The DOORS' History

Jim Morrison:vocals
Ray Manzarek:keyboards
Robby Krieger:guitar
John Densmore:drums



[Where does the name come from?]

The name 'The Doors' was Jim's idea and was inspired by a quote from William Blake, "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear as it is, infinite.". Jim himself was fond of saying, "there are things known and things unknown and in between are The Doors."


[The Beginning]

The Doors were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek had known each other at UCLA where they majored in film. In the summer of 1965, Manzarek was on the beach in Venice when Morrison came walking toward him. Jim sat down and the two them started talking about what they had been doing during the summer. Jim said he had been writing some songs. Ray asked him to sing one of them. Jim sang a few lines from Moonlight Drive. Ray was very impressed with the lyrics and suggested the two of them form a rock band. Jim said that that was his idea all along.

The very first line-up of the band consisted of Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, along with Ray's two brothers, Rick and Jim. There was no bass player or regular drummer. They just hired whomever they could whenever they landed a gig. Then Ray met John Densmore at the Third Street Meditation center in Los Angeles. Ray and John were both disciples of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who opened the center in 1965. Ray invited John to join the group and be their regular drummer. In late 1965, Rick and Jim Manzarek quit the band as they seemed to be on a fast road to nowhere. They had shopped a demo tape around with little interest until Billy James at Columbia Records signed them to a deal. However once signed, Columbia did not show much interest in actually developing the band. On top of all this, they now had to replace Rick Manzarek who had been their guitar player.

Ray remembered another guy at the Meditation center who was a guitar player. He was a friend of John Densmore, named Robby Krieger. When Robby went to audition for The Doors he fit right in. Like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, the band was now complete. Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison were now, The Doors.


[Instrumental Tastes]

Ray Manzarek started off using a Wurlitzer electric keyboard. He then switched to a Vox Continental organ. He put a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass on top of the Vox. He used the Vox for about two and a half albums and then started using a Gibson Kalamazoo.

Robby Kreiger started with a 1964 Gibson Melody Maker. This guitar was stolen so he then used a Gibson SG Special. For bottleneck playing, he used a Gibson Les Paul.

John Densmore started off with Gretsch drums. One tom-tom on the bass, one floor tom and a snare. He then switched to Ludwig for the third album. He used a basic four-piece set up of snare, bass, and two tom-toms. He used Zildjian cymbals for the first three albums and then switched to Paiste 605s.


[Chart Success]

The number one selling single is really no surprise. It is `Light My Fire'. It was the #1 song on the National Top 40 for three weeks and in the National Top 40 for a total of fourteen weeks.

Sources point to L.A. Woman as being their best selling album. If anyone can find proof that this is true, please let us know the source of the information.


[The Early Days]

The Doors are somewhat of an anomaly in the rock. The band took its name from the poet-visionary-artist William Blake, who had written, 'When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear to man as they truly are...infinite.' English author Aldous Huxley was sufficiently inspired by Blake's quote to title his book on mescaline experiences The Doors of Perception. Morrison was so connected to both works that he proposed, The Doors, to his band mates. Everyone agreed that the name, as well as the inspiration from which it sprang, was perfect to convey who they were and clearly representative for what they stood for.

From their beginnings during the summer of 1965 at Venice Beach, California, The Doors were truly a band--a remarkable fusion of creative energies, a lot of attention has been focused on Jim Morrison which his looks and talents clearly justify. However, Jim was well aware that the magic of The Doors could never have happened without the fortunate forging of John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison into a single creative whole. It is no mystery why Jim Morrison never went solo; so sympathetic were the three other musicians to Jim's mission that such a consideration was out of the question. Robby Krieger, for example, was able to write lyrics and music that sounded more like Morrison than Morrison himself-- among them 'Light My Fire,' 'Love Me Two Times,' and 'Love Her Madly.'

The group was signed to Elektra Records, then a small folk-music record company, in July of 1966 by Jac Holzman, Elektra's founder. By April 1971, The Doors had recorded six landmark studio LP's and a two-record set of live performances, the first seven discs with producer Paul A. Rothchild and the last one co-produced by The Doors and their career-long engineer Bruce Botnick... both The Doors and Elektra had grown into world famed institutions.

Without Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore there is a strong chance that Jim's songs would never have made it off the page, into rehearsal, onto the stage, into the recording studio and, in defiance of all odds, to successive generations who have since discovered The Doors as a 'new' group.


