So many of the greatest bands in history came out of Los Angeles, The Doors are one of them; they have become something of a legend amongst college and university students all over the world, with new generations of fans discovering their music year after year. They are one of the most popular bands in history, and sell over one million records annually with a total of over 76 million albums sold worldwide.
They originally formed in 1965 in Los Angelis when Vocal Artist Jim Morrison, guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore got together to form one of the most controversial groups of their time. The name for the group comes from a book entitled “The Doors of Perception”, written in 1954 by the infamous Aldous Huxley, author of books such as “Brave New World”, “The Genius and the Goddess” and “Island”. They book details Huxley’s experiences whilst taking a psycho-active substance known as mescaline, it is considered by many to be one of the most profound studies regarding the effects of mind-expanding drugs and what they can teach about how the mind works.
The title for the book actually came from a book composed in London between 1790 and 1793 entitled “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”, written by the brilliant poet, author and artist William Blake immediately after the French Revolution. Quoted from the book is the famous line: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, ever thing would appear to man as it is: infinite“ Given all the history and controversy surrounding the name, a band who would call themselves “The Doors” would have to live up to the name; and they most certainly did. Not only did they go down in history as one of the greatest bands of all time, they also inspired the notoriously successful film maker Oliver Stone, director of films such as JFK, Born on the Forth of July and Natural Born Killers, to release a film about their life, starring Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley and Kathleen Denise Quinlan to name a few. The film was released on March 1st 1991, and went onto to become hugely successful; Oliver Stone actually idolized Jim Morrison and jumped at the opportunity to make a film about his life.
The Doors where considered unusual amongst rock groups due to the fact that they did not use a bass guitar during live performances, but instead opted for the then recently invented Fender Rhodes bass keyboard, which was on offshoot of the Fender Rhodes Electric Piano. In 1966 they where noticed by Elektra Records president Jac Holzman, during a performance at the prestigious Whisky a Go Go club; they where subsequently signed to Elektra Records on August 18th. In January 1967 they released their self titled debut LP, which was recorded in a matter of days, almost entirely live with many songs captured in a single take. Morrison and Manzarek went on to direct a promotional film for their track “Break on Through (To the Other Side)“, which played a role in the development of music videos as we see them today. Their second single, “Light My Fire”, became a smash hit in 1967 and established the group as one of America’s leading counterculture groups, alongside major names such as The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.
The Doors earned themselves a reputation as being a rebellious live act and Morrison soon became a sex symbol. During a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967, the band was ordered by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) to change the lyrics of “Light My Fire” by altering the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher” to “Girl, we couldn’t get much better”. However when dealing with the likes of Morrison, one should never expect conformity, and to the delight of fans everywhere, Morrison sang the original line, and due to the fact that back then, live television had no delay, CBS was powerless to stop the performance. Ed Sullivan was furious and even refused to shake the band members hands at the end of the performance; the group where told that they would never again perform on the Ed Sullivan show, to which Morrision responded ” So what? We just did the Ed Sullivan Show”. In the same year, on December 10th, Morrison was arrested for badmouthing the police in front of an audience, which cemented his status as a rebel. Their second album “Strange Days” was released in 1967, and although far less spontaneous than the first, was still highly successful. The group forfeited their status as underground heroes and allowed “Sixteen Magazine” to portray them as teen idols.
The Doors performed at a number of events which led to frenzied scenes between Police officers and fans of the group, the most notable being their performance at the Chicago Coliseum on May 10. They began writing new material after exhausting their original style, and released a #1 album; in 1969, Lilian Roxon from “Rock Encyclopedia” wrote that the album “strengthened dreadful suspicion that the Doors where in it just for the money.” On March the 1st 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium concert in Miami, Florida, Morrison allegedly exposed himself in front of an over packed 6,900 seat auditorium. Manzarek claims that the incident never took place, and was more a case of mass hypnosis than anything else. Apparently he was only waving his shirt in front of his crotch, then proclaiming “See it? Did you see it?”, and audience saw what they wanted to see, although this has never been substantiated. Nonetheless the incident outraged local authorities and Morrison was arrested for obscenity, which led to the cancellation of performances all over the US; the rest of the band apparently confronted Morrison regarding his alcoholism, however the “Miami incident” remains inconclusive.
Jim Morrison received most of the media attention out of all the members of the group, however he was determined that the other members should get recognition as well. According to some sources, during one concert an announcer introduced the band as “Jim Morrison and The Doors”, which outraged Morrison, he refused to appear on stage unless they where re-announced as “The Doors”. Morrison was actually very protective of his fellow band members, although never felt close to his real-life family. Apparently he never felt comfortable in a social setting unless he had at least one other band member with him, and also turned down many solo album opportunities.
Towards the end of his life he was involved heavily in drugs and alcohol; he put on weight and grew a beard, which caused him to look older than he actually was. In July 1969 the band released their fourth album “The Soft Parade”; the album was different from previous releases with an experimental feel to it, causing critics to question the group’s musical integrity, Morrison was becoming more and more unreliable and his drinking made him difficult to work with.They performed more events however Morrison’s stage persona seemed to dramatically change, becoming more subdued and musically orientated rather than being sexually ambiguous, as he was known for being in previous performances. They sang softer songs and Morrison even performed on the maracas. Some of the songs recorded during this period where featured on the “Absolutely Live” album.
