TIME Quote of the year: "No viet cong ever called me nigger"
Muhammid Ali commenting on refusing his
draft selection - April 30, 1967
Legend:
(DU)
= Date Unknown, Date/Playlist, EVENT, Review, Timeline, Link,
Quote, Poetry/Lyrics, First Hand Experience
J a n u a r y
- M a r c h
January
1967
Sun. Jan. 1st: Shebang,
KTLA-TV Channel 5 - Los Angeles, CA (DU)
The Doors make their first live television
appearance lip-synching their first single "Break on Through". The
show is hosted by Casey Kasem and produced by Dick Clark.
F I R S T A L B U
M R E L E A S E D & B I L L B O A
R D
SIDE ONE
"Break On Through (To the Other Side)" – 2:29
"Soul Kitchen" – 3:35 "The
Crystal Ship" – 2:34
"Twentieth Century Fox" – 2:33
"Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) –
3:20
"Light My Fire" – 7:06
SIDE TWO
"Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon) – 3:34
"I Looked at You" – 2:22
"End of the Night" – 2:52
"Take It as It Comes" – 2:17
"The End" – 11:41
Robby Krieger – guitar
Jim Morrison – vocals
Ray Manzarek – organ, piano, keyboards, keyboard bass
("Break On Through," "The Crystal Ship," "Twentieth Century
Fox,"
"Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)," "Light My Fire," "End of the
Night," "The End")
John Densmore – drums
Larry Knechtel - bass ("Soul Kitchen," "Twentieth Century
Fox," "Back Door Man," "I Looked At You," "Take It As It
Comes")
Wed. Jan. 4th: Debut album release - First
single release
Elektra releases The Doors first album,
self-titled The Doors. "Break on
Through" is released as the first single with "End of the Night"
as the flip. A billboard with The Doors new album cover, the first
of its kind, is put up on the Strip. Unique packaging of the
album includes each band members bio.
T H E D O O R
S F I R S T T R I P T
O S A N F R A N C I S C
O & T H E F I L L M
O R E
PICTURES OF THE FILLMORE LOBBY 1966
Fri. Jan. 6th - Sun. 8th: Fillmore
Auditorium - San Francisco, CA (1st
of 5 weekends)
This is The Doors first
of five weekends at the Fillmore and first trip to San
Francisco. The Doors stay at the Swiss America Hotel near
the
red light district in the heart of the city's growing hip scene.
Also appearing: The Young Rascals; Sopwith Camel
Fri. Jan. 13th - Sun. 15th: Fillmore Auditorium
- San Francisco, CA (2nd of 5 weekends)
This is The Doors second
of five weekends. Jim chooses to sit through three
showings of Casablanca in a Sacramento theater and misses
the Friday show. Patrons are offered a refund or returning another
night. Also appearing: The Grateful Dead; The Junior Wells Chicago
Blues Band.
Sat. Jan. 14th: The Great Human Be-In -
Polo Field, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
The Doors attend but do not play at this
catalyst for upcoming rock festivals. Appearing at the show
are major San Francisco bands like The Grateful Dead and The
Jefferson Airplane along with notable poets and speakers such as
Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Michael
McClure. Attendance: 20,000
THE HUMAN BE-IN
Thur. Jan. 19th - Sun. 29th: Ondine - New York, NY (2nd of 3 long appearances)
This is The Doors second
trip to New York and their second of three lengthy stays at the
club. On opening night Jim comes out wearing faded blue
jeans and full of energy bangs his head of the low rafters at
the conclusion of the first set. Although obviously dazed
by the blow he fully recovers before the start of the next
set. The Doors blow audiences away this trip and get better
with each performance.
Tue. Feb. 14th - Wed. 15th: Whisky
a
Go-Go - San Francisco, CA
This is a much different Whisky than the one in
L.A. featuring topless fencing and topless luncheon fashion
shows! The Doors open for The Peanut Butter Conspiracy to
10-15 patrons! The Doors arrange to be replaced by the
Wildflower.
Sat. Feb. 18th: The Hullabaloo - Hollywood, CA (DU)
J I
M M E E T S T O M B A K E
R
Tue. Feb. 21st: Gazzarri's
- Hollywood, CA
The Doors jam tonight for the grand opening of Gazzarri's new
location on the Strip just down from the Whisky. The Doors
sign on for 7 more shows ending on March 2nd. Jim is both drunk
and on acid most of this week giving poor overall performances.
It is during this engagement that Tom Baker, a friend of Pam's,
first meets Jim.
Tom is a struggling actor with an interest in all of the arts
including writing, directing, and producing. He, like Jim, also
loves hard drinking and fast living. Tom and Jim will become
good drinking buddies regardless of the short lived affair he
and Pam had while in New York.
Photo of Tom Baker taken from a promo
of "I, a Man" an Andy Warhol movie Jim was also asked to do.
"While stumbling through
a song he let out a deep-throated roar, a bloodcurdling
scream, really, and it startled me, as though someone had
snapped a wet towel against my bare skin . . . Pam kept
telling me I was seeing him at far from his best. I replied
that he was a good guy, but he should keep his day job." - Tom Baker, first impression
while at Gazarri's
Wed. Feb. 22nd: Valley Music Theater - Woodland
Hills, CA - George Washington B'day Bash
The Doors are the
opening act for a fund raiser for CAFF (Community Action for Fact
and Freedom) established by members of the entertainment business
following the Sunset Strip riots in 1966. The Doors are
still underbilling for bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield
and Peter Paul and Mary who also perform this evening.
Thu. Feb. 23rd - Fri. 24th: Gazzarri's
- Hollywood, CA
Sat. Feb. 25th: The 2nd
Meeting of Tribes for a Human Be-In - Griffith
Park, Burbank, CA
Jerry Hopkins emcees the event, taking the UCLA
film department donated stage, at around 3:00 p.m. Approximately
5,500 peple are in attendance and enjoy a continuous stream of
bands throughout the day long event. The Doors perform at Gazzarri's
later this evening and then for their third show of the day play
an after-hours gig at The Hullabaloo from 2:00 a.m. - 4:00
a.m.
Sat. Feb. 26th - Thu. Mar. 2nd: Gazzarri's -
Hollywood, CA (No performance on March 1st)
Jim is very drunk and on acid usually giving
poor performances again this week yet the band receives good
reviews.
Review: "The Doors
wield a rock 'n' roll beat with continuous jazz improvisation to
produce an intense, highly emotional sound. They call their
music 'primitive and personal' and find it hard to work without
audience reaction. Their numbers change constantly at live
shows and new ones are written as they perform. The words
build with the music into an accelerating crescendo of frenzied
sound. Trying to avoid the 'hard straight sound' of many
rock groups, the Doors aim for 'dramatic impact' in their
music. Gazzarri's crowded dance floor proves that the
Doors' lyrical freedom hasn't hurt their strong rock 'n' roll
dance tempo." (Francine Grace, "Vibrant Jazz-Rock Group at
Gazzarri's," Los Angeles Times, 2/28/67)
March 1967
Fri. Mar. 3rd - Sat. 4th: Avalon
Ballroom - San Francisco, CA (1st of
4 weekends)
The Doors headline their first show at the
Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco tonight over bands like Country
Joe and
the Fish and The Sparrow (later named Steppenwolf). Jim is
really coming into own this night and the crowd is blown away by
'The End'. Jim dresses in all black, a stark contrast to the
rainbow-colored San Francisco dress code. It is at this time
the band notices Morrison clones, dressed in black leather, in the
audiences.
Tue. Mar. 7th- Sat. 11th: Matrix - San
Francisco,
CA (3 sets a night for 5 nights)
This small club only
seats about 100 people and is part owned by Marty Balin of The
Jefferson Airplane. Marty has a reel to reel set up for
recording while playing live and The Doors take full advantage
of this unique feature. These are popularly listened to shows
because the sound quality is supberb showcasing The Doors
sound. However, the shows are a little subdued for The
Doors around this time. It is not known if this is due to the
intimacy of the club or the attempt to play exceptionally well
in order to make good recordings. Jim seems almost
stoic, but in good voice and throws in alot of poetry during
improvisational pieces. Also performing: Larry Vargo
The Doors are
now much bigger than just an L.A. band with many Bay Area
followers, but "Break on Through" isn't breaking the top 100
stalling out at 106. The Doors begin to have their
doubts of making it big. Elektra tries to help the
single and heavily promotes the film of The Doors performing
the song.
