The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and John Densmore on drums. The band got its name, at Morrison’s suggestion^[4] from the title of Aldous Huxley‘s book The Doors of Perception,^[5] which itself was a reference to a quote made by William Blake, “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”^[6] They were unique and among the most controversial and influential rock acts of the 1960s, mostly because of Morrison’s lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison’s death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973.^[7][8]

The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit Light My Fire, in 1967. The Doors in five years released eight albums. All but one hit the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum or better. Their self-titled debut album (1967) was their first in a series of Top 10 albums in the United States, followed by Strange Days (also 1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), Absolutely Live (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971), with 20 Gold, 14 Platinum, 5 Multi-Platinum and 1 Diamond album awards in the United States alone.^[9] By the end of 1971, it was reported that the Doors had sold 4,190,457 albums domestically and 7,750,642 singles.^[10] The band had three million-selling singles in the U.S. with “Light My Fire“, “Hello, I Love You” and “Touch Me“. After Morrison’s death in 1971, the surviving trio released two albums Other Voices and Full Circle with Manzarek and Krieger sharing lead vocals. The three members also collaborated on the spoken word recording of Morrison’s An American Prayer in 1978 and on the “Orange County Suite” for a 1997 boxed set. Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited in 2000 for an episode of VH1’s “Storytellers” and subsequently recorded Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors with a variety of vocalists.

Although the Doors’ active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold 33 million certified units in the US^[11] and over 100 million records worldwide,^[12] making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.^[13] The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 41st on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time“.^[14] The Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive gold and platinum LP’s.^[15] In 2002, Manzarek and Krieger started playing together again, renaming themselves as the Doors of the 21st Century, with Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals. Densmore opted to sit out and, along with the Morrison estate, sued the duo over proper use of the band’s name and won. After a short time as Riders On the Storm, they settled on the name Manzarek-Krieger and continued to tour until Manzarek’s death in 2013 at the age of 74.

Three of the band’s studio albums, the self-titled debut, L.A. Woman, and Strange Days, were featured in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at positions 42, 362, and 407 respectively. According to The Washington Post‘s Martin Weil, the band rose to the center of the counterculture of the 1960s.^[16] The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

History

1965–1968

Origins and Information

The origins of the Doors began with a meeting between acquaintances Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, both of whom had attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, on Venice Beach in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs (Morrison said “I was taking notes at a fantastic rock’n’roll concert going on in my head”) and with Manzarek’s encouragement sang “Moonlight Drive“. The members came from a varied musical background of jazz, rock, blues, and folk idioms.^[17]

Keyboardist Manzarek was in a band called Rick & the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim, while drummer John Densmore was playing with the Psychedelic Rangers and knew Manzarek from meditation classes.^[18] In August 1965, Densmore joined the group, which had been renamed the Doors. The five (Morrison having previously joined the band), along with bass player Patty Sullivan^{[nb 1]} recorded a six-song demo on September 2, 1965 at World Pacific Studios, Los Angeles, California (officially made available much later in October 1997 on The Door’s Box Set CD release). This has circulated widely since then as a bootleg recording. The band took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley‘s book The Doors of Perception, itself derived from a line in William Blake‘s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite”.^[19]

In mid-1965, after Manzarek’s two brothers left, the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and the best-known lineup – Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore – was complete.^{[citation needed]}

From February to May 1966, the group was playing the Los Angeles club London Fog. The club was not as prestigious as the Whisky a Go Go and did not attract many customers. The Doors used the nearly empty club as an opportunity to hone and, in some cases, lengthen their songs and work “The End”, “When the Music’s Over” and “Light My Fire” into musical epics. (In 2011, a 30-minute tape was discovered of the Doors performing at the London Fog.^[20])

The Doors soon graduated to the more esteemed Whisky a Go Go, where they were the house band (starting from May 1966), supporting acts including Van Morrison‘s group Them. On their last night together the two bands joined up for “In the Midnight Hour” and a twenty-minute jam session of Them’s “Gloria“.^[21] Prior to graduating to the Whisky a Go Go, Morrison went to many record labels trying to land a deal. He did score one at Columbia Records but it did not pan out.^{[nb 2]}

On August 10, 1966, they were spotted by Elektra Records president Jac Holzman, who was present at the recommendation of Love singer Arthur Lee, whose group was with Elektra Records. After Holzman and producer Paul A. Rothchild saw two sets of the band playing at the Whisky a Go Go, they signed them to the Elektra Records label on August 18 – the start of a long and successful partnership with Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick. The Doors were fired from the Whisky on August 21, 1966 when Morrison added an explicit retelling and profanity-laden version of the Greek myth of Oedipus during “The End“.^[22]

Debut album

The band recorded their first album from August 24 to 31, 1966, at Sunset Sound Recording Studios. The Doors’ self-titled debut LP was released in the first week of January 1967. It featured most of the major songs from their set, including the nearly 12-minute musical drama “The End“.^{[citation needed]}

