"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would
appear to man as it is, infinite" ---William BlakeThe above excerpt from
Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, was the inspiration for the
Doors name. Jim Morrison, the band's lead singer, was an avid reader of
poetry. The band was formed by Morrison and Ray Manzarek who were both film
students at UCLA. The Doors enjoyed a spectacular if short-lived period of
prominence from 1967 with the release of their debut album, until the death
of lead singer Jim Morrison in 1971. The group's fame was dependent on the
magnetic yet doomed persona of Morrison who self-destructed through heavy
drug use. His substance abuse was legendary---on one occasion during a
European tour in 1968 he was so out of it that the rest of the group had to
perform without him (Ray Manzarek did the vocals in addition to playing the
keyboard and bass parts). The group had an unusual line-up: guitar,
keyboard, drums, and vocals----there was no bass player. Their sound
was even more distinctive because the guitarist, Robbie Krieger was trained
primarily as a classical guitarist and his technique was very unusual in
rock. He played finger-style rather than with a pick. Krieger wrote the
band's first #1 hit, "Light My Fire" although on the band's first album all
writing credits were attributed to the band, no one individual. Their music was
distinguished by dark lyrics laden with themes of loneliness and alienation.
For examples, listen to the songs "People Are Strange" or "Break On
Through To The Other Side."
Some of the Doors songs featured lengthy
instrumental solos that were characteristic of much of the rock music in the
late 1960s. "Light My Fire," for example, has keyboard and guitar solos
back to back in the middle of the song.
