Electric Eclectic' Opens The Doors Success 1967

[darkstar3]

Lewiston Morning Tribune
November 12 1967
Free Lance Star
November 11 1967
By Mary Campbell

DOORS’ MUSIC IS ON THE DARK SIDE BUT TO THEM IT’S ‘CLEANSING’
‘ELECTRIC ECLECTIC’ OPENS DOORS SUCCESS

The Doors, who think philosophically a lot, see a dark side and a light side to life. Their music definitely comes from the dark side. And it is going over big with the public.

Early this year, their first single, “Light My Fire,’ reached the No. 1 spot on the best selling charts and their first LP, “The Doors,” went to No. 1 on album charts, a very unusual occurrence for first releases. “The Doors” album still is No. 3 and their second album “Strange Days” is No. 9 and climbing. The group records for Elektra.

Themes of both albums, lead singer Joe Morrison says, are love, travel and death. “The End,” an 11 ½ minute band on “The Doors,” contains all three. It’s a fantasy which can be viewed as Freudian about an Oedipus complex and murder.

Morrison says, “It was the first rock song to make a leap into drama. It is a primitive form of drama which one actor and the musicians as a kind of chorus. I think we may have introduced a new trend in pop music.”

The Doors don’t find their music depressing. According to Morrison, “It’s more cleansing, purifying.

“You go through a realm of cares and despondency, darkness and madness, and it builds to an unendurable climax and returns to peace and order. Somehow it’s a more stable order because you’ve gone through the whole other region.”

Speaking of influences on their music, organist Ray Manzarek calls their sound “electric eclectic.” It’s rock, but classical influences, jazz and blues can be heard and lyrics are on the literary side. There is also what has been called “spontaneity with a structure.” Morrison sometimes sets a basic outline and then the song is shaped and mostly created by all four Doors during a recording session, rehearsal or live performance.

The Doors – same personnel for the two years they’ve been together – are Morrison, 23 born in Melbourne, Fla.; Manzarek, 25, born in Chicago; guitarist Robby Krieger, 21, born in Los Angeles; and John Densmore, 22, born in Santa Monica Calif. All have attended college in Southern California.

The Doors say they don’t compose or perform chiefly to get commercial hits. Manzarek says, “What is important is, does the music ring that bell somewhere? What the musician is doing should be a complete delight to himself. If you are not knocked out by every note that you play, then something is wrong. On both our albums, for us, the bells are constantly ringing.”

Morrison says, speaking of the state of the world, “There is conflict. That’s why we have a war and flower children in the same reality.

“We’re part of everything that is going on today. We’re part of the war and part of the love-in, because it is happening.”

What about LSD and other drugs? Manzarek says, “When we tell our fans we’re not on drugs they act shocked or laugh like they don’t believe it.”

Morrison adds, “I think some of them think we’re burning ourselves on drugs, so they don’t have to do it. We do it for them. It’s part of the mystique of being musicians.”

As for where rock is going, Krieger says, “I’d say it was getting less melodic. The Beatles used to be very melodic, with “Michelle” and “Yesterday.” Now they’re starting to do things with one note. Jefferson Airplane have the new San Francisco sound, taken from India. Hardly any music at all, droning.”

END.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

This is of great interest because it is one of the last interviews 'The Doors' ever did.
That's strange you might say as didn't they continue till 1973?
Well yes and no.
Bear with my reasoning.
By 'The Doors' I mean the original concept that evolved from Venice Beach to take LA by storm in 1966 and then America in 1967.
In November 1967 the future was bright for 'The Doors' but by March 1968 the band was lost in turmoil and no matter how hard they tried they never recovered until LAW by which time it was far too late for them.

There are a few pivotal comments here that show what 'The Doors' were trying to achieve and would fail spectacularly a few months later.

Mar 30, 2011 2:31:30 GMT darkstar3 said:

Morrison says, “It was the first rock song to make a leap into drama. It is a primitive form of drama which one actor and the musicians as a kind of chorus. I think we may have introduced a new trend in pop music.”

This statement shows how much of an innovator 'The Doors' were and what Morrison saw as the future of 'The Doors'.

Mar 30, 2011 2:31:30 GMT darkstar3 said:

The Doors say they don’t compose or perform chiefly to get commercial hits. Manzarek says, “What is important is, does the music ring that bell somewhere? What the musician is doing should be a complete delight to himself. If you are not knocked out by every note that you play, then something is wrong. On both our albums, for us, the bells are constantly ringing.”

This is an important statement from Ray as it sets the band apart from all the other music going on at the time.
As Paul Rothchild said about the debut LP the band looked for the muse not the perfect track and sought the art rather than the hit. After 1967 the bells would not ring until LAW.

Mar 30, 2011 2:31:30 GMT darkstar3 said:

Speaking of influences on their music, organist Ray Manzarek calls their sound “electric eclectic.” It’s rock, but classical influences, jazz and blues can be heard and lyrics are on the literary side. There is also what has been called “spontaneity with a structure.” Morrison sometimes sets a basic outline and then the song is shaped and mostly created by all four Doors during a recording session, rehearsal or live performance.

Two wonderful descriptions of 'The Doors' by Ray.
Basically what he is saying is 'The Doors' are about performing art.
A play with music and poetry that creates a gallery of images in the mind.
'The Doors' tried to keep this vision alive or shall we say Jim Morrison tried to keep this vision alive but by March 1968 he realised that 1967 was 'The Doors' high water mark when it came to this eclectic spontaneity.
Rothchild would stamp his authority on the next three albums, the three musicians would search for the hit rather than the moment and the singer would hide away inside a bottle of whisky to escape the madness that would engulf the band until the end of it's days and beyond.
Shame really!


