Jim Morrison renounced the strictures of religious morality entirely. Not that Morrison didn't have conflicts: a person who drinks himself to death at age 27 is running from more than the confines of Christian ethics. But Morrison was an artist and he took his exploration of the forbidden seriously. This is evident from the pretention of his most ambitious projects, including poems like "The Celebration of the Lizard."
Morrison's poetic sorties were not successful because they were not conducted in his primary voice of artistic expression: the rock 'n' roll song. Morrison's soulmates Baudelaire and Rimbaud were steeped in the poetic tradition, and expression in it came naturally to them. Morrison's poetic expressions sound amateurish, stunted, stilted and self-parodic in comparison with his song lyrics. Morrison played at poetry, but he expressed himself through his music.....
And the band's classic first album here:
- By 1965 Johnny Rivers and the Byrds had put Hollywood's Sunset Strip and clubs like the Whiskey-a-Go-Go and Ciro's on the map. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek and singer/songwriter Jim Morrison had met in film school at UCLA and decided to form a band together. In the best '60s tradition, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore were in Manzarek's meditation class, and when they all got together, it clicked.
Elektra scout/producer Paul Rothchild saw the band live at the Whiskey in July, 1966 and was astonished - so much so that he wanted to create a studio album that was an "aural documentary" of their live set. Manzarek's inventive organ dominated the live sound, complemented well by Krieger's blues riffs, jazzy runs, and Spanish finger picking on guitar, and Densmore's fluid, interpretive drumming. Morrison was the focal point, his commanding baritone grabbing the ear while his erratic antics and arresting good looks captured the eye.
Rothchild's most enduring achievement is capturing that sound in the studio. Rothchild's first sessions at Sunset Sound for The Doors went well - the band was well prepared by a year's worth of nightly gigs - and several songs were recorded in only two or three takes. But that was not to last as they prepared to record "The End."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jonathan
He may have been an asshole.. but damnit he loved doing what he did. He had a genuine love for writing, being a musician and a performer. Although I've read some of his poetry and I don't think it's that good..
The Doors are still a powerful band now, and are my absolute favourite.
I'm 17 years old.
2 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Jonathan, I agree with your assessment of Morrison and I admire your taste at 17. I think the best of the Doors' music has only gained in power over time. I wouldn't say they are my favorite, but they are near the top.
3 - jadester
hah, i share two things with that bloke - i have the same first name, and i agree that the doors are a powerful band. Are, because their music is still around very much and still hits home. I love The End and Riders On The Storm but also LA Woman and Roadhouse Blues
Death is bad enough. Death brought about by excessive drinking, and that also extinguishes great talent, is BAAAAD
4 - Jonathan
It's funny how we all say that it's a shame he died. But is it?
Wouldn't it suck to see Jim turn into Ozzy Osbourne?
It's almost good that he died so young. I don't want to imagine Jim old and stumbling around screaming the name of his wife.
5 - HW Saxton
His lyrics were pretty good.I especially
like "I am the burger king ,I can eat
anything..." Plus,he did a pretty mean
Vic Damone impression on "Touch Me"!
6 - David
Richard Melzer recently wrote a cool article about them.
7 - Al Barger
Plus, dying young saved us more crappy poetry and half-assed records. Is there another rock singer more over rated than Jimbo? The Doors did a decent hits album worth of work, but they don't rate up with the Monkees- let alone the major artists.
8 - bleudevil
Al, you wish. The Monkees?! And I'm not a Monkee-hater, btw. I bet if you could somehow hear the Doors "fresh," free of the baggage of Jim's drunken excess and pretensions, you would appreciate what a good singer and lyricist he really was.
9 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Al, got to agree with you there. There are a few decent Doors tracks but overall they were highly over-rated. He was in fact a great performer but a crap poet. Like Cobain, his snuffing it was the best career move he ever made.
10 - Eric Olsen
As I have said ad nauseum, you have to separate out the non-rock stuff from his work with the Doors, but that isn't particularly difficult to do since all you have to do is listen to Doors records. But the native poetry of his best lyrics, his absolutely great voice and commanding stage presence are untopped if not unequaled. I understand and even sympatize with the anti-Morrison sentiment - ultimatley, he was impossible - but I will never get the anti-Doors thoughts. They are one of the greats and I seriously believe anyone who gives them a serious reassessment will come to realize both their both their accessibility and their depth.
