The History Of: The Doors

The significance of the Doors should not be underestimated. When you consider the context they discredited through their violence, when you look around and consider the bands and singers that have captured the imagination in the years since -- from Alice Cooper to Bryan Ferry -- it becomes obvious that Jim Morrison was one of the fathers of contemporary rock. The Stones were dirty, but the Doors were dread, and the difference is crucial, because dread is the great fact of our time.

Jim Morrison was born on December 8th, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. He came from a long line of military careerists, and part of his hype was that borth parents were dead. He studies film at UCLA, but soon he drifted out to the Venice Beach culture, where transience (Spelling?) was a given and acid the drug of preference. A friend later claimed that during this period he ate it constantly, "like Candy." Whether that's not true or not, it's a fact that one day he ran into keyboard player Ray Manzarek, an acquaintance from film school days and a classically trained musician who today looks just like a schoolteacher. But back then, down on the beach, they squatted in the middle of the sand and Morrison recited him "Moonlight Drive."

"When he sang those lines, 'lets's swim to the moon/Lets climb through the tide? Penetrate the evening/That the city sleeps to hide,'" Manzarek has recalled, "I said, thats it... it seemed as though, if we got a group together we could make a million dollars." The doors as concept was created by those two on the beach that day. The Doors paid dues in 1966, at crummy clubs on the Strip in L.A. and then at the Whisky a Go Go, where Morrison took of on improvisational flights, aloft and hungry until Jac Holzman walked in one night and decided this exhibitionistic debauch was just the act to give Elektra, his fading folkie label, a stake in the electric politics everybody saw building. Holzman was no fool.

The Doors (1967) turned out to be one of the best-selling albums of its era, with the hit single "Light My Fire" serving perfectly as the anthem of a generation until "Gimme Shelter" came along to supersede it. But their first real claim to history was probably "The End"; it freaked out producer Paul Rothchild. who waxed metaphysical with Morrison over the Oedipal drama. It had also freaked out the manager of the Whisky, who threw Morrison out of his club. And it was the first major statement of the Doors' perennial themes: dread, violence, guilt without possibility of redemption, the miscarriages of love, and, most of all, death.

Nevertheless, the last time I heard "The End," it sounded funny. Even by Strange Days, the second Doors album, it was becoming apparent that the group was limited, and that Morrison's Lizard King vision was usually morbid in the most obvious posible way, and thus cheap. The whole nightmare easily translated into parody -- and there was a supremely sad irony here. But when Morrison hit straight and deep -- "People are strange when you're a stranger/Faces look ugly when you're alone" -- you knew he fel the hill and live it, and that was perhaps the saddest part. Because in time he became a true clown, picking up the Lizard King cartoon and wearing it like a bib to keep the drunk drool from rolling down to stain his shirt.

Meanwhile the audience, oblivious to irony if not entirely to pathos, felt burned as they watched him get drunker and fatter. Pretty soon the word was out all down the line, and high school kids were scornful of the Doors; by the time Waiting For The Sun was released, the Band's stock had dropped to a level just this side of bublegum, even as Morrison still skirted skid row.

So with the same desperation that drives millions of far less celebreated alcoholics, Morrison began to flirt with new and more dangerous forms of exhibitionism. Creating havoc on planes, getting arrested in airports. Pushing his way to the stage of the Troubador and raving drunkenly. Onstage at a Doors conert in New Haven, telling the crowd how he and a girl were maced by police in the dressing room; stage suddenly covered with police, the whole thing stupid. But not as stupid as the famous Miami cock flashing incident. March 1969. A song broken down in the middle, the singer too drunk to even make a pretense of professionalism. Everyone waited for the Lizard King to do something crazy, The man screamed drunkenly "You wanna see my cock?" and then unzipped, waving and waving. Meanwhile, the Doors' artistic stock had hit an all-time low ith the Soft Parade, released in summer 1969, not long after the Miami incident.

Mean while down the road He had wanted to be a literary figure, even if it was only the Doors' pop success that allowed publication of his sophomoric jottings in The Lords and the New Creatures. In mid-1971, with a bluesy and intermittently successful album called L.A. Woman finished, Morrison headed for Paris, home of the French Symbolist poets, birthplace of the Surealist movemtn, Celine's misanthropic ellipses and much else that had undoubtedly inspired him.

He probably had some vague idea, like Hemingway and Fitzgerald before him, of finding literary sustenance in that atmosphere, and, like mahy another frustrated writer before him, he found plenty of booze.

He also found death, in a bathtub, of a heart attack, on July 3rd, 1971. He was twenty-seven years old

Comments

[VR05]

1st, it was ok i think there wasnt a lot of facts there but stilprety good nonetheless

[420]

Well, im sure your highschool english teacher would want to kill you if she read this, however it was informative so I say good job.

