Musical Mood Of The Day: The Doors And Jim Morrison

Good morning, everyone! Today I'll be discussing American classic rock band The Doors at the 'Musical Mood Of The Day'. As some of you might already know, The Doors is still one of the most appreciated and most popular rock bands in history. Formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, the band had been led by frontman Jim Douglas Morrison for 6 years until his tragic death which took place in Paris in 1971 and whose circumstances still remain a mystery to this date.

Publicity photograph of the band from the late 1960s. From left to right: John Densmore (drums), Robby Krieger (guitars), Ray Manzarek (keyboards), and Jim Morrison (lead vocals). Image source: Pixabay.com

The band's line-up consisted of Jim Morrison on lead vocals, Ray Manzarek on keyboards, Robby Krieger on guitars, and John Densmore on drums. They performed together until 1971 and released a number of well charting studio albums, including, most notably, their eponymous 1967 'The Doors' or 'L.A. Woman' in 1971. Under Morrison's tenure as a frontman, the group had released in total no less than 6 studio albums.

With an increased commercial demand, an ever expanding fanbase, and positive critical acclaim, problems eventually arose within the band as of the cause of a rather bohemian and excessive way of living on behalf of Morrison, this culminating in a self-imposed exile of the Lizard King (as Morrison is also sometimes referred to) in Paris, France, where we would be living the final days of his life.

After the tragic departure of Morrison in 1971, Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore continued as a trio until 1973, releasing two more studio albums entitled 'Other Voices' (1971) and 'Full Circle', to little commercial or critical success nonetheless. Shortly after releasing 'Full Circle' the trio disbanded.

Urban art depicting the band's frontman and legend Jim Douglas Morrison. Image source: Pixabay.com

On the occasion of a 1978 reunion of the surviving Doors members though, the band decided to record a live album based on some previously unreleased poetical recitations of Jim Morrison from the time of the 'Soft Parade' recording sessions (dating to 1969). That album would be later known as 'An American Prayer', being released in 1978.

After the release of 'An American Prayer', Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore briefly collaborated with another in subsequent reunions and other minor short-lived musical projects or bands. After so many years since the band's beginnings and heyday, a sort of mystical fascination still lives on to our days with respect to the figure that Jim Morrison was in his lifetime and the remarkable contribution of The Doors in the field of contemporary music as well as in the American counterculture of the mid-late 1960s.

This particular fascination has often been translated into author films (some being way too much based on myths and misconceptions as it is the case of Oliver Stone's 1991 'The Doors') or more historically accurate documentaries such as 'When You're Strange' (2009) narrated by Johnny Depp or even the band self-made 'Feast of Friends' (2014), labeled as the only movie by and on The Doors by the band itself.

Below you can also to a series of interviews by the surviving band members on the story behind some of the songs as well as on their former bandmate Jim Morrison: