The Doors

There were many bands in the 1960's that influenced the youth. But the Doors seemed to have the greatest profound effect on our society of that generation.

The Doors were formed in Los Angeles, California, during the summer of 1965. Future singer Jim Morrison and keyboardist Ray Manzarek were classmates studying film at the University of California at Los Angeles. One evening they ran into each other at a Venice Beach nightclub and began talking. What transpired was Morrison begun singing some lyrics to a song he had written called "Moonlight Drive." Manzarek was very impressed and eventually asked Morrison if he would be interested in starting a band. This was Morrison's dream all along, and suggested the band should be named "The Doors." The name was inspired by an exert from a poem by Robert Blake, whom Morrison admired: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is, infinite."

The Doors consisted of four members: vocalist Jim Morrison, organist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robbie Kriegar. Starting out, The Doors played whatever gigs they could. Their first real gig was at the London Fog on Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Soon they began moving up and played at the prestigious "Whiskey-A-Go-Go." This is when The Doors finally made a name for themselves.

Despite being fired for profane language and twisted lyrics, The Doors signed with Elektra Records, who said to be very impressed with the on-stage energy and powerful voice of Jim Morrison. The group hired Paul Rothchild, and in 1967, they came out with their first album self titled "The Doors." At first, sales of the new album were slow, but it did not take long before the band took off. The breakthrough song on that album was "Light My Fire," it soon became the #1 hit on the radio. The seven-minute version of the song had to be cut to three minutes in order to be played on the radio. But, due to its popularity "Light My Fire" started playing the full length (7 minutes). Album sales rose and propelled "The Doors" to #2 on the Billboard charts behind The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

The overnight success led to some problems for the band, especially lead singer Morrison, whom was seen to many as just a teen pop ideal. That discouraged Morrison because he wanted to be taken seriously as a musical artist.

The Doors made a total of 8 albums for Elektra Records, but none were ever as popular as the first album, "The Doors." The final album recorded "LA Women" was a big success with two songs in the Top 20, "Love Her Madly" and "Riders of the Storm." After his contract expired with Elektra, Morrison and his wife Pamela moved to Paris, France. He was trying to escape all the hoopla of his music scene in the U.S. Morrison went to Paris to pursue a literature career by writing poetry. He wanted to totally get out of the music business. However, tragically after years of drug and alcohol abuse, finally took their toll and Jim Morrison died from a heart attack at the age of 27. His wife Pamela found his body in the bathtub of their hotel room on July 3, 1971. The group continued performing under the name The Doors for a short while, but soon split up to pursue their own interests.

From start to finish, The Doors and especially Jim Morrison were involved in the drug scene. Smoking marijuana, tripping on acid and getting high on cocaine was regular to the group's personae. The Doors would often perform on stage while under the influence of drugs. The lyrics of their songs reflected their drug use and other dark and rebellious subjects such as death, murder, incest and wild visions while tripping on heavy drugs including acid.

The Doors represented the rebellious youth in our society and it's stance against authority, especially Morrison who still has a cult following to this day. Morrison was one of the great 1960's icons who helped shape the rock n' roll of his era. Even after the death of Morrison in 1971, interest in The Doors grew throughout the 1970's and on into the 1980's. In 1978, Manzarek, Kriegar, and Densmore put together an album with new-recorded music and poetry by Morrison before his untimely death. That album titled "An American Prayer," was a huge success and it led to two more albums, "Alive, She Cried" and "The Doors Live at Hollywood Bowl."

In 1991, Oliver Stone directed the hit film "The Doors," which stared Val Kilmer. This generated a renewed interest in the group's legacy. It also verified Morrison as one of the 1960's great cultural icons. Jim Morrison himself was quoted as saying: "There are things known and thing unknown and in between are The Doors."