The Doors Best Songs - JTC Playlist

Watched an extended / unedited version of this video on PATREON:
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JT Curtis compiles his favorite songs from #TheDoors into a #playlist #historyofrock
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2dr...

JTCurtis.com

Rather than compile a "Top 10" or "best of" list, these playlist videos are meant to give the listener / viewer a more comprehensive view of the artist / band's repertoire. The Doors were one of the most popular bands to come out of the 1960s counterculture, although their vibe was much darker than the Hippies' free-love movement. Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, and naming themselves after Aldous Huxley's book, The Doors of Perception, UCLA students Jim Morrison (vocals) and Ray Manzarek (keyboards) set out to form a band in Venice Beach. Eventually recruiting John Densmore on drums and Robby Krieger on guitar. One distinction about The Doors sound was the lack of a bass player. Ray Manzarek covered the bass parts on a Rhodes Piano bass with his left hand while his right hand played a Vox Continental organ. In the studio, they used several bass players like Douglass Lubahn (offered to become their fifth member) and Jerry Scheff. Classical and flamenco influenced Robby Krieger also played fingerstyle rather than use a pick. But it was Jim Morrison's poetry and distinct stage presence that commanded audiences attention. Together they began performing all over the Sunset Strip from The London Fog to becoming the house band at the Whisky A Go Go, where they joined Van Morrison and Them to perform "Gloria". At this time, The Doors developed long jams and spoken-word passages to stretch out their sets on songs like "Light My Fire," "When the Music's Over" and especially "The End." It was Jim shouting obscenities in the later (retelling the story of the Greek myth of Oedipus Rex) that would eventually get them fired but also lead to a signing with Elektra Records. With Producer Paul A. Rothchild and engineer Bruce Botnick, The Doors recorded their first self-titled album. Released in 1967, The Doors featured songs like "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" "Soul Kitchen" and their hit single "Light My Fire", written by Robby and featuring a long jam with Ray's keyboard solo and Robby's guitar solo. Other fan favorites were "The End", "Twentieth Century Fox", their covers of "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" and "Back Door Man". A cutdown version of "Light My Fire" would reach Number 1 on the Billboard Charts, selling over one million copies, which lead to performing a slot on The Ed Sullivan Show. Before the broadcast, they were asked to change the line "Girl we couldn't get much higher" as drug references were forbidden on national TV. However, Jim sang the original line anyway and The Doors were subsequently banned from the show. For their second LP, Strange Days, the band was inspired hearing an advanced copy of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. They began experimenting more, including being one of the first popular bands to use a moog synthesizer on the title track. Two singles emerged from this LP, the gloomy "People are Strange" and the blues track "Love Me Two Times" with Ray playing a harpsichord solo. A full version of "When the Music's Over" also closed the album. On December 9, 1967, an incident at The New Haven arena led to Jim being maced by the police and subsequently arrested, though the charges were dropped. 1968's Waiting for the Sun featured the #1 hit "Hello, I Love You" along with "The Unknown Soldier", "Five to One" and "Not to Touch the Earth", a piece of their aborted epic "Celebration of the Lizard" in which Jim famously declared "I am the Lizard King, I can do anything." The Doors played their famous set at the Hollywood Bowl which was filmed, recorded and later released as Live at the Bowl '68. Another hit single emerged "Touch Me" featuring horns and lavish orchestra. This would be just one track from their 1969 release The Soft Parade, generally considered their weakest output, featuring "Runnin' Blue" "Wishful Sinful" and "Tell all the People". During a concert in Miami, a very drunk Jim Morrison was arrested (and convicted) for indecency ("You're all a bunch of slaves") and exposing himself in front of the audience. The Doors would eventually retire from touring to focus on recording where their albums took a more bluesy approach, including 1970's Morrison Hotel where the hits "Roadhouse Blues" and "Peace Frog" emerged (the later including a spoken word passage about a real life incident seeing Indians bleeding on the side of a road). 1971's L.A. Woman leaned harder into the blues vibe with the classic jam "Riders on the Storm" and "The Changeling". This would be their last time in the studio together as Jim would leave for Paris and died at the age of 27. The remaining band members released a few albums without Jim (Other Voices and Full Circle) but officially disbanded in 1973.