In 1970 they released their next album “Morrison Hotel”, which featured a return to form with a consistent hard rock sound for which the group had become synonymous with; the album went to #4 in the US charts. On August 29th they performed alongside a number of headlining acts, including Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, The Who, Joni Mitchell and Sly & The Family Stone. At their last ever public performance at the “Warehouse” in New Orleans on December 12, 1970, Morrison had a breakdown on stage, repeatedly slamming his microphone onto the stage floor. Nonetheless, they released L.A. Woman in 1971, which proved to be a success exploring the group’s R&B roots; it went down as one of their classic albums. After its release, Jim Morrison decided to take some time off and moved to Paris with his girlfriend Pamela Courson; he began drinking heavily again and on June 16th, recorded his last known recordings along with two street musicians he befriended at a bar and invited to a studio. They where released in 1994 on a bootleg CD entitled “The Lost Paris Tapes”. On July 3rd, 1971, Jim Morrison died under mysterious circumstances; the official story goes that he went to see a movie whilst in Paris, listened to some music then was found dead in his bath tub due to a heart attack, although it was later revealed that no autopsy had been performed on him; he was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery four days later on July 7.
There are many rumors circulating around the incident that suggest Morrison had faked his death in order to escape the spotlight; in the book “Wonderland Avenue”, written by a former associate of Morrison, Danny Sugerman states that in an interview with Pamela Courson, she confessed that she had introduced Morrison to heroine, and had injected him with a fatal dose. Pamela Courson actually died of a heroine overdose herself shortly after the alleged interview; although this is a very different story from what she told police officers. A man named Sam Bennett, a former manager of a Paris nightclub, suggests that Jim Morrison died in a toilet stall in his club, of what he believes was a heroine overdose; he also says that Morrison was dumped into his bath tub as a last attempt to revive him. The rest of the band continued for a few years after Morrison’s death; they initially considered replacing him however opted instead to use the vocal talents of Krieger and Manzarek. They released two albums, “Other Voices” and “Full Circle”, neither of which was anywhere near as successful as when Morrison was in the group. The latter album expanded into jazz territory and by the end of 1972 the band stopped recording and didn’t release another album until 1978, when they released “An American Prayer”. They had rediscovered some audio recordings of Morrison reciting his poetry, and added a musical track behind the verses; the album became a commercial success and was followed by a mini-album containing previously unreleased live recordings. The successful film director Francis Ford Coppola attended the UCLA film school with Jim Morrison, and in 1979 released the legendary “Apocalypse Now”, featuring the song “The End” prominently throughout the soundtrack. Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger reunited in 2002 to create a new version of the band, “The Doors of the 21st Century”.
It was claimed John Densmore could not perform due to his sufferance with tinnitus, however Densmore later claimed that he had not even been invited to join the group, and sought to prevent Manzarek and Krieger from using “The Doors” in their name, however his motion was denied; Ray Manzarek publicly stated that there was still an open invitation for Densmore to join the group, however he declined the offer. Allegedly, with the backing of both Morrison’s family and Pamela Courson’s, Densmore and the Morrison estate won a permanent injunction against Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger in July 2007, causing them to change their name to “D21C”; they now play under the name “Riders on the Storm”. In July 2007, John Densmore stated that he would not rejoin the group unless it was fronted by Eddie Vedder, he stated: “I play with Jim. If there’s someone of that level, OK. I’m not gonna join them with Ian. That’s not to diss Ian, he’s a good singer – but he’s no Jim Morrison. Eddie Vedder? My God, there’s a singer.” He has also been adamant in refusing to license The Doors songs for use in any television commercials, and was even offered a $15 million deal with Cadillac, who wanted to use the track “Break on Through (to the Other Side)” in their adverts. Densmore Stated: “People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I’ve had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn’t commit suicide because of this music…. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That’s not for rent” In 2004 the Doors where ranked at #41 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2007 they received a lifetime achievement at the 2007 Grammy Awards, along with Joan Baez and the Grateful Dead; in the same year on February 28th 2007, The Doors also received their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has been over four decades since The Doors first appeared on the music scene, and they are still as popular today, if not more so, than they ever where. With an army of fans in multiple countries all over the planet, the Doors have earned the title of one of the greatest musicians on the planet.
Due to the untimely death of Jim Morrison, their music has become immortalized within the pages of time, and will be remembered for a long time into the future. Its such a shame that so many legendary musicians meet their end before they should have; Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Buddy Holly, Bob Maley, John Lennon, Christopher Wallace, Tupac Shakur, Kurt Cobain etc, etc. But in doing so their music stands the test of time, and will echo throughout the ages ahead. I wonder how many children today will be sitting around the dinner table listening to the stories surrounding the legend known as Jim Morrison, only to discover the rebellious spirit of his music when they reach their teens. With a name based on the doors of perception, the group has certainly earned their title and will live on for a very long time to come. S Douglas ‘Jim’ Morrison(1943-1971)
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