"The group was promoted
modestly but enthusiastically. The film was to be in
places where The Doors couldn't appear to promote
themselves. Primarily, it was for television. But
it was getting their name out that was important then." - Danny
Fields, Elektra promotions
Mon. Mar. 13th - Sun. Apr. 2nd: Ondine -
New York, NY (3rd and final group
of shows)
The Doors return to Ondine and the fans are
waiting. The word is out and all that are hip come to see them
play.
Fri. Apr. 7th: The Merced Legion Hall - Merced, CA
Also performing:
Infinity
Sat. Apr. 8th: The
Turlock Fairgrounds - Turlock, CA
Also performing:
Infinity
Sun. Apr. 9th:
Cheetah- Santa Monica Pier, Venice CA
The Doors appear for two shows with The
Jefferson Airplane playing to their largest crowd to date of
over 3,000. This new Cheetah patterned itself after the one
in NYC and just opened on March 21st sporting a 7,000 sq. ft.
dance floor surrounded by stainless steel walls. Riding the
upward swing of success their new album is producing, The Doors,
for the first time, top billing over the biggest bands from
rival San Francisco. Jim is highly delighted tonight and
falls off the stage in a wild rage, some 8 feet, for the first
time during a performance. This is obviously a big night
for the band.
"Everybody was waiting for us. 'Break On Through' was out
and people were turning onto the album. It was our first
really large crowd. Over two thousand."
Fri. Apr. 14th - Sat. 15th: Avalon Ballroom - San Francisco (2nd of 4 weekends)
Also performing:
The Steve Miller Band and Aji Baba's Band (with his dancing
girls)
Thu. Apr. 20th: Taft High School - Woodland Hills, CA (DU)
Fri. Apr. 21st - Sun. 23rd: The
Kaleidoscope
at Ciro's - Los Angeles, CA
These shows are the first ones future Doors
associate Rich Linnell attends. Linnell once roomed with
Krieger's twin brother Ronnie in college and will soon work his
way up from equipment handler for the band to promoting them.
"Ronnie Krieger and I were both going to college in San Diego
and he kept saying I should see his brother's band.
Finally, I said I'd go with him to see them at Ciro's.
Ronnie picked me up and said we'd have to stop off in Laurel
Canyon and pick up the lead singer. When we got to the
house, Ronnie said, 'Be kind of quiet, he doesn't like a lot
of confusion or talk.' I said, 'Okay, fine.' So we
picked Jim up and outside of the introductions I don't think
anything was said for like twenty minutes. We dropped
him off outside and then went in and plopped ourselves down in
front of the stage. About twenty minutes later the band
came out to play and what shocked me was that this quiet,
mild-mannered, very unassuming guy was a madman onstage.
It was a great show and the music and everything just grabbed
me. From that point on I became a huge fan."- Rich
Linnell
Keeping in line with promotional tactics
Elektra does a little behind the scenes promoting. The label
hires several young girls to go to shows and support the band by
screaming, throwing underwear on stage and falling all over the
guys wherever they go. Pam begins to come to almost every show
wary of Jim's increasing popularity with the girls here.
"The word was out on the
street that everyone had to see this lead singer because there
had never been anything like him . . . with the unnatural grace
of someone out of control . . . He looked like a Greek god gone
wrong, with masses of dark brown curls and a face that sweaty
dreams are made of . . . It was really mind-boggling.There was
no modern sexy American icon at that time and he instantly
became that for me and all the girls I knew and we never missed
them. I saw The Doors play a hundred times." - Pamela Des
Barres, author of "I'm With The band "
Sat. Apr. 29th: Earl Warren Showgrounds - Santa
Barbara, CA
The Doors perform with
The Grateful Dead who have just released their debut
album. The two bands make a dynamic duo as forerunners in
the music scene with hot new albums and a taste for Owsley's
purple barrell acid which he presents to Jim personally upon
their greeting.
" L I G H T M
Y F I R E " S I N G L E I
S R E L E A S E D
Late April:
"Light My Fire" / "The Crystal Ship" - Second
Single Release
Local radio stations
receive calls for "Light my Fire" but the song is too long for
radio. It is released and shortened from 7 to 3 minutes omiting
the long solos. It begins a slow and steady climb up the
charts that will peak in July.
Sun. Apr. 30th: Timeline - Vietnam War (Sports)
Muhammad Ali, 25, is stripped of his title for
refusing the draft for religious beliefs.
May 1967
T H E D O O R
S B E G I N W O R K O
N " S T R A N G E D A Y S "
Early May: Sunset Sound Studios - Hollywood, CA
The Doors begin work on
their second album Strange Days with producer Paul
Rothchild. After this initial session the band will not go back
into the studio until August. By then the studio recording
equipment will be upgraded from four tracks to eight.
Sat. May 6th: Hi-Corbett
Field Baseball Stadium - Randolph Park, Tucson AZ (DU)
Sun. May 7th: Valley
Music
Theater - Woodland Hills, CA
Fri. May 12th - Sat. 13th: Avalon Ballroom - San Francisco, CA (3rd of 4 weekends) Bill
Siddons, who has been assisting the band as a roadie this
weekend for Rich Linnell's girlfriend, is given a job at this
engagement. He will officially begin on June 11th in
NYC.
I graduated from high school in 1965
and then went to Cal State Long Beach. After Rich started
helping with the Doors equipment, he started telling me about
them, but I wasn't very interested. I didn't know who the
Doors were, 'cause they hadn't had a hit yet. When he offered
me a trip to San Francisco, I said 'OK, I'll go.'
We ended up sitting in the audience at this show at the Avalon
Ballroom (May 12, 1967), watching this maniac. What I remember
is Jim on stage. I wasn't affected one way or the other by
meeting him, but when I saw him on stage I was more emotionally
gripped and moved and disturbed than I had ever been at any
similar type of thing.
I remember thinking, WHAT? What is he saying? What is he doing?
I don't get it. And then he said something about 'Awkward
instant/And the first animal is jettisoned/Legs furiously
pumping/Their stiff green gallop' and I went, 'This guy is
completely out of his mind,' But I was moved by it, I could feel
it. It was the first time poetry had been a movie to me, the
images were so strong that they came to mind in a photo form. I
could see the horses jumping off the boat. I could see them
drowning.
So what was my first
impression of Jim? He scared me to death. - Bill Siddons
"Ronnie Krieger and I had been going to most of the dates around
L.A. and helping out with the equipment because the band didn't
have anyone doing it. We were going to go up to San
Francisco for the weekend and take the equipment in the van.
Well, at the last minute my girlfriend canceled, so I called my
good friend Bill Siddons. I told him they'd pay for
everything but we had to carry their equipment. Once we got
there Ronnie and I would each take one end of an amp and carry it
upstairs, but Bill was a lot more energetic. He'd grab an
amp in each hand and hustle them upstairs. This impressed
the guys, particularly Robby who was in charge of the equipment
stuff 'cause he had the more technical mind. So he gave Bill
a job." - Rich Linnell
Sun. May 14th: Cheetah
- Santa Monica Pier,
Venice CA
B A C K T
O T H E W H I S K Y
Tue. May 16th - Sun. 21th: The Whisky - West Hollywood, CA
These photos are not positively accurate to this time frame.
Sat. May 20th: Birmingham Stadium - Van Nuys, CA
The Doors play their
first major outdoor appearance where 10,000 people show up to
see The Doors open a 6:00 p.m. show with Jefferson
Airplane. A third of the crowd leaves after The Doors set.
Sat. May 27th:
Earl Warren Showgrounds - Santa Barbara, CA
June 1967
Fri. June 2nd: Victoria Memorial Arena -
Victoria, British Columbia
This performance is scheduled just before the
gig and the show is promoted only by fliers. Their upcoming
gig at the Avalon Ballroom is bumped up from Fri. and Sat. to Sat.
and Sun. to accomodate this last minute addition to The Doors busy
schedule. This show is a fill in for the Pasadena Civic
Auditorium with Love and Canned Heat that had to be cancelled due
to renovations that were being done on the auditorium at the time.
