Dez's Top Rock/Pop Artists, #12: The Doors

The Other Three

I am going to write a bit about The Doors without focusing on Jim Morrison. I know that hasn’t been done very often, as Morrison has been the center of Doors history since his demise, even appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine in the late 1980’s (he died in 1971) in an article about his enduring popularity and sex appeal. The legion of Doors-haters out there also tends to focus on Morrison and his bad, acid-trip poetry.

But the other three guys are why I love The Doors’s music so much. When I listen to The Doors, sometimes I don't even hear Jim Morrison, because I am concentrating so closely on what they are playing behind him. The sound they created on their six studio records is quite unique in rock and roll, often imitated and very influential, but never duplicated. Ray Manzarek was the heart of their sound, playing that dizzy organ and piano that was so prominent in their best known songs, and doubling on keyboard bass duties for the first three of the six records (in the later days, they generally used session bassists). Manzarek’s musicianship is pretty remarkable (try playing the Doors keyboard parts on RockBand3!) In the studio on those first three albums and onstage throughout their career, he not only played the complex keyboard parts, but was simultaneously playing the bass parts, primarily with pedals. Robbie Krieger is a very underappreciated guitarist. Trained in flamenco and other non-rock styles, he was able to bring all of that influence into their music. Also, a killer bottleneck player as well, just listen to the bluesier material on their last couple of albums. John Densmore was trained as a jazz drummer, and his complex rhythms really open up their sound.

BELOW: I know I said I would focus on the other three, but Morrison aged pretty remarkably over five years of hard living, between their breakthough in '67 and his demise in '71...





The Doors’s music showed a remarkable progression over five years and six records. The first two records are really companion pieces, recorded within a year of each other and comprising of material that was written and perfected onstage during the same time period. They are the 60’s baroque Doors sound that most classic rock fans know. The middle two records show a period of transition where they try to grow and evolve, and are a mix of successes and embarrassing failures (especially their fourth record, the nadir of their discography, where they try to bring strings and horns into the mix). During my middle school and high school years, I focused on those first two records. But during the last year or two, I have really come to love the final two. The music and magic of the first two records could not be reproduced, and the experimentation on those middle two records led mostly to dead ends and failures. So The Doors turned themselves into an unlikely gritty, killer blues-rock band. This fit perfectly with Jim Morrison’s physical, mental and vocal state at the time. He was weary as hell and near the end of the road. This of course, was the perfect recipe for great blues-inspired rock music.

What To Listen To:
I still believe that The Doors’s debut, The Doors, is the most interesting debut record by any major rock artist. What a unique mood and sound, it is its own world. The follow-up, Strange Days, is almost as good, but it is made up of material left off of the first one. But tunes like the title track, “Love Me Two Times,” “Moonlight Drive,” “People Are Strange” and “You’re Lost Little Girl” are pretty awesome leftovers. I’ve probably listened to Morrison Hotel recently more than any other Doors record. After two albums of trying to find a new sound, they finally hit the jackpot with a gritty, no BS blues sound. This is their most hard hitting rock record. Swansong L.A. Woman is more weary and dreamy, but it is also a killer blues-based rock record. The Doors were not a great live band, so I can’t really recommend any of the plethora of live recordings that are available. It is mostly Morrison’s fault. His excesses were much more manageable in the studio. Also, for some reason, Manzarek’s keyboard sound always sounds so much fuller in the studio than live. There are more Doors compilations out there than real Doors albums (if Wikipedia is correct, I count 22 different Doors compilations that have been released). Legacy: The Absolute Best seems to be the best one out there, a full two disc set that covers most of the essential ground.