The Doors

[Mattman]

Anybody here like The Doors?  I've really gotten into them again in the past few days...I think it was hearing Bruce McCulloch's "Doors Fan" that got me back into listening to them.  I'm starting to appreciate again how powerful a frontman Jim Morrison was...and how weird.  I downloaded some live concert interlude where he goes, "Adolf Hitler is still alive.  I slept with her last night.  Come on out from behind that fake moustache, Adolf, we know you're out there."  An acid maniac to the highest degree...that stuff is hilarious to listen to.  But the songs themselves are still powerful.  My personal favourite is "Waiting For The Sun".

The thing I'm starting to appreciate more as I've become a musician is how little attention the rest of the band got.  They really were great ensemble players...they had this ambient, jazzy kind of feel that I really like, but they could rock hard when they wanted to.  And Robbie Krieger is a really good guitarist...he plays without a pick, like me.  He knows all this crazy jazz/classical stuff, but he plays it in a more tasteful way than self-indulgent dinosaurs like Yes.  I mean, the guitar on "Spanish Caravan"...amazing.

[Walk]

Before Black Sabbath, the Doors were the darkest band in the world. I bet Ozzy was listening to them when he decided to create heavy metal as we know it. I'm not a huge Doors fan, but I appreciate their influence! 

[Doc Emmett Brown]

Before Black Sabbath, the Doors were the darkest band in the world.

really?? I guess I havent heard too many Door songs then.? My favorite is LA Woman - I love it when they play that song on the radio.? And then I sing along...'City at Night, City at Night!'

Jim Morisson is one of those irresistible personalities that I find so alluring.? He does have this shaman-like aura about him.? Technically, I should use the past tense... But the weird thing is when I see that famous shirtless photo of him on countless t-shirts worn by all age groups, it's like he's still alive.

I agree the other members of the Doors are often overlooked.? I think that has been somewhat remedied by the The Doors 21C with Ian Astbury.? Has anyone seen them live?

[Aava]

If i ever got married, my wedding waltz would be Wintertime Love!

[nesquick]

"L.A. Woman" is probably one of the 5 or 6 greatest songs of all time.
The Doors were an extraordinary band.

[MadmanDan]

The Doors wasn't a great band,Jim Morrison was a brilliant musician.All the good songs come from his voice,lirycs and charisma,the others were mediocre musicians just along for the ride

[Mattman]

The Doors wasn't a great band,Jim Morrison was a brilliant musician.All the good songs come from his voice,lirycs and charisma,the others were mediocre musicians just along for the ride

Jim didn't play any instruments...he wasn't a musician in the true sense of the word.? It was more like they were putting his poetry to music.? All the memorable Doors tunes you know are because of Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, and Robbie Krieger's great instrumental ability and chemistry.? Jim didn't write any of the music, because he didn't know how.? I believe that this is put best by Danny Sugerman in his liner notes to The Best Of The Doors:

"Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore's brilliance and their ego forfeiture was crucial to the Doors' success.? Their contribution cannot be underestimated or overpraised.? For you see, it was not only what they gave which counts for so much, but what they were willing to hold back as well.? Morrison was the trailblazer and to a man they recognized this and let him lead.? Their following was supportive and sympathetic.? All four of them knew Jim could not have journeyed alone.? He would surely have beome lost and lacking in purpose.? It is no mystery why Jim never went solo - he knew he needed the Doors as much as they needed him.? The Doors were four and the four were one.? It was no mere attitude, it was the reality.? It was the only way the spell could be cast, the only possible way for the songs to be born.? The musicians were literally able to anticipate the singer during an improvisation and the singer, sensing this, grew in ability and confidence.? They became more daring.? The Doors' muscle flexed.? They were so strong they were terrifying.? But in that terror was beauty, joy and hope."

[Dot]

I really like these guys, their music will always be so unique, the way they replaced bass with keyboards was amazing, that was, is and will always b etheir signature sound....every time I hear keyboards played like that, I think of them. Jim Morrison, what a voice, great lyrics. I believe he was the very first rock star.

