The Untouchables 12.14.05: The Doors
Posted by Stephen Mogan on 12.14.2005
Musical free-spirits who enlightened a generation, or drug-loving loonies who sang about riding around on giant snakes?
There are many bands that are universally recognised as being great, some achieve superstar status, but very few reach the point where the acclaim for them is so intense, that it becomes inconceivable to question their genius. They are The Untouchables...
Hello there, and welcome to this week’s Untouchables column. I’m Steve Mogan and I’m your host again as we take a look at another band that has achieved Untouchable status. Last week we looked at punk pioneers the Sex Pistols and decided that they were indeed worthy of Untouchable status (but only by the skin of their teeth). This week we’ll be looking at a band that has more in common with last week’s subjects than first meets the eye. Both had iconic frontmen, both annoyed lame television hosts on opposite sides of the Atlantic and both were on a mission to “freak people out, maaaan” (in entirely different ways, of course). Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:
The Doors
The Band:
Jim Morrison and fellow film school student, Ray Manzarek, formed the band at UCLA in 1965. Lead singer Morrison was an aspiring poet, and often used his writing for the basis for the band’s songs. Mazarek played the organ (back when it was still cool to call it an “organ”) and his friends (and fellow “meditation class” attendees, no less) John Densmore (drums) and Robby Krieger (guitar) completed the line-up. They then sat about on beaches, took a helluva lot of drugs and recorded their self-titled debut (tough break, eh? I wonder how many people told ol’ Jim he’d amount to nothing if he quit film school). This was released in 1967, and was important for many reasons. Firstly, it pushed the band to the forefront of the psychedelic movement that was emerging on the west coast of the US at the time. Alongside the likes of Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead, The Doors were heralded as one of the “new bands for a new age” and all that stuff, ensuring they quickly won popularity with the burgeoning hippie movement. Over in New York at the time a little band we looked at a couple of week’s ago called The Velvet Underground was also releasing a (sort of) self-titled debut to the sound of a pin dropping. They quickly won popularity with practically nobody, yet today are held in just as high a regard as hippie Jim and his merry band of poncho-wearers. I suppose standing for the exact opposite of the values of an entire generation didn’t help The VU too much, but it just goes to show it’s all about the timing.
Anyway, I’ll just drive this thing back over from tangent avenue and get back to “The Doors”. The second reason it was so important was that it established Jim Morrison as a true sex symbol. He was everything a young girl in 1967 could have wanted: a good-looking, long-haired, bare-torsoed, tight-trousered poet who liked wearing beads. He and the band were a hit, and this was proven when the single “Light My Fire” reached no. 1 in the US charts. This led to them famously being asked to perform the song live on the popular “Ed Sullivan Show”, but only if Morrison sang the lyrics “Girl we couldn’t get much better” instead of “Girl we couldn’t get much higher”. The half-naked man thrusting around on stage they were OK with, but the drug reference was too much (the show’s producers didn’t buy either the “But Jim’s a hot-air balloonist!”, nor the “But Jim’s half-eagle!” explanations). Naturally, Morrison sang the song’s original lyrics, causing great controversy at the time. Ed had his revenge, however, and refused to shake hands with the band (you tell ‘em, Ed). In addition to being controversial, Jim and co. were also prolific: just a year after the release of their debut they’d already squeezed out another two albums, “Strange Days” and “Waiting For The Sun”. The former hit the upper echelons of the charts again, while the latter occupied both the number 1 album slot and produced the no. 1 single, “Hello, I Love You”. 1969 saw the release of “The Soft Parade”, with the band expanding their sound to include both string and horn sections. The album is considered a low point in the band’s career, with Jim developing a drink problem during its recording that was detrimental to the record (thus ending every drink vs. drugs argument ever).
The band returned to form, however, with 1970’s “Morrison Hotel” (complete with fantastic a cover that showed the band stood in the window of a hotel that shared a name with Jim in classic “Look, ma! I done found my name on a sign!” style), which featured favourites like “Roadhouse Blues” and a more direct sound. This resurgence continued on the bands final album with Morrison, “L.A. Woman”, which counted the epic title-track and “Riders On The Storm” as two of its high points. After its recording, Jim and his girlfriend Pamela Courson moved to Paris. As we know, this didn’t work out too great for him and he died of a presumed drug overdose on June 3, 1971. His bodied was buried at Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, but all of this information is alleged at best, with stories that Jim faked his death, or that his body was moved to his apartment after his death, amongst others, circulating for years after his passing. The band continued without him and released two not-too-great albums, “Other Voices” and “Full Circle”, before finally calling it quits in 1972, after deciding that it just wasn’t the same without Morrison.
