<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Doors were the hottest band in the summer of 1967.\u00a0 Like a lot of bands who record a massive breakout album, people assume they spontaneously appeared on the radio without really knowing their backstory.\u00a0 To me, a band\u2019s backstory is key to how they get on the radio and become \u2018the next big thing\u2019.\u00a0 The Doors\u2019 jump to \u2018success\u2019 around the world in 1967 can be traced back to their true origins in Los Angeles in 1965.\u00a0 To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band\u2019s founding, <\/span>Classic Rock Magazine <\/span><\/i>sat down with the two surviving members of The Doors (Issue #338, April 2025).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Drummer John Densmore set the stage by telling <\/span>CM\u2019s<\/span><\/i> Rob Hughes, \u201cHow the (expletive deleted) have we lasted so long?\u00a0 I\u2019d hoped to just be able to pay the rent for a couple of years but now we\u2019re on to sixty.<\/span> \u00a0I could never have known we were going to have this big an impact.\u00a0 I mean, wow!\u201d\u00a0 Guitarist Robbie Krieger\u2019s take was a little different on how the chemistry in the band made it work:\u00a0 \u201cMaybe it was luck, or maybe it was meant to be, but it turned out to be the perfect amount of people at the right place at the right time.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if The Doors could\u2019ve worked with a different combination of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the band reachs their six decade milestone, there will be a flurry of Doors related articles, books, and reissues hitting the market.\u00a0 One of the first announced was <\/span>Night Divides The Day, <\/span><\/i>a book from Genesis Publications.\u00a0 Genesis was given unlimited access to The Doors archives and the expansive feature will contain interviews with Densmore and Krieger, archival text from Ray Manzarek, rare photos, memorabilia, a limited-edition vinyl seven-inch disc plus the usual contributions from other famous artists like Van Morrison, Slash, and Krist Novoselic.\u00a0 The Doors were the big thing in July of 1967 but let\u2019s go back to the beginning and see where they got their start.\u00a0 There is no doubt The Doors will be a hot topic (again) in the summer of 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Forget what you may have seen in <\/span>The Doors<\/span><\/i> biopic starring Val Kilmer as lead singer Jim Morrison.\u00a0 He did an admirable job right down to singing their iconic songs, but it was a movie.<\/span><\/p>\n Movies live in a much smaller time frame than real life so some facts are \u2018rearranged and\/or edited\u2019 to fit that format.\u00a0 The movie kind of glosses over Morrison and keyboardist Ray Manzarek\u2019s shared UCLA Film School connection.\u00a0 After graduating from that program, Morrison joined Ray\u2019s band, Rick & the Ravens which included Ray\u2019s two brothers.\u00a0 When Densmore was invited to join the band, he found that he and Ray enjoyed the same kinds of music, particularly jazz.\u00a0 Morrison was supposed to be the singer but he seemed reluctant to sing.\u00a0 What the drummer did find fascinating about him was his poetry:\u00a0 \u201cHe was kind of crazy and\u00a0 really a novice (with his role as the lead singer), but I was <\/span>staggered<\/span><\/i> by his words.\u00a0 I just heard rhythm in his lyrics and thought, \u2018Poetry and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll!\u00a0 I\u2019m down.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Apparently Ray\u2019s brothers were not as \u2018down\u2019 with it as Densmore was so they quit.\u00a0 John put in a good word about his high school friend Robby.\u00a0 Krieger recalled, \u201cAt the audition, I think it was between me and my friend Bill Wolff, who started playing guitar before I did and was a little more experienced.\u00a0 I was expecting him to get the job.\u00a0 But the very first song we played was <\/span>Moonlight Drive.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>I thought, \u2018That will sound good with slide on it.\u2019\u00a0 And that was it right there.\u201d\u00a0 Densmore continued:\u00a0 \u201cRay and Jim kind of went, \u2018Oh my God!\u00a0 Put that bottle neck on everything,\u2019 which would have been ridiculous.\u00a0 But he was in.\u201d\u00a0 They all loved jazz and Robby\u2019s interest in Indian music and flamenco guitar began to seep into the music.\u00a0 They mined Ray\u2019s extensive record collection for further inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The biopic shows the early Doors holding court at a beach-side rental in Venice.\u00a0 Before they got there, they bounced between Kreiger\u2019s parent\u2019s garage and a little place a friend let them use in Santa Monica.\u00a0 Once they got a few more gigs and had the rent money, then they settled into life at Venice Beach.\u00a0 Densmore told Hughes, \u201cVenice was empty except for a few old Jewish people near the temple and a few old beatniks.\u00a0 The Beat Generation was just before the Hippies, so it was deserted.\u00a0 The rent was cheap and it was slightly dangerous (to live there).\u00a0 We were writing all these songs and sitting on the beach, watching all the planes take off from LAX and dreaming that we\u2019d be on one some day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Densmore said he and Jim would make the rounds of bars and clubs that didn\u2019t usually book bands and begged them to give them a shot.