Interactive Chronological History

1 9 6 7
"The Summer of Love"

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.

 

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

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. Jan. 31st - Thu. Feb. 2nd:  Gazzarri's - Hollywood, CA

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wed. Apr. 5th:  Fresno District Fairgrounds - Fresno, CA (DU)

Thu. Apr. 6th:  Modesto Skating Rink Arena - Modesto, CA (DU)

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.

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.

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

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.

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

    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

 "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:  

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)

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."

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

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

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

   

    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.

 

O c t o b e r   -   D e c e m b e r

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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)

 

    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.

Sun. Nov. 26th:  Bushnell Auditorium - Hartford, CT

   
 

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.

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!

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.