The Doors, The doors
The DoorsTHE DOORS.
The Doors' debut introduced an unusually complete identity at once: organ, guitar, jazz-influenced drumming, theatrical vocals and songs that could stretch from pop singles to long-form improvisation.
Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Cover image source: Cover Art Archive or the linked archival source.
SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.
Recording stories, personnel, physical details and numbers worth keeping with the record.
The Doors was released in January 1967 and contains 11 tracks.
Paul A. Rothchild produced the album for Elektra Records.
The record was made at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles.
The lineup was Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore.
The album contains both the hit single "Light My Fire" and the nearly twelve-minute closing track "The End."
Ray Manzarek's keyboard bass helped fill the low end because the band did not use a permanent bass guitarist in its live lineup.
The front cover places Jim Morrison prominently in the foreground while the other three Doors appear behind him.
WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.
The debut already contains the contradictions that made the Doors distinctive: pop songwriting beside extended improvisation, literary ambition beside blues forms and an organ-driven sound unlike most rock bands of 1967.
THE
NUMBERS.
TRACKS
The debut contains eleven songs.
MEMBERS
Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore formed the core lineup.
RELEASE
The album opened the Doors' studio catalog.
THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.
The sleeve immediately establishes the band's hierarchy and mystique, with Morrison dominating the image while the other members recede into the background.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Facts are checked against artist archives, release databases, recording credits and established archival sources before publication.
KEEP
DIGGING.
More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.