Jim
Morrison was born in 1943 and was a strange minded child. He misbehaved
regularly and thrived on chaos, rebellion and disorder. In 1965 Morrison
was at film school in Los Angeles where he met Ray Manzarek and they realized
they shared a very similar interest in music. They experimented using Manzarek’s
keyboard skills combined with Morrison’s poetic lyrics. Shortly after Robby
Kreiger and John Densmore joined the band to play guitar and drums. The
band was now formed and the name “The Doors” (referring to William Blake’s
‘doors of perception’) was agreed upon and the band began playing in local
pubs and clubs.
In these early stages Morrison appeared shy on stage with his back regularly
to the audience. But soon his acid inspired lyrics started to help him.
He became a powerful stage figure and captivated audiences wherever The
Doors played with his antics, commotion and poetic style on stage. He expressed
his lyrics in a powerful, deep voice.
In 1967 The Doors released their first (self-titled album). It was hailed
by critics all over the world and immediately captivated the public. With
classic songs like “light my fire” The Doors were now destined for success.
Christmas 1967, The Doors released their second album ‘Strange Days’ it
was of a similar sophisticated style as the first album and contained compelling
tracks such as “love me two times” and “people are strange”. These songs
confirmed that The Doors didn’t view life through the joyful tinted glasses
of love and peace but in the form of sex and death.
In 1968 The Doors reached number one on the charts again with their album
‘Waiting for the sun’. They had a busy time touring and performing and
Morrison especially was sick and tired of the large number of performances.
He began using drugs like Acid much more regularly and he began drinking
heavily. He ruined recording sessions by destroying equipment or not even
turning up. He disrupted live shows with his on stage display of sexual
profanities and his vocal abuse towards authority at the shows. Morrison
was not the only one affected and his influence spread to other members
of the band like guitarist Robby Kreiger who also found enjoyment from
being stonned on stage.
Surprisingly their music was not affected. In 1969 The Doors released another
album ‘The soft parade’. Not their greatest album but still provided a
strong influence to the time alongside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Frustration began to set in and Morrison wanted more out of the band. His
drinking and drug taking increased and an incident in which Morrison allegedly
flashed the crowd would haunt him legally till his death.
In 1970 the group returned to the studio and returned to form with their
latest album ‘Morrison Hotel’. It now appeared that the band was returning
to their roots and doing what they were best at.
The Doors recording strength continued in 1971 with their release of another
album ‘L.A woman’. The album was an artistic success but it was now obvious
that the band’s leader was growing further apart from his fellow Doors
and this year they would conduct a tour of the Southern US which would
be their last tour.