Further reading

The Doors unhinged..Soft Parade cause & effect


The Great Lost Doors Album Celebration Of The Lizard!

[gizmo]

i think it all sounds good in that interview becouse they didn't have a clue how much money a hit single makes, they had still nice ideals to live for but when you're getting richer you'll get lazier as well ( why should we make another album while we can take a few more hit singles from the old one). this is the time when the doors where still into making art, not money. they where doing it for the music, not realising that ppl might like it and that they had to make a second album wich should be better than the first(wich almost never happens)

maybe naive in the music buisness is a good description, one hit and made a few dimes of it, but still full of ideals

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

They had a clue mate as LMF had brought in a pretty penny for them. Ray Manzarek remembers to this day his first royalty cheque.
They were at their peak of artistic endeavour as the 2nd album was for me the one which defines The Doors.
They lost their way when they ditched COTL for HILY.
Morrison seemed a different person. If you take idiots like Tom DiCillo as your guide that would be because, according to WYS "Morrison takes a hard turn from psychedelics to booze".
But if you examine the time line you will see other more plausible reasons.
It's what we discuss in the threads below. Art and success are uneasy bedmates.

Further reading

When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors? The Trial and Tribulations of Tom DiCillo


The Doors unhinged..Soft Parade cause & effect


The Great Lost Doors Album Celebration Of The Lizard!

[darkstar3]

The Doors were busy during the month of November 1967 bouncing back and forth between the West & East Coasts of the U.S. - Jim appeared on Nov 2nd at the Whisky with Bo Diddley, The Doors performed on the 4th in San Diego, the 8th they appeared on the Bruce Morrow's Music Power TV Show in New York, 10th a performance in Seattle Washington, the 11th at the University of Oregon, 12th Eugene Oregon, the 15th Jim Morrison appears in Vogue Magazine, 16th a performance at the Fillmore West, 17th Winterland Arena, the 24th Hunter College, 25th Washington, D.C., the 26th Hartford Conn., and last but not least they are awarded Gold Records for LMF and their first album on the 27th.

A few news articles from the month of November 1967:

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Doors, A Way In and A Way Out, Rock On Coast
By Robert Windeler
Nov 20 1967

The Doors is one pop music group that may make it to the end of this rock generation, which is to say it may last another five years.

An audience of 4,500 packed Winterland, and abandoned ice skating rink in a run down section of San Francisco, last night and Friday night to find out why or to pay tribute.

When The Doors came on to do their thing, there was sudden silence and the crowd sat as if it were about to hear a chamber music concert.

And they did hear everything from Bach chord changes to a Brecht-Weill song and The Doors Top 40 hit ‘Light My Fire.’ But more important, they sat in rapt attention to every visual and vocal gyration of The Doors lead singer, Jim Morrison, as if in homage to some primitive ritual.

It is precisely this total attention that The Doors’ audiences seek and The Doors exploit. “For me it’s a religious involvement,” said Ray Manzarek, the group’s organist. “For the public it’s total submersion into our music.”

Consequently, public performances are what The Doors do most, although they have all the requisites of a top pop group.

On stage the twenty three year old Mr. Morrison, dressed in skintight black vinyl, mouths each lyric – sung or spoken – as if it were poetry, which it sometimes is, albeit punctuated by ear piercing blasts by organ, guitar, and drums. The other members of the group, Mr. Manzarek, twenty-five, Robbie Krieger, twenty one, and John Densmore, twenty two are essentially instrumentalists.

END.


The New York Post
New York Times
Nov 25 1967
Doors Seek Nirvana Vote Here (excerpts)
By Alfred G Aronowitz

The best definition of pop is one that counts at the box office, but lion-maned Jim Morrison considers the Doors as something more than a hit rock ‘n’ roll group. “Think of us,” he like to say, “as erotic politicians.”

Mr Morrison writes the lyrics, and they are filled with the tension of his impatience: “Cancel my subscription to the resurrection….We want the world and we want it now…Deliver me from reason. I’d rather fly.

Like the drummer John Densmore and the guitarist Robby Krieger, who are both disciples of the Indian mystic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Mr Morrison considers himself consumed with spiritual concepts. The problem is that visions don’t have to be packaged, they have to shine through by themselves.

Like the drummer John Densmore and the guitarist Robby Krieger, who are both disciples of the Indian mystic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Mr Morrison considers himself consumed with spiritual concepts. The problem is that visions don’t have to be packaged, they have to shine through by themselves.

Have The Doors become successful enough to start taking themselves seriously?

The entire article can be found here:
newdoorstalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=calendarview&thread=313

On August 30 1967 Elektra Records requested the RIAA to certify both the Doors s/t album and the single "Light My Fire" as Gold Records. The Doors received the awards in late November of the same year.

Both Time and Newsweek ran articles on The Doors that month as well. The November 24th issue of Time Magazine said, “The Doors ultimately envision music with the structure of poetic drama,” and went on to describe the band’s success. Later in the month the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded The Doors gold records for both “Light My Fire” and the first album, “The Doors.” “Light My Fire” had outsold every single but one in 1967 and the first album sold 1,200,000 copies. It had been number one for 3 weeks, in the Top 10 for 23 weeks, and would stay on the chart for a total of 104 weeks. The Doors were now mainstream news. (BOT Page 182-183)

More here: newdoorstalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=calendarview&thread=692

According to Doors drummer John Densmore’s autobiography (Riders On The Storm), former Daily Flash drummer Jon Keliohor substituted for his Laurel Canyon neighbor Densmore at the Eugene and Corvallis shows. Fortunately for Densmore, although Keliohor was a fine drummer, the band didn't like playing with a substitute.

Source: Rockprosopography

More here: newdoorstalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=calendarview&thread=307