[atc228]

i dont like your writing style, but thats just my opinion. i really didnt understand where u started or where u were going with it. im not a big doors fan so i dont know whether the facts are true or not but i do know that i have no clue who the "lizard king" is
nice try, 2 or 3 stars

[dan_the_pie]

jim was a brilliant man. he was also a raging alcoholic who'd ruin shows because he was pissed at something. ray, john, and jim got out of going to the army becasue they claimed they were gay and robbie paid his way out. long live the lizard king

[molly's_lips54]

really interesting article..4 stars..nice detail

[Diabolic Clown]

This more of a History on Jim, with hardly anything about the doors. The Doors rocked though, so I'll give it 2 stars.

[Love Me 2Times]

hmm...most of this you could get from the doors movie, i would have liked to see some more obscure facts.
all the same, it will educate those of us who don't know very much about the doors. maybe if you could publish one for those of us who have already seen the doors movie? just a thought 3 stars

[FreewayJam]

This article is very weak. A lot of the facts are wrong and/or out-of-order, and the author sounds like somebody who dislikes The Doors but was forced to write this anyway, never mind the terrible grammar. As for all the other comments so far...well, it's just flat out stupid to give an article a good review just because it's about a topic to your liking. 1 star.

[«ÃFireÏnside»]

Not that great at all....I agree with FreewayJam on this with his/her comments. Many big facts missed.

[ledhed68]

2 stars, this was the history of Jim Morrison, not the doors, you barely put in anything about Ray, Robbie or John and it's still really short for a history about the Doors

[PumpkinsPunk]

^^ I couldent get anything from them, Its like all I know about them is that thier in the band, sorry though

[kurtpage]

I had to reread the parts about the Doors' limited style and their image being cheap( Jim's act was a parody?) I thought I read it wrong or something. Dude what the ***. First off thats not a bio of the Doors is a shitty personal opinion. I wasnt around back then but i dont think eveyone hated the doors after their 1st album. Your grammer sucks and I dont think u realized what u wrote after the 1st four paras. I dont think you should bother writing anymore on UG.

[febass]

what is it with all the rockers dying at 27, Jimi, Kurt, Janis Joplin...

[GnRrelease_it]

^^took the words right outta my mouth...
i figure if you make it past 27 you'll live forever like keith richards.

3 stars

[PumpkinsPunk]

kurtpage
my other article kicked ass, and I like the comments i'm getting, so It can help me brush up on my history, but you can eat a dick for all I care. You have a good taste for music but still.

[Shoestick]

Yeah alot of this stuff is vague or wrong and the writing is well, its all been said.

[ac/guns n zep]

Didnt some people say Morrison is still alive and he faked his death. Does anyone know if this is true?

[jed_punk]

nice article

[bettywrong]

how did youn manage to make an article about an intresting band, like The Doors, sound so boring?

[thefinalcut]

You have a strange writing style. It almost seems like you put words/phrases in there to make yourself look smarter (I don't mean that in a cruel way either). I think it would've been better if it had greater focus to it. Fewer personal comments would've kept you ot of trouble too.

[waveofmutilaton]

horrible article. you obviously dont know the doors in depth or else the story wouldnt have been so one sided opposing jim morrison and the doors accomplishments. 1 star.

[FreewayJam]

Pumpkins, if you don't know anything about the other members of the band, why are you writing an article about THE DOORS, as opposed to JIM MORRISON. In any case, you could at the very least get your most basic facts straight, seeing how much information you completely mucked up. Try reading a book on whatever band your limited brain decides to chronicle next.

[dufflebag]

revive morrison.

Yeah.
Quite all over the place... I'm sorry I can't really compliment anything in it. You would learn much more from watching the amazing movie (the doors). That movie was really great, Val Kilmer did a great job.

There are rumours of Jim faking his death, I forget the website, but they cannot be true. Think of the drugs this guy took (all at once) why would he bother faking his death, if he was so intrigued by it? I'm sure he died because the pounds and gallons of drugs and alcohol slowed his heart to an abrupt stop.

Also, wasn't the stage flashing a joke? Didn't he fake it, just because he of all people knew how to get people going?

[rockbassguitar]

The Movie wasn't accurate in some areas, as he really didn't do all that much drugs after the acid phase, he really just drank a shitload. This sounded very negative, even though the begining was accurate. 2 stars.

[DetroitRockCity]

sould have titled it the history of jim morrison

[pink is punk]

jim morrison lives!

