The Doors open their archives

In four years they changed the face of rock. From 1967 to 1971, the Doors released six impeccable albums, inventing a sound, giving concerts full of arrogance and grandeur. Thanks in particular to Jim Morrison, a leader who in a few months has become the idol of young people, with his beauty, his charisma and his voice, but also thanks to the talent of three brilliant instrumentalists, organist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore and the guitarist Robby Krieger. Fifty years later, Jim Morrison’s posters continue to sell by the millions, their songs still amaze those who discover them. Attempt to explain this miracle.
Paris Match. Legend has it that Jim Morrison threw a television out of the window during the recording sessions for your debut album. Do you remember the scene?
Robby Krieger. We were recording “The End”, Jim was a very passionate person and took it all very seriously. But that night was broadcast live on TV I do not know what important baseball game, probably the Dodgers against the Yankees. Bruce Botnick, our sound engineer, had therefore brought his small portable TV to watch it. Jim didn’t like it at all and therefore sent her flying. But I don’t know if she ended up out the window or just on the floor. Don’t worry, no one was hurt! [Il rit.]

Read also: “The Doors were the dark side of America” ​​- Paris Match
You were young, it was your first steps in the studio. What state of mind were you in?
We were very happy to be able to record our music. Personally, I had never set foot in a professional recording studio. So everything was new and exciting. But, when we arrived there, we had the impression of entering an unspecified office. We appropriated the place by bringing our own things: lamps, rugs, incense. And there, we felt more comfortable.

When recording “Light My Fire”, did you feel like you were writing an anthem for a generation?
We knew it was our best song because in concert it drove people crazy. So we felt it had potential, but it was seven minutes long. However, to play on the radio, the songs should not exceed three minutes. We were keen on the musical passages, by removing them we were afraid of spoiling the original version. But we finally gave in, we put some tape around the tape to make it a little faster. And six months later, it was a hit. The most surprising thing for me is that we didn’t have a sound as loud as the Beatles. There was a lot of echo, we were not in tune with the times.
How was Jim behaving?
He was very serious, he really wanted this first record to be a statement to the world. At the time he was not yet drinking, he took a lot of acids and the Oedipus complex worried him a lot. Hence the lyrics at the end of “The End”, when he says he wants to kill his father. By the way, after recording this song, he came back to the studio during the night and tried to set it on fire. We didn’t know the next day if he was going to end up in prison. But our producer gave up on hearing the final result…

Read also: Meeting – When Ray Manzarek told his Doors
Did drugs participate in the creation of the disc?
In a way yes, especially for Jim, they helped him to express his emotions. The only drug that didn’t work for him was alcohol, it made him completely stupid. Marijuana or LSD can facilitate creation, but only if you use them in a sensible way… For us anyway, it was really a spiritual thing. We thought that drugs allowed us to reach a certain depth, to go higher…
When did you last see Jim?
First there was this very bad concert we gave in December 1970 in New Orleans. Jim was in an impossible state, he quickly became unpleasant when he drank too much. And there we couldn’t do anything. He had no more energy, he had a Damocles sword above his head following the incident in Miami. [Un procès pour outrage aux bonnes mœurs l’attendait.] He finally understood that he had to leave to try to get out of it. A few days later, he came to the studio to announce that he was moving to Paris. We had just finished recording “LA Woman”: “I let you do the mixing, you know how to do it very well.” And that was all, I never saw him again.
You released two records after his death. What do you think today?
I’m proud of them, they could have been great records if Jim had sung on them. My only regret is that he couldn’t see how much our music marked the spirits and the times.
Do you think the Doors would be successful if they appeared today?
A group is the combination of the right people at the right time. In fifty years, it hasn’t happened so often… But I believe that one day this magic will strike again…

John Densmore, appeasement

For a long time he refused to defend the heritage. “But today I am 72 years old, with gray hair, and I am
still talking about those songs we recorded fifty years ago…” So John Densmore, the drummer, bowed to the promotion game. “We used to play in public. The studio was a totally new world, which we had to grasp in two days. Densmore had joined the Doors not long before and immediately understood that they had something more than the others. “We were a reflection of the melting pot that is America. Ray brought blues influences to our music, me the more jazz aspect. Jim was a wonderful and inspirational lyricist, while Robby had a truly unique touch. Of its charismatic leader, John paints an uncompromising portrait. “When he wasn’t drinking he was an incredible singer. But as soon as he was under the influence, he was out of control. After Morrison’s departure for Paris in 1971, he is the one who picks up the phone the day Jim calls for news. “He wanted to know how the ‘LA Woman’ record was doing. He was delighted to learn that the first single was a hit, he wanted to come back to make music. It was his life…” Today, Densmore even plans to find Krieger to continue to celebrate a group which radically transformed his life. Like what, the door is never closed…