In November 1966, Mark Abramson directed a promotional film for the lead single “Break On Through (To the Other Side)“. To promote the single, the Doors made their television debut on a Los Angeles TV show called Boss City circa 1966, possibly early 1967, and then on a Los Angeles TV show called Shebang, miming to “Break On Through”, on New Year’s Day 1967. This clip has never been officially released by the Doors.^{[citation needed]}

In early 1967 the Doors appeared on The Clay Cole Show (which aired on Saturday evenings at 6 pm on WPIX Channel 11 out of NYC) where they performed their single “Break On Through”. Research has determined that the tapes were all wiped. The only shows that still exist are the final ones copied by an employee of the station, although this was long after the Doors’ appearance. The Doors returned to The Clay Cole Show a second time on June 24 where they most likely performed “Light My Fire”.^{[citation needed]}

Since “Break on Through” was not very successful on the radio, the band turned to “Light My Fire“. The problem with this song was that it was seven minutes long, so producer Paul Rothchild cut it down to three minutes by radically cutting the lengthy keyboard and guitar solos in the center section.^{[citation needed]} “Light My Fire” became the first single from Elektra Records to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, selling over one million copies.^[23] “Light My Fire” was the first song ever written by Robby Krieger and the beginning of the band’s success.^{[citation needed]}

Early live recordings at the Matrix

From March 7 to 11, 1967, the Doors performed at the Matrix Club in San Francisco, California. The March 7 and 10 shows were recorded by a co-owner of The Matrix, Peter Abram. These recordings are notable as they are among the earliest live recordings of the band to circulate. On November 18, 2008, the Doors published a compilation of these recordings, Live at the Matrix 1967, on the band’s boutique Bright Midnight Archives label.^[24][25]

Early television performances

The Doors appeared on American television on August 25, 1967, guest-starring on the variety TV series Malibu U, performing “Light My Fire”. They did not appear live. The band is seen on a beach and is performing the song in playback. The music video did not gain any commercial success and the performance was more or less forgotten.^[26] It was not until they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show that they gained attention on television.^[27]

The Doors made their international television debut in May 1967, recording a version of “The End” for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) at O’Keefe Centre in Toronto.^[28] But after its initial broadcasts, the performance remained unreleased except in bootleg form until the release of The Doors Soundstage Performances DVD in 2002.^[28] As “Light My Fire” climbed the charts in June and early July, the Doors were on the East Coast as an opening act for Simon and Garfunkel in Forest Hills, Queens, and as headliners in a Greenwich, Connecticut, high school auditorium.^{[citation needed]}

On September 17, 1967, the Doors gave a memorable performance of “Light My Fire” on The Ed Sullivan Show.^[27] According to Ray Manzarek, network executives asked that the word “higher” be removed. The group appeared to acquiesce, but performed the song in its original form, because either they had never intended to comply with the request or Jim Morrison was nervous and forgot to make the change (Manzarek has given conflicting accounts). Either way, “higher” was sung out on national television, and the show’s host, Ed Sullivan, canceled another six shows that had been planned. After the program’s producer told the band they would never play on the show again, Jim Morrison reportedly replied: “Hey man. We just did the Sullivan Show.”^{[clarification needed][27]}

On December 24, the Doors performed “Light My Fire” and “Moonlight Drive” live for The Jonathan Winters Show. Their performance was taped for later broadcast. From December 26 to 28, the group played at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. An excerpt taken from Stephen Davis’ book on Jim Morrison (p. 219–220):

The next night at Winterland, a TV set was wheeled onstage during the Doors set so the band could see themselves on The Jonathan Winters Show. They stopped playing “Back Door Man” when their song came on. The audience watched the Doors watching themselves on TV. They finished the song when their bit was done, and Ray walked over and turned the TV off. The next night was their last ever in Winterland.

They played two more dates in Denver on December 30 and 31, 1967, capping off a year of almost constant touring.

Strange Days

The Doors spent several weeks in Sunset Studios in Los Angeles recording their second album, Strange Days, experimenting with the new technology, notably the Moog synthesizer they now had available. The commercial success of Strange Days was middling, peaking at number three on the Billboard album chart but quickly dropping, along with a series of underperforming singles.^[23] The chorus from the album’s single “People Are Strange” inspired the name of the 2010 documentary of the Doors, When You’re Strange.

Although session musician Larry Knechtel had been featured on bass on several tracks on the band’s debut album,^[29] Strange Days was the first Doors album recorded with a studio musician on bass on most of the tracks, and this continued on all subsequent studio albums.^[30] Manzarek explained that his keyboard bass was well-suited for live situations but that it lacked the “articulation” needed for studio recording.^[30] Douglass Lubahn played on Strange Days and the next two albums; but the band used several other musicians for this role, often using more than one bassist on the same album. Kerry Magness, Leroy Vinnegar, Harvey Brooks, Ray Neopolitan, Lonnie Mack, Jerry Scheff, Jack Conrad (who played a major role in the post Morrison years touring with the group in 1971 and 1972), Chris Ethridge, Charles Larkey and Leland Sklar are credited as bassists who worked with the band.^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

New Haven incident

On December 9, 1967, the Doors performed a now infamous concert at New Haven Arena in New Haven, Connecticut, which ended abruptly when Morrison was arrested by local police.^[36] Morrison became the first rock artist ever to be arrested onstage during a concert performance.^[37][38]