\u00a0 Most didn\u2019t, but they finally got a chance at the London Fog.\u00a0 Jim was shy and insecure – he would perform facing the band with his back to the audience.\u00a0 The first night they packed the Fog with UCLA film school friends by word of mouth but the place was all but empty the next night.\u00a0 It was a crucial step because Morrison was still developing his vocal style and trying to shake his nerves.\u00a0 They were fired one night after a fight they had nothing to do with.\u00a0 Fortunately, the booker for the Whiskey Au Go Go happened to catch them that night.\u00a0 \u201cRonnie Haran liked the band and the singer, and she talked the Whiskey owner into booking us,\u201d according to John.\u00a0 \u201cWhen we started playing there, Jim began turning around and facing the audience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were several advantages to moving a couple of blocks over to the Whiskey.\u00a0 First of all, they were playing several sets every night and Morrison began getting more comfortable with his singing.\u00a0 Secondly, they were opening for big acts like Frank Zappa, The Byrds, and Van Morrison.\u00a0 Krieger said he would never forget sharing the bill with Van Morrison:\u00a0 \u201cThem [Morrison\u2019s band] was one of our favorite groups and we used to cover <\/span>Gloria<\/span><\/i> live, so it was cool to meet those guys.\u00a0 The last night that we played with them, we all got up on stage together and did <\/span>Gloria.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another condensed \u2018plot mover\u2019 from the biopic was the evolution of the song <\/span>Light My Fire.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>This was actually Krieger\u2019s first attempt at writing a song and the movie shows them hashing it out at the Venice Beach house.\u00a0 When they take a break, Kyle McClachland\u2019s \u2018Ray\u2019 stays behind noodling while the others are basking on the beach.\u00a0 He calls them back to play the iconic Bach inspired organ riff that everybody who has heard the song recognizes.\u00a0 In reality, <\/span>Light My Fire <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>The End <\/span><\/i>(which were both on their eponymously titled first album) began life as three minute pop songs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As they played the songs live, they evolved into the longer six and ten minute versions that would appear on the album.\u00a0 As they extended the <\/span>Light My Fire <\/span><\/i>guitar and organ solos live, Ray introduced his Bach like organ figure as a way to get them out of the solo section and back into the verse.\u00a0 When the time came to record <\/span>Light My Fire<\/span><\/i> for the album, producer Paul Rothchild heard the organ lick and said, \u201cThat part\u2019s really cool.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t we start the song with that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Krieger points out they took his advice and it worked so well, they decided to tack it on at the end of the song.\u00a0 Pop radio demanded \u2018hits\u2019 be three minutes long, so The Doors ended up trimming the solo parts for the 45 rpm version.\u00a0 Manzarak\u2019s catchy organ riff remained at the beginning, in the middle transition, and at the end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Morrison was, \u201cThe most well-read guy on the planet,\u201d in Densmore\u2019s words.\u00a0 If other band members wrote a lyric, he was free to make changes.\u00a0 Many of the lyrics came from the pages of poetry he was constantly jotting down.\u00a0 If he had a melody in mind, he would sing it to the band and we would work it out.\u201d\u00a0 Densmore continued, \u201cSome were very complicated melodies.\u00a0 <\/span>The Crystal Ship<\/span><\/i>, for instance.\u00a0 Oh, my God! (sings) <\/span>Before you slip into unconsciousness . . .<\/span><\/i> I couldn\u2019t compete with him philosophically, but musically I knew how to enforce these words.\u00a0 Here was this really gifted guy who heard a concert in his head, and we helped him get it out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Recording with only four tracks, there were some limits as to what they could do in the studio on the first album.\u00a0 Krieger cites <\/span>Break On Through<\/span><\/i> as an example:\u00a0 \u201cJim sings \u2018<\/span>Break on through to the other side\u2019 <\/span><\/i>three times on the first chorus, but he forgets to come in on the second chorus, so he only sings it twice.\u00a0 We did stuff like that quite often.\u00a0 Nowadays you\u2019d never get away with some of the stuff we did on there.\u00a0 They\u2019d just fix it with Pro Tools.\u00a0 But to us, it sounded pretty perfect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With <\/span>Light My Fire<\/span><\/i> getting constant airplay, the band moved from the small clubs in L.A. to booking larger concert halls.\u00a0 They auditioned bass players including a girl (\u201cwhich would have been cutting edge,\u201d Densmore commented) but in the end they opted to stick to Ray doing double duty on organ and bass.\u00a0 Densmore said, \u201cRay and I had stumbled onto this piano bass at Wallichs Music City in L.A., and it had kind of this drone going, which gave it this open, transparent thing with my drums.\u00a0 When we started making records, a lot of times we had bass players overdub Ray\u2019s left-hand line to give some punch.\u00a0 But live it was just the trio and that crazy singer.