Original released on
LP Elektra EKL 4007
(US 1967, January 4)
A
tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock
history, introducing the band's fusion of rock, blues, classical, jazz, and
poetry with a knock-out punch. The lean, spidery guitar and organ riffs
interweave with a hypnotic menace, providing a seductive backdrop for Jim
Morrison's captivating vocals and probing prose. "Light My Fire" was
the cut that topped the charts and established the group as stars, but most of
the rest of the album is just as impressive, including some of their best
songs: the propulsive "Break on Through" (their first single), the
beguiling Oriental mystery of "The Crystal Ship," the mysterious
"End of the Night," "Take It as It Comes" (one of several
tunes besides "Light My Fire" that also had hit potential), and the
stomping rock of "Soul Kitchen" and "Twentieth Century
Fox." The 11-minute Oedipal drama "The End" was the group at its
most daring and, some would contend, overambitious. It was nonetheless a
haunting cap to an album whose nonstop melodicism and dynamic tension would
never be equaled by the group again, let alone bettered. (Richie Unterberger in
AllMusic)
DISCOGRAPHY
Formed July 1965, Los
Angeles, CA, United States
Disbanded 1973
Jim Morrison (born 1943 > died 1971): vocals
Robby Krieger (born 1946): guitar
John Densmore (born 1944): drums
Ray Manzarek (born 1939 > died 2013): keyboards, bass,
pedals, vocals
1967-01-04 LP THE DOORS (US Elektra EKL 4007):
A1. Break On Through (To the Other Side); A2. Soul Kitchen; A3. The Crystal
Ship; A4. Twentieth Century Fox; A5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar); A6. Light My
Fire; B1. Back Door Man; B2. I Looked at You; B3. End of the Night; B4. Take It
as It Comes; B5. The End
1967-01 Sg (US Elektra EK
45611): A. Break On
Through (To the Other Side); B. End of the Night
1967-05 Sg (US Elektra EK
45615): A. Light My Fire; B. The Crystal Ship
1967-09-11 Sg (US Elektra EK 45621):
A. People Are Strange; B. Unhappy Girl
1967-09-25 LP STRANGE DAYS (US Elektra EKL
4014): A1. Strange Days; A2. You’re Lost Little Girl; A3. Love Me Two Times;
A4. Unhappy Girl; A5. Horse Latitudes; A6. Moonlight Drive; B1. People Are
Strange; B2. My Eyes Have Seen You; B3. I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind; B4.
When the Music’s Over
1967-12 Sg (US Elektra EK
45624): A. Love Me Two Times; B. Moonlight Drive
1968-03 Sg (US Elektra EK
45628): A. The Unknown Soldier; B. We Could Be So Good Together
1968-07 Sg (US Elektra EK
45635): A. Hello, I Love You; B. Love Street
1968-07-12 LP WAITING FOR THE SUN (US Elektra
EKS 4024): A1. Hello, I Love You; A2. Love Street; A3. Not to Touch the Earth;
A4. Summer’s Almost Gone; A5. Wintertime Love; A6. The Unknown Soldier; B1.
Spanish Caravan; B2. My Wild Love; B3. We Could Be So Good Together; B4. Yes,
the River Knows; B5. Five to One
1968-12 Sg (US Elektra EK
45646): A. Touch Me; B. Wild Child
1969-03 Sg (US Elektra EK
45656): A. Wishful Sinful; B. Who Scared You
1969-06 Sg (US Elektra EK
45663): A. Tell All the People; B. Easy Ride
1969-07-18 LP THE SOFT PARADE (US Elektra EKS
75005): A1. Tell All the People; A2. Touch Me; A3. Shaman’s Blues; A4. Do It;
A5. Easy Ride; B1. Wild Child; B2. Runnin’ Blue; B3. Wishful Sinful; B4. The
Soft Parade
1969-09 Sg (US Elektra EK
45675): A. Runnin’ Blue; B. Do It
1970-02-09 LP MORRISON HOTEL (US Elektra EKS
75007): A1. Roadhouse Blues; A2. Waiting For the Sun; A3. You Make Me Real; A4.
Peace Frog; A5. Blue Sunday; A6. Ship of Fools; B1. Land Ho!; B2. The Spy; B3.
Queen of the Highway; B4. Indian Summer; B5. Maggie M’Gill
1970-07-20 LP ABSOLUTELY LIVE (US Elektra EKS
9002): A1. Who Do You Love; A2. Medley: Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) – Backdoor
Man – Love Hides – Five to One; B1. Build Me a Woman; B2. When the Music’s
Over; C1. Close to You; C2. Universal Mind; C3. Break On Through #2; D1. The
Celebration of the Lizard; D2. Soul Kitchen
1971-04-29 LP L.A. WOMAN (US Elektra EKS
75011): A1. The Changeling; A2. Love Her Madly; A3. Been Down So Long; A4. Cars
Hiss by My Window; A5. L.A. Woman; B1. L’America; B2. Hyacinth House; B3.
Crawling King Snake; B4. The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat); B5. Riders on
the Storm
1971-05 Sg (US Elektra EKS
45726): A. Love Her Madly; B. (You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further
1971-07 Sg (US Elektra EKS
45738): A. Riders on the Storm; B. The Changeling
1971-10-25 LP OTHER VOICES (US Elektra EKS
75017): A1. In the Eye of the Sun; A2. Variety Is the Spice of Life; A3. Ships
Without Sails; A4. Tightrope Ride; B1. Down on the Farm; B2. I’m Horny, I’m
Stoned; B3. Wandering Musician; B4. Hang on to Your Life
1972-07 LP FULL CIRCLE (US Elektra EKS
75039): A1. Get Up and Dance; A2. 4 Billion Souls; A3. Verdilac; A4. Hardwood
Floor; A5. Good Rockin’; B1. The Mosquito; B2. The Piano Bird; B3. It Slipped
My Mind; B4. The Peking King and the New York Queen
1978-11 LP AN AMERICAN PRAYER (Jim Morrison and the
Doors) (US Elektra 5E-502): A1. Awake (Ghost Song-Dawn’s
Highway-Newborn Awakening); A2. To Come of Age (Black Polished Crome-Latino
Chrome-Angels and Sailors-Stoned Immaculate); A3. The Poet’s Dream (The
Movie-Curses, Invocations); B1. World on Fire (American Night-Roadhouse
Blues-The World on Fire-Lament-The Hitchhiker); B2. An American Prayer
