The Doors

The Doors embodied the instant the 1960s American rock underground surged into broad commercial visibility. Although the band’s profound effect on rock’s subsequent direction was frequently eclipsed by prolonged glorification of frontman Jim Morrison, whose premature passing became central to their story, the singer appeared even more imposing after his death than during his lifetime; his renown reached a peak in the 1980s once the group reentered radio rotation following the use of their epic “The End” in key scenes of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Never issued as a single, “The End” nevertheless distilled the Doors’ 1967 allure through its Oedipal drama: the quartet projected an aura at once alien and menacing, drawing on sources rarely encountered in rock. Morrison’s intense verse and appetite for excess felt unprecedented when the self-titled debut arrived that year, just as Robby Krieger’s droning guitar figures and Ray Manzarek’s rippling keyboard lines did; Manzarek also handled keyboard bass onstage, while session players frequently supplied bass on record. Beneath the psychedelic veneer lay seasoned veterans of the Los Angeles garage circuit whose grounding in blues and hard rock supplied a tough, grounded quality that sustained them across their run, evident on signature singles such as “Light My Fire,” “Love Me Two Times,” “Hello, I Love You,” “Touch Me,” and “Love Her Madly.” That fusion of force and mysticism helped delineate both punk and art-rock—without the Doors, Iggy Pop is hard to envision—and ultimately proved their most enduring contribution, outlasting the Morrison legend and repeated classic-rock airplay.

Origins trace to Rick & the Ravens, a rowdy rock & roll unit built around brothers Rick and Jim Manzarek, with sibling Ray on keyboards. Ray had performed with the outfit since 1961 and remained while attending UCLA’s graduate film school. By chance he encountered fellow student Jim Morrison on Venice Beach; the two connected immediately, and Manzarek urged Morrison to join Rick & the Ravens as vocalist. Throughout 1965 Morrison steadily integrated into the lineup, and that summer John Densmore—acquaintance of Manzarek’s and drummer for the Psychedelic Rangers—signed on. In September 1965 the group entered World Pacific Studios to cut a demo containing early takes of “Moonlight Drive,” “Hello, I Love You,” and “Summer’s Almost Gone.” Soon afterward, at Morrison’s suggestion, the name became the Doors; Rick and Jim Manzarek plus bassist Pat Hansen (also known as Patty Sullivan), who had played on the World Pacific date, departed. Guitarist Robby Krieger, who had performed with Densmore in the Psychedelic Rangers, joined between those exits. Hansen was never replaced; Manzarek adopted the newly available Fender Rhodes Piano Bass for low-end duties.

The Doors secured a residency at the London Fog on the Sunset Strip. Early 1966 saw the ensemble refine its interplay and repertoire there, so that when it moved to the Whisky A Go Go that summer the band had crystallized its identity. On the recommendation of Love’s Arthur Lee, Elektra Records president Jac Holzman and producer Paul A. Rothchild caught two sets on 10 August 1966. Just over a week later the Doors signed with Elektra, already home to Love. Within seven days Morrison’s onstage profanity during “The End” cost the group its Whisky engagement, prompting a move to Sunset Sound to track the debut album.

The record reached stores in the first week of 1967. Local television spots and the single “Break on Through” followed, yet neither registered widely. Breakthrough arrived with “Light My Fire,” an expansive piece edited into a concise pop single released in April 1967. Through summer “Light My Fire” ascended to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, highlighted by an Ed Sullivan Show appearance in which Morrison delivered the line “girl we couldn’t get much higher” despite producers’ requests for a sanitized lyric, thereby converting the Doors into stars. By the time the single’s chart run concluded, the band had finished its second album, Strange Days.

Strange Days was assembled rapidly from material already in rotation. It registered as a chart aftershock, climbing to number three largely on the strength of lead single “People Are Strange,” which peaked at number 12. As follow-up “Love Me Two Times” reached number 25, Morrison encountered his first legal clash: on 9 December 1967, after a New Haven Arena concert in Connecticut, police arrested him on charges of public obscenity, indecency, and inciting a riot following verbal provocations. The charges were later dismissed for insufficient evidence, yet the episode cemented the singer’s outlaw image and foreshadowed further recklessness.

