People need
Connectors
Writers, heroes, stars, leaders
To give life form.
A child's sand boat facing
the sun.
Plastic soldiers in the miniature
dirt war. Forts.
Garage Rocket Ships
Ceremonies,
theatre, dances
To reassert Tribal needs & memories
a call to worship, uniting
above all, a reversion,
a longing for family & the
safety magic of childhood.
-Jim Morrison-
"--Moment
of inner freedom
when the mind is opened & the
infinite universe revealed
& the soul is left to wander
dazed & confus'd searching
here & there for teachers & friends."
Formed: 1965
in Los Angeles, California
Years Active: 1965 through 1973
Group's Main Members: Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger,
John Densmore
The Doors were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students
Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. Manzarek, an organist, had just formed
an R&B band named Rick And The Ravensask with his two brothers
and was searching for a vocalist and drummer. He was immediately
impressed with Morrison after hearing him sing a song he had written,
"Moonlight Drive" and ask him to join his band. They then
recruited drummer John Densmore and recorded six Morrison songs
shortly after. After the recordings Manzarek's brothers were unhappy
with its outcome and left the band. They both were replaced by Densmore's
friend, guitarist Robbie Krieger. A new bass player was never found.
The bass would be handled by both Krieger and Manzarek, who would
play it on his organ. Also at this time the band was renamed "The
Doors" by Morrison.
Tragically
on July 3, 1971 he was found dead in his bathtub by his common
law wife Pam. Officially he died of a heart attract but all kinds
of stories would abound, including one that he died at a Paris nightclub
of a drug overdose and his body was brought back to his apartment
and the cause of death was covered up.
The surviving
band members decided not to replace Jim and go on as a trio with
Manzarek on vocals. They released two more albums that were not
that bad, but without Morrison's writing and singing it wasn't
the same. They disbanded in 1973. But the Doors were not entirely
dead. There was just something about Morrison that would linger
and years later bring in new fans. In 1978, Manzarek, Krieger
and Densmore reunited to recorded new music for a series of poetry
recitations which Morrison had taped during the LA Woman sessions.
The resulting album, An American Prayer, was a big hit. That lead
to the live album Alive She Cried in 1983, which was from archived
material. It also sold well and all the older material also continued
to sell, which lead to Morrison's picture on the front cover of
Rolling Stone magazine in 1985 with the caption "He's Young,
He's Hot, He's Sexy and He's Dead". Finally, in 1991
director Oliver Stone made a feature film about Morrison and the
group called The Doors starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and it too
was a hit.
Even as the new century dawns, almost 30 years since his death,
Morrison is still a major role model to a new generation of rock
fans.
"An
angel runs
Thru the sudden light
A ghost precedes us
A shadow follows us
And each time we stop
We fall"
-Jim Morrison -
For
listen samples and reviews, click on CD cover photo. In new
window,
click on CD photo again and scroll down.
The
Doors (1967)
Strange Days (1967)
Waiting For the Sun (1968)
The Soft Parade (1969)
Morrison Hotel (1970)
Live
at the Aquarius Theatre: The First Performance [EXPLICIT LYRICS]
(1969)
Live at the Aquarius Theatre: The Second Performance [EXPLICIT
LYRICS] (1969)
Absolutely
Live (1970)
Live in Detroit (Cobo Hall - 1970)
L.A. Woman (1971)
The Full Circle (1972)
The Best of the Doors (1973)
...I
can place myself anywhere in
space or time.
I can summon the dead.
I can perceive events on other worlds,
in my deepest inner mind,
& in the minds of others,"
-Jim Morrison"
An
American Prayer (1978)
The Doors Greatest Hits (1980)
The Best of the Doors (1985)
Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1987)
The Doors in Concert (1991)
The
Doors Original Soundtrack from the Movie (1991)
The Ceremony Continues (1992)
No One Here Gets Out Alive [BOX SET]
The Ultimate Collected Spoken Words: 1967-1970
Bright Midnight
Essential
Rarities (2000)
Legacy: The Absolute Best (2003)
The Doors Boxed Set (1997)
Complete Studio Recordings -Box Set- 7 Discs (1999)
BOOKS
ABOUT AND BY
THE DOORS & JIM MORRISON
The
Doors Films
The
Doors (Special Edition) (1991) DVD
• Actors: Val Kilmer, Kathleen Quinlan, Michael Wincott,
Michael Madsen, Josh Evans, Dennis Burkley, many more
• Directors: Oliver Stone
• Number of discs: 1
• DVD Release Date: August 14, 2001
• Run Time: 141 minutes
The
Doors - Live in Europe 1968 DVD
Starring: Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek
Director: Paul Justman, Ray Manzarek
Doors
Are Open (1968)DVD
Doors - Soundstage
Performances (1969)DVD
The Doors
- No One Here Gets Out Alive
(Tribute to Jim Morrison) (1981)DVD
The
Doors Collection (Collector's Edition) (1985) DVD
Starring: John Densmore, Robby Krieger
Director: Ray Manzarek, Rick Schmidlin
• Number of discs: 1
• DVD Release Date: April 13, 1999
• Run Time: 172 minutes
We're
pleased to announce that the owners of the Morrison Hotel in downtown
Los Angeles -
who subjected their tenants to inhuman conditions in an attempt
to drive them out
and turn the building into expensive student housing -
have been tried and convicted on 21 counts of criminal negligence
by the L.A. City Attorney's office.
Made famous by the Doors album of the same name,
the Morrison is a historic building occupied by low-income people,
and these folks have suffered mightily at the hands of the unscrupulous
owners.
The Doors, manager Jeff Jampol,
and everyone at The Doors Music Company would like to congratulate
the determined activists at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy
(SAJE),
who worked tirelessly to promote the interests of the Morrison's
tenants.
And we wish those tenants a happy and peaceful holiday season.
"..do you have
straight jackets
for the guests
yes we do.."
'Jim Morrison'
Jim
Morrison Quotes
Some thought-provoking comments and quotes from the Lizard King.
The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.
The world we suggest is a new wild west.
A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun…
I like ideas about breaking away or overthrowing of established
order.
Real poetry doesn't say anything, it just ticks off possibilities.
Opens all doors. You can walk through any one that suits you.
Now is blessed- The rest, remembered.
Between
childhood, boyhood, adolescence & manhood (maturity)
there should be sharp lines drawn w/ Tests,
deaths feats, rites, stories, songs & judgements
"Have you ever seen God?" -a mandala.
A symmetrical angel. Felt? Yes. Fucking.
The Sun. Heard?
Music. Voices Touched?
an animal. your hand.
Tasted? Rare meat, corn, water & wine.
No one thought up being; he who thinks he has- Step forward.
There
are images I need to complete my own reality
Dreams are at once fruit & outcry against an atrophy of the
senses.
We must tie all these desperate impressions together.
There are things known and there are things unknown,
and in between are the doors.
For me, it was never really an act, those so-called performances.
It was a life-and-death thing, an attempt to communicate…
A quality of ignorance,
self-deception may be necessary to the poet's survival.