Morrison had been making out with a girl fan backstage in a bathroom shower stall prior to the start of the concert when a police officer happened upon them. Unaware that he was the lead singer of the band about to perform, the officer told Morrison and the girl to leave, to which Morrison said, “Eat it.” The policeman took out a can of mace and warned Morrison, “Last chance”, to which Morrison replied, “Last chance to eat it.”^[39][40] There is some discrepancy as to what happened next: according to No One Here Gets Out Alive, the girl ran and Morrison was maced; but Manzarek recounts in his book that both Jim and the fan were sprayed.^[39][41][42]

The Doors’ main act was delayed for an hour while Jim recovered, after which The Doors took the stage very late. According to an authenticated fan account that Robbie Krieger posted to his Facebook page, the police still did not consider the issue resolved, and wanted to charge him. Halfway through the first set, Morrison proceeded to create an improvised song (as depicted in the Oliver Stone movie) about his experience with the “little men in blue”. It was an obscenity-laced account to the audience, describing what had happened backstage and taunting the police, who were surrounding the stage. The concert was abruptly ended when Morrison was dragged offstage by the police. The audience, which was already restless from waiting so long for the band to perform, became unruly. Morrison was taken to a local police station, photographed and booked on charges of inciting a riot, indecency and public obscenity. Charges against Morrison, as well as those against three journalists also arrested in the incident (Mike Zwerin, Yvonne Chabrier and Tim Page), were dropped several weeks later for lack of evidence.^[38][41]

Waiting for the Sun

Recording of the group’s third album in April 1968 was marred by tension as a result of Morrison’s increasing dependence on alcohol and prescription drugs, and the rejection of his new epic, “Celebration of the Lizard“, by band producer Paul Rothchild, who deemed the work not commercial enough. Approaching the height of their popularity, The Doors played a series of outdoor shows that led to frenzied scenes between fans and police, particularly at Chicago Coliseum on May 10.^{[citation needed]}

The band began to branch out from their initial form for this third LP. Because they had exhausted their original repertoire, they began writing new material. Waiting for the Sun became their first and only US No. 1 LP, and the single “Hello, I Love You” (one of the six songs performed by the band on their 1965 Aura Records demo) was their second US #1 single. Following the 1968 release of “Hello, I Love You”, the publisher of the Kinks‘ 1964 hit “All Day and All of the Night” announced they were planning legal action against the Doors for copyright infringement; however, songwriter Ray Davies ultimately chose not to sue.^[43] Kinks guitarist Dave Davies was particularly irritated by the similarity.^[44] In concert, Morrison was occasionally dismissive of the song, leaving the vocals to Manzarek, as can be seen in the documentary The Doors Are Open.^[45]

A month after a riotous concert at the Singer Bowl in New York, the group flew to Britain for their first performance outside of North America. They held a press conference at the ICA Gallery in London and played shows at the Roundhouse. The results of the trip were broadcast on Granada TV’s The Doors Are Open, later released on video. They played dates in Europe, along with Jefferson Airplane, including a show in Amsterdam where Morrison collapsed on stage after a drug binge.^{[citation needed]}

The group flew back to the US and played nine more US dates before returning to work in November on their fourth LP. They ended the year with a successful new single, “Touch Me” (released in December 1968), which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the Cashbox Top 100 in early 1969 (the band’s third and last American number-one single). They started 1969 with a sold-out show on January 24 at Madison Square Garden.^{[citation needed]}

1969–1971

The Soft Parade

The Doors’ fourth album, The Soft Parade, released in July 1969, contained brass and string arrangements. The lead single, “Touch Me”, featured saxophonist Curtis Amy.

While the band was trying to maintain their previous momentum, efforts to expand their sound gave the album an experimental feel, causing critics to attack their musical integrity. According to John Densmore in his biography Riders On The Storm individual writing credits were noted for the first time because of Morrison’s reluctance to sing the lyrics of Robby Krieger’s song “Tell All the People“. Morrison’s drinking made him difficult and unreliable, and the recording sessions dragged on for months. Studio costs piled up, and the Doors came close to disintegrating. Despite all this, the album was immensely successful, becoming the band’s fourth hit album^[46].

Miami incident

On March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, the Doors gave the most controversial performance of their career, one that nearly “derailed the band”.^[7] The auditorium was a converted seaplane hangar that had no air conditioning on that hot night, and the seats had been removed by the promoter in order to boost ticket sales.^[47][48]

Morrison had been drinking all day and had missed connecting flights to Miami, and by the time he eventually arrived, the concert was over an hour late in starting, and he was, according to Manzarek, “overly fortified with alcohol”. ^[47][49] The restless crowd of 12,000, packed into a facility designed to hold 7,000, was subjected to undue silences in Morrison’s singing straining the music from the beginning of the performance. Morrison had recently attended a play by an experimental theater group the Living Theatre and was inspired by their “antagonistic” style of performance art.^[50][51] Morrison taunted the crowd with messages of both love and hate, saying, “Love me. I can’t take it no more without no good love. I want some lovin’. Ain’t nobody gonna love my ass?” and alternately, “You’re all a bunch of fuckin’ idiots!” and screaming “What are you gonna do about it?” over and over again.^[52][53][49] As the band began their second number, “Touch Me”, Morrison started shouting in protest forcing the band to a halt. At one point, Morrison removed the hat of an onstage police officer and threw it into the crowd; the officer, in turn, removed Morrison’s hat and threw it.^[54] Manager Bill Siddons recalled, “The gig was a bizarre, circus-like thing, there was this guy carrying a sheep and the wildest people that I’d ever seen”.^[55] Equipment chief Vince Treanor said, “Somebody jumped up and poured champagne on Jim so he took his shirt off, he was soaking wet. ‘Let’s see a little skin, let’s get naked,’ he said, and the audience started taking their clothes off.”^[55] Having removed his shirt, Morrison held it in front of his groin area and started to make hand movements behind it.^[56] Manzarek later described the incident as a mass “religious hallucination”.^[56]

On March 5, the Dade County Sheriff’s office issued a warrant for Morrison’s arrest, claiming Morrison deliberately exposed his penis while on stage, shouted obscenities to the crowd, simulated oral sex on guitarist Robby Krieger, and was drunk at the time of his performance. Morrison turned down a plea bargain that required the Doors to perform a free Miami concert. He was later convicted, sentenced to six months in jail, with hard labor, and ordered to pay a $500 fine.^[57][58] Morrison remained free, pending an appeal of his conviction, and would die before the matter was legally resolved. In 2007 Florida Governor Charlie Crist suggested the possibility of a posthumous pardon for Morrison, which was announced as successful on December 9, 2010.^[59] Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek have denied the allegation that Morrison exposed himself on stage that night.^[60][61][62]

More legal problems

During the recording of their next album in November 1969, Morrison once again found himself in trouble with the law after harassing airline staff during a flight to Phoenix, Arizona to see the Rolling Stones in concert. Both Morrison and his friend and traveling companion Tom Baker were charged with “interfering with the flight of an intercontinental aircraft and public drunkenness”.^[63] If convicted of the most serious charge, Morrison could have faced a ten-year federal prison sentence for the incident.^[64] The charges were dropped in April 1970 after an airline stewardess reversed her testimony to say she mistakenly identified Morrison as Baker.^[65]

Aquarius Theatre performances

On July 21, 1969, The Doors gave two concerts at the Aquarius Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. A so-called “private rehearsal” without an audience was also taped at the venue a day later. This was only a few months after the “Miami incident” in March of that year. Of the songs performed with an audience, “Universal Mind” and the “Celebration of the Lizard” suite were released on the Doors’ 1970 Absolutely Live album, whereas “You Make Me Real” was released on Alive, She Cried in 1983. Further, the Van Morrison track, “Gloria“, which was performed and recorded during the audience-less rehearsal, was also released on Alive, She Cried. Both the first and second shows along with the rehearsal the following day were released in 2001. It was at these shows that Morrison issued his poem, “Ode to L.A. While Thinking of Brian Jones, Deceased”, a poem for the recently deceased former Rolling Stones guitarist and founder, who was a friend of the band, Manzarek and Morrison in particular.^{[citation needed]}

Morrison Hotel and Absolutely Live

The Doors staged a return to form with their 1970 LP Morrison Hotel, their fifth album. Featuring a consistent hard rock sound, the album’s opener was “Roadhouse Blues“. The record reached No. 4 in the United States and revived their status among their core fanbase and the rock press. Dave Marsh, the editor of Creem magazine, said of the album: “the most horrifying rock and roll I have ever heard. When they’re good, they’re simply unbeatable. I know this is the best record I’ve listened to … so far”.^[64] Rock Magazine called it “without any doubt their ballsiest (and best) album to date”.^[64] Circus magazine praised it as “possibly the best album yet from the Doors” and “good hard, evil rock, and one of the best albums released this decade”.^[64] The album also saw Jim Morrison returning as main songwriter, writing or co-writing all of the album’s tracks. The 40th Anniversary CD reissue of Morrison Hotel contains outtakes and alternate takes, including different versions of “The Spy” and “Roadhouse Blues” (with Lonnie Mack on bass guitar and the Lovin’ Spoonful‘s John Sebastian on harmonica).

July 1970 saw the release of the Doors’ first live album, Absolutely Live.

The band continued to perform at arenas throughout the summer. Morrison faced trial in Miami in August, but the group made it to the Isle of Wight Festival on August 29. They performed alongside Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Joni Mitchell, Jethro Tull, Taste, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Sly and the Family Stone. Two songs from the show were featured in the 1995 documentary Message to Love.

