The Doors (album)

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The Doors
File:TheDoorsTheDoorsalbumcover.jpg
Studio album by the Doors
Released January 4, 1967[1]
Recorded August 24–31, 1966 at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 44:48
Label Elektra
Producer Paul A. Rothchild
the Doors chronology
The Doors
(1967)		 Strange Days
(1967)String Module Error: Match not found1967
Singles from The Doors
  1. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)"/"End of the Night"
    Released: January 1, 1967
  2. "Light My Fire"/"The Crystal Ship"
    Released: April 1967

The Doors is the eponymous debut album by American rock band the Doors, recorded in August 1966 and released on January 4, 1967 (although the album was available in various record stores in New York City as early as the third week in December 1966 as part of a special promotion). It was originally released in different stereo and mono mixes, and features the breakthrough single "Light My Fire", extended with an 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 the album to being able to work the songs out night after night at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, and the London Fog nightclubs.

The Doors was not only one of the albums to have been most central to the progression of psychedelic rock, but is also one of the most acclaimed recordings in all of popular music. In 2012, it was ranked number 42 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time; it continues to hold similarly high positions on other "best-of" lists.

The original album has sold 20 million copies, and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame; "Light My Fire" was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category, "Rock (track)". It has been reissued several times on CD, including a 2007 remaster that became the Doors' most successful studio album in commercial sales.

In 2015, the Library of Congress selected The Doors for inclusion in the National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance.[2]

Background

The Doors' final lineup was formed in mid-1965 after Ray Manzarek's two brothers left and Robby Krieger joined.[3] The band was initially signed to Columbia Records under a six-month contract, but agreed to a release after the record company failed to secure a producer for the album.[4] After being released from the label, the Doors played club venues, including the London Fog and Whisky a Go Go, until they were signed to Elektra Records by Jac Holzman.[5]

The album was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California, over six days, with producer Paul A. Rothchild and audio engineer Bruce Botnick. A four-track tape machine was used for recording, using mostly three tracks: bass and drums on one, guitar and organ on another, and Jim Morrison's vocals on the third. The fourth track was used for overdubbing.[6] Rothschild brought in session musician Larry Knechtel to play his Fender Precision Bass on "Light My Fire" and a few other songs in order to give some "punch" to the sound of Manzarek's Fender Rhodes piano bass.[7][8][9][10] For "The End", two takes were worked and cut together to achieve the final song.[7]

Writing and composition

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, but the band was thrown out as a result of Morrison screaming "Mother... I want to fuck you!" toward 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".

Release

The Doors was released on January 4, 1967 by Elektra in both mono and stereo versions. The album 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 No. 2 on the chart in September 1967 (stuck behind The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) 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 No. 49 in the UK singles chart and the album failing to chart at all; however, in 1991, buoyed by the high-profile Oliver Stone film The Doors, a reissue of "Light My Fire" reached No. 7 in the singles chart, and the album reached No. 43. It eventually spent more time on the UK chart than any other Doors studio album.[citation needed]

Censorship

Two songs were censored for the album. On "Break On Through", the repeated line "She gets high" was edited to remove the final word, as it was considered a reference to drug use, and Elektra feared radio stations might not play the song. In "The End", the vocal interlude of the final minutes was edited to remove Morrison's repeated use of the word "fuck". Most remasters from 1999 onward have the original portions of both songs restored.

Mono version

The mono LP (Elektra EKL-4007) has unique mixes that sound different from 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 reissued 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.

Reissues

Speed discrepancy

The 40th anniversary mix of the debut album presents a stereo version of "Light My Fire" in speed-corrected form for the first time. The speed discrepancy (i.e., about 3.5% slow) was brought to Bruce Botnick's attention by a Brigham Young University professor, who noted that all the video and audio live performances of the Doors performing the song, the sheet music and the statements of band members show the song in a key almost a half step higher (key of A) than the stereo LP release (key of Ab / G#). Until the 2006 remasters, only the original 45 RPM singles ("Light My Fire" and "Break On Through") were produced at the correct speed.[11]

Surround releases

The Doors has been released in 2006 in multichannel DVD-Audio,[12] and on September 14, 2011, on hybrid stereo-multichannel Super Audio CD by Warner Japan in their Warner Premium Sound series.[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 5/5 stars[14]
Robert Christgau B–[15]
Down Beat 4.5/5 stars[16]
MusicHound 4/5[17]
Q 4/5 stars[16]
Rolling Stone 5/5 stars[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[19]
Slant Magazine 4/5 stars[20]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music 5/5 stars[21]

Reviewing The Doors for Crawdaddy! magazine in May 1967, Paul Williams described it as "an album of magnitude" and likened the band to Brian Wilson and the Rolling Stones as makers of "modern music", with which "contemporary 'jazz' and 'classical' composers must try to measure up". Williams added: "The birth of the group is in this album, and it's as good as anything in rock. The awesome fact about the Doors is that they will improve."[22]

The Doors is ranked number 42 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and also on "The Rolling Stone Hall of Fame". It is ranked number 75 on Q magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever"[23] and ranked number 226 in NME magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"[24] In 2007, Rolling Stone ranked it number 1 on their list of the 40 essential albums of 1967.[25]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by the Doors (Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore), except where noted. 

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Break On Through (To the Other Side)"   2:29
2. "Soul Kitchen"   3:35
3. "The Crystal Ship"   2:34
4. "Twentieth Century Fox"   2:33
5. "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)" (Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) 3:20
6. "Light My Fire"   7:06
Side B
No. Title Length
7. "Back Door Man" (Willie Dixon, Chester Burnett) 3:34
8. "I Looked at You"   2:22
9. "End of the Night"   2:52
10. "Take It as It Comes"   2:23
11. "The End"   11:41

The running time of "Light My Fire", while listed correctly above, 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" 6:59, with all solos intact.

Personnel

The Doors
Additional musicians
  • Larry Knechtel (uncredited) – bass guitar on "Light My Fire", "Soul Kitchen", "Twentieth Century Fox", "Back Door Man", "I Looked At You" and "Take It as It Comes"
Technical

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1967 Pop Albums 2

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1967 "Break On Through (To the Other Side)"
B-side: "End of the Night"		 Pop Singles 126[27]
1967 "Light My Fire"
B-side: "The Crystal Ship"		 Pop Singles 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[28] 4× Platinum 4,000,000
France (SNEP)[29] 3× Platinum 900,000
Italy (FIMI)[30] Gold 50,000
Argentina (CAPIF)[31] Gold 30,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32] Gold 50,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[33] Gold 25,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[34] Platinum 50,000
Canada (Music Canada)[35] 4× Platinum 400,000
Germany (BVMI)[36] Platinum 500,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] 2× Platinum 600,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-041.html
  3. ↑ Fong-Torres 2006, p. 37.
  4. ↑ Fong-Torres 2006, p. 53.
  5. ↑ Fong-Torres 2006, p. 58.
  6. ↑ Fong-Torres 2006, p. 68.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fong-Torres 2006, p. 71.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Warner Premium Sound 14 September releases (in Japanese). Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyej2cAh6wU
  27. ↑ Whitburn, Joel. Bubbling Under Singles & Albums (1998): 66.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select DOORS and click OK
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Doors in the field Filtra. Select 2015 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Doors in the field Interpret. Enter Doors in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter The Doors in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search

Sources

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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