The arrest did not immediately dent popularity, which expanded in 1968 amid larger shows occasionally marred by crowd-police friction. Third album Waiting for the Sun affirmed this status, topping the chart thanks to its own number-one single “Hello, I Love You,” although sessions with Rothchild proved arduous. Having depleted their backlog of songs, the band saw the producer reject the extended “Celebration of the Lizard” suite, forcing much new material to be written in the studio. Late in the year “Touch Me,” a swaggering track featuring prominent horns, delivered a number-three hit in early 1969. While completing the accompanying album The Soft Parade, momentum faltered after a 1 March 1969 Miami concert resulted in a warrant for Morrison’s arrest; the central accusation—that he exposed himself during an intoxicated onstage tirade—was denied by the singer and the band. Morrison rejected a plea deal, received a six-month sentence, and remained free pending appeal.

Combined with mounting alcoholism, Morrison’s legal troubles hampered the group. The Soft Parade’s ornate orchestral arrangements invited “sell-out” charges upon its summer 1969 release; although it reached the Top 10, none of its next three singles entered the Top 40, signaling a commercial slowdown. Early-1970’s harder, more direct Morrison Hotel likewise failed to spawn a hit—“Roadhouse Blues,” the B-side of “You Make Me Real,” later became an album-rock staple—yet artistically the band regained footing, and audiences sent the album to number four. Bolstered by a summer live album, the Doors toured through 1970, often facing municipal opposition fueled by Morrison’s conduct. The year ended when he walked offstage during a 12 December New Orleans show, his final appearance with the group.

Early 1971 found the Doors completing L.A. Woman, recorded without longtime producer Rothchild; Bruce Botnick took the helm. Extending Morrison Hotel’s tougher approach, the album surfaced in spring 1971 alongside single “Love Her Madly,” which reached number 11; “Riders on the Storm” followed at number 14, while the LP peaked at number nine. The resurgence proved brief: on 3 July 1971, weeks after the release, Jim Morrison was found dead.

Although Morrison’s early death secured his place in rock mythology, the Doors did not dissolve. At the time of his passing Krieger, Manzarek, and Densmore were midway through a new album, anticipating Morrison’s vocals that summer. After his death they finished the set that became Other Voices—the guitarist and keyboardist sharing lead vocals—issuing it in October 1971 and touring behind it; the record reached number 31. Full Circle arrived less than a year later at number 68, a modest showing beside the earlier compilation Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine, which had climbed to number 55. By then the band was winding down and split in 1973.

Several years later the surviving members reconvened to score spoken-word recordings Morrison had left behind. The resulting An American Prayer appeared in 1978, the first sign of a Morrison resurgence that intensified in the 1980s. Although An American Prayer sold modestly, Coppola’s 1979 film Apocalypse Now featured two sequences with “The End,” introducing the band’s darker material to fresh listeners. The following year the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman became a bestseller, prompting Doors tracks back onto FM playlists and a Greatest Hits collection. Elektra/Asylum vice-president of public relations Bryn Bridenthal told Rolling Stone in a September 1981 cover story on Morrison—“Jim Morrison: He’s Hot, He’s Sexy and He’s Dead”—that “We’ve sold more Doors records this year than in any year since they were first released.” Interest persisted through the decade via archival releases, beginning with 1983’s Alive, She Cried, a concert compilation that reached number 23. Four years later Live at the Hollywood Bowl appeared.

The revival peaked in March 1991 with Oliver Stone’s biopic starring Val Kilmer as Morrison, Kyle MacLachlan as Manzarek, Kevin Dillon as Densmore, and Frank Whaley as Krieger. In its wake the live set In Concert was issued. The Doors entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, then released the retrospective box set in 1997, which included the remaining members finishing the outtake “Orange County Suite.” The understated reunion continued in 2000 with a VH1 Storytellers episode featuring guests Scott Weiland, Scott Stapp, and Train’s Pat Monahan. Also in 2000 came the tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors and the launch of the Bright Midnight series of archival concerts; over the next two decades Bright Midnight issued notable live recordings on a steady schedule. In 2002 Manzarek and Krieger formed the Doors of the 21st Century with Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals. Within a year Densmore obtained an injunction against use of the Doors name, forcing the pair to tour under variations of their own surnames.

Ray Manzarek succumbed to bile duct cancer at age 74 in May 2013. Following his death Krieger and Densmore reunited for a Stand Up to Cancer benefit performance. In 2020 they joined again for the Homeward Bound Concert charity event in Los Angeles, performing alongside Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Micah Nelson, and Haley Reinhart.