Last public performance

On December 8, 1970, his 27th birthday, Morrison recorded another poetry session. Part of this would end up on An American Prayer in 1978 with music, and is currently in the possession of the Courson family. Shortly thereafter, a tour to promote their upcoming album would comprise only three dates. Two concerts were held in Dallas, Texas on December 11. During the Doors’ last public performance with Morrison, at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 12, 1970, Morrison apparently had a breakdown on stage. Midway through the set he slammed the microphone numerous times into the stage floor until the platform beneath was destroyed, then sat down and refused to perform for the remainder of the show. Drummer John Densmore recalls the incident in his biography Riders On the Storm, where, after the show he met with Ray and Robby; they decided to end their live act, citing their mutual agreement that Morrison was ready to retire from performing.^{[citation needed]}

L.A. Woman

Despite Morrison’s conviction and the fallout from their appearance in New Orleans, The Doors set out to reclaim their status as a premier act with L.A. Woman in 1971. The album included rhythm guitarist Marc Benno on several tracks and prominently featured bassist Jerry Scheff, best known for his work in Elvis Presley‘s TCB Band. Despite a comparatively low Billboard chart peak at #9, L.A. Woman contained two Top 20 hits and went on to be their second best-selling studio album, surpassed in sales only by their debut. The album explored their R&B roots, although during rehearsals they had a falling-out with Paul Rothchild, who was dissatisfied with the band’s effort. Denouncing “Love Her Madly” as “cocktail lounge music”, he quit and handed the production to Bruce Botnick and the Doors.^[66]

The title track and two singles (“Love Her Madly” and “Riders on the Storm“) remain mainstays of rock radio programming, with the last of these being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for its special significance to recorded music. In the song “L.A. Woman”, Jim Morrison scrambles the letters of his own name to chant “Mr. Mojo Risin”.^[67] During the sessions, a short clip of the band performing “Crawling King Snake” was filmed. As far as is known, this is the last clip of the Doors performing with Morrison.

On March 13, 1971, following the recording of L.A. Woman, Morrison took a leave of absence from the Doors and moved to Paris with Pamela Courson. He had visited the city the previous summer and was interested in moving there to become a writer in exile.^{[citation needed]}

Morrison’s death

Morrison was found dead in a bathtub on July 3, 1971 in Paris by his girlfriend Pamela Courson.^[68] Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play.^{[citation needed]} The absence of an official autopsy and the death certificate’s having no reason of death besides heart failure, have left many questions regarding the cause of death. Morrison was buried in the “Poets’ Corner” of Père Lachaise Cemetery on July 7. The epitaph on his headstone bears the Greek inscription “ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ”, literally meaning “According to his own daimōn” and usually interpreted as “True to his own spirit”.^[69][70]

Morrison passed away at age 27, the same age as several other famous rock stars in the 27 Club. In 1974, Morrison’s girlfriend Pamela Courson also died at the age of 27.^[71]

1971–1973

Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek in 1971

Other Voices

The surviving members of the Doors continued for some time, initially considering replacing Morrison with a new singer. Instead, Krieger and Manzarek took over on vocals and the Doors released two more albums before disbanding. The recording of Other Voices took place from June to August 1971, and the album was released in October 1971. The LP featured the single “Tightrope Ride”, which received some airplay.

The trio began performing again with additional supporting members on Friday, November 12, 1971 at Pershing Municipal Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska, followed by shows in Carnegie Hall on November 23, 1971, and the Hollywood Palladium on November 26, 1971.

Full Circle

The recordings for Full Circle took place during the spring of 1972, and the album was released in August 1972. The last album expanded into jazz territory. While neither album has been reissued on CD in the United States, they have been released on 2-on-1 CDs in Germany and Russia.

For the tours during this period, the Doors enlisted Jack Conrad on bass (who had played on several tracks on both “Other Voices” and “Full Circle”) as well as Bobby Ray Henson on rhythm guitar. They began a European tour covering France, Germany, Holland, Amsterdam, and England beginning in May. The fruit of this effort can be seen in their appearance on the German show Beat-Club of which many high quality sources can be found online.

Break-up

The group disbanded in 1973^[7] and Krieger and Densmore formed the Butts Band from 1973 to 1975. Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore reunited in 1978 for An American Prayer, 1993 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1997 in the studio to complete the Morrison penned “Orange County Suite” and 2000 for VH1’s Storytellers: A Celebration and on the tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors, which featured band members playing alongside guest performers as well as recording new music.

Reunions

1978 – An American Prayer

The third post-Morrison album, An American Prayer, was released in 1978. It consisted of the band adding musical backing tracks to previously recorded spoken word performances of Morrison reciting his poetry. The record was a commercial success, acquiring a platinum certificate.^[72] An American Prayer was re-mastered and re-released with bonus tracks in 1995.^[73]

1993 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In 1993, the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the ceremony Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited once again to perform “Roadhouse Blues”, “Break On Through” and “Light My Fire”. Eddie Vedder filled in on lead vocals, while Don Was played bass.

1997 – “Orange County Suite”

For the 1997 boxed set, the surviving members of the Doors once again reunited to complete “Orange County Suite”. The track was one that Morrison had written and recorded, providing vocals and piano.

