Jinetes En La Tormenta / Changeling / Popurri : La Cancion De Alabama / El Hombre De La Puerta De Atras / El Amor Se Esconde

This is the Mexican pressing of the Riders On The Storm / Changeling double A-side single, issued on Gamma Elektra catalog number GX 07-728, pressed and distributed in Mexico under license from Elektra Records. The release dates to 1970, coinciding with the original international rollout of material from L.A. Woman, and it comes with a picture sleeve, which is the primary distinguishing feature of this variant. Gamma Elektra was the Mexican sublabel handling Elektra's regional distribution at the time, and the catalog prefix GX identifies it within that system.

The picture sleeve is the physical centerpiece of this release, and for collectors of international Doors pressings it is the first thing to assess. Mexican picture sleeves from this era were printed on lighter stock than their US or European counterparts, and the inks tend to run warmer, occasionally giving the artwork a slightly saturated or shifted appearance compared to original Elektra US pressings. The sleeve design for this single uses Spanish-language titles throughout: Jinetes En La Tormenta for Riders On The Storm, and Changeling retained in its original English on the A-side. The label branding reads Gamma Elektra with the associated catalog number printed clearly. On well-preserved copies, the sleeve shows the band imagery associated with the L.A. Woman campaign, though the exact graphic treatment on Mexican regional sleeves could differ from what appeared in the US market. Condition on surviving copies varies considerably; spine splitting and corner wear are common on Mexican 45 sleeves from this period given the lighter cardstock. A clean, unbrowned sleeve with intact corners is meaningfully harder to find than the disc itself. The disc label itself carries the Gamma Elektra imprint with the Spanish translations of the track titles alongside the catalog information and the Elektra licensing credit, noted in the Discogs entry as Licencia : Elektra. The pressing quality on Mexican Gamma Elektra product from this period is generally adequate, though surface noise is more common on well-played copies than on original US Elektra pressings of the same material.

What makes GX 07-728 genuinely interesting to collectors is the B-side configuration. Rather than pairing Riders On The Storm with just Changeling as a straight two-track single, this Mexican release packages a medley on the B-side: Popurri : La Cancion De Alabama / El Hombre De La Puerta De Atras / El Amor Se Esconde, which translates back to Alabama Song, Back Door Man, and Love Hides. That medley format is specific to this pressing and sets it apart from the standard international single configuration. If you're cataloging variants, this is the detail that matters: the B-side medley is not found on the primary US or UK pressings of the Riders On The Storm single. For comparison, the standard international pairing of Riders On The Storm and Changeling can be found across multiple pressings documented here on DoorsInfo, including this variant, this one, and this pressing, none of which carry the medley configuration. There is also the related Jinetes En La Tormenta / El Cambiadizo Mexican pressing, which pairs the two A-side tracks differently, making this GX 07-728 pressing distinct within the Mexican market run as well. On Discogs, this catalog number shows 57 collectors marking it as owned against 28 want-listed, a ratio that reflects moderate scarcity rather than extreme rarity; it surfaces occasionally but is not a pressing you encounter every few weeks. The licensing note confirms these were not bootlegs or unauthorized pressings; they were sanctioned regional product, which matters for provenance-minded collectors. The medley B-side was likely assembled by Gamma Elektra to consolidate earlier Doors material onto a single disc alongside the new L.A. Woman era tracks, a strategy common in Latin American markets where compilation-style regional singles were used to maximize catalog exposure.

For collectors focused on The Doors in Mexico specifically, GX 07-728 belongs in the collection. The picture sleeve paired with the unique medley B-side makes it a functionally different artifact from the standard Riders On The Storm / Changeling single in other markets. It is not an exceptionally rare pressing given the Discogs ownership numbers, but a clean copy with an unscuffed sleeve in solid condition will take some patience to locate. Serious collectors of regional Doors pressings should prioritize sleeve condition above all else when evaluating copies.