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The bassists employed while recording varied and even included the legendary guitarist Lonnie Mack.\u00a0 When they were recording their fifth (or sixth if you count a double live album thrown into the mix), Mack had started to record for their label, Elektra.\u00a0 He had never played bass before but you wouldn\u2019t know it from the groove he set down for <\/span>Roadhouse Blues.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>John Sebastian also happened to be on hand and added his harmonica talents to the track.\u00a0 Morrison always wanted to do a bluesy album and <\/span>Morrison Hotel <\/span><\/i>is certainly more than a nod in that direction.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Krieger and Densmore made some interesting observations about their other albums in the <\/span>CRM <\/span><\/i>article.\u00a0 <\/span>People Are Strange<\/span><\/i> was the result of a trek to the top of Laurel Canyon to watch the sunrise on a day when Morrison arrived at their Lookout Mountain house feeling somewhat down.\u00a0 When they came back to the house, Morrison said, \u201cI need to write this down:\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>People are strange, when you\u2019re a stranger \/ faces are ugly when you\u2019re alone \/ Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted, streets are uneven, when you\u2019re down.\u201d <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>People Are Strange<\/span><\/i> was released as their lead single from the <\/span>Strange Days<\/span><\/i> album and Densmore noted,\u201dIt is a wonderful example of an artist channeling their angst into his work.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Entering the studio, The Doors had enough material for two albums but by the third, they were writing tracks in the studio as fast as they could record them.\u00a0 <\/span>Waiting For The Sun <\/span><\/i>found them using eight tracks instead of four so they spent a lot more time experimenting.\u00a0 Morrison was drinking to excess and tensions were high.\u00a0 Even the easy going Densmore got fed up and quit at one point but he came back the next day.\u00a0 \u201c What else was I going to do?\u00a0 I had found my path in life.\u00a0 I could make a living playing music.\u00a0 I just happened to be in a band with a crazy singer, but I had to continue,\u201d John explained to Hughes.\u00a0 Producer Rothchild was more of a problem on the third album;\u00a0 he decided to combat the chaos created by Morrison and his stoned hangers-on by pushing the band to do tracks over and over again.\u00a0 Seeking the \u2018perfect cut\u2019 only amped up the tension.\u00a0 The album benefited greatly from Krieger\u2019s growth as a songwriter which saw him contribute <\/span>Yes, The River Knows <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Spanish Caravan<\/span><\/i> (where he got to show off his flamenco chops).\u00a0 The fuzz tone effect Krieger added to Densmore\u2019s beat (borrowed from Cream\u2019s <\/span>Sunshine of Your Love)<\/span><\/i> made <\/span>Hello, I Love You<\/span><\/i> the ear-worm hit of 1968.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With their fourth album, <\/span>The Soft Parade, <\/span><\/i>Rothchild pushed them to do a change up and add strings and horns.\u00a0 Morrison was dealing with some personal issues and wanted to concentrate more on his poetry which gave Krieger a larger role in the songwriting department.\u00a0 While <\/span>Touch Me<\/span><\/i> drew some criticism from Doors fans (some felt it was \u2018too slick\u2019), it widened their audience. It seemed to fall in line with what The Beatles were pioneering with their <\/span>Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band<\/span><\/i> album.\u00a0 In fact, George Harrison happened to wander in during the <\/span>Touch Me<\/span><\/i> session and when he spied all of the horn and string players, he simply commented, \u201cOh, Sgt Pepper. . .\u201d\u00a0 The song was originally called <\/span>Hit Me <\/span><\/i>(Krieger was inspired by Blackjack) but it seemed to rise to another level when Morrison rewrote it as <\/span>Touch Me.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>They had their hit single, but many still think this was their weakest album made with Morrison.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As for the legal imbroglio following the Miami concert on March 1, 1969, Krieger and Densmore said it was one of those \u2018bad-good-bad-good\u2019 scenarios.\u00a0 The first \u2018bad\u2019 happened\u00a0 when the band lost a lot of bookings over the bad press.\u00a0 Film from that night showed the band happily having beers with the police after the show.\u00a0 Morrison was a bit off that night but the drummer said Jim had seen a very political group called The Living Theater and decided to try to insert a little activism into his raps.\u00a0 After touching off a near riot, Morrison simply said, \u201cOkay, we had our riot.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s go to an island and start over,\u201d meaning it was just something he tried on for size (which made Densmore think, \u201cGood, we can get back to business.\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The second bad came around when the politicians decided to make an example of the band.\u00a0 It could have been a good publicity stunt but as it turned out, bookings dried up for fear of this \u2018evil rock \u2018n\u2019 roll band\u2019 coming to their town.\u00a0 The last \u2018good\u2019 was a mixed blessing.\u00a0 With fewer shows to play, the band could get back to writing and recording without having to pull up stakes and travel halfway around the country every other week.\u00a0 Morrison was convicted but the charges were later overturned and he was posthumously pardoned.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With time to woodshed they went back to the basics, or as Densmore put it, \u201cWe went back to Ray\u2019s garage.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Morrison Hotel<\/span><\/i> was still produced by Paul Rothchild but the band wanted to step back from the horns and strings he had pushed them to use on <\/span>Soft Parade.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The album didn\u2019t produce any hit singles but it did contain FM staples <\/span>Roadhouse Blues<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Peacefrog<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Morrison\u2019s relationship with Pamela Courson caused some scenes during the recording sessions, but engineer Bruce Botnick maintains some of it was \u2018Morrison theater\u2019 put on to see what kind of reaction it would get.\u00a0 After one such session where Jim was shaking Pam and she was crying, Botnick said, \u201cHey man, it\u2019s pretty late,\u201d to which Morrison responded, \u201cYeah, right.\u201d\u00a0 He and Courson hugged and left the studio arm in arm.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rothschild wasn\u2019t into the sessions for <\/span>L.A. Woman<\/span><\/i> party because he had just finished working on Janis Joplin\u2019s latest album before she died.\u00a0 He heard an early version of <\/span>Riders on the Storm<\/span><\/i> and called it \u2018cocktail music\u2019.\u00a0 Engineer Bruce Botnick was left in charge and he told the band, \u201cYou know what you are doing.\u201d\u00a0 With Rothchild not there pushing for take after take and Botnick guiding with a light touch, the band moved across the street to their rehearsal workshop instead of recording at the Elektra studio.\u00a0 With no time pressure and no Rothchild present, they proceeded to make the record on their own terms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They weren\u2019t sure what they wanted to record.\u00a0 As a warm up, they were just noodling around with <\/span>Ghost Riders In The Sky<\/span><\/i> when Jim decided to sing \u2018<\/span>Riders on the storm\u2019 <\/span><\/i>instead.\u00a0 The song came together and the rest of the album fell into place.\u00a0 Krieger and Densmore recalled playing the song live for the first time in Dallas on December 11, 1970.\u00a0 \u201cThe next night, Jim, was so drunk, Ray and Robbie finally agreed to take some time off, which I had been begging them to do for about a year,\u201d Densmore told Hughes.\u00a0 \u201cJim\u2019s demise was heartbreaking, but I later realized that he was supposed to be a shooting star – a quick impact and then goodbye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Krieger thought when Morrison left for Paris in March of 1971, \u201cHe\u2019d be back at some point and we would start playing again.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t meant to be.\u201d\u00a0 The three remaining members weighed their options, one of which was continuing as a jazz trio (an idea that Manzarek liked).<\/span><\/p>\n They put out two albums with Ray and Robbie singing (<\/span>Other Voices (1971) <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Full Circle (1972)<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 They were well received but they were not \u2018The Doors\u2019 to many.\u00a0 Manzarek pursued solo work while Densmore and Krieger tried a new band but all found it was hard to escape the past.\u00a0 In 1978, Manzarek discovered a present Morrison had left him – a book of poetry and studio recordings he had made back on his 27th birthday (December 8, 1970).\u00a0 When he heard the rhythm in Jim\u2019s voice, they decided to\u00a0 get together again to add music to Morrison\u2019s spoken word poetry.\u00a0 <\/span>American Prayer<\/span><\/i> was the last hoorah for The Doors with Jim Morrison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Manzarek and Krieger would do a tribute tour as The Doors of the 21st Century with The Cult vocalist Ian Astbury filling Morrison\u2019s shoes.\u00a0 Densmore refused to take part and filed an injunction to keep them from using The Doors name.\u00a0 I have seen clips and Astbury did an admirable job channeling Morrison\u2019s vocals.\u00a0 With Densmore and Krieger appearing together to talk about the 60th anniversary of the band, one can assume John no longer holds a grudge against Robbie for taking part in the tour.\u00a0 Certainly he holds no ill will with Ray as he passed away from cancer in 2015.\u00a0 They may be down to only two surviving members, but it seems nobody has forgotten The Doors over the past six decades.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0\u00a0Break On Through<\/em> performed at the Isle of Wight in 1970<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Doors were the hottest band in the summer of 1967.\u00a0 Like a lot of bands who record a massive breakout album, people assume they spontaneously appeared on the radio without really knowing their backstory.\u00a0 To me, a band\u2019s backstory is key to how they get on the radio and become \u2018the next big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-from-the-vaults","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3584"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3587,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}