2000 – VH1’s Storytellers and Stoned Immaculate

The Doors reunited in 2000 to perform on VH1’s Storytellers. For the live performance, the band was joined by Angelo Barbera by numerous guest vocalists, including Ian Astbury (of the Cult), Scott Weiland, Scott Stapp, Perry Farrell, Pat Monahan and Travis Meeks. Following the recording the Storytellers: A Celebration, the band members joined to record music for the Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors tribute album. These sessions also yielded new songs credited to the Doors; “Under Waterfall” and “The Cosmic Movie.” Astbury became lead singer of the Doors of the 21st Century in 2002. The group featured original Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek.^{[citation needed]}

2007 – “Woman in the Window”

On May 29, 2007, Perry Farrell‘s group the Satellite Party released its first album Ultra Payloaded on Columbia Records. The album features “Woman in the Window”, a new song with music and a pre-recorded vocal performance provided by Jim Morrison.

2011 – Re:GENERATION

“I like to say this is the first new Doors track of the 21st century”, Ray Manzarek said of a new song he recorded with Robby Krieger, John Densmore and DJ/producer Skrillex (Sonny Moore). The recording session and song are part of a documentary film, Re:GENERATION, that recruited five popular DJs/producers to work with artists from five separate genres and had them record new music. Manzarek and Skrillex had an immediate musical connection. “Sonny plays his beat, all he had to do was play the one thing. I listened to it and I said, ‘Holy shit, that’s strong,’” Manzarek says. “Basically, it’s a variation on ‘Milestones’, by Miles Davis, and if I do say so myself, sounds f**king great, hot as hell.”^[74] The track, called “Breakn’ a Sweat“, was included on Skrillex’s EP Bangarang.

2013 – Strange 2013

In 2013, the remaining members of the Doors recorded with rapper Tech N9ne for the song “Strange 2013”, appearing on his album Something Else, which features new instrumentation by the band and samples of Jim Morrison’s vocals from the song “Strange Days”.^[75]

2016 – Celebration for Ray Manzarek

February 12, 2016, at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, John Densmore and Robby Krieger reunited for the first time in 15 years to perform in tribute to Ray and benefit Stand Up to Cancer. That day would have been Ray’s 76th birthday.^[76] The night featured Exene Cervenka and John Doe of the band X, Rami Jaffee of the Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert Deleo, Jane’s Addiction‘s Stephen Perkins, Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara, Andrew Watt, among others.^[77]

After the Doors

Butts Band (1973–1975)

Krieger and Densmore formed the Butts Band in 1973, but disbanded in 1975 after two albums. Phil Chen, who played bass on the band’s second album, would later join Robby once again with Manzarek–Krieger.

Manzarek’s solo work and Nite City (1974–2013)

Manzarek made three solo albums from 1974 to 1983 and formed a band called Nite City in 1975, which released two albums from 1977 to 1978. Krieger released six solo albums from 1977 to 2010. All of the ex-Doors solo albums have met with mixed reviews. In recent years Densmore formed a jazz band called Tribaljazz and they released a self-titled album in 2006.

Manzarek–Krieger (2002–2013)

In 2002, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger formed a new version of the Doors which they called the Doors of the 21st Century. After legal battles over use of the Doors name with drummer John Densmore, they changed their name several times and ultimately toured under the name “Manzarek–Krieger” or “Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors”. The group was dedicated to performing the music of the Doors and Jim Morrison. John Densmore refused to participate because of Morrison’s absence, although Manzarek and Krieger always invited him. On May 20, 2013, Ray Manzarek died of complications related to bile duct cancer.

New releases

1983 saw the release of the live album Alive, She Cried, which was compiled from live recordings made between 1968 and 1970. The tapes consisted of the soundtrack to a 1968 Danish TV special and unreleased multitrack recordings from the Absolutely Live shows. This was the first “new” Doors material since “An American Prayer”. “Gloria” (recorded at the Aquarius Theater rehearsals) was edited and issued as a single and a video was created to promote the track.

Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1987. This 5-song EP was released to coincide with the release of the 1968 Hollywood Bowl show on home video. It was released as a 12″ vinyl EP, cassette and compact disc. The release was limited and went out of print quickly. Only one track from the EP (The Unknown Soldier) was later included on a double CD, In Concert, which also compiled the Alive She Cried album as well as Absolutely Live for the first time on CD. In Concert has since been replaced with a single disc remastered edition of Absolutely Live. The Alive, She Cried and Live at the Hollywood Bowl recordings have not seen reissue since.

In 1997, the first archive material in many years was included on the release of The Doors: Box Set, a four-CD set, one of which was a “greatest hits” type CD. Some of the material had been previously available on bootlegs. A notable inclusion on the compilation was a CD of highlights from the 1970 Felt Forum concert and a cleaned-up recording of the (edited) 1969 “Rock Is Dead” session. The surviving members again re-united to add new musical backing to the solo Morrison song “Orange County Suite”.

The 1999 Complete Studio Recordings box set only included the first six studio albums (omitting An American Prayer, Other Voices and Full Circle), and the Perception box set, released on November 21, 2006, continued the same trend omitting the three post-Morrison studio albums. The 2006 box set contained about two hours of mostly unheard studio outtakes from the first six albums. Each album was represented by two discs: a CD of the album and the bonus tracks, and a DVD-Audio with both stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes (produced and mixed by Bruce Botnick) in 96 kHz/24-bit LPCM, Dolby Digital, and DTS, as well as mostly previously released video footage. The discs were accompanied by new liner notes by Botnick and articles from several music critics and historians for each album.

