| The Doors | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by The Doors | ||||
| Released | January 4, 1967 | |||
| Recorded | August 24 to 31, 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, CA | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, acid rock | |||
| Length | 44:28 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Paul A. Rothchild | |||
| The Doors chronology | ||||
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The Doors is the debut album by the American rock band The Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967. It was originally released in significantly different stereo and mono mixes. It features the breakthrough single "Light My Fire", extended with a substantial instrumental section mostly omitted on the single release, and the lengthy song "The End" with its Oedipal spoken-word section.
The Doors credit the success of their first album to being able to work the songs out night after night at the Whisky a Go Go and the London Fog. The album was ranked number 42 on Rolling Stone's list the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Contents |
The Doors final line up was formed in mid 1965 after Ray Manzarek's two brothers left and Robby Krieger joined.[1] The Doors were initially signed to Columbia Records under a six month contract, but the band agreed to a release after being unable to secure a producer for the album from Columbia.[2] After being released from the label The Doors played club venues including the London Fog and The Whisky a Go Go until they were signed to Elektra records by Jac Holzman.[3]
The album was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in California over six days, with producer Paul Rothchild and audio engineer Bruce Botnick.[4] A four track tape machine was used for recording using mostly three tracks, bass and drums on one, guitar and organ on another with Jim's voice on the third. The fourth track was used for overdubbing.[4] During recording of the album a bass player was present on some of the songs, while on stage Ray Manzarek used a left-handed keyboard bass.[5] For tracks "The End" and "Light My Fire" two takes were worked of each and cut together to achieve the final song.[5]
Although composition credit went to the band as a whole, the album's primary writers were Morrison and Krieger. "The End"'s Oedipal climax was first performed live at the Whisky A Go Go; the band was thrown out as a result of Morrison screaming "Mother...I want to fuck you!" towards the end of the song. "Alabama Song" was written and composed by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in 1927, for their opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny); "Back Door Man" was written by Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf. The line "Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night" from "End of the Night" is a quote from William Blake's poem "Auguries of Innocence".
The 40th Anniversary Mix presents a stereo version in speed-corrected form for the first time. The speed discrepancy (being about 3.5% slow) was brought to Bruce Botnick's attention by a Brigham Young University professor who stated that all the video and audio live performances of The Doors performing "Light My Fire", as well as the sheet music show the song being in a key almost a half step higher than the stereo LP release. The mono 45 RPM single of "Light My Fire", and the mono LP were produced at the correct speed.[6]
The mono LP (Elektra EKL-4007) has unique mixes that sound different than the stereo version (EKS-74004.) The mono LP version was deleted not long after its original release and remained unavailable until 2010, when it was re-issued as a limited edition 180 gram audiophile LP by Rhino Records. This version has never been officially released on Compact Disc, it is however available for purchase through digital media outlets such as iTunes and Amazon.
This album has been released in 2006 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[7] and and on 14 September, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[8]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [9] |
| Music Box | [10] |
| Robert Christgau | (B-)[11] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| Slant Magazine | [13] |
The Doors made a steady climb up the Billboard 200, ultimately becoming a huge success in the US once "Light My Fire" scaled the charts, with the album peaking at #2 on the chart in September 1967 and going on to achieve multi-platinum status. In Europe, the band would have to wait slightly longer for similar recognition, with "Light My Fire" originally stalling at #49 in the UK singles chart and the album failing to chart at all. However, in 1991, buoyed by the high profile of Oliver Stone's film The Doors, a re-issue of "Light My Fire" made #7 in the singles chart and the album made #43. It eventually spent more time on the UK chart than any other Doors studio album.
The album is #42 on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and is also on "The Rolling Stone Hall Of Fame". The album is on Q magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" and ranked #25 in NME magazine's list of the "Greatest Albums Of All Time".[14] Critic/historian Piero Scaruffi named The Doors the fifth greatest rock album of all time.[15]
The songs "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" and "The End" were both released censored on the album. During "Break on Through," the part where Jim Morrison sings "She gets, she gets" was originally recorded as "She gets high, she gets high." The vocal interlude near the end of "The End" includes Morrison using the word fuck repeatedly and was taken out of the album's stereo release; however, it remains in the mono LP release of the album. Subsequent releases of the album have both of the original parts intact, although 1980s compact disc reissues kept the verses censored. The band accepted this censorship, but refused to reword "Light My Fire" in their infamous Ed Sullivan Show performance ("Girl we couldn't get much higher").
All songs written by Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore, except where noted.
The running time of "Light My Fire", while listed correctly below, is incorrectly stated as 6:30 or 6:50 on some LP and CD versions of the album. An edited version was issued as the Doors' second single in May 1967, with most of its organ and guitar solos removed it had a running time of 2:52. As per the aforementioned speed discrepancy, the 40th anniversary speed-corrected mix made "Light My Fire" 6:58, with all solos intact.
Additional musicians:
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Pop Albums | 2 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" B-side: "End of the Night" |
Pop Singles | 126[16] |
| 1967 | "Light My Fire" B-side: "The Crystal Ship" |
Pop Singles | 1 |