The Albums:
Early Days
The Doors (1967)
Their first album opens with the classic track “Break On Through (To The Other Side)”. This is the band’s statement of intent, and sums up what they were all about. At just under two and a half minutes, it’s an energetic and immediate opener that gently eases the listener towards some of the longer, jam-orientated tracks coming up later. Not to mention that it’s simply one of the best straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll songs ever produced by an American band. Jim’s frenzied vocal aids the music in getting the band’s message across: strap yourself in, it’s gonna be quite a ride. Next up we have “Soul Kitchen” and “Crystal Ship”, another two favourites that usually make the best-of cut. Strong, harsh vocals from Jim and a funky bassline make the former a winner, whilst the latter goes for a more relaxed, reflective mood. Dreamlike vocals from Morrison (proving he was equally adept at yelling and whispering) and an emphasis on the piano over the guitar make this one a nice chill-out track and an example of how The Doors were masters of a number of musical styles. “Alabama Song” has all the ingredients of a musical disaster, but still somehow emerges to triumph. The oompah-style organs and repetitive lyrics should annoy, but instead the song is the perfect after-hours drunken singalong (or after-after-hours incredibly drunken lament: down to you really). “Light My Fire” is next; a song that simply defies description. It’s a stone-cold classic, with one of the best instrumental passages of all-time. Excellence itself. “Take It As It Comes” is the penultimate track and has a great bass solo. It’s a big, roaring rock song to set up the finale; the sprawling, hazy epic “The End”. The track is incredibly atmospheric throughout its 12-minute duration. The amount of eerie touches the band fit into this one is impressive, from the rattle at the start to the lingering, nagging riff that underpins the whole song. The end (ho ho!) result is quite unnerving; a song that veers from slow and mellow to completely out of control and back again a number of times. The perfect end to the album, really. In all, not a single bad song on their debut; a definite classic.
Strange Days (1967)
So to the follow-up; “Strange Days”. The opener is the title-track and again it’s very atmospheric and gloomy. A good start, and one that shows that this album is picking up where the first left off with “The End”, this is much darker than the majority of the debut. This is a feature throughout the album, from the haunting guitar riff on “You’re Lost, Little Girl” to the eerie sound effects on “Moonlight Drive”. The band hasn’t lost its ear for a tune, however. The latter track has a fantastic piano refrain and military drumming, whilst “Love Me Two Times” is impossible not to tap your foot to (go on, try!). Of course, the album also contains another two classic Doors songs. “People Are Strange” manages to mix the two styles of the album perfectly; being both catchy and unsettling at the same time. “When The Music’s Over” then finishes the album. Comparisons with “The End” are inevitable due to the length of both songs (“The End” being slightly the longer one), but the two are actually very different and “When The Music’s Over” is an excellent way of winding down the album. The record thing feels like a strange, disorientating experience so what better way to finish it than with the musical equivalent of a mental breakdown? Despite its crazed drumming and an extremely effective quiet/loud dynamic the track can’t better “The End” for atmosphere, but being only the second-best epic Doors album-closer isn’t exactly an embarrassment. Overall, credit to the band for trying out new sounds on “Strange Days”, but the songs just aren’t strong enough for this to be considered anything more just decent. For all its good points, the album always feels inferior to the first. Too many slower songs and not enough rocking-out makes for a less memorable listening experience. Plus it has the truly terrible “Horse Latitudes” spoken-word track. I don’t know much about Morrison as a poet, but this is just horrible, and really shouldn’t have made the cut.