Following the recording of Storytellers: A Celebration, the band members joined solo and together to record for Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors. These sessions also yielded new songs credited to the Doors; “Under Waterfall” and “The Cosmic Movie”.

In November 2000, the Doors announced the creation of Bright Midnight Records, a label through which 36 albums and 90 hours of previously unreleased Morrison-era Doors material would be made available on CD. This was launched with a sampler of forthcoming material, mostly from live concerts. The first full release was a two-CD set of the May 1970 show at Detroit‘s Cobo Center, notable for being, according to Doors manager Danny Sugerman in its liner notes, “easily… the longest Doors set ever performed.” It was followed by two CDs of interviews, mostly with Morrison, and the two 1969 Aquarius shows and one of the rehearsals. A four-CD set Boot Yer Butt included bootleg quality material but sold out nevertheless.^[78] It was notable for the inclusion of the only known performances of songs from L.A. Woman including the title track and “The Changeling” from the Doors’ final recorded show in December 1970, Dallas, Texas. In 2005, a two-CD concert from Philadelphia in 1970 was released.

Many bootleg recordings are available of the group. Among them are a wealth of shows from March 1967 at the Matrix Club in San Francisco. Many shows are available from 1968 when the band reached the height of its popularity, notably two shows in Stockholm, Sweden. The infamous Miami show has become widely available while many 1970 shows, notably a radio broadcast of the June 5 Seattle and June 6 Vancouver show, make the rounds. The complete 1969 Rock Is Dead studio jam was discovered in the mid-1990s. In Rock is Dead and in interviews Morrison makes it clear that the music is a continued exploration of the Dionysian mythic content that had informed his earlier poetry. The apocalyptic elements in the music and the poetry were ahead of the music of the day; later groups like Nirvana are influenced by the Doors.

In July 2007, Rhino Entertainment released Live In Boston,^[79] a three-disc live album by the Doors. It was recorded on April 10, 1970, as part of the Absolutely Live tour. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by the Doors.

In March 2008, Rhino released Pittsburgh Civic Arena,^[80] a live album recorded in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena on May 2, 1970. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by the Doors.

In November 2008, Rhino released Live at the Matrix 1967, a double live album^[81] compiled and resequenced from recordings made on March 7 and 10, 1967 at the Matrix in San Francisco by club co-owner Peter Abram.^[82] The recording is notable because it is one of the earliest live recordings of the band known to exist: The Doors had recorded only one album by March 1967, “Light My Fire” had yet to be released as a single,^[83] and they were still relatively unknown outside Southern California.

In November 2009, Rhino released Live in New York,^[84] a six-disc box set of the final four concerts performed by the Doors on January 17 and 18, 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. About a third of the material on the set was previously unreleased.

In April 2010, Rhino released When You’re Strange: Music from the Motion Picture,^[85] a single disc soundtrack to the 2010 documentary film, narrated by Johnny Depp, about the Doors and their music. The soundtrack features 14 songs from the Doors’ six studio albums, with studio versions mixed with live versions, including performances from The Ed Sullivan Show, Television-Byen in Gladsaxe, Felt Forum in New York and the Isle of Wight Festival.

In November 2010, Rhino released Live in Vancouver 1970,^[86] a two-disc live album. It was recorded on June 6, 1970 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vince Treanor, the Doors’ tour manager, recorded the show for the band on a Sony reel-to-reel using two microphones placed on the stage. While not a multitrack high fidelity recording, it is clean, quiet and clear, allowing the unbridled energy of the performances to shine through. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by the Doors.

When You’re Strange was released in April 2010. It is, as Ray Manzarek says, the true story of the Doors, told through use of new interviews and previously unreleased video footage. The film is narrated by Johnny Depp, and directed by Tom DiCillo.^[87] Rhino released a soundtrack to the movie in March 2010, containing both live and studio recordings.^[87]

In July 2011, Rhino UK released A Collection,^[88] a six-CD retrospective box set of the first six albums from the Doors recorded 1966–71. It features remastered tracks by Bruce Botnick and original artwork in replicated paper sleeves.

In January 2012, Rhino released L.A. Woman (40th Anniversary). The two CD re-issue of the original album was remastered with an additional disc of bonus material. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of L.A. Woman, Eagle Rock Entertainment created the documentary Mr Mojo Risin’ detailing how the Doors created their last studio album. It goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording, and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, plus contributions from Jac Holzman (founder of their label Elektra Records), Bill Siddons (their manager), Bruce Botnick (engineer and co-producer of the album), and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from the Doors. The documentary was released in (DVD/Blu-ray Disc) on January 24, 2012.^[89]

In January 2012, a double LP L.A. Woman: The Workshop Sessions was released. The album is an alternate version of the album L.A. Woman, featuring the previously unreleased alternate versions of songs and studio chatter found on the 40th anniversary edition.^[89]