[Clarkinator]

Yeah I love the Doors...but you need more on the rest of the band. The keyboard/organ playing the Doors introduced was unlike anything Rock had seen at this time. They were very good (IMO) musicians. And yes, Morrison is ***in sweet, but don't forget the rest of the band. Also you dont mention how the whole band came together...

[gmsje]

This is the dumbest article yet. I lived the 60's and The Doors were not considered "bubblegum" by the time of Waiting for the Sun. In fact, The Unknown Soldier from that album helped mobilize opinion of potential draftees like myself against the Vietnam war. That song saturated the airwaves in 1968. I still have my vinyl copy of that album and Soft Parade. I have never heard anyone except the ignorant author of this drivel call Light My Fire and Gimme Shelter "anthems" of my generation. This tripe is by someone who was never there and is trying to pass himself off as though he was. Just because some readers will accept anything in front of them as valid doesn't validate the plethora of factual errors in this travesty of history, nor does it mean it is worth a ***t. Next time check with FreewayJam or kurtpage or waveofmutilation before "writing" another article that "kicked ass." More like sucks ass. How someone can write an article on the Doors without once talking about Robby Krieger's songwriting is proof that this pathetic attempt at composition is worthless. The monitors ought to make people cite their sources in the writing before letting idiocy like this pass for informed discourse. This article isn't about The Doors. It's about spewing rumor and fantasy in the guise of history. Yea, Morrison Hotel was just Juicy Fruit (that's a 60's bubblgum reference you twit) right? The only bubblegum in this article is between the ears of the author.

[hhamdy283]

Do you...understand....words? Wow, what a piece of s***. I think you and Morrison had something in common. You both were high all the time, because only a junkie or retard could wrrite something this bad. 1 star.

[hhamdy283]

Oh yeah, another thing, how could you write an article about the Doors and not even mention half the band? You missed Robbie Krieger and John Densmore, and you only mentioned Ray Manzarek once. Unf***ing believable. I reccomend you take grade 9 english again, it would help greatly.

[rocketsauce50]

is this a review of the band or the movie???

[gmsje]

For 60's anthems think Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane, I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag by Country Joe and the Fish, For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield, Revolution by The Beatles, You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones or Something in the Air by Thunderclap Newman.

[ruberducky]

im not even gonna put a comment on this page

[ledsoldier]

this a ridiculus and embarressing biography on one of the most influential bands of the 60's. How dare you not mention John Densmore and Robby Krieger for god's sake. You probably dont this because of your ignorance but one night before a show, they were announced as Jim Morrison and The Doors. Jim Morrison personally went up to the dj and told him to reintroduce them as The Doors. Why? Because they were all equally important to the band.fool.....

[SMoD]

the doors are amazing...jim was a poet and should not have died

[pbnjammer]

ur english sucks and you didnt mention mention ray enough, whom the doors wouldnt have been the doors without, on the other hand you used some big words

[-spiderman-]

Acid is possibly the best songwriting tool i have

[SP_NIRVANA]

Wow, I didn't know he died so young.

[Matt Montoya]

[quote=pumpkinspunk]Nevertheless, the last time I heard "The End,"[/quote]

Ugh, I can't stand it when articles about the history of a band say "When I...". It's so unprofessional, and the article is about the Doors, not you.

[stukes 04]

If your going to do an article on the doors you have to ACTUALLY STUDY up on them. You are so completely innaccurate on this it makes me wonder if u know ur dick from your pinky finger. You can't give personal opinions in essays or bio's if if ur opinion is uneducated. You competely disrespected a great band and a great poet. sit on a tack and read " No One Here Gets Out Alive" then tell me something about the doors

[Battery Chicken]

"No One Here Gets Out Alive" is okay, but for a firsthand look inside the Doors, try John Densmore's "Riders on the Storm". John is actually an ace writer, and it's worth a read even if your not a Doors fan.

[spencerwcp]

I'm sorry, but jim morrison kicks some major ass. Jim Morrison was the sexiest person of the sixtys. You made this article more about jim morrison than the doors do you even know who robby krieger and john densmore are? they were half the band. PLUS spelling you need to work on that. You didnt really have any idea what you were talking about i think that UG should delete this shit.

[fake_username]

I am an avid doors fan so i respect the time you put into this. I do believe you could have had a different approach. It's hard to define the doors(in your case Jim Morrison), looking past the lables as a drunk you should define him as he was, a poet. In the end the music was the most important aspect of the doors. I am also upset at the lack of information om the rest of the band. Robby Kreigers flaminco and bottle neck guitar, John densmore's articulate drum patterns, and Ray Manzerecks blues influenced keyboard. Actually, to hell with this I'm writing my own history of the doors with more unorthodox material most people don't know and a good meaning to the band.
P.S. stop skipping english class.