[RichardNixon]

I'm a huge fan of the doors. They went through a few distinct creative eras. Their first two albums (Doors and Strange Days) were psychedelic rock. Their next two (Waiting for the Sun and The Soft Parade) were far more pop/radio friendly. At this point a lot of their fans said that they had sold out. The next two (Morrison Hotel and LA Woman) were far more bare-bones blues rock. Their best work, IMHO. LA Woman is one of the best albums of all-time. The Doors went on to release two more albums as a trio (Other Voices and Full Circle). But they've been out-of-print for years now and are hard to come by.

[ClintroN]

Listen to An American Preyer, the best

Im a huge fan, long live The Doors

[Lady Livin]

yeah, there was always something so attractive about them to me. I didn't buy any of their stuff until last January. I went and got Legacy. although this was the afternoon, I layed down in the dark, and just engulfed each and every tune. I'm usually not interested in psychedelic music, and I'm still not, but it was truly an amazing 2hrs. 2hrs that I'll never forget.

by the way, my favorite album is Strange Days and my favorite song is My Eyes Have Seen You.

[Mama Kin]

Actually, Jim got out of doing acid fairly early on. He was an alcoholic. He stopped doing weed after some Jamican dude forced him to smoke a joint the size of a cigar. He did coke right up until he died, and may have done heroin, which lead to his death.

I'm a huge Jim Morrison fan and read everything I can about him. Hell, my graduattion quote thingy in my yearbook was "I want to be Jim Morrison".

He has and continues to influence me in many ways. The Doors have a place in rock that no one can take away from them, make no mistake, Jim was the heart and soul of that band and without him, those other 3 would not have made it to the level they did.

[Lady Livin]

I'm a huge Jim Morrison fan and read everything I can about him.

i've only read angels dance & angels die, no one here gets out alive, and of course his available poetry books. what would you recommend most?

[badgirl]

good thread! good to see so many Doors fans here. 

i am also a huge fan. they are in my top 3 all time favorites. Morrison was the quintessential frontman and they are one band that i can put on any album and not skip a track.
and agree that they are terribly underrated. i don't really understand why that is. 

best songs:
strange days
LA woman (obviously)
spanish caravan
riders
love her madly

[RichardNixon]

I saw the new Doors in May of 2003. It was the best show I have ever been to.

[mr_yoshimaroka]

I think there's an article on the RollingStone.com website (not sure if it still is there) that gave the most detailed and exact depiction of Jim's last few days. I felt sick in my stomach just reading it... it gets pretty nasty towards the end. 

[Mama Kin]

I'm a huge Jim Morrison fan and read everything I can about him.

i've only read angels dance & angels die, no one here gets out alive, and of course his available poetry books. what would you recommend most?

Depends on what perspective of Jim you want to get.

For unabashed hero worship check out

Light My Fire by Ray Manzercek
Wild Child- Patrica Kennealy-Morrison

Or Jim being a drunken idiot assclown
No One Here Gets Out Alive- Danny Sugarman and Jerry Hopkins
Riders on the Storm- John Densmore

For half-truths and homosexual themes
Jim Morrison- Stephen Davis

It's almost impossible to get a objective opinion of Morrison in anything. Every book tells the same story, but with different endings, like that telephone game when you were kid.

The one thing every seems to get straight really is Jim Morrison loved Pamela Courson above all else, except for the Kennealy book, who insists she was Jim's true love and has the wacky Pagan Wedding Certificate to prove it.

[Wheres Izzy]

I am a big fan of the doors music but now that I think about it I bet they're a good read so I'll probably check out some of the above titles. I like the oliver stone movie as well. I thought Val Kilmer did a great job.

[Mama Kin]

The Doors movie was entertaining, but, just wasn't true. Even events that did happen were made fictional. Like how Jim and Pam met, how Morrison said "higher" on Sullivan, chroniclogial order is dismissed.

I like the movie as well, but don't use it as a source of Doors info.

[Lady Livin]

yeah, and the whole thing with Pam in the closet on fire I heard was fictional. however, just goes to show that it's a MOVIE and it's for HOLLYWOOD.