The Doors: 'You could call us erotic politicians' - a classic interview
... "You want music?" A rousing yeah. "Well, man, we can play music all night, but that's not what you really want, you want something more, something greater than you've ever seen, right?" "We want Mick Jagger," someone shouted. "Light My Fire," said someone else, to laughter. It was a direct affront, but
the Doors hadn't seen it coming. That afternoon, before the concert, Morrison had said: "We're into what these kids are into." Driving home from rehearsal in his Mustang Shelby Cobra GT 500, he swept his arm wide to take in the low houses that stretched miles from the freeway to the Hollywood Hills. "We're ...
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Ray Manzarek Of The Doors Dies Aged 74
... Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founder member of
The Doors, died yesterday aged 74. He passed away after a long battle with bile duct cancer at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. Manzarek and Jim Morrison formed
The Doors in 1965, and rapidly became both a hugely successful and controversial band. The band released a number of best-selling albums, including Strange Days, Morrison Hotel and L.A. Woman, before Morrison's death in 1971, after which the band continued as a trio before calling time in 1973. Manzarek went on to form the super-group Nite City later in the decade and later reunited with
the Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger to form Manzarek-Krieger in 2002, continuing to perform
Doors material live right through until 2013. In a statement issued yesterday, Krieger said: "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played
Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him." The family have asked that a donation to Stand Up To Cancer be made in Manzarek's name here. Ray Manzarek Of
The Doors Dies Aged 74 ...
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The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek dies
... Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek dies ...
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The Doors
(1965-1973)
Jim Morrison (vocals) 1965-1971
Ray Manzarek (keyboards) 1965-1973
Robbie Krieger (guitar) 1965-1973
John Densmore (drums) 1965-1973
Artistfacts®: You can leave comments about the artist/band at the bottom of the page.
Their name came from Aldous Huxley's narrative about mescaline, The Doors Of Perception, which got its title from a quote by William Blake: "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." Huxley took LSD on his deathbed and tripped to his death on November 22, 1963, the same day John F. Kennedy was shot. (thanks, sandalista - cody, WY)
Morrison was in two movies - Hwy and A Feast of Friends. They were only shown in public a few times and have never been officially released.
They got their first club gig when a bunch of their friends came by to cheer them on at an audition at a club called London Fog in L.A. The manager figured they were popular and gave them the gig, but very few people showed up.
They were the house band for the Los Angeles club Whiskey A-Go-Go in 1966. They were fired after an explicit performance of "The End."
They were the first band to have an album advertised on a billboard. Elektra Records paid $1500 to promote their first album on L.A.'s Sunset Strip.
The Doors were not invited to play Woodstock. (thanks, Clare - Wilmette, IL)
On December 9, 1967, Morrison was arrested at a concert in New Haven for "giving an indecent or immoral exhibition." He was backstage with a girl before the show when an incident took place with Morrison and a police officer. Enraged, Morrison said this when he took the stage: "We started talking and we wanted some privacy and so went into this little show room. We weren't doing anything. You know, just standing there talking, and then this little man in a little blue suit and a little blue cap came in there. He said 'Whatcha doin' there?' 'Nothin'.' But he didn't go away, he stood there and then he reached round behind him and brought out this little black can of something. It looked like shaving cream. And then he sprayed it in my eyes. I was blinded for about 30 minutes."
At this point, three policemen came on stage and arrested him. It was the first time a rock star was arrested in the middle of a performance.
Morrison wrote his will in 1969.
On March 1, 1969, a drunk Morrison was arrested at a Doors concert in Miami after allegedly exposing his penis on stage. Charges included lewd and lascivious behavior, profanity, and public drunkenness. The incident caused an uproar, and The Doors had to stop touring because promoters kept canceling their shows. Morrison was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail, but died while the case was being appealed.
In 2010, Florida governor Charlie Crist granted Morrison a pardon after a fan named Dave Diamond wrote to him asking for a review. Crist believed there was no conclusive evidence that Morrison exposed himself. Ray Manzarek explained: "He taunted the audience, 'I'm going to show you! I'm going to show it to you.' Then he took his shirt off, held it in front of him like a bullfighter's cape, wiggled it around as if there was something going on behind it."
Morrison's middle name was Douglas, after General Douglas MacArthur. His father wanted him to join the military.
On July 3, 1971, Morrison's girlfriend, Pamela Courson, found him dead in his bathtub. Cause of death was listed as "heart attack induced by respiratory problems." Some of the rumors were that he overdosed on heroin or that he faked his death. Courson died of a heroin overdose in 1974.
After Morrison's death, the remaining members released two poorly-selling albums as a trio. Iggy Pop was considered as Morrison's replacement.
Morrison was 27 years old when he died. Other famous musicians who died at that age: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Robert Johnson and Brian Jones of Rolling Stones. (thanks, Josh - Rockaway, NJ)
Morrison's headstone in Paris reads: "Kata ton daimona eay toy," Greek for "True to his own spirit."
When he was 4, Morrison's drove by an auto accident in New Mexico where several Indians were dying along the road. Morrison felt their spirits leapt into his soul.
Krieger and Manzarek have continued to play together, but Densmore cannot join them because he has severe tinnitus, which is ringing of the ears.
Morrison's gravesite is the 4th most popular tourist destination in Paris.
Spawn creator Todd McFarlane designed a Jim Morrison action figure which he began selling in 2001.
When the group started out, Morrison was very shy. As a result, Manzarek had to sing on a lot of the songs.
There is a minor-league hockey team in Jacksonville, Florida called the Lizard Kings, which was one of Morrison's many nicknames.
They never officially hired a bass player, but used several on their albums.
Morrison's girlfriend worked in a boutique owned by the mother of Guns n' Roses guitarist Slash.
Since the break up of the band, Manzarek has done a lot of work with beat poet Michael McClure.
Krieger's son played in a band called Bloodline, which also featured the sons of jazz trumpetist Miles Davis and Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley.
Morrison published a poetry book which was trashed by most critics.
A movie about the band called The Doors was directed by Oliver Stone. Val Kilmer played Jim Morrison. (thanks, Glenn - kingston, NH, for above 2)
Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida on December 8th, 1943. He was one of the infamous 3 music artists that died within a couple of years from each other, accompanied by Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. December 8th was also the day John Lennon was shot to death. (thanks, Justin McShea - Columbia, MO)
There is a real Morrison Hotel, which was featured on the cover of their album of the same name. It's in Los Angeles and opened in 1915. You might not want to stay there: In 2004, it was cited for over 100 code violations and in 2006 the owners were sentenced for slum-like conditions.
Morrison was married to Patricia Kennealy in a Wiccan ceremony in 1970; she went on to become a science fiction writer. (thanks, Brendan - London, England)
They have more songs in the 1994 movie
Forrest Gump than any other band with a total of 6. These are, "
Soul Kitchen" (in one of the Vietnam scenes), "
Hello I Love You" (first song in Gump's first ping pong sequence), "
Break On Through (To The Other Side)" (second song in Gump's first ping pong sequence), "
Peace Frog" (third song in Gump's first ping pong sequence), "
People Are Strange" (during a New York scene with Lt. Dan) and "
Love Her Madly" (when Jenny is leaving the hotel room with a black eye after presumably whoring herself). (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Morrison was a pudgy kid in his UCLA years, his weight at that time was about 185. However in the forming stages of The Doors he and Ray took to a workout area at Venice Beach; that and not having much money for food at the time meant a strict diet and the 145 pound figure that can be seen in the Joel Brodsky photos. It was only a few short years of self indulgence with alcohol and drugs, coupled with staying up for days at a time and partying all night that Jim quickly added the weight back and was much heavier at his time of death. (thanks, Nate - Lubbock, TX)
Early in his career, Glen Campbell opened for the Doors. Said Campbell: "One of the first big gigs I played was with the Doors. And I got up there and I said, 'Where's the band?' They said, 'We ain't got no band, it's just you and the guitar.' I went out with my guitar and opened for the Doors in Portland and Seattle. And when I got back to town I said, 'Don't book me on no more of those.' I said, 'I'd rather stay here and do sessions, make more money and enjoy it.' And I didn't go back out, either, till after the TV show (The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran 1969-1972). I can make more money sittin' right here and have a hell of a lot more fun."
Ray Manzarek passed away on May 20, 2013 at the age of 74. He died at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer.
Comments:
Dean Pitchford
Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in
Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."
Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).
Billy Gould of Faith No More
Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.
Bass Player Scott Edwards
Scott was Stevie Wonder's bass player before becoming a top session player. Hits he played on include "I Will Survive," "Being With You" and "Sara Smile."
I am a journalist looking for people to interview who saw The Doors at the Whisky A Go Go in 1966 for a magazine article.
Anyone out there?
He was a great...Singer
He was a great...songwriter
He was a great...person thrown into a rough life at a young age.
He was a caring man that had deamons inside him that the stressful life of being a rock star pulled out of him....so before you talk badly about someone like Jim Morrison, Tell everyone else all of you're life acomplishments...Have you gotten as much done in you're life as he did from age 22 to 27? If so I would love to hear it.
Until then.
Have a nice day.
Angga, Bandung, WJ, Indonesia
our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and I think the band tapped into that power, and the Lord never changes his love endureths forever.
I have asked to REMOVE my statement about the Doors,they were a very dark band and I no longer like them....
Please remove my other statement regarding the Doors.
Warmest Regards,
-Matt
is a beast. his lyrics are amazing. his entire public preformance style was amazing. I posted artist facts but they must be reviewd before they can be posted.
Thanks,
-Tay
love her madly is my favorite song
<<<< no, jim morrison and ray manzarek met at college in florida where they were both studying to become filmmakers
In additon the door's used an electrical organ with a keyboard bass.
Not just keyboards.
1. Since the Doors tour for the first album they decided that their music was not set for outdoor venues.
2. Woodstock was only a couple of months after Jim Morrison's arrest due to onstage behavior at the university of miami ( come on we all know that ).
The organizers in their infinate wisdom decided not to book the doors due to their black listing across the U.S.
3. The doors can do what ever they want.
kewl site,im new and theres alot of stuff i didnt know.
elvis
jimi hendrix
jim morrison
john lennon
sublime lead singer Bradley wilson
kurt cobain
I think everyone has heard or them or heard them... even if they dont realize thats what they are hearing or know at all... at some point in your life you will hear the doors. and they will take you to higher ground
This is one band that could never replace their singer,songwriter and gifted poet they had in the Lizard King nor should they have ever tried.