The Doors, “The Doors”

Tom Heerman:

I decided to nominate one of my longtime favorites, The Doors. The first album by the band of the same name, whose sales are probably the most volatile on the entire Rolling Stone Top 500 list. The Doors have enjoyed success upon release, then a resurgence when Jim died, then another spike in the late seventies, and then another spike when the movie The Doors came out. At times, Jim Morrison has seemed like some kind of Rock God, and then the public seems to grow weary of the simple poetry and the cornball organ sounds, and it ends up back on the shelf for a few more years. But it can never lose its “classic” status, because when it comes back around, it can really be a thrill.

One thing Jim Morrison is, I think there is no question, is one of the greatest singers in the annals of rock. Yes I said annals. He is a Back Door Man, right?

Jim Morrison’s vocals on the record are so manly and commanding, you would never guess he was intimidated to sing in public when he started out. He loves shocking the listener with things he sings, or almost sings. “Show me the way to the next little girl?” “I eat more chick than any man ever seen?” “Take it as it comes?” — these are not even veiled sexual references. Some are even deviant. Reminds me of a little guy from Minneapolis by name of Prince. What ever happened to him?

The songs on The Doors are just like a greatest hits package to me. “Soul Kitchen” is probably my favorite, but “Crystal Ship” is so cool, “20th Century Fox” is dumb, but yet so brilliant when delivered by Jim Morrison. “Light My Fire,” “Back Door Man,” it’s just non-stop organ rocking. I highly recommend this one, in fact its one of my personal top 20, so I have to give it a big score of 32.

Chris McJaggerly:

Not so fast.

Let’s talk about Ray Manzarek’s organ. It would be okay as a novelty, but as the feature, it’s lame. Rock music is not a merry-go-round. “Light My Fire” is a great 3-minute single using the organ as a novelty, but the much longer album version (which is what we’re reviewing) violates the first rule of rock – don’t be boring. The organ solo is uninteresting, over-long, and not even particularly well-played. It’s no coincidence that the best song on the album – “Break On Through” – is the song with the least organ.

Now let’s talk about “The End.” It evokes a mood that really pulls the listener in, which Coppola put to good use – in a heavily edited version — in “Apocalypse Now.” But mood isn’t enough to sustain an 11 1/2 minute rock song, and without Coppola’s images behind it, the song falls apart. What the hell is Jim Morrison singing about? I can enjoy nonsense lyrics if they’re funny or clever or the words sound good together. But the words of “The End” are gibberish. Jim Morrison wasn’t deep. He was out of his gourd on drugs. There’s a difference. You’re right that Morrison’s sex obsession was sometimes compelling, and he was a commanding singer. And it’s cool that he was a baritone – it seems like most rock singers use the higher vocal ranges. Too bad he so often wasted his vocal talent on dumb attempts at spirituality.

I’m not going to talk about “Alabama Song,” “I Looked At You,” “End of the Night,” or “Take It As It Comes,” except to ask: would anyone miss those songs if they ceased to exist? Like I said, “Break On Through” is great. “Soul Kitchen” and “Crystal Ship” rock. And I’ll even admit that “Twentieth Century Fox” wants to rock until it gets weighed down by its asinine chorus. But that’s not enough to overcome the album’s liabilities.

I give The Doors a 27.

Tom Heerman:

Yeah, but, yeah, but, yeah, but, it was innovative to have an organ, and it was the 60s. People wanted to kill their fathers back then. Fathers were crew cut men who represented tanks and bombs, and sons were long flowing half-baked idealists, who wore stanky leather pants and watched chicks walk. Are you a crew cut man or a half-baked idealist? We know what Jim was, that is why we love him.

Chris McJaggerly:

Those are good reasons for liking Bob Dylan.

Also, George Jones had a crew cut, and he kicked Jim Morrison’s half-baked ass.

Connor Johnson:

When I was a kid and my dad played The Doors songs for me, I thought it was pretty catchy soft rock. Until I was maybe 12, I had a hard time telling the difference between Jim Morrison and Frank Sinatra. They sounded the same to me. “Touch Me,” “L.A. Woman,” etc…all that was just Frank Sinatra with an ever-so-slightly driving rock band behind him.

