THE DOORS DEBUT ALBUM

Original released on LP Elektra EKL 4007

(US 1967, January 4)

A tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history, introducing the band's fusion of rock, blues, classical, jazz, and poetry with a knock-out punch. The lean, spidery guitar and organ riffs interweave with a hypnotic menace, providing a seductive backdrop for Jim Morrison's captivating vocals and probing prose. "Light My Fire" was the cut that topped the charts and established the group as stars, but most of the rest of the album is just as impressive, including some of their best songs: the propulsive "Break on Through" (their first single), the beguiling Oriental mystery of "The Crystal Ship," the mysterious "End of the Night," "Take It as It Comes" (one of several tunes besides "Light My Fire" that also had hit potential), and the stomping rock of "Soul Kitchen" and "Twentieth Century Fox." The 11-minute Oedipal drama "The End" was the group at its most daring and, some would contend, overambitious. It was nonetheless a haunting cap to an album whose nonstop melodicism and dynamic tension would never be equaled by the group again, let alone bettered. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

DISCOGRAPHY

Formed July 1965, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Disbanded 1973

Jim Morrison (born 1943 > died 1971): vocals

Robby Krieger (born 1946): guitar

John Densmore (born 1944): drums

Ray Manzarek (born 1939 > died 2013): keyboards, bass, pedals, vocals

1967-01-04 LP THE DOORS (US Elektra EKL 4007): A1. Break On Through (To the Other Side); A2. Soul Kitchen; A3. The Crystal Ship; A4. Twentieth Century Fox; A5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar); A6. Light My Fire; B1. Back Door Man; B2. I Looked at You; B3. End of the Night; B4. Take It as It Comes; B5. The End

1967-01 Sg (US Elektra EK 45611): A. Break On Through (To the Other Side); B. End of the Night

1967-05 Sg (US Elektra EK 45615): A. Light My Fire; B. The Crystal Ship

1967-09-11 Sg (US Elektra EK 45621): A. People Are Strange; B. Unhappy Girl

1967-09-25 LP STRANGE DAYS (US Elektra EKL 4014): A1. Strange Days; A2. You’re Lost Little Girl; A3. Love Me Two Times; A4. Unhappy Girl; A5. Horse Latitudes; A6. Moonlight Drive; B1. People Are Strange; B2. My Eyes Have Seen You; B3. I Can’t See Your Face in My Mind; B4. When the Music’s Over

1967-12 Sg (US Elektra EK 45624): A. Love Me Two Times; B. Moonlight Drive

1968-03 Sg (US Elektra EK 45628): A. The Unknown Soldier; B. We Could Be So Good Together

1968-07 Sg (US Elektra EK 45635): A. Hello, I Love You; B. Love Street

1968-07-12 LP WAITING FOR THE SUN (US Elektra EKS 4024): A1. Hello, I Love You; A2. Love Street; A3. Not to Touch the Earth; A4. Summer’s Almost Gone; A5. Wintertime Love; A6. The Unknown Soldier; B1. Spanish Caravan; B2. My Wild Love; B3. We Could Be So Good Together; B4. Yes, the River Knows; B5. Five to One

1968-12 Sg (US Elektra EK 45646): A. Touch Me; B. Wild Child

1969-03 Sg (US Elektra EK 45656): A. Wishful Sinful; B. Who Scared You

1969-06 Sg (US Elektra EK 45663): A. Tell All the People; B. Easy Ride

1969-07-18 LP THE SOFT PARADE (US Elektra EKS 75005): A1. Tell All the People; A2. Touch Me; A3. Shaman’s Blues; A4. Do It; A5. Easy Ride; B1. Wild Child; B2. Runnin’ Blue; B3. Wishful Sinful; B4. The Soft Parade

1969-09 Sg (US Elektra EK 45675): A. Runnin’ Blue; B. Do It

1970-02-09 LP MORRISON HOTEL (US Elektra EKS 75007): A1. Roadhouse Blues; A2. Waiting For the Sun; A3. You Make Me Real; A4. Peace Frog; A5. Blue Sunday; A6. Ship of Fools; B1. Land Ho!; B2. The Spy; B3. Queen of the Highway; B4. Indian Summer; B5. Maggie M’Gill

1970-07-20 LP ABSOLUTELY LIVE (US Elektra EKS 9002): A1. Who Do You Love; A2. Medley: Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) – Backdoor Man – Love Hides – Five to One; B1. Build Me a Woman; B2. When the Music’s Over; C1. Close to You; C2. Universal Mind; C3. Break On Through #2; D1. The Celebration of the Lizard; D2. Soul Kitchen

1971-04-29 LP L.A. WOMAN (US Elektra EKS 75011): A1. The Changeling; A2. Love Her Madly; A3. Been Down So Long; A4. Cars Hiss by My Window; A5. L.A. Woman; B1. L’America; B2. Hyacinth House; B3. Crawling King Snake; B4. The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat); B5. Riders on the Storm

1971-05 Sg (US Elektra EKS 45726): A. Love Her Madly; B. (You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further

1971-07 Sg (US Elektra EKS 45738): A. Riders on the Storm; B. The Changeling

1971-10-25 LP OTHER VOICES (US Elektra EKS 75017): A1. In the Eye of the Sun; A2. Variety Is the Spice of Life; A3. Ships Without Sails; A4. Tightrope Ride; B1. Down on the Farