Line-up

(1965-1971) Jim Morrison - lead vocals
Robby Krieger - guitar, backing vocals
Ray Manzarek - keyboards, keyboard bass, backing vocals
John Densmore - drums, percussion

(1971-1973) Robby Krieger - guitar, vocals
Ray Manzarek - keyboards, keyboard bass, vocals
John Densmore - drums, percussion

The Doors were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles by keyboardist Ray Manzarek, vocalist Jim Morrison, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. They were one of the most controversial bands of their time, due mostly to Morrison's cryptic lyrics and unpredictable stage persona. Since the band's dissolution in the early 1970s — and especially since Morrison's death in 1971 — interest in the Doors' music has remained high. They have sold over 76 million albums worldwide, and still sell 1 million annually.

The origins of The Doors lay in a chance meeting between acquaintances and UCLA film school students Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach, California in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs and, at Manzarek's encouragement, sang "Moonlight Drive". Impressed by Morrison's lyrics, Manzarek suggested they form a band.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek was in a band called Rick and The Ravens with his brother Rick Manzarek, while Robby Krieger and John Densmore were playing with The Psychedelic Rangers and knew Manzarek from yoga and meditation classes. In August, Densmore joined the group and along with members of the Ravens and bass player Patty Sullivan, recorded a six-song demo in September 1965.

That month the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and the final lineup — Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore — was complete. The band took their name from the title of a book by Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception.

The Doors were unusual among rock groups because they did not use a bass guitar when playing live. Instead, Manzarek played the bass lines with his left hand on the newly invented Fender Rhodes bass keyboard, an offshoot of the well-known Fender Rhodes electric piano, playing other keyboards with his right hand.

There was a controversy with the release of the "Hello, I Love You" single in 1968, when the rock press pointed out the song's musical resemblance to The Kinks' 1965 hit "All Day and All of the Night". Members of the Kinks have concurred with music critics: Kinks guitarist Dave Davies has been known to add snippets of "Hello, I Love You" during solo live performances of "All Day and All of the Night" as a sarcastic commentary on the subject.

The Doors' self-titled debut LP was recorded in August 1966 and released in the first week of January 1967. It featured most of the major songs from their set, including the 11-minute musical drama, "The End". The band recorded the album in a few days in late August and early September 1966, almost entirely live in the studio with many songs captured in a single take.

The second single, "Light My Fire", became a smash hit in the summer of 1967, and established the group — in the vein of the Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead — as one of America's vital counterculture bands.

The Doors earned a reputation as a rebellious live act. With his stage presence and skin-tight leather trousers, Morrison became a sex symbol, although he soon became frustrated with the strictures of stardom. Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) network censors demanded that Morrison change the lyrics to "Light My Fire" by altering the line, "Girl, we couldn't get much higher," before the band performed the song live on September 17, 1967, on the Ed Sullivan Show. The line was changed to, "Girl, we couldn't get much better". However, Morrison sang the original line, and on live television with no delay, CBS was powerless to stop it. A furious Ed Sullivan refused to shake the band members' hands, and they were never invited back to the show.

Strange Days, was less spontaneous than their debut, but it was noted for its evocative lyrics and atmosphere. The closing track, "When the Music's Over", was, like "The End", lengthy and dramatic, and helped establish Morrison's reputation as the shaman of rock. The album was also commercial and featured now-classic Doors songs such as "People Are Strange" and "Love Me Two Times".

The band began to branch out from their initial form in their third LP, because they had exhausted their original repertoire and began writing new material. It became their first #1 LP and the single "Hello, I Love You" was their second and last US #1 single.

The Miami incident occurred at the March 1, 1969,at Dinner Key Auditorium concert in Miami. Morrison had been drinking since missing his flight to the show.
The 6,900 seat auditorium had been oversold. Morrison drunkely bellowed into the microphone. He shouted: "Anything you want, let's do it", and then, allegedly, exposed himself. In his autobiography, Manzarek claims it never took place.

The incident outraged local authorities and got Morrison busted for obscenity. Gigs all over the US were canceled. "We had our first major tour-a twenty city tour-scheduled at the time, and we were all kind of apprehensive about that," wrote Manzarek. "Twenty cities? Holy cow, we're gonna tour for a month? Until then, we'd never gone out for more longer than four or five days at the most. But every city canceled-nineteen cities, all across the country."

In the last two years of his life, Morrison curtailed his intake of drugs and drank heavily, which affected his stage and studio performances. He put on weight and grew a thick beard, causing Elektra to use earlier photos for the cover of the Absolutely Live LP, released in 1970. The album features performances recorded on The Doors' 1970 American tour.

The Doors staged a return to form with their 1970 LP Morrison Hotel. Featuring a consistent, hard rock sound, the album's opener was "Roadhouse Blues". The record hit US #4.

The 40th Anniversary CD reissue contains outtakes and alternate takes, including a different version of "The Spy" as well as versions of "Roadhouse Blues" with Lonnie Mack on bass guitar and The Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian contributing a bluesy harmonica.

The band continued to perform at arenas throughout the summer. Morrison faced trial in Miami in August, but the group made it to the Isle of Wight Festival on August 29. They performed alongside artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and Sly & The Family Stone. On September 16, Morrison took to the stand, but the jury returned a guilty verdict for profanity and indecent exposure on September 20. Morrison was sentenced to eight months' custody but was allowed to go free pending an appeal.

During the Doors' last public performance, at the "Warehouse" in New Orleans on December 12, 1970, Morrison apparently had a breakdown on stage. He slammed the microphone numerous times into the stage floor. Nevertheless, The Doors looked set to regain its crown as a premier act with L.A. Woman in 1971. The album explored their R&B roots, although during rehearsals they had a falling-out with Rothchild. Denouncing the new repertoire as "cocktail music," he quit and handed the production to Botnick. The result is considered a classic Doors album. The singles "Love Her Madly" and "Riders on the Storm" remain mainstays of rock radio.

In 1971, following the recording of L.A. Woman, Morrison decided to take some time off and moved to Paris with girlfriend, Pamela Courson, in March. He had visited the city the previous summer and seemed content to write and explore the place.

By June, he was again drinking heavily. On June 16, the last known recording of Morrison was made when he befriended two street musicians at a bar and invited them to a studio. The results were released in 1994 on a bootleg CD titled The Lost Paris Tapes.

Morrison died under mysterious circumstances on July 3, 1971. His body was found in the bathtub of his apartment. It was concluded that he died of a heart attack, although it was later revealed that no autopsy had been performed before Morrison's body was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery on July 7.

There are persistent rumours that Morrison faked his death to escape the spotlight or died at a nightclub and that his body had been surreptitiously taken to his apartment. However, in his book Wonderland Avenue, Morrison's former associate Danny Sugerman states that during his last meeting with Courson which took place shortly before her own death from a heroin overdose she confessed that she had introduced Morrison to the drug and because he had a fear of needles, she had injected him with the dose that killed him.

In 1991, director Oliver Stone released his film The Doors, starring Val Kilmer as Morrison and with cameos by Krieger and Densmore. British vocalist Ian Astbury of The Cult was Stone's preferred choice to play Morrison, but Astbury chose not to appear in the film. Kilmer's impersonation and the film itself were praised by critics, despite its inaccuracies. Members of the group criticized Stone's portrayal of Morrison as an out-of-control sociopath. Singer Billy Idol had a cameo in the film and recorded a cover of "L.A. Woman."

In 1993, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, and Robby Krieger reunited for their induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, sang vocals. The group performed three songs, Break on Through, Light my Fire, and Roadhouse Blues.

In 2001, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger reunited again to perform The Doors' hits as part of the VH1 Storytellers series. Singing with the band were guest lead vocalists, including The Cult's Ian Astbury, Creed's Scott Stapp, Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland, Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell and Days of the New's Travis Meeks. The show was later released on DVD as VH1 Storytellers - The Doors (A Celebration).

In 2002 Manzarek and Krieger reunited and created a new version of The Doors, called "The Doors of the 21st Century." The lineup was fronted by Astbury, with Angelo Barbera from Krieger's band on bass. At their first concert, the group announced that drummer John Densmore would not perform, and it was later reported that he was unable to play because he suffered from tinnitus. Densmore was initially replaced by Stewart Copeland of The Police, but after Copeland broke his arm falling off a bicycle, the arrangement ended in mutual lawsuits, and he was replaced by Ty Dennis, drummer with Krieger's band. Densmore subsequently claimed that he had in fact not been invited to take part in the reunion.

A flurry of activity was announced in 2006 for the upcoming 40th anniversary of the group's debut album. This saw another box-set of the studio recordings, a coffee table book "The Doors by The Doors" and the beginning of production of an officially sanctioned documentary about the group.

The Doors, along with the Grateful Dead and Joan Baez, received a lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

On March 14, 2007 Brett Scallions, former lead singer of the band Fuel, was announced as the new lead singer of The Doors new group Riders on the Storm.

Discography

The Doors (January 4, 1967)
Strange Days (October 7, 1967)
Waiting for the Sun (July 11, 1968)
The Soft Parade (June 25, 1969)
Morrison Hotel (February 1, 1970)
Absolutely Live (July 1970)
L.A. Woman (April 1971)
Other Voices (October 1971)
Full Circle (August 1972)
An American Prayer (November 17, 1978)
Alive, She Cried (October 1983)