The Wobbly Years In The Middle
Waiting For The Sun (1968)
The title refers to the fact that these are generally considered to be the band’s weakest albums. “Waiting For The Sun” is a much more relaxed, mellow album than The Doors’ previous work (at least I hope this is the case, they just might have gotten so good at making the evil sound upbeat on “Strange Days” that I can’t tell the difference anymore). Jim actually sounds happy and not frighteningly disturbed as he does most of the time. “Wintertime Love” is a lovely waltz, for example, whilst “Summer’s Almost Gone” is a weeping lament. “Love Street” is another gentle, upbeat song, which strays dangerously close to lounge music at times, but overall it’s a winner. There is also a dark undercurrent to this one; an edge that appears to be missing from some of the other tracks. “Spanish Caravan” mixes flamenco guitars with keyboards stolen from Rick Wakeman to create a song that is truly unique in The Doors catalogue. The prog sound-effects do sound horribly dated now, however. The album does feature a couple of classic songs; “Hello, I Love You” is a slice of pop genius, whilst at the other end of the scale “The Unknown Soldier” is a spooky eulogy to fallen troops, complete with an execution by firing squad right in the middle. The album closes with the heaviest song The Doors had recorded up until this point, “Five To One”. This is one of my personal favourites; the bass sounds so powerful, whilst Jim’s rough, rasping vocal really suits the song. It’s incredible that this was recorded in 1968; not many songs today can match this intensity. A good finish, however, does not a worthy album make. “Waiting For The Sun” feels like a collection of songs rather than an album as a whole. Though I didn’t like “Strange Days”, at least it was coherent. Here, the songs are all over the place; mainly mellow love songs, but held together by the bizarre combination of a Spanish prog-out, mid-song executions and the heaviest bassline known to man. It just doesn’t work for me; too relaxed in points and an over-reliance on their trademark keyboard sound. The fact is, many of the songs sound like inferior copies of their previous work. Thumbs down.
The Soft Parade (1969)
“The Soft Parade” is another major disappointment. This was the album where they really started experimenting with different sounds. “Tell All The People” is a poor opener that makes them sound like a house band in a cheesy members club. The horns drown Jim out, leaving him sounding like a bad cabaret singer. Things pick up by track two; “Touch Me” is a groovy powerhouse of a song. Jim’s vocals are strong here, and we even get a sax solo thrown in. Good fun, overall. “Shaman’s Blues” is filler, whilst “Do It” has a nice riff but doesn’t go anywhere. Then we have “Easy Ride”. The best way to describe this mess is as boogie-woogie southern rock with keyboards, I suppose. It sounds terrible. “Wild Child” is another song with a great riff that frustrates by going nowhere. By the time penultimate track “Wishful Sinful” rolls around, you’re so desperate for anything resembling the “old” Doors sound that it’s a relief when the haunting guitar riff starts. And a massive disappointment when the violins appear. It. Just. Doesn’t. Work. Final track “The Soft Parade” is either the best thing ever and the album’s saving grace, or the most schizophrenic piece of music ever recorded and the perfect example of why the album is a failure. Depends on your stance really. It’s almost impossible to describe in words though, the best I can do is say it’s probably the music that plays inside a small child’s head after they’ve consumed too much sugar. This is a bad, bad album with few bright spots. It’s not even as though they’ve lost their touch on the record, “Touch Me” shows that. It’s just that whoever took the band’s whole stash of acid at once and decided strings, horns and saxophones were the way to go was apparently put in complete charge of the project. I know this makes me look hypocritical for saying the last one was too samey and this one is too different to their old sound but, c’mon, there’s middle ground to be had here, surely.
The Big Comeback
Morrison Hotel (1970)
Oh thank God, I thought they weren’t coming back after that last one. The opening moments of “Roadhouse Blues” (first track on “Morrison Hotel”) sound so familiar now that it’s difficult to imagine the relief Doors fans must have felt when they put this on the spindle and heard the familiar bluesy riffs usually associated with the band, instead of an album that sounds like Jim Morrison drowning in a giant tuba. A classic opener, which is followed up with two more great tracks, “Waiting For The Sun” (confusingly) and “You Make Me Real”. The former sounds like a mix of everything that’s gone before it, in a good way. It has the familiar keyboard, the weird guitar effects from “Strange Days” with a bit of the heaviness of “Five To One” mixed in. The latter has a good old-time plinky plonky piano that gives it real feel-good factor. This is a great track; Morrison sounds like he’s back to his best and the band show how musically adept they really are when sticking with what they know. “Peace Frog” follows, with an amazing riff that I’m sure Kurt Cobain has heard once or twice. This song is so funky, another foot-tapper that you can’t help moving to. “Ship of Fools” is another well-known song which is simply The Doors doing what they do best. Nothing spectacular, but a million times better from the filler present on their last effort. “Land Ho!” has a cheesy guitar riff but again, it’s impossible not to want to dance to this song. I don’t know what the band were taking at this point but it certainly helped them produce some catchy music. “Indian Summer” is a soft, gentle track which is a fine way to ease us towards the finale of “Maggie McGill”. As album closers go it’s a tad disappointing, more in the “5 To One” mould than that of “The End”, except it’s as good as neither. Not a bad song by any means, it just doesn’t feel like it should be finishing an album. In all, a fine return to form for the band. They managed to revert back to their old sound without making it sound tired or played-out. The amount of awesome musicianship on this album is breathtaking; everything sounds so polished. They even managed to make poppier-sounding tracks without coming off as cheesy. Which I suppose means we should be thankful for all the experimenting they did on their last album. On this evidence it reinvigorated the band. Top stuff.
