the First Bulgarian Empire and was taught in Preslav (Bulgarian capital between 893 and 972), and in Ohrid (Bulgarian capital between 991/997 and 1015). It did not represent one regional dialect but a generalized form of early eastern South Slavic, which cannot be localized. The existence of two major literary centres in the Empire led in the period from the 9th to the 11th centuries to the emergence of two recensions (otherwise called "redactions"), termed "Eastern" and "Western" respectively. Some researchers do not differentiate between manuscripts of the two recensions, preferring to group them together in a "Macedo-Bulgarian" or simply "Bulgarian" recension. Others, as Horace Lunt, have changed their opinion with time. In the mid-1970s, Lunt held that the differences in the initial OCS were neither great enough nor consistent enough to grant a distinction between a 'Macedonian' recension and a 'Bulgarian' one. A decade later, however, Lunt argued in favour of such a distinction, illustrating his point with paleographic, phonological and other differences. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighboring cultures, which promoted the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity.


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The manuscripts of the Preslav recension or "Eastern" variant are among the oldest of the Old Church Slavonic language. This recension was centred around the Preslav Literary School. Since the earliest datable Cyrillic inscriptions were found in the area of Preslav, it is this school which is credited with the development of the Cyrillic alphabet which gradually replaced the Glagolitic one. A number of prominent Bulgarian writers and scholars worked at the Preslav Literary School, including Naum of Preslav (until 893), Constantine of Preslav, John Exarch, Chernorizets Hrabar, etc. The main linguistic features of this recension are the following:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: The manuscripts of the Ohrid recension or "Western" variant are among the oldest of the Old Church Slavonic language. The recension is sometimes named Macedonian because its literary centre, Ohrid, lies in the historical region of Macedonia. At that period, Ohrid administratively formed part of the province of Kutmichevitsa in the First Bulgarian Empire until the Byzantine conquest. The main literary centre of this dialect was the Ohrid Literary School, whose most prominent member and most likely founder, was Saint Clement of Ohrid who was commissioned by Boris I of Bulgaria to teach and instruct the future clergy of the state in the Slavonic language. The language variety that was used in the area started shaping the modern Macedonian dialects. This recension is represented by the Codex Zographensis and Marianus, among others. The main linguistic features of this recension include:


title: Old Church Slavonic

text: Later use of the language in a number of medieval Slavic polities resulted in the adjustment of Old Church Slavonic to the local vernacular, though a number of South Slavic, Moravian or Bulgarian features also survived. Significant later recensions of Old Church Slavonic (referred to as Church Slavonic) in the present time include: Slovene, Croatian, Serbian and Russian. In all cases, denasalization of the yuses occurred; so that only Old Church Slavonic, modern Polish and some isolated Bulgarian dialects retained the old Slavonic nasal vowels.