The Doors is the debut album by the American band The Doors. Morrison’s early poetry symboded with Manzarek’s organ kaleidoscopes, Krieger’s guitar knots and Densmore’s jazzy rhythmic handwriting. And so a great album was born, reflecting a turning point in the history and culture of the second half of the ’60s. A legendary album.

The tracklisting is
Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Soul Kitchen
The Crystal Ship
Twentieth Century Fox
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
Light My Fire
Back Door Man
I Looked At You
End Of The Night
Take It As It Comes
The End

And so:

Ladies and Gentlemen! From Los Angeles, California… The Doors!
The Doors playing in the street

It was the controversial year of 1966. It was a time of big changes: changes in politics and economics, art and conscience. Even The Beatles had stopped being all pie-boys – they had shed those silly three-piece suits and recorded the revolutionary Revolver, changing the course of events forever. Like any time period, this era was also “helped” by certain phenomena to pave the way for the future. One of these “pillars” in ’60s America was the Californian band The Doors.

The history of The Doors began on Venice Beach with the song Moonlight Drive, which the shy Jim Morrison, a student of the UCLA College of Motion Picture Arts, sang to his friend Ray Manzarek. The latter immediately sensed in Jim’s verses and peculiar singing a power and strength that he immediately suggested forming a rock and roll band.

And things spun…

Musicians were found, each unique in their use of their instrument’s capabilities. The guys spent an entire year preparing their songs, simultaneously performing in Los Angeles bars. Among other places was Whisky a Go Go, a club that had already become a cult one – many bands dreamt of playing there.

It was in this place that The Doors met their future “patron” – the producer Paul Rothschild who saw with his own eyes (and heard with his own ears) what the guys were capable of on stage and believed in them, backing his words with the proposed contract with Elektra Records. By the way, Rothschild was recommended the Doors by another “rock’n’roll hero”, Arthur Lee of Love.

The secret of The Doors success
The Doors became popular because they had a strong base. I mean musically and intellectually. Each of them had charisma. I think it would be appropriate to talk briefly about each of the musicians of The Doors.

Jim Morrison is a strong and certainly mature individual. Plus a wonderful poet who could reach the deepest secret fears of his listeners with simple words, as he himself sang later. Besides these really important qualities, he was contradictory – a singer who was a mix of a genius and a drunkard, a flamboyant rocker and a sentimental lyricist, a vulnerable rebellious teenager and an “old man” who had seen more in his short life than many could ever imagine.

Ray Manzarek is an important figure not only within The Doors, but also in the general meaning of rock culture. Calm and reserved, he was always a “beacon” in the band – at the concerts, where nobody (even the band members) knew what Jim was going to do next, it was Ray who controlled the situation. At the same time, he managed to play organ and bass parts at the same time. And playing two independent lines in parallel, as any pianist knows, is far from easy and requires a high degree of concentration. It was at that time that Ray began to practice meditation and yoga. And it seems that these classes helped him. By the way, it was at the yoga classes that he met Krieger and Densmore – the future guitarist and drummer of The Doors.

Robbie Krieger is the guitarist you have to look for. After all, he’s one of the ones who brought elements of jazz guitar playing to rock music. His fingerstyle way of playing added waviness and the necessary vibe to their sound. He was also adept at slide and even flamenco techniques. At the same time, he behaved rather modestly on stage (considering that in rock the role of a guitarist is just as important as that of a vocalist).

John Densmore is a silent and tactful drummer, who grew up in the same musical dimension as Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix’s drummer) and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones. The thing that all three have in common is their use of jazz elements in their playing. And how they ennobled the rock sound of the ’60s! Densmore could play softly, almost imperceptibly, leaving “air” for Morrison’s vocals. At the same time, at key moments he began to play powerfully and dynamically through a variety of interludes.

All in all, they are all great talents!

The sounding and recording of the album
The album was recorded in the late summer of 1966 in live only a few days. As a rule, the songs were recorded from the first take – so well played by the time the musicians were recorded. The songs were recorded on a 4-track tape recorder.