In November 2012, The Doors: Live At The Bowl ‘68 was released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc.^[90]

In November 2013, The Doors: R-Evolution was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc.^[91]

A documentary film, The Doors: Feast Of Friends was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in November 2014.^[92]

In September 2015, the double album Other Voices/The Full Circle was released. It included the track, “Treetrunk,” which was the B-side on the 1972 single “Get Up And Dance”. The track has only been previously available on the original 7-inch single, and the CD singles box set Our Friends by Warner Music Japan released in 2013.^[93]

In December 2016, The Doors: London Fog 1966 box set was released for their 50th anniversary.^[94]

In February 2018, The Doors Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was released in Blu-ray/CD, DVD/CD, Blu-ray disc and DVD.^[95]

In April 2018, the film Break On Thru: A celebration of Ray Manzarek and The Doors was premiered at the 2018 Asbury Music and film festival. The film highlights the 2016 concert in honor of Manzarek’s 77th birthday and new footage and interviews.

Films about the Doors

In 1991, the film The Doors was released, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Val Kilmer as Morrison. Stone created the script from over a hundred interviews of people who were in Jim Morrison’s life. He designed the movie by picking the songs and then adding the appropriate scripts to them.^[96]

The original band members did not like the film’s portrayal of the events. In the book The Doors, Manzarek states, “That Oliver Stone thing did real damage to the guy I knew: Jim Morrison, the poet.” In addition, Manzarek claims that he wanted the movie to be about all four members of the band, not only Morrison.^[97] Densmore said, “A third of it’s fiction.” In the same volume, Krieger agrees with the other two, but also says, “It could have been a lot worse.”

The documentary When You’re Strange was released in 2009 and follows the band’s life through archive footage. Narrated by Johnny Depp, it captures the formation of the band in 1965 and continues through rehearsals, performances and more.

Awards, accolades, and critical appraisal

• In 1993, the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[98]
• In 1998, “Light My Fire” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track).^[99]
• In 1998, VH-1 compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll. The Doors were ranked number 20 by top music artists while Rock on the Net readers ranked them number 15.^[100]
• In 2000, the Doors were ranked number 32 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists,^[101] and “Light My Fire” was ranked number seven on VH1’s Greatest Rock Songs.^[102]
• In 2002, their self-titled album‘ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (Album).^[99]
• In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Doors 41st on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time

  .^[14]

• Also in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included two of their songs: “Light My Fire” at number 35 and “The End” at number 328.^[103]
• In 2007, the Doors received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.^[104]
• In 2007, the Doors received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[105]
• In 2010, Riders On The Storm was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track).^[99]
• In 2011, the Doors received a Grammy Award in Best Long Form Music Video for the film When You’re Strange, directed by Tom DiCillo.^[106]
• In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included three of their studio albums; the self-titled album at number 42, L.A. Woman at number 362, and Strange Days at number 407.^[107]
• In 2014, the Doors were voted by British Classic Rock magazine’s readers to receive that year’s Roll of Honour Tommy Vance “Inspiration” Award.^[108]
• In 2014, The Doors – R-Evolution was nominated for Film of the Year at 2014 Classic Rock Roll Honour Awards.^{[citation needed]}
• In 2015, the Library of Congress selected The Doors for inclusion in the National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance.^[109]
• The Doors were honored for the 50th anniversary of their self-titled album release, January 4, 2017, with the city of Los Angeles proclaiming that date “The Day of the Doors.” ^[110] At a ceremony in Venice, Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Bonin introduced surviving members Densmore and Krieger, presenting them with a framed proclamation and lighting a Doors sign beneath the famed ‘Venice’ letters.^[111]

Members

• Jim Morrison – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion, synthesizer (1965–1971; his death)
• Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals (1965–1973; died 2013)
• John Densmore – drums, percussion (1965–1973)
• Robby Krieger – lead guitar, vocals (1965–1973)

Guest musicians

• Leroy Vinnegar – bass Waiting For The Sun on the track; Spanish Caravan
• Harvey Brooks – bass guitar Soft Parade (1969)
• Lonnie Mack – Gibson Flying V “No. 7” Morrison Hotel (1970)
• Ray Neapolitan – bass guitar Morrison Hotel (1970)
• John Sebastian (as “G. Puglese”) – harmonica Morrison Hotel (1970)
• Jack Conrad – bass guitar (1971–1973)
• Bobby Ray Henson – rhythm guitar, back vocals, percussion (1971–1973)
• Marc Benno – rhythm guitar L.A. Woman (1971)
• Jerry Scheff – bass guitar, L.A. Woman, An American Prayer(1971, 1978), Respectively.
• Reinol Andino – percussion (1978)
• Arthur Barrow – synthesizer programming (1978; on “The Movie”)
• Bob Glaub – bass only (1978; “Albinoni – Adagio”)
• Eddie Vedder – lead vocals (1993)
• Don Was – bass guitar (1993)
• Angelo Barbera – bass guitar (2000)
• Douglass Lubahn – bass guitar Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun; Soft Parade (1967–1969)

Manzarek–Krieger

Selected discography

Videography