Timeline - Music: The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper
T H E D O O R
S H I R E A M A N A G E
M E N T T E A M
Sat. June 3rd - Sun. 4th: Avalon
Ballroom - San Francisco, CA (4th and
final weekend)
Around this time "Light My Fire" breaks the Top
100 and begins its climb to #1 bringing The Doors national
attention. The band starts hearing their songs being played
frequently on the radio. The Doors hire two new managers, Asher
Dann and Sal Bonafede, and an agent, Todd Schiffman, to help them
organize their advancing business career.
Wed. June 7th: Beverly
Hills High School Peters Auditorium - Beverly Hills, CA (DU)
Thu. June 8th: The Hullabaloo - Hollywood, CA
These shows are last
minute additions in which The Doors give the locals an
absolutely incredible performance before heading off to tackle
San Francisco and New York. Ray didn't even know about the shows
until just before they went on and there was no advertising, but
the kids on the Strip knew about this show! Early and late
shows. Also performing: The Sunshine Company
"Jim
arrived without his redheaded girlfriend and we climbed this
rickety old ladder up to where they stored the old lighting
fixtures and stuff. It was very romantic to my eyes. We had
this big jug of Trimar which is sort of like liquid PCP. I was
a virgin at the time and we never did go all the way, but we
were rolling up there making out like crazy. The lighting was
so diffused and beautiful and I was so high. It was like we
were there for an eternity and all of a sudden I heard 'Light
My Fire' being played. I thought it was probably in my mind or
something. But it was being played for real and Jim heard it
and he went, 'Oh my God, I'm on.' So he clamored down this
ladder behind the stage and threw the curtain back and went
on. And I followed him. I was so high, I didn't know where he
was going. I just followed him onstage. I can still see the
audience looking up at me. I was onstage with The Doors and I
realized I shouldn't have been there. One of the roadies came
and took me offstage. I don't think I'll ever forget it."
Pamela Des Barres
Review: "Soon The
Doors are making music, Morrison slouches over the rigid
microphone and the Hullabaloo's turntable stage slowly begins to
spin them towards a wildly screaming audience as the curtains
pull back. A wild strobe of Instamatic flash bulbs silhouettes
frantically waving hands in a lightning sky. Girls press forward
against the stage. Morrison grunts, begins squirming, singing,
and there's another barrage of flash bulbs and press towards the
stage. The music weaves and screams into one climax after
another. Morrison is literally raping the microphone between his
quivering thighs, advancing toward the hungry girls pressing
against the stage. And then he trips on the microphone and
falls. It happens along with a musical peak and the girls
scream, thining this is the way it should be. Morrison picks
himself off the floor. He shouts the lyrics. Picks up the
microphone stand and throws it hard. The girls can't believe it.
Few are frightened, most of them have eyes that mirror an erotic
spell. And Morrison jumps hard among the fallen stand. Picks it
up again and throws it hard once more. Shouting the lyrics.
Screaming. You look at the girls and you swear they're having
orgasm. Morrison destroys the mike and the stand." (Hank
Zavellos, "The Doors," Happening Magazine #5, 1968)
"He said the Trimar might be hurting our
heads and gave me a lecture on drug abuse, telling me the
persona he put forward was an elaborate act, and he really
wanted to be noticed as a poet . . . and though no one
knew that, it would come out in the end. He was getting
his poetry out to the world through this music and
ultimately he would be perceived as a poet. On our way to
Tiny Naylor's on La Brea, he pulled the car over, grabbed
the bottle of Trimar, and threw it out the window into a
yard full of overgrown ivy. 'Now we won't be tempted.' We
had datenut bread and fresh orange juice while the sun
came up, then cruised the silent strip to a little hotel
where he was staying during his feud with the redhead.
That was the only time I had my hands on Jim Morrison; he
turned out to be very much a one-woman man." - Pamel
Des Barres, after the gig and cruising Hollywood while Jim
drove her Oldsmobile
Fri. June 9th - Sat. 10th: Fillmore
Auditorium - San Francisco (3rd of 5
weekends)
This is the first time The Doors receive top billing here!
Jim shows up late and considerably intoxicated, probably a
little nervous for their first top billing gig and gets into it
a heated exchange with promoter Bill Graham over something or
other - probalbly Jim's obvious intoxication but none the less
The Doors take the stage as scheduled. During the show Jim
begins to twirl his microphone like a lasso around and around
letting it go out a little further over the crowd with each
pass. Graham, from behind the audience, sees this and starts
rushing through the crowd towards the stage in an attempt to
cease Jim, but as he approaches the stage Jim lets the
microphone go and it hits the promoter square in the side of the
head! After the show Graham clears the dressing room and
curses out Morrison on the liability issues and asks Jim if he
is out of his fucking mind! Jim promises to be more careful in
future performances. It appears as though Jim likes to stir
Graham up one way or another and their relationship is one of
father-son each testing one another's personalities and ethos.
Between sets the other three members of the band head over to
the Avalon Ballroom to check out a hot new female soul singer by
the name of Janis.
F I R S T
O U T D O O R F E S T I V A L
Sat. June 10th: Mt. Tamalpais Outdoor Theater
- Marin County, CA - Fantasy Faire Magic Fest
This is the very first
of its kind outdoor festival, running Sat. and Sun. from 10:00
a.m.- 6:00 p.m., with all the top local bands helping usher in
the dawning of the 1960's rock festivals. The Monterey Pop
Festival is next week and far outshines this one but this is the
first! Admission to the festival was $2.00 and all proceeds were
donated to the nearby Hunters Point Child Care Center in San
Francisco. The Fantasy Fair was originally scheduled for June 3
and 4 as a benefit for the center, but was delayed one week by
inclement weather. Several acts booked for the original dates
were unable to perform.
The venue is a 4,000 seat outdoor facility at
the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre high on the south
face of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California. At least
36,000 people attended the two-day concert and fair that was the
first of a series of San Francisco area cultural events. After
enjoying a scenic ride up the mountain from embarkation points
at the Marin County Civic Center, Mill Valley and other
locations, a giant Buddha balloon greeted attendees when they
arrived at the amphitheater.
Transportation was provided by the
tongue-in-cheek-named "Trans-Love Bus Lines", a variation of the
line "Fly Trans Love Airways, get you there on time" from the
lyrics to Donovan's song "Fat Angel". Performances were on a
main stage and a smaller second stage. Various art-fair type
vendors sold posters, crafts and refreshments from booths
scattered in the woods around the amphitheater. The festival
included a large geodesic dome of pipes and fittings covered
with white plastic that contained a light and sound show.
The Doors play a good strong set with Jim
swinging off a few flag poles while playing the crowd rather
effectively in such a hectic atmosphere with 15,000 in
attendance. The Doors also play the Fillmore Auditorium later
tonight. Also performing: (either Sat. or Sun.) The Jefferson
Airplane, The Fifth Dimension, Dionne Warwick, Canned Heat, The
Byrds, and The Steve Miller Band just to name a few.
Review: "It was
a weekend of the Big Blast on Mt. Tam. It was wild sounds and
wild colors, sky-divers and side shows, bizarre hippies from
the Haight Ashbury and T-shirted fraternity boys from Cal.,
young people necking on the sunburnt slopes and children
sitting wide-eyed in a real tepee, Hell's Angels munching
peanut butter sandwiches at a health bar...there was something
for everybody." (Maitland Zane, "Bash on Mt. Tam," San
Francisco Chronicle, June 12, 1967)
Sun. June 11th: Village Theater - New York, NY - WOR-FM's
First Anniversary Show
The Doors are scheduled
between other popular groups of the time at this large venue but
quickly steal the show with their intense volume (The Doors played
as loud if not louder than any other band of the time) dynamic
personna and somewhat forceful performance. This is the first of
two shows The Doors will play, the other being on Sept. 9.
Mon. June 12th - Thu. 15th: Steve
Paul's
Scene - NYC
The Doors begin a three week stand in New
York's hottest club where everybody comes out to see their shows.
