The deep, sonorous voice of Jim Morrison over the keyboard sounds of Ray Manzarek characterises the music of The Doors. With drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger, Morrison and Manzarek founded the band in 1965. A year later, the students signed a record deal with Elektra Records. The name is taken from a quote in the book The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley: "There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception".
Bullseye Their first album The Doors (1967) and the single 'Light My Fire' were an immediate hit. The successful, psychedelic mix of blues, classical and pop that The Doors brought cannot be compared to other music. However, the success proved to be a limitation for the band.
'Light My Fire' reached number one on the American Billboard Pop Singles chart on 29 July and number 25 in the Dutch Top 40 in August. The controversial lyrics caused a stir in the respectable America of the 1960s. Prior to a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, singer Jim Morrison was asked to replace the line "girl, we couldn't get much higher" with "girl, we couldn't get much better". The association with drugs would shock the millions of viewers. The outcome is predictable, and they never had to return.
Back to the blues While the following albums still contained original material, Morrison and co found it difficult to meet the expectations of the audience with The Soft Parade (1969). That album is considered too popular by many underground fans. For Morrison Hotel (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971), the last two albums featuring Morrison, The Doors returned to blues.
Jim From the start, Jim Morrison was the central figure of The Doors. Highly intelligent (he was said to have an IQ of 149), charismatic, but also addicted to alcohol and drugs. As the success of The Doors grew, so did his dependence on narcotics.
American poet After the release of L.A. Woman, Morrison left the band and moved to Paris with his girlfriend Pam. As frontman of The Doors, he did not feel taken seriously as a poet. In Paris, where his great role model Rimbaud had also lived, he hoped to find new inspiration for his poems.
Death However, the inspiration failed to come and Morrison slipped into a depression. On 3 July 1971, he was found dead in his bathtub. The 27-year-old rock icon died of a heart attack, probably caused by his excessive drug use.
Doors without Morrison After Morrison's departure and death, the other band members continued. Yet they could not erase the memory of the Morrison era. The Doors remain Jim Morrison. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was as popular as when he was still alive. In 2013, keyboardist Ray Manzarek also died. He passed away on 20 May at the age of 74 from gallbladder cancer.
Riders on the storm Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger performed in 2006 at the Heineken Music Hall under the name Riders on the Storm, together with The Cult frontman Ian Astbury. In 2007, the band received a star on the Walk of Fame.
Many people see The Doors as important representatives of the counterculture of the sixties. Their music and lyrics have also proven to be of lasting value, as evidenced by the large number of covers, the continued airplay and album sales, and the many bands that say they have been influenced by The Doors.
Top 2000 The Doors occupy quite a few places in the Top 2000:
Position in the Top 2000 in 2019
· 75: Riders On The Storm
· 327: The End
· 503: L.A. Woman
· 539: Light My Fire
· 874: People Are Strange
· 1166: Roadhouse Blues
· 1468: Touch Me
· 1557: Love Her Madly
· 1633: Break On Through
Sunday Morning Classic: L.A. Woman
On 15 November 2020, The Doors were guests with the album L.A. Woman at De Platenbar as Sunday Morning Classic.
When The Doors entered Sunset Sound in November 1970 to record what would become their sixth studio album, L.A. Woman, the quartet was ready for a fresh start. In September, Morrison had been convicted of obscenity and indecent exposure related to a concert in March 1969 in Miami. He was out on bail pending appeal. However, some radio stations had banned The Doors and even concert bookings had taken a hit. A new album was needed to rehabilitate the band.
When the Sunset Sound sessions failed – the band and Paul Rothchild parted ways with only one complete take in the can – the group moved their activities to their own improvised studio, The Doors Workshop, to start over, self-producing with engineer Bruce Botnick. L.A. Woman would lean even more heavily on the blues than its predecessor, Morrison Hotel. Unfortunately, it would be the band's last album with Jim Morrison, as the singer died in Paris on 3 July 1971, less than three months after its release on 19 April.
L.A. Woman was recorded in just six days at the Workshop, a testament to both the band's work ethic and the raw, stripped-down character of the album.
While the emphasis was on the blues and Morrison's wild, unrestrained wailing on 'Been Down Too Long', 'Cars Hiss by My Window' and a cover of John Lee Hooker's 'Crawling King Snake', L.A. Woman also showed the group's versatility on The Changeling, with its scorching wah-wah guitar, and the friendly pop of Love Her Madly. The sad and desperate yet still abstract "Hyacinth House", with Morrison's cool, detached vocals, fused the various influences of The Doors into a hypnotic whole.
The centrepiece of the LP, the nearly eight-minute title track, captured the hectic energy and debauchery of the city. The song shifts both musically and lyrically and builds on the unbridled introduction of "Mr. Mojo Risin'", the apparent vehicle for Morrison's dark vision of L.A. with its fire and freeways, motels and madness. The track "L.A. Woman" is a masterpiece, as is the entire album. Every track is musically crafted to perfection without being overproduced or excessive.
One highlight might be enough for most albums, but not L.A. Woman. It ends with an even more incendiary track of over seven minutes, "Riders on the Storm." Sadly, this would be the last song Jim Morrison ever recorded.
source: Jan Liebregts, Wikipedia and NPO photo: public domain and GlebZuev