[The Doors]

Ray Manzarek, a classically trained pianist, raised in Chicago with a deep love for the blues, wrote the themes for many of the songs and played not only the keyboard parts but simultaneously (with his left hand) propelled the band with melodic driving bass lines. John Densmore, a jazz drummer with an unbeatable knack for shamanic rhythm and theatrical timing... the band's tireless engine. Robby Krieger, a songwriting secret weapon who could play any guitar, from classic flamenco to bottleneck blues, to creating styles and sounds previously unheard on this planet. And Jim Morrison, the baritone, eclectic/electric poet with an innate compositional gift and the soul of a mystic. Together these men brought The Doors' songs to life-- they were equal points of a musical diamond.


[The Inspiration]

The band's unstated goal was to accomplish musical alchemy-- to fuse rock music with both existential poetry and improvisational theatre. Jim was greatly influenced by the nineteenth century poet Arthur Rimbaud and he dutifully imparted Rimbaud's philosophy to the group. Rimbaud advocated a systematic 'rational derangement of all the senses in order to achieve the unknown.'

Jim's fascination with the unknown is well documented. He was fond of William Blake and liked to quote him, 'The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom,' a bit of advice he took all too tragically to heart.


[The Live Act]

Morrison was a man who would not, could not, and did not know how to compromise himself or his art. He was driven to go all the way or die trying, the ultimate ecstatic risk taker. Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore's contribution to this state of creative ecstasy cannot be underestimated. In order for the musical spell to be successfully cast they gave willingly and generously-- the power of improvisation that drove Morrison on-stage required the other three Doors to not merely play arrangements but to follow Jim's unplanned creative arc perfectly in one of the music's classic and most difficult feats-- the art of intuitive accompaniment.

Jim once explained, 'A Doors concert is a public meeting called by us for a special dramatic discussion. When we perform, we're participating in the creation of a world and we celebrate that with the crowd.' He would scream, 'Wake Up!' 1000 times on 1000 nights in an effort to shake the audience out of its self-imposed lethargy and TV- bred unconsciousness. A few days before he flew to Paris, to his death, Jim gave his last statement to the press, 'For me, it was never really an act, those so-called performances. It was a life-and-death thing, an attempt to communicate, to involve many people in a private world of thought.'


[The Coming of Age]

During the late 1960's bands sang of love and peace while acid was passed out. But for The Doors it was different. The nights belonged to Pan and Dionysus, the gods of revelry and rebirth, and the songs invoked their potent passions-- the Oedipal nightmare of 'The End,' the breathless gallop of 'Not to Touch the Earth,' the doom of 'Hyacinth House,' the ecstasy of 'Light My Fire,' the dark uneasy undertones of 'Can't See Your Face in My Mind,' and the alluring loss of consciousness in 'Crystal Ship.' And as with Dionysus, The Doors willingly offered themselves as a sacrifice to be torn apart, to bleed, to die, to be reborn for yet another night in another town.

To be a poet meant more to Morrison than writing poems. It meant embracing the tragedy fate has chosen for you and fulfilling that destiny with gusto and nobility.


[The Black Clad Leather Demon]

In the end, after conquering America, after being shackled by the courts and laws of the land that he loved, he escaped to Paris, traditional home of so many expatriate artists, to pursue his life as a poet. But his body was too worn down, his heart too weak; he had already seen and done and drunk too much. He had lived life on his own terms, had reaped the rewards, and now the bill was due. His spirit was tired. Death was simply closer and easier than returning to America, to the endless succession of stages it demanded. Jim Morrison passed away in Paris on July 3, 1971. His dying wish was to be remembered as a poet.

Pamela Morrison used to tell a story from the very earliest day of The Doors. They were playing their first club, The London Fog. It was their last set of the night and there were only three people in the club, two drunks and Pamela. The band was incandescent. Jim raged and exploded with superhuman passion-- a transcendent performance. Pam was stunned. In the car she could say nothing...long after arriving home she was still speechless. Jim asked, 'What's wrong baby?' Pam said, 'There were three people in the club during the last set. But you burned like you were performing for thousands of people. Why did you go so far, risk so much for a tiny audience that was barely aware of your presence?' Jim looked at her and said slowly, 'You never know when you're doing your last set.'


[The Legacy]

Considering the force of energy generated by The Doors over 25 years ago, that 'last set' could well be several generations away. Their music transcends race,religion and generations. The Doors have left a timeless mark the rock world has ever witnessed.



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