Uncle Joe's Record Guide

A sample of "Uncle Joe's Record Guide" - The Doors (a history).

The Doors

This is a direct excerpt from UNCLE JOE'S RECORD GUIDE - AMERICANS, Volume One, Copyright (c) 1989 by J. Benson Unlimited. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Together as a performing unit less than five years, the Doors created some of the most lasting music of any Sixties American rock & roll band.
Taking their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book, "The Doors Of Perception," which itself was inspired by a William Blake quote, the Doors were unique among all of the sixties American rock & roll bands. Unlike the folk music roots shared by the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, the basis of the Doors' music was blues and free-form jazz, combined with poetry. Musically, keyboardist Ray Manzarek held everything together, drummer John Densmore played off vocalist Jim Morrison, and guitarist Robbie Krieger spiced and accented the music with his tasty technique. While Morrison contributed most of the lyrics, and Krieger most of the killer licks, the Doors' music was always a sophisticated collaboration - again a departure from the norm for American rock & roll bands of the Sixties.
In later years, as a new generation of fans discovered the band, the Doors experienced an astounding resurgence in popularity. They were the first of the sixties bands to stage a comeback, and they sold more records in the eighties than when they were together. However, the Doors refrained from releasing exploitive albums, instead maintaining the band's integrity by assembling interesting, valid albums. Their finest live album was released 12 years after the death of the band's frontman, and their definitive greatest hits compilation was released 16 years after their biggest studio album. While Morrison's image often overshadowed the band during their heyday, the mark of the Doors' greatness is the timelessness of their music, which is just as evocative today as when it was recorded.

The Doors Birth Dates

John Densmore - 12/1/45
Robbie Krieger - 1/8/46
Ray Manzarek - 2/12/43
Jim Morrison - 12/8/43-7/3/71

The Doors
The Doors (22-23)

1st LP, released 1/67. Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison first met while students at the UCLA film school in 1963, but they didn't click musically until the summer of 1965. Both were 22-year olds when they recorded a four song demo in September of that year with 19-year-old drummer John Densmore. Manzarek's two brothers and a female bassist also played on the demo, but openly expressed a dislike for the music. One month later, Manzarek, Morrison and Densmore formed the Doors with 19-year-old guitarist Robbie Krieger. After a few months of rehearsals, the band began doing regular gigs at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood (the same club where the Buffalo Springfield would soon take up residence).
   In September 1966, the Doors began recording in a small 4-track studio with Paul Rothchild producing. Although the band had very little studio experience, this entire album was finished within two weeks! The sound was engineered by Bruce Botnick (who would soon do the same for the Rolling Stones' Aftermath album).
   The Doors were hot! At 23, Morrison was a poet and budding rock star already veering out of control. Drummer Densmore played off Morrison's vocals instead of the more usual bass lines. Guitarist Robbie Krieger accented the music and wrote killer riffs. Manzarek held everything together with his piano, organ and keyboard bass. Together, they made one of the finest debut albums ever.
   Within a few months of this release, the band's career took off like a rocket, fueled by a unique situation regarding "Light My Fire." The song was too long for 1967 Top 40 radio stations to play, so an edited version was released as the single. When the short version became a hit, the radio stations began playing the full length version to keep fans listening longer. The only way fans could get that full length version was to buy The Doors album. As a result, not only did the Doors become one of the first bands to get a song over six minutes long on the radio, they also were the first to spur album sales directly off radio airplay. Eventually, the Doors debut album charted at #2 and sold over a million copies.

** Special Note: The compact disc version of this album is so clean and clear, you'd never believe the music was recorded in 1966.

The Doors - Side One

"Break On Through (To The Other Side) was released as the band's first single. It bombed. A much rougher version of the song had appeared on the band's first demo.
"Soul Kitchen" was partially inspired by a little place called Olivia's Kitchen near the beach in Venice, California.
"The Crystal Ship" was used as the flipside of "Light My Fire."
"Twentieth Century Fox"
"The Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)" was taken from the Three Penny Opera by Bertol Brecht and Kurt Weill (pron. Vile), the same piece that was the source of the classic song "Mack The Knife."
"Light My Fire" was the Doors' breakthrough single, reaching #1 and selling a million copies within three weeks of its release! Unlike most of the songs on this album, "Light My Fire" was mainly written by guitarist Robbie Krieger. The middle solo section was a jam based on John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things."

The Doors - Side Two

"Back Door Man was a Willie Dixon blues classic.
"I Looked At You
"End Of The Night had been recorded on the band's first demo, and later evolved into "When The Musics Over." This song was used as the flipside of "Break On Through (To The Other Side)."
"Take It As It Comes"
When this album was released in 1967, "The End" was one of the most complex rock & roll songs ever recorded. To this day, it remains the most blatant musical treatment of the Oedipus/Elektra Greek myth.