This is the band's first engagement here and will play one other
in October. The Doors come to The Scene and blow audiences away
with a furious pace and extremely loud dark heavy sound that is
very uncharacteristic for the times. It is interesting to note
that it is The Doors dark heavy sound that rules The Summer of
Love in a time where peace, love and flower power is supposedly
the norm. Jimi Hendrix checks out The Doors on Wed. June 14th on
his way to the Monterey Pop Festival. Tiny Tim opens for the band.
The Doors stay in The Great Northern Hotel on 57th Street.
Review: "A
concert promoter laughed as he told the story of Morrison
madly swinging the microphone at an audience at the Scene in
New York. 'Tiny Tim is scared stiff. Morrison just missed his
head.' Asher Dann, former Doors manager, tried to stop
Morrison, resulting in a bloody fist fight on stage." (Hank Zavellos, "The Doors," Happening
Magazine #5, Summer 1967) "The first album was like number ninety, and that was
about all it was gonna be, and then came 'Light My Fire' and it
went whee up to number one!...It happened so fast that we were
still playing The Scene when the song hit the Top Ten. We could
have been playing giant places and here we were stuck at The
Scene making twenty bucks a night."
Fri. June 16th - Sat.
17th: The Action House
- Long Beach, NY (fill-in for The
Scene during Monterey)
The Scene closes for three
days during The Monterey Pop Festival and The Doors, who do not
represent the peace and love image of the venue are overlooked and
not invited. Before the first show here Jim reportedly
instructs the bartender to line up fifteen shots of Jack Daniel's,
and then drinks them all, one after the other, just prior to
taking the stage. As the show progresses Jim then asks the
bartender to line up fifteen more and also drinks them. Jim
is soon extremely drunk and obviously begins to show the signs but
before he passes out he attempts to disrobe onstage! The band
intervenes and the show, near conclusion, is ended
abruptly. The next night, Sat. the 17th, is The Doors
shortest performance ever! At the start of the show an extremely
hung over Jim Morrison places the microphone in his mouth and
begins to make awful groaning sounds for a long period of time
until the other members help him, once again, off stage. The
Action House is primarily a dance club and the club's sound system
soon takes over without much ado.
Sun. June 18th: The
Town Hall - Philadelphia, PA (fill-in
for The Scene during Monterey)
Jim is recovered and The
Doors put on a marvelous show climaxing with an astonishing
version of "The End".
T H E D O O R
S B E C O M E R O C K S
T A R S
Mon. June
19th - Sat. July 1st: Steve
Paul's Scene - NYC
During their electrifying performances at The Scene "Light My
Fire" hits the top ten. Jim meets many famous people such as
Andy Warhol and Paul Newman who pulls Jim aside and talks to him
about the title song for a movie he is planning to produce. The
Doors had made it big. Jim's behavior on and off stage becomes
much talked about. He acts almost possesed. The Doors are now
rock stars in every sense of the word and Jim takes it to new
heights as the life of every party, every night, all night in an
arena that makes his self-destructive fantasies come true. The
Doors become the biggest draw in the history of the Scene and
the owner Steve Paul throws a private champagne party for the
band and their new entourage after their last gig.
"His performance was a
classic one, giving off glimpses of all our beautiful
tragic/comic American Heroes . . . one moment I saw Brando's
'wild one,' the next James Dean's 'rebel,' then Chet Baker,
and finally Elvis." - Tom Baker
"I grabbed his arm and yelled, 'What the fuck are you
doing?' . . . 'He ignored me and threw another glass up the
stairs, simultaneously letting out with his bloodcurdling
scream. I expected hordes of stoned and angry street freaks or a
small army of cops to come charging down. After one final glass
and scream, Jim turned and was gone. I felt frustrated that he
had left for I wanted to tell him that, finally, I had met
someone who was truly possessed." - Tom Baker, after one of the
shows at The Scene
"One night we went to Max's
in New York for dinner and Jim didn't say a word all night. He
even pointed out his order to the waitress. He was acting like a
six year old, making everyone feel uncomfortable. There was
another night at Max's when we were sittingaround the table and
he was too stoned to go to the bathroom so he took an empty wine
bottle and pissed into it. He kept doing it all night. At the
end of the evening Jim was smiling and in good spirits. The
waitress was cleaning the table and he told her that since he
couldn't finish the wine, she could take it home and enjoy it.
The waitress was so thankful - Jim Morrison gave her something!"
- Danny Fields, Elektra publicist
Fri. June 30th: Timeline - Vietnam War
448,000 American troops in
Vietnam
Mon. July 3rd: Santa Monica
Civic Center - Santa Monica, CA
The Doors begin a long stay back in California
moving around the state playing show after show at an incredible
pace. The Doors play one 8:30 p.m. show tonight to about
3,000. Also performing: Iron Butterfly and Rubber Maze
Wed. July 5th: Lowell High
School Auditorium - La Habra, CA
Also performing: The Coasters and The
Standells
Sat. July 8th: Balboa Stadium Horseshoe- San
Diego, CA
The Doors play a 8:30 p.m. show to about
4,300. They play a tight 45-minute set consisting of only five
songs in which "Light My Fire" drives the crowd crazy. On
leaving the venue the car The Doors are travelling in is ambushed by
fans and police are needed to clear the way in a Beatlesque like
scene.
Sun. July 9th: Continental Ballrooom - Santa
Clara, CA (DU)
Thu. July 13th: Oakland
Auditorium Arena - Oakland, CA
Also performing: Chocolate
Watch Band; Peter Wheat and the Bread Men
Fri. July 14th: California
State
Fairgrounds Grandstand - Sacramento, CA
The Doors play an 8:30 p.m.
show titled "Crepuscular Happening at the Satate Fair Grandstand"
in the sweltering heat of this particularly hot and humid
summer. The band's constant touring really begins to work on
the crew and The Doors in their day to day travelling in such
intense heat. Also performing: The Parrish Hall Blues Band; The
Working Class; the Public Nuisance
Sat. July 15th: Anaheim Convention Center - Anaheim, CA
The Doors play an early
3:00 p.m. show and a later show at 8:30 p.m. with The Jefferson
Airplane. The evening show draws 8,500 people. Jim
shows emotions of all kinds to the crowd. He is very loose on
stage, off-key, hoarse and rambling whatever comes into his head
between songs. He even throws lit cigarettes into the audience
during this mischeivious performance showing the beginning of his
sometime obvious disdain for his audience. Also performing: the
Merry Go Round
Sun. July 16th: Fantasy Faire & Magic Musical
Fest - Devonshire Meadows Raceway - Cal. State, Northridge,
CA
The event runs Sat. and Sun. from 10:00 a.m. -
6:00 p.m. Also appearing: The Jefferson Airplane,
Country Joe and the Fish, Canned Heat, and Iron Butterfly to name a
few.
Thu. July 20th: Victoria
Memorial Arena - Victoria, Canada
Also performing: The Collectors; Painted Ship
Fri. July 21st - Sat. 22nd: Dante's Inferno
- Vancouver, Canada
Also performing: The Collectors; Painted Ship
Sat. July 22nd: American
Bandstand - ABC Studios, Hollywood CA
This show is a special edition where they
countdown the top 10 songs for July 1967. The Doors "Light My Fire"
is currently number two and is sandwiched between Jefferson
Airplane's "White Rabbit" (3rd) and Procul Harum's "Whiter Shade of
Pale" (number one). The Doors are introduced after Dick Clark asks
an audience member what his favorite song is and the reply is 'The
Crystal Ship'. The band comes on and does a lip-synched version of
the tune and then Clark does a short interview with the band after
which The Doors lip-synch their current hit "Light My Fire".
Interview: Clark: "A lot of people seem
to think you come from San Francisco. Is that true?"
Morrison: "No. We actually got together in LA. We do play in San
Francisco alot."
Clark: "That's the explanation of why you have that association.
Why is so much
happening in San Francisco? You figured it out yet?"
Morrison: "The West is the best!"
Clark: (chuckling) "All right! Fair enough!"
Clark then asks Densmore a few questions about recording their
first two albums and
asks Robby about their future plans before turning back on Jim.
Clark: "Have you selected a name for the new album yet Jim?"
Morrison: "I think it's Strange Days"
Clark: "All right. Fair enough. Well do the thing that set the
whole music business on fire. Ladies and gentlemen, again,
The Doors!"