11 - Jonathan
Comparing them to the monkees is a bit harsh :)
Also, last I checked the doors had 3 other members who were all pretty talented too. Krieger is pretty awesome on keyboards.
12 - Eric Olsen
Krieger is actually guitar and Manzarek keyboards, but you are right about the talent - Krieger wrote the music to "Light My Fire" and Manzarek's keyboard was the center of the group's sound.
13 - Al Barger
Partially I pick the comparison because I consider the Monkees significantly artistically underrated. You might argue over to whom to give the credit for the Monkees, as most of their songs were not written by the four guys in the video.
Nonetheless, you conjure up a CD compilation of the Doors, and I'll burn a disc of the Monkees- and the Monkees will have it ALL OVER the Doors.
I don't see anything exceptional about Morrison's vocal chops at all. I suppose he was a little more passionate than Davy Jones, but he wasn't in a league with Bob Dylan or Smokey or even Jimi Hendrix as a vocalist.
I suppose Morrison had some stage presence, although that's somewhat lost on me because he didn't have that great a MUSICAL presence to back it up.
If prowling the stage playing Lizard King and pulling out his pecker excites you, knock yourself out. Personally, I prefer music.
14 - Eric Olsen
I love the Monkees, truly, but comparing them to the Doors is like comparing Three Dog Night (whom I also love) to Creedence.
15 - Chris Wilson
There's really no better way to expose one's lack of knowledge (or love for that matter) of rock music than to trumpet "The Doors are overrated." Ironically, while their sound is a perfect example of 1960s-styled rock, many of the songs are timeless, if not fresh, to this day. Yup, some of the stuff is pretentious, LSD dreck. And Jim dying at such a young age did more for his legend than living ever would have. But he was a unique, American talent who wore the tortured artist mask to the extreme. A product of the 1960s? Yes. An alcoholic? Yes. He was a deeply troubled man in search of redemption. He did not find it. So we are left with a sporadic, entertaining, legendary, sometimes profound, body of work.......Morrison the man is overrated....I don't see how The Doors music could ever be.....my guess is he would agree.....
16 - Mark Saleski
...like comparing Three Dog Night (whom I also love) to Creedence
or like comparing Menudo to The Who.
17 - Eric Olsen
Excellent succinct assessment Chris, Thanks!
Mark, Menudo did die before they got old.
18 - Mark Saleski
and rightly so!
19 - Robin
What was Jim the man really like though? All I have heard about him is about his alcoholism, playing the "tortured artist" and how crazy he was. Jimbo had to be something more than that. Can anyone really explain what you think Jim really was to me?
20 - El Supremo
A few comments: Krieger wrote the lyrics to 'Light My Fire', not the music, although he did contribute to that. Manzarek wrote most of the music to that song, and definately the hook.
Morrison was a better vocalist than Dylan, Jones, or Hendrix, depending on which style he was singing. Comparing Smokey Robinson to any rock singer is ridiculous. Imagine Smokey singing 'Been Down So Long'! Jim's vocals were much better in his later recordings, in my opinion, when the music (and his vocals) turned more bluesey. Had he lived I think you would have seen the Doors move to a more blues oriented rock, and would have achieved even greater success with Jims lyrics and vocals.
I think Morrison was multi-talented, but suffered from some type of ADD, which didn't allow him to focus his full attention on being 'great' at any one thing (music, poetry, blues, cinema, etc.)
El Supremo
21 - Shaun
Impossible to agree with Andrew Ian Dodge's statement. Both The Doors and Nirvana made good music because the music complemented the vocals/lyrics to the fullest. These guys weren't solo artists, so it isn't really fair to judge them as such.
22 - Eric Olsen
agreed Shaun, thanks
23 - ClubhouseCancer
I agree that a best-of from the Monkees has it waaaaay over that of the Doors.
My only quibble: Al, almost all the finest Monkees tunes were sung by Mickey, including "Steppin' Stone," "Clarksville," "Mary, Mary," "I'm a Believer," "She", "Porpoise Song,""Pleasant Valley Sunday ," and a bunch more I can't think of.
Mickey Dolenz was the Lizard King. And the Walrus. And a golden god.
24 - duane
And he was Circus Boy.
25 - Eric Olsen
I really love the Monkees - first album I ever bought was More of the Monkees - but this is just perverse, an abomination, worthy of space in Pink Flamingoes.
Davey sang "Daydream Believer," my favorite Monkees song - "What do you have against short guys?"