Granted, when I got into high school, got into more psychedelic music, and ever-so-slightly rebelled, I got into The Doors. And I like them, and I like this album, but I kinda hate the attitude. I can’t speak to the attitude of the band members because I don’t know enough about it, but the attitude of the people that are into The Doors over other psych-rock of their era? Lame. Big time Doors fans always strike me as people that wanted to jam without having to suffer through the stigma of having to like a jam band. Which is why I sometimes categorize The Doors as the Dave Matthews Band of the 1960s. Not because their sounds are anywhere near similar, but because it’s okay to be a Dave Matthews Band fan in a social sense, but it’s not okay to like Phish. In the same way, it’s cool to be really into The Doors, but it’s not ok to be really into the Dead or Jefferson Airplane or The Holding Company. And that sucks. Because The Doors don’t even deserve to be in that category, they hardly even jam and when they do they aren’t even that good at it. But it was the 60s and they kind of jammed and they have songs called “Peace Frog,” so they’re a defacto member of the jam band community. Sad for The Doors, sadder for their fans.

But The Doors are cool, on the whole. Which can’t be said for most members of the jam band community. Jim is a tremendous vocalist with incredible stage presence. I don’t know if I’d call him a poet, some of his lyrics might have been innovative in the 60s but they are pretty unprovocative and soft to my ear (hence the Frank Sinatra correlation). The guitar work is always more impressive and interesting than I think it’s going to be, as are the drums, but they always have to take a back seat to that f#%&ing organ.

Ray’s organ work is too much for me, but that might be because I’m too young for it. And in reality, the amount of organ isn’t even the problem, it’s the tone. It was 1966 when this was recorded, where was the Hammon B3 organ sound? Where was the soulful organ sound found in Motown records? Was that too black for them? I really don’t get that. Max talked about “Break On Through” being the best song on the album, and that’s probably true, and it’s probably because it’s the least offensive organ tone on the album. Where the hell was that tone throughout the rest of the album? It never comes back.

Do you know what I would give to hear “Light My Fire” with the “Break On Through” organ tone? Like $20, maybe $30. Which is a lot of money for a 25-year-old boy. And I bet we’d find a really focused performance that doesn’t drain all of the actual emotion of the song. I bet it would even be a pretty cool, fluid jam. Sad for The Doors, sadder for their fans.

As far as the album goes, it’s good. Top 50 all time? Definitely not. But it’s good and influential and definitely cool. This album got tons of people laid. If you had this album on in 1967, you probably got laid. And that’s the real takeaway from the album. It’s cool and sexy and just really cool. It’s the leather-pants-worn-by-someone-that-can-pull-off-leather-pants of rock and roll.

That said, the back half of Side A is boring to me, and tons of the songs are forgettable, but when it’s good it’s really good. The verses and chorus on “Light my Fire”: really good. “Break on Through”: really good. “The End”: really good — and the Oedipal part about killing your father and fucking your mother is the only potion of The Doors’ cannon that is worthy of the word poetry.

This album will never be as good as it is cool, but that’s the point of the album. And I’ll still probably put it on once a year and listen to it.

This one gets a 27 from me.

Chris McJaggerly:

I don’t get the Jim Morrison = Frank Sinatra thing. That’s sort of like saying Jimi Hendrix is the same as Django Reinhart because they’re both guitar players from a long time ago.

But other than that, nice work. Especially for a rookie.

Connor Johnson:

The Sinatra thing is hard for even me to understand, but when I was 6 and was hearingTouch Me for the first time, I thought it was Sinatra. I honestly did. I think it’s the deep, throaty voice. They both kind of growl.

But thanks, happy to have the opportunity to be a part of this.

Chris McJaggerly:

“Touch Me” has horns, which pulls it a little closer to Sinatra territory than most Doors tunes. And they’re both baritones.

But “Back Door Man” and “Witchcraft” don’t have a lot in common.

Connor Johnson:

That’s true, but my dad wasn’t about to play “Back Door Man” for 6 year old me.

Tom Heerman:

Sinatra’s “Makin’ Whoopee” is basically The Doors’ “Back Door Man” [in reverse].

Chris McJaggerly:

I wonder if they both conquered Mia Farrow.