Sun. July 23rd - Mon. 24th: Eagles
Auditorium - Seattle, WA
Before their gig Jim sits in with openers the
P.H. Factor for a couple of tunes and later The Doors put on a
dramatic show full of vivid intensity.
Review: "The intensity begins the moment
they stalk on stage and it doesn't let up until the purge is
over, the catharsis is complete. Even between numbers,
there is no relaxation - no chit-chat, no horsing around.
Like the great actors of Japan, The Doors project all the nore
intensity when they are silent. The Doors are carnivores
in a land of musical vegetarians" - Tom Robbins, Helix,
Member of the Underground Press Syndicate, July 1967
Review: "On July 23, Eagles Auditorium was raped and
pillaged, anointed and sanctified, by four musicians calling
themselves after a utilitarian device for opening and closing
architectural entryways and medicine cabinets; The Doors. Yes,
The Doors. Jeweled glass panels, knobs that resemble spitting
phalluses, mail slots that glow like jack-o’lantern lips – and
not a welcome mat in sight. Enter if you dare, my children, exit
if you can.
The Doors. Their style is early cunnilingual, late patricidal,
lunchtime in the Everglades, Black Forest blood sausage on
electrified bread, Jean Genet up a totem pole, artists at the
barricades, Edgar Alien Poe drowning in his birdbath, Massacre
of the Innocents, tarantella of the satyrs, L.A. pagans drawing
down the moon The Doors. The musical equivalent of a ritual
sacrifice, an amplified sex throb, a wounded yet somehow elegant
yowl for the lost soul of America, histrionic tricksters making
hard cider of the apples of Eden and petting the head of the
Snake.
The Doors. The intensity begins the moment
they stalk on stage and it doesn’t let up until the purge is
over, the catharsis is complete. Even between numbers, there is
no relaxation – no chit-chat, no horsing around- Like the great
actors of Japan, The Doors project all the more intensity when
they are silent. They even tuned up with an involvement so
fierce it would have scared Don and The Goodtimes out of their
pants.
The Doors- Their voice is dark and bloody, a voice from the
bowels. Satanic in intensity, devouring in energy, awesome in
spirit. The voice of Nietzche, stopped short in terror,
succumbing to madness, lusting for the salvation of flesh. The
Brechtian voice of the Berlin Music Hall, warning a new
generation of the rising tide of fascism. A voice soaked with a
rabid rage of destruction – but neither wanton nor negative.
Like Shiva, the Divine Destroyer of the Hindu, The Doors kill
only to clear the way for rebirth; they hint at the eternal
rhythmic balance of life and death. Four Doors:
John Densmore, drums. Perhaps the best drummer in all rock.
While most non-drummers seldom stray from the beat, Densmore
crosses the beat – in and out, back and forth, creating
counter-beats and accentuating the off-beats. He not only
provides The Doors with a fantastic complexity of percussion, he
goads them into new time signatures and actually leads them
along their epic melodic line.
Ray Manzarek, organ. As audacious as Pigpen, but far more
authoritative, he obviously cut his teeth on Bach. Manzarek
flows through a field of variations and figurations as grandiose
as the richest Baroque. One moment he is pliant and searching,
the next he is tearing at the keyboard like a starving man
ripping a chicken apart. Robby Krieger, guitar. With the drums
and organ taking the lead, Krieger supplies a hard, unyielding
rhythm that occasionally explodes into startling new disclosures
of chord and modulation.
Jim Morrison, vocals. Morrison begins where Mick Jagger and Eric
Burden stop. An electrifying combination of an angel in grace
and a dog in heat. he becomes intoxicated by the danger of his
poetry, and, swept by impious laughter, he humps the microphone,
beats it and sucks it off. Sexual in an almost psychopathic way,
Morrison’s richly textured voice taunts and teases and threatens
and throbs. With incredible vocal control and the theatrical
projection of i Shakespearean star, he plays with the audience’s
emotion; like a child with its doll: now I kiss you, now I wring
you neck. The Doors are carnivores in a land of musical
vegetarian; Their craftsmanship is all the more astonishing in
the light of their savagery. They have the ensemble tightness of
the Juilliard String Quartet – but their grandeur is not of the
intellect but of warm red blood. Their talons, fangs and folded
wings are seldom out of view, but if they leave us crotchraw and
exhausted, at least they leave us aware of our aliveness. And of
our destiny. The Doors scream into the darkened auditorium what
all of us in the underground are whispering more softly in our
hearts: We want the world an we want it………………………………………………………….
NOW!"
Seattle, July 1967 The Doors And What They
Did To Me by Tom Robbins
" L I
G H T M Y F I R E " H I T
S # 1
Tue. July 25th: "Light My
Fire" Hits Number One In anticipation of the occasion Jim
buys his well known black leather suit. The album will go
gold in September.
Wed. July 26th: Masonic Temple - Portland,
OR
Fri. July 28th - Sun. 30th: Fillmore
Auditorium - San Francisco (4th of 5
weekends)
Prior to this evenings event Jim presents
promoter Bill Graham with a helmet adorned with bright psychedelic
colors and written across the front is "The Morrison
Special". This is of course an apology for drilling him in
the head with his twirling microphone during their last
performance on June 9th and 10th. The Doors play
marvellously and as good as ever with an extended 10-minute
version of "Light My Fire" that totally erupts the packed
auditorium. Also performing: Richie Havens; James Cotton
August 1967
Sat. Aug. 5th: Earl Warren
Showgrounds - Santa Barbara, CA
The Doors do one 8:00 p.m. show promoted by Jim
Salzer.
Wed. Aug. 9th: Hampton
Beach Casino - Hampton Beach, NH
Thu. Aug. 10th - Fri. 11th: Crosstown Bus Club
- Brighton, MA
The Doors do an early 8:00 p.m. show and a late
10:30 p.m. show this evening. Also performing: The
Ragamuffins
Sat. Aug. 12th: Forest Hills
Tennis Club - Forest Hills, Queens NY - Forest Hills Music
Festival
Nobody is here to see The Doors and the show is
an absolute bust. This isn't there kind of crowd. Nearly
all the 13,000 in attendance are here to see the homegrown Simon and
Garfunkel. The Doors only play four songs in a short 30 minute set
in which they had to borrow equipment just to play because theirs
did not show up as scheduled. Later Ray refers to this evening
as their worst show of all-time!
Mon. Aug. 14th: Delmonico
Hotel - New York, NY (DU)
The Doors receive the
Billboard Award Presentation after 'Light My Fire' becomes the number one single in the nation on July 25th.
T H E D O O R S P L
A Y J I M ' S H O M E T O W N
Graduating Class of 1961
Geoge Washington High School - Alexandria,
Virginia
Fri. Aug. 18th: Annapolis
National
Guard Armory / Alexandria Roller Skating Rink - Annapolis,
MD
Due to a mix-up of scheduling The Doors do two
shows this Friday in a rare double booking. This is a
special evening. Jim returns to the home of his teenage
years in which he attended George Washington High School to play a
concert for the 2,500 - 4,000 in attendance this evening. Also
performing: The Britons; The Tokens
First Hand Experience from a member of The
Britons: "We
were the opening act for the Doors - our band was "The Britons", a
local band in the Washington/Baltimore area. We played two
sets that night - the opening act and one Doors
intermission. The other headline band besides The Doors was
"The Tokens". They performed "Lion Sleeps .." and
another song that I don't remember, but had a very short set - no
more than 2-3 songs as I recall. There were three separate
stage platforms for the three bands, arranged in a triangular
arrangement in the Armory, so that each band could be set up and
ready to play. The Armory was packed and it was really hot
inside and "hazy"
Mon. Aug. 21st: Sunset Sound Studios -
Hollywood, CA (DU)
The band is in the studio working on their second
album Strange Days. The initial sessions began in early May. This is
their first chance back in the studio since. The band is smoking a
lot of pot in the studio. Jefferson Airplane, also recording
their second album, stops by to see what The Doors are up to and
comes in during Horse Latitudes and are astonished. Jim's
attitude in the studio is much more confident. Jim however
avoids the sessions until he absolutely has to be there. He
shows up as a poetic scholar some days and others as a lunatic
drunk. Jim is becoming unpredictable and unreliable skipping out of
the studio on breaks and getting hammered.