L.A. Woman (1971)
“L.A. Woman” marks another change in style for the band. Opener “The Changeling” sounds like “Funkytown”, for example. In a good way, I guess. It’s all gone a bit cocktail jazz; full of wah-wah guitars and the like. Not that I dislike the funk, it’s just odd that the band chose to change style once again when their last album seemed to have it down perfect. Second track “Love Her Madly” is excellent, with a great mix of keyboards and guitars, whilst “Cars Hiss By My Window” is an old-fashioned bluesy head-nodder. “L.A. Woman” follows, and is simply a fantastic song. The mix of sounds the band produces on this track is astounding. We’re back to the jazz again (with a bit of prog thrown in), but this time there’s no doubt about whether it works or not. You’d have to be clinically not alive for your heart not to beat a little faster when the sweeping keyboards on the chorus kick in. “L’America” is a menacing track with more military drumming from Densmore. It’s not the most listenable track, but like “Unknown Solider” is strives to create a mood and succeeds unquestionably. We even get a little swing-beat thrown in towards the end, as the darks clouds of the song lift momentarily. The album finishes with the incredible “Riders On The Storm”. This has been a radio staple for years, and with good reason. Simply amazing, this is another track with a great sense of atmosphere and will rightly go down and probably the greatest piece of music The Doors produced. The track really swings my thumbs upwards when it comes to the album as a whole. Up until this point it comes across as a good record, but the final track ensures that it will go down as a classic.
Their Influence:
Well, Jim Morrison was THE frontman. He helped craft the art alongside Jagger and the rest and probably every guy up there today throwing shapes has a debt to pay to Jimbo. Despite the large list of artists who’ve cited the band as an influence, it’s difficult to pin down their sound in modern music. Iggy Pop, MC5, Jane’s Addiction, The Jesus & Mary Chain and The Stranglers are have all been influenced by, yet fail to sound significantly like, The Doors. I guess it just goes to show how unique the band were (and that “influenced by” doesn’t always mean “stole a riff from”…I’m looking in your direction, Oasis).
The Verdict:
Well, it was doubtful for a while there, but I think it’s clear that The Doors are worthy of their status as one of the greatest bands of all time. Despite two disappointing albums and one downright terrible one, the quality they produced on the other three ensures they will be remembered for generations to come. It’s certainly wasn’t as cut and dried as some people would have you believe, however. Next time you hear somebody complaining that people don’t hold The Doors in as high a regard as The Beatles or The Stones, make ‘em listen to The Soft Parade and ask them to talk you through it.
What now?
Firstly, we all know what happened to Jim. Manzarek sounds like he’s been having a blast; playing with Iggy & The Stooges and producing Echo & The Bunnymen. He’s also directing a movie called “Riders on the Storm”, which is meant to be released sometime in 2005. I doubt it’s coming out in the next three weeks, however, and info on it is thin on the ground. And, don’t get your hopes up: it’s not about The Doors either. Apparently some guy already did some movie about them or something. Krieger played guitar with Blue Oyster Cult (“I gotta have more cowbell!”) and, alongside Manzarek, somehow reformed The Doors in 2002. Seemingly the reason it “just wasn’t the same without Jim” was the stupid drummer’s fault. It took Krieger 30 years to figure this out, but when he did he replaced Densmore with the drummer from The Police and took the band on the road again. The lead singer from The Cult was also plucked from the same ‘80s bargain bin to replace Morrison. Needless to say, the band didn’t do all that well. John Densmore is the official owner of Wikipedia’s most desolate entry. You could visit it here (watch out for the tumbleweeds), but I’ll save you trouble: John Densmore (born 1946) was the drummer of the rock group The Doors from 1965 to 1973. (See? Who needs books?). He also has an official webpage but I couldn’t bring myself to go past the splash page because it looked like he was trying to sell me a watch or some perfume. Therefore, in lieu of actual research, I’ll just claim John Densmore has moved to Africa to wrestle lions.
Well, that’s it for this week. Let me know what you thought of the column by sending me an email, especially if you have any ideas on which bands I should cover in the coming weeks. Happy holidays everybody!
