The Doors By Bobbi Klein, 1967

1967.09.13 Canton High School, Canton, IL  

Photographer Bobby Klein talks about this photo shoot: “We arrived in Venice in the morning and walked along the canals. This bridge has been preserved in its original form in Venice, which was designed in the early 1900s. On the way there, in my car, the guys heard ”Break On Through" on the radio for the first time," and everyone was delighted. They understood what it was like to have a hit. " January-February 1967, Venice Beach, California. © Bobby Klein.

Jim Morrison. Alexandria, VA, 1960

The Doors perform at the KTLA SHEBANG show, which took place on February 25, 1967. The Doors are filmed lip synching to a playback of their debut single 'Break On Through'. Band looks very collegiate and the unusual set up places.  Densmore at centre stage on drums between Morrison (stage left) and Manzarek. Krieger stands behind them directly in front of some garden furnishings. The host is Casey Kasem.

“It was our first time doing a TV show and we really had no idea what we were doing. When the director started telling us what to do, we just looked at each other and said, ‘I guess that’s how it is’. We learned later that wasn’t the case, but it was a great initial experience.”(Ray Manzarek)

“This is one of our first TV performances. We were clearly nervous. I mean, Jim won’t even look at the camera or anything. I’m somehow positioned in the front. I’m the ‘lead drummer’. Ridiculous!” (John Densmore)

“We had no say what-so-ever. There was a director telling us exactly what to do, and we did it. We just felt lucky to be there. Shebang was a local TV show, so it wasn’t as big as Dick Clark, but it was great to be on there.”(Robby Krieger)

1967.07.28-30   Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA.

by niiloi

MORE THAN just a good rock group, The Doors represent two things to their millions of followers. Either they project the music-plus-sensuality that is The Doors musical sense combined with Morrison's presence, or they can project the strange drama and rock that comes from Morrison's head.” -Pop Scene Service, April 6, 1968

©  Joel Brodsky, November 1966, New York

That was a great summer. I was hanging out at the film school and I was hanging out with friends in Venice. Ray had a house there, so I’d go and watch them rehearse sometimes because we were still hanging around that summer...A few years later, after we became friends, I told Jim about my first impression of him at that first show, and I said, “I thought you were terrible that night”. I remember he gave me a look that seemed to suggest that he didn’t like the word “terrible” [laughs]...

But then I told him he had improved tremendously and he was like a Frank Sinatra crooner who could also sing rock, and I asked him, “What changed?” He just said, “I just kept practicing and I kept practicing, practicing, practicing”. And obviously he had been doing something to improve. If you listen to their first demo and then their first album, there is such a difference and you can hear it. But they rehearsed a lot and they played a lot, too. I guess you can’t really help but improve if there’s the will and the talent, right?"-Frank Lisciandro

1966.08-09 Ray's Beach House Session ©Bill Harvey

Jay Thompson photographed Chris Crosby and Jim Morrison in New York in September 1967

April 21,22,23, 1967 The Doors performed at the Kaleidoscope at Ciro's, West Hollywood, CA

Kim Fowley Remembers the Doors

“I first saw them at Ciro's in 1966 - I think I'd first heard about them from Billy James. I got to Ciro's before the Doors' set began, and the musicians were up on stage setting up. A heckler started yelling at the band: 'You guys are horrible. You can't play. You're crap. You can't drink, you can't think, you can't fight, you can't fuck.' He was in dirty clothes and looked dangerous. The band looked nervous and started playing - and this guy hopped up on stage and started singing. It was Morrison, who'd been heckling his own band. That was one of the best things I'd ever seen in a club. No introduction - just the singer yelling at the band and then the music. I thought, 'My God, these guys are going to be interesting to watch.'