Elektra already has 500,000 advance orders for
the band's second upcoming release Strange Days. Paul
Rothchild is once again at the helm now using state of the art 8
track sound. Like "The End" on their first album, "When the
Music's Over" is the highlight of the sessions, also recorded in
only two takes. The band also spends time recording the soon to be
title track and first single "Strange Days". The Doors retain
publishing from Nipper Music and raise their take to 7.5% of profits
in breif negotiations.
Fri. Aug. 25th: Las Vegas Convention Center -
Las Vegas, NV
The Doors open their 8:00 p.m. show this evening
with 'Soul Kitchen'. Jim's voice is rough and hoarse but he
doesn't let it slow down his performance which enlightens the crowd.
Fri. Aug. 25th(2): Malibu U. (ABC-TV) - Lee
Carillo State Beach - Los Angeles, CA
This is a lip-synched performance in which Jim
doesn't even show-up for becoming more and more disgusted by the
thought of lip-synching another song for broadcast. The band
has Robby's brother Ron fill in for Jim and never allude to Jim's
abscence.
Sun. Aug. 27th: Cheetah - Santa Monica
Pier, Venice CA
The Doors play an all ages 3:30 p.m. show and
then two late shows at 7:30 p.m and 11:00 p.m. to a packed house of
over 3,500.
Wed. Aug. 30th: Timeline
- Civil Rights
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black Supreme
Court Justice appointee.
September
1967
This is an extremely busy month for The
Doors. Riding the success of their first album, they're
finishing their second album, touring non-stop and Elektra is
pushing a huge media explosion
Sat. Sept. 2nd: Ashbury Park Convention Center - Ashbury
Park, NJ
The Doors are great
tonight and Jim is wearing his new head-to-toe black
leathers. One 8:00 p.m. show.
Sun. Sept. 3rd: Will
Rogers Exhibit Building -
Fort Worth, TX - Teen Fair & Mardi Gras Festival
Mon. Sept. 4th: "People Are
Strange" / "Unhappy Girl" - Third Single Release
(DU)
This single is released
three weeks prior to Strange Days.
Fri. Sept. 8th: Lagoon
Park Patio Gardens - Farmington, Salt Lake City UT
Sat. Sept. 9th: Village
Theater - NYC
The Doors play an early
8:00 p.m. show and a late 10:30 p.m. show to a packed
house. This is their second appearance and final show
here. The auditorium is later bought by Bill Graham and
named The Fillmore East. Jim with the strength and
confidence of a number one behind him is becoming more theatrical
on stage blending rock and drama. At
the beginning of the concert, Jim hangs on to the curtain as it
goes up and at the last moment he lets go vaulting to the stage
and begins "When the Music's Over" with an incredibly primal and
electrifying scream which sets the pace for an energy filled
evening. The band closes with "The End" and encores with
"Light My Fire" in their late show to tremendous applause and
mass adulation.
WHAT GOES ON?
by Paul Williams 1967
The Doors, in person, have become the best
the West has to offer. In concert at the Village Theater several
weeks ago, they were frightening and beautiful beyond my ability
to describe. In the audience, young men with thoughtfully
groomed beards contorted like Beatles fans in the days of Shea
Stadium. Robbie, Ray, and John excelled in musicianship,
constantly adding to the perfection of their album (now number
two in the country) and leaving no note unturned in their desire
to communicate. And as it was meant to be, Jim stole the show.
"I tell you, I tell you, I tell you we must die!" "Hope not," he
added. Our hearts stopped. "The men don't know, but the little
girls understand... Don't 'cha?"
The audience gasped. The first show was the
unexpected by way of the familiar, anticlimaxing nicely with
"Light My Fire." The difference between records and live, the
subtleties of new and old-as-new were illustrated with utter
clarity. Jim brilliantly carried the audience from
anticipation to excitement to over-the-edge fright and joy. And
the second show, opening with "When The Music's Over," made the
first an introduction. If "Horse Latitudes" had shaken us stem
to stern, still we didn't know how lost we were till Jim spoke,
without accompaniment, the Sophocles section of "The End." And
then fell, worshiping some young lady who knelt before the
stage. And suddenly flew into the air, a leap to make Nureyev
proud.
And finally swung his microphone on its cord,
around his head, toward the audience, more and more violent,
prepared to release- everything; and we knew he'd do it. One of
us would die. "This is the end," he sang into the now
frustrated, unviolent microphone, "my only friend," and Jim was
wonderful, shrugging his shoulders and letting the boys carry on
in "Light My Fire."
The Doors are now the best performers in the
country, and if their albums are poetry as well as music, then
the stage show is most of all drama, brillianttheater in any
sense of the word. Artistic expression transcending all form,
because you know as Jim died there for you on stage that that
wasn't mere acting, but it was all for art. Christ, they say,
became the perfect criminal, negating all crimes in his own most
heinous one. Absolving the world by
absorbing all sins. And Jim dies a little more each day, pulling
toward him all the violence around him, frightening and
beautiful as he strains to perfect his art. And every day more
of a pop star, pied piper of mice and the flower kids, and when
the music's over.....
Crawdaddy Magazine Issue #7
Mon. Sept. 11th: State University at Oswego - Lee Hall
Gym, Oswego NY
This show is limited to
freshman and transfer students only and results in an auditorium
full of prep-attired youngsters in penny loafers who think the
band looks "scuzzy" and are withdrawn by Jim's suggestive
mannerisms.
Thu. Sept. 14th: CBC Television Studios- Toronto - The Rock Scene Like It Is
(1 0f 6)
The band has a
chance to play on this liberal television series yet omits
the Oedipal section. The show broadcasts on October 16th
and later in the US on August 1, 1970 in a show called the Now
Explosion. This is one of the few television recorded
shows the band is happy with.
Thu. Sept. 14th: Musicarnival -
Warrensville Heights, Cleveland OH (1st
trip
to the midwest)
This is The Doors first
trip to the midwest and they aren't really sure what to expect
of the bible belt audiences. Tonight's crowd is sparce and only
700 show up under the tent that is made for 2,500. Jim says to
start the show "This is one of the finest tents I've ever
belonged to, but where is everybody, man." The band puts
on a terrific show, none the less, to devote fans beginning with
"Soul Kitchen".
Fri. Sept. 15th - Sat. 16th: Ambassador Theater - Washington, D.C.
These shows may have been
cancelled.
E
D S U L L I V A N S H O W
Sun. Sept. 17th: Ed
Sullivan Theater - CBS W. 54th St. NYC
In this infamous appearance, The Doors are
asked to modify the word 'higher' in "Light My Fire". The
Doors oblige, and do so in rehearsal, but during the live broadcast
Jim sings the song as it was originaal written and recorded.
The Doors are never invited back. The Doors also perform their
new single "People Are Strange" in a segment prior to the later
"Light My Fire" segment. from this historical performance.
F A M O U S Y O U N
G L I O N P H O T O S E
S S I O N
Sun. Sept. 17th - Tue. 19th: Photo Shoots - NYC (DU)
While staying in
New York, Jim and the band begin the first of three important
photo shoots that will indemnify Jim's image. First is the 16 Magazine Shoot with Gloria
Stavers. The next day they do the infamous Young Lion Shoot
with Joel Brodsky of Elektra and later Jim does a photo shoot for
Vogue. Jim also spends time at Gloria's apartment talking to
her about his image and shooting more photos.
Celebrating at a party around this time Jim meets
Andy Warhol and Andy gives him an antique ivory and gold
phone. Jim, later in a limo with Gloria Stavers, throws the
phone in a sanitation dumpster and heads to Jac Holzman's apartment.
Once there he beats on the door to no answer and proceeds to throw
up all over the entrance threshold! Jim is rebelling against
anyone and everything now trading hallucinogenics for alcohol.
Also around this time, The Canned Heat, one of
The Doors favorite groups out of Southern California, are playing at
Cafe Au Go Go and the guys spend an evening or two supporting their
pals who are playing here from the 12th -24th.
