The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 746

Number 746

The Doors

"Love Her Madly"

(1971)
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Genre:Rock

The Doors (more so Jim Morrison) are one of the most recognisable images in rock music, Jim Morrison was the equivalent of a Greek poet/Musician in his time. Only thing he doesn't have is his image on a coin ... yet

December 8, 1943 - July 3, 1971
THERE'S a bit of lore that Jim Morrison liked to tell: when he was four years old, his family drove past an overturned truck on a highway in New Mexico, where a number of Pueblo Indians lay on the road, dying. The scene upset the young Jim Morrison considerably, and he would later tell friends that when the family drove away, the soul of a dying Indian passed into his body. That story is often used (as it was in director Oliver Stone biopic The Doors) to explain the quality that made Jim Morrison one of the most charismatic and mythologized performers in rock-and-roll history during his time with the group the Doors. "He was a shaman," said Ray Manzarek, the Doors' keyboardist. "He was an electric shaman."

Jim Morrison, the son of a U.S. Navy rear admiral, and Manzarek met in the mid-sixties at U.C.L.A., where they were both studying film. They decided to form a band, one that was less influenced by the music of the time than by Manzarek's interest in blues, as well as the jazz orientation of guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore. Atop this mixture were Jim Morrison lyrics--image-rich poems inspired by the writings of Nietzsche, Blake, Rimbaud, and others, about lust, alienation, and the search for a higher existence.

The mood of The Doors music was dark and daring and--best of all--erotic. On the first chorus of the group's self-titled 1967 debut album, Jim Morrison announced the goal, to "break on through to the other side." The Beatles wanted to hold your hand. Rolling Stones wanted to spend the night together. But the Doors wanted to light your fire. Even that was tame compared to "The End," a modern Oedipal parable--"Father, I want to kill you/ Mother, I want to . . . " Well, you know. It was shocking enough to get the group banned from Los Angeles's famed Whisky-a-Go-Go nightclub, and a signal that The Doors were a force to be reckoned with.

With Jim Morrison out front, egging on ever-growing crowds, The Doors created the aura of danger, taboo, and uncharted territory, even if the journey was really a little safer than it seemed. The group's music was ultimately accessible, with songs such as "Light My Fire," "People Are Strange," "Hello, I Love You," and "Touch Me" rolling into the Top 20. And Jim Morrison played pop star to the hilt--taking off his shirt, wearing tight leather pants, and posing for spreads in all the teen magazines.

But there was certainly a darker side to Jim Morrison: he was an alcoholic and a heavy drug user, sexually promiscuous and prone to reckless and violent behavior. Despite his reputation as an electrifying performer, Jim Morrison was hopelessly inconsistent onstage; the Doors' concert career was effectively neutered in 1969, when a drunken Jim Morrison was convicted of exposing himself onstage in Miami. Soon thereafter, he moved to Paris, where he died of a heart attack, in 1971.

The Doors arguably became more popular after Morrison's death. In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola made "The End" a centerpiece in his epic Apocalypse Now, and the 1980 biography of Morrison and the band, No One Here Gets Out Alive, written by former Doors gofer Danny Sugarman, was a bestseller. The same year, The Doors Greatest Hits was released and went on to sell two million copies. In the early eighties, The Doors were selling about 750,000 albums a year, prompting Rolling Stone to publish a photo of Morrison on the cover proclaiming "He's hot, he's sexy, and he's dead." The Doors--who broke up in 1973, after the remaining trio recorded two albums without Morrison--remain an ongoing concern. In 1991, Oliver Stone's film starring Val Kilmer further mythologized Jim Morrison. During 1996, the greatest-hits album and Absolutely Live were re-released. A box set, in the works for several years, is now planned for 1997. Since his death, Morrison's grave in Paris's famed Père Lachaise cemetery is dotted with gifts and graffiti from a constant pilgrimage of fans. "I love it," Manzarek has said. "To me, it's a process; every five years, there's a new generation of fifteen-year-olds discovering The Doors."

For more Doors see Number 851 & Number 729
For the Rolling Stones see Number 767 & Number 689
For the Beatles see Numbers 947, 894 & 587

We know Rolling Stone worship "The Doors" so this should be pretty predictable.

What does Rolling Stone Magazine think about The Doors?
"The Doors ultimately, however, were Jim Morrison. He was dangerous, raw, beautiful, half-erect in his skin tight leather pants, and fatefully self-destructive. By the end of his life, he was tragic and pathetic. It was no wonder that he cited the French Symbolists -- especially Rimbaud and Baudelaire -- as inspiration. At their best, his suggestive lyrics were clipped and cinematic, either bursts of street talk or snatches at myth. Calling himself an "erotic politician," Morrison was preoccupied with urge, rebellion, and release -- if some of his work now sounds melodramatic or forced, his intensity remains compelling, and his acknowledgment of night, pain, and loneliness comes off as riveting and real."

Mr R Stone... er, whats with "Half erect in skin tight leather pants" mean?
Anyway, however it was good to see Rolling Stone chastise his outcome rather than idolise it.Being a Rock star doesn't mean you have to always die at 27, Aye Janis, Jimmy and co?
Actually its pretty irresponsible.

Crowbarreds choice for Website to find more on The Doors ... Click on the address http://www.classic-rock-legends-start-here.com/the-doors.html

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Only two songs by The Doors made their Top 500!) the Album ranked at Number 362
This song has a crowbarred rating of 66.4 out of 108