Wed. Sept. 20th: Union Catholic High School -
Scotch Plains, NJ (DU)
Thu. Sept. 21st: Staples
High School Auditorium - Westport, CT
The Doors play tonight at
what becomes a very cool place to play considering it's a high
school auditorium and the music department's rehearsal room is
used as the dressing room, which The Doors turn into a party
room! Others that will make the trip here are the Animals,
Cream, Frank Sinatra, the Rascals, Louis Armstrong, Phil Ochs, and
Sly and the Family Stone. It sure would of been nice to go to
this high school in the sixties! The show goes well with The
Doors playing material straight off their first two
albums. This show is promoted by the school's student
council!
Fri. Sept. 22nd: Brown
University Meehan Auditorium - Providence, RI
The Doors play two
memorable and lively performances tonight to about 3,000 college
kids. During 'The End', while concluding their second set,
Jim, dressed in total black leather, demolishes the projection
screen that is being used to make swirling psychedelic images,
while it is in full effect!
Fri. Sept. 22nd(2): Murray
the K in New York - WPIX-TV, NYC
The Doors were filmed
earlier this month in Battery Park, NYC on a windy afternoon
sitting around some large planters and this footage is used over a
piece of music in which Jim, instead of lip-synching, was given a
live microphone to sing "People Are Strange". Jim was in a
mischievious mood and it requires several takes to get him to do a
good version without fooling around or messing up the
timing! Following this, on the special, is a bizarre chase
scene with Morrison dressed in black leather while the other
members are dressed in white leading into "Light My Fire" which is
played over a collage of shots of the band and some
models. The show airs tonight and later on Oct. 9th and Nov.
4th.
Sat. Sept. 23rd: Stony
Brook University Men's Gym - Stony Brook, NY
This venue is sold out
beyond capacity with over 3,000 overzealous college students that
almost unknowingly overpower the under manned security
staff. The band throughout the evening uses the energy of the
crowd incorporating long passages of silence creating tension and
drama. During "The End" the band pauses for over 3 minutes in
producing extreme restlessness and just at the point of chaos the
band jumps back into the song and finishes their performance for
the evening. This was always one of The Doors most theatrical
devices in which Jim would often take a little too far as he
became less in tune with the audiences due to overindulging often
to the point of absurdity sometimes losing the theatrical
effect. He was often on a much different level!
Sun. Sept. 24th: Oakdale
Musical Theater - Wallingford, CT
The Doors play a
total of nine songs during this 7:30 p.m. performance to just over
3,000. During lighting adjustments for "The End" some members
of the audience start riding Jim and he in turn retaliates with
some remarks of his own. This altercation seems to produce a
rise in Jim and he gives one of his most intensely enigmatic
versions of "The End" in which he almost assaults the crowd with
deafening screams of incredible feeling while using extreme body
gestures that enthralls the crowd and ends this evening's
performance.
S E C O N D A L B U
M R E L E A S E D
Mon. Sept. 25th: Strange Days - Second album release
Strange Days is
released nationwide. The lyrics are printed in the sleeve to all the
songs. The album instantly gains critical success and sales are very
good. The single "People are Strange" hits the Top 20 and the
album quickly breaks the Top 10.
Wed. Sept. 27th: KRNT Theater - Des Moines, IA
Fri. Sept. 29th: Denver
University Student Union - Denver, CO
This 8:00 p.m. performance
is filmed by an independent producer and airs on Nov. 8th as part
of the ABC-TV special Bruce Morrow's Music Power.
Sat. Sept. 30th: The Family
Dog - Denver, CO
This venue is Denver's
version of the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. It recently
opened on Sept. 8th and is operated in conjunction with the same
people running the Avalon. At the end of the show, and to end
the month, Jim hangs upside down from the stage railing during the
conclusion of "The End" in a manner that makes him look completely
hungout to dry.
Sun. Oct. 1st - Thu. 5th: Steve
Paul's
Scene - NYC (2nd and final series,
first was in June 1967)
Jim (interveiw backstage before the show):
"We're MUCH better in person. Our record album is only a map
of our work. I'd like to play in a club where we could be
with the people. Maybe we wouldn't even play. It would
be great to sit down and talk with the audience, get rid of all
the seperate tables and have one big table." Ray (also
backstage): "Yes, people become familiar with us through the
album, but it's when they see us that it all happens. Our music
short-circuits the conscious mind and allows the subconscious to
flow free."
Review: "Drama the kind that grabs your lapels and
shoves you against a wall, is being reborn in a thousand clubs,
discotheques and halls across America. It doesn't use sets,
lighting and actors in the usual sense. It does use the
rawhide-thong vocal chords of people like Jim Morrison, lead
singer for the Doors. Morrison floats to the microphone, hangs
limply on it, looking aside and down. Then his butterfly
hand raises the microphone up, his body goes taught, his eyes
look wildly in a personal darkness, and he forces his wild voice
into the mike. It emerges from the amplifiers turning the room
blue with hot, electric thunder. Then quietly, one hand
cupped over his right ear, he begins to sing. It's
theater." ("The New Generation: Theater with a beat," San
Francisco Chronicle via the Chicago Tribune.
September 28, 1967)
D A N N Y S U G A R M A N
' S F I R S T D O O R S
C O N C E R T
Fri. Oct. 6th: Cal State
Gymnasium - Los Angeles, CA
Although touring mostly in the East the band
comes home to Los Angeles to play an incredible set full of energy
and dynamism. Morrison screams with the vitality of ten men
and performs part of the shows final song on his back belting out
the final lines as the audience pushes forward causing security to
circle the stage as the band climaxes on an electric evening of
music and drama. Also performing: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
and The Sunshine Company
Reveiw:
"At times during the brilliant improvisational sections to
numbers, Morrison was like a conductor/dictator gone
berserk. He would thrash about attempting to zap the
potent energy so abundant within him to each individual member
of the group. He screamed at them, urging them onto more
volume, more notes, more intricacies, more, MORE, MORE.
He thundered back to his life-line microphone in time to
reinstate pure human horror in the black air of the
auditorium." (Jan Vogels,"Horror...the 20th Century...the
drugs...horror...the Doors," UCLA Daily Bruin, Oct. 12,
1967)
Sun. Oct. 8th: Tulsa Civic
Assembly Center Auditorium - Tulsa, OK
The Doors play on the closing night of the
Oklahoma State Fair to an excited crowd of 1,000. Jim is
animated throughout the one hour set in a stage drenched in moody
red and blue lights.
Mon. Oct. 9th - Tue. 10th: Steve Paul's Scene
- NYC
Tue. Oct. 10th: Timeline - Of Interest
The first issue of Rolling
Stone magazine is on newstands.
Wed. Oct. 11th: Danbury High School -
Danbury, CT
This show is primarily attended by nearby
college students from Western Connecticut State College and
locals of Danbury. Prior to the show, Jim and his drinking buddy
Tom Baker were partying all day. Tom even gets to introduce the
band tonight preceeded by a female announcer who tells the crowd
not to leave their seats during the performance or they will be
escorted out of the venue! There was also a beauty pageant prior
to this evenings performance. Early
into the show a group of students who are mad about The Four
Seasons being cancelled are ragging on the band about how wasted
they look and how ragid they appear. The band plays great
tonight with alot of energy, probably a carry over from their
fabulous shows at The Scene. Jim however is pretty mellow and it
isn't until late in the concert that he jumps off the stage into
the startled audience during "The End", leaps back on stage, and
begins to smash the microphone stand into the stage repeatedly
in a violent scene. The marks are still there!
Thu. Oct. 12th: The Surf Club -
Nantasket Beach, MA
The Doors are to play two shows tonight but
arrive late and only give one power packed performance at 8:30
p.m. Also performing: Ultimate Spinach
Fri. Oct. 13th: The Lyric Theater -
Baltimore, MD
The Doors plays right off their first album
finishing with a supberb version of "The End" ,of couse, during
which Jim slams himself to the floor remaining motionless for a long
period and then suddenly leaps up and goes into an extremely
loud and intense Oedipal section of the song as the crowd is totally
blown away. They encore with "When The Music's Over".
Also performing: Tim Rose
Sat. Oct. 14th: Susquehanna University Field
House - Selinsgrove, PA
Sun. Oct. 15th: Berkely Community College -
Berkely, CA
Mon. Oct. 16th - Thu. 19th: The Scene - NYC
Sun. Oct. 16th (2): The Rock Scene: Like It Is
- Toronto, Canada
This is the broadcast date for the CBC-TV special
taped on Sept. 14th.
Fri. Oct. 20th: University of Michigan I.M.
Building - Ann Arbor, MI - (Homecoming)
Sat. Oct. 21st: Broadmoor
Hotel Ballroom - Colorado Springs, CO
The Doors play for The
Colorado College homecoming dance.
Sun. Oct. 22nd: Williams
College Gym - Williamstown, MA(DU)
Fri. Oct. 27th: Cal.
Polytechnical State Univ. Men's Gym - San Luis Obispe, CA
Sat. Oct. 28th: Univ. of Cal. Santa barbara Robertson Gym -
Goleta, CA
November
1967
The Doors are packing every place they
play. The "young lion" photos are appearing everywhere and
Jim's layout in Vogue omes out in the middle of the
month. Both Time and Newsweek run articles on The
Doors. The Doors are now mainstream news. Jim is becoming
masterful on stage turning concerts into seances evoking cathartic
experiences with his calculating moves and control of the
audience. The Doors are playing at or near their best. Jim is
treating each show as if it's his last giving all out
performances.
Sat. Nov. 4th: Community
Concourse
Convention Hall - San Diego, CA
Mon. Nov. 6th: 16 Magazine
Article
MEET JIM MORRISON
by Gloria Stavers 1967
The facts are very simple. So simple that they
might mislead you into thinking that the young man whose picture
you see on this page is- well, a lot like a lot of other young
men. But he isn't. His full real name is James Douglas Morrison.
He was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Fla.- which is near
Cape Kennedy. Jim is six feet tall and has brown hair and haunting
blue-grey eyes. After attending Florida State University, he moved
to California, where he studied film-making at UCLA. Fortunately,
he was side-tracked into the world of music (which had always held
great interest for him) and he soon found himself the lead singer
of a group called the Doors.
After almost two years of hard work, the Doors
(Jim, Robby Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek) finally did
what every group has to do in order to start their climb to the
top- they cut a hit single record. Oddly enough, the hit had been
sitting on record store shelves in the Doors Elektra LP for quite
a while. One single was lifted from the LP and didn't make it.
Then someone came up with the bright idea of releasing the vocal
part of Light My Fire as a single record (if you have the LP, you
know that the whole Light My Fire band is eight minutes long).
Anyway, as they say, the rest is history. Except it really isn't-
for Jim Morrison is not like any other pop singer to appear on the
scene: past, present or future. One word that can describe him is
"total". He is so whole, so complete, so all himself and nobody or
nothing else that just meeting him is an unforgettable experience.
Hearing him sing and watching him perform- well, that's really
magic! I've been lucky enough to have this experience, and I'll
try (mind you, try) to describe just a little bit of what it's
like to you. So close your eyes, open your mind and take my hand
while I try to lead you through "Jim Morrison's magic land". It
begins like this:
At first, everything is serene- blue and green.
The lights are low and the stage is empty. Slowly, the boys come
out and in the dark ness they start to "set up". You can hardly
distinguish which is which. After a minimum amount of tuning up,
the house lights suddenly go on. Just as they do, there is a
fabulous blast of sound. It's the Doors- and they are on and it's
unmistakably their music that you hear. Then, seemingly from
nowhere, a figure leaps onto the stage. It's him- Jim Morrison!
And you feel something you have never felt before. It's like an
electric shock that goes all through you. Jim is singing and you
realize that it's a combination of him, the way he looks and
moves, and his sound that has completely turned you on. His voice
is like spirals of flame, and beautiful red and yellow colors seem
to fly out of his fingertips.
Come on, baby, light my fire....He is singing
it to you and all at once the room around you seems to glow. At
first it's warm, then it's hot- like something burning, but it
doesn't hurt. You dig it. It's the fire- the fire that Jim is
singing about. The fire that he knows all about and now- suddenly-
you do too! You are consumed by his vibrant presence and his
sensational singing. He is electric. He is magic. He is all afire.
And everything that he is, he is giving to you freely and totally!
Then he is gone. The music continues for a
while- echoing through your mind- and the room around you, which
you think must have been consumed in the blaze that Jim created in
you and all about you, slowly comes back into focus. Soon, all is
serene again. It's blue. And it's green. And it's serene. But the
gigantic talent of Jim Morrison has changed you- and you will
never be the same again.
Wed. Nov. 8th: Bruce
Morrow's Music Power - ABC Studios, NY
Fri. Nov. 10th: Eagles Auditorium -
Seattle, WA
Sat. Nov. 11th: Gill
Coliseum - Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR
Sun. Nov. 12th: Univ. of Oregon Gym -
Eugene, OR (DU)
Wed. Nov. 15th: Vogue Magazine
Thu. Nov. 16th: Fillmore Auditorium - San
Francisco, CA
Fri. Nov. 17th - Sat. 18th: Winterland Arena
- San Francisco, CA
Fri. Nov. 24th: Hunter College Playhouse
- New York, NY
Sat. Nov. 25th: Hilton
Hotel Int'l Ballroom - Washington, D.C.
Fri. Dec. 1st: Cal State
Long Beach Men's Gym - Long Beach, CA
The Doors play for 50% of the gate and make
$10,000.00, the most money they have earned in one night, under new
promoter Rich Linnell.
Sat. Dec. 2nd: Portland
Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR
J I M T U R N
S 2 4
Fri. Dec. 8th: Rensselaer
Poly Institute Field House - Troy, NY
Jim arrives late by limousine missing his plane
in NYC. The band is not accepted well and the crowd doesn't
want an encore. Jim is depressed and doesn't return to NYC on the
plane but opts to take the limo 150 miles back alone.
J I M I S A R
R E S T E D O N S T A G E
Sat. Dec. 9th: New
Haven Arena - New Haven, CT
Jim meets a local 18 year old co-ed from nearby
Southern Connecticut State and they start making out in a
backstage shower stall. A police officer interrupts them and
orders them out of the stall. Jim defies the cop, who thinks
Jim is a hippie who snuck backstage, and eventually gets maced in
the face. Jim screams in pain running towards the dressing
room. Bill Siddons arrives and explains everything to the
cop. The officer apologizes and Jim soon recovers taking the
police lined stage. During the last song of the evening, "Back
Door Man", Jim tells the story of the backstage episode and starts
taunting the police and baiting the crowd. The auditorium lights
are switched on. Soon policemen surround Jim and drag him off the
stage brutally arresting him. The crowd riots leaving the venue in
disarray and many are arrested. Jim is the first rock star to be
arrested on stage. Jim is charged with "breach of peace,
resisting arrest and indecent or immoral exhibition." Hours later
about 80 protestors gather at the police station in demonstration
and more arrests are made. Jim is released around 2:00 A.M.
on a bail bond of $1,500.00. Trial is set for January.
Jim after being maced backstage
Sun. Dec. 10th: The New
Haven Aftermath
The Doors make headlines across the
country with the press siding with Jim finding no justification
for the arrest. A few weeks later the charges are
dropped. The F.B.I. opens an active file on James Douglas
Morrison.
Timeline - Music: Otis Redding dies just 2 days after recording
his only major hit "Dock of the Bay".
Fri. Dec. 15th: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
- Sacramento, Ca
Sat. Dec. 16th: Swing Auditorium - San
Bernardine, Ca
The Doors play only 5 songs due to technical difficulty. Jim tells
the crowd of 7,200 that they are going to take a break to fix the
problem but never return!
R A Y G E T S
M A R R I E D
Thu. Dec. 21st: Ray and
Dorothy Wed - City Hall, L.A.
Fri. Dec. 22nd - Sat. 23rd: Shrine Exposition
Hall- Los Angeles, CA
Tue. Dec. 26th - Thu. 28th: Winterland
Arena - San Francisco, CA
Wed. Dec. 27th (2): Jonathon
Winters Show - CBS TV Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Fri. Dec. 29th - Sun. 31st: The
Family
Dog - Denver, CO
End of the year: Timeline
- Vietnam War
486,000 American troops
are in Vietnam and of the 15,000 that will be killed in the war,
60% died in this year - 1967 - which is remembered more for "The
Summer of Love"? Strange Days ends the year in the third
spot nationally. Around this time, each of The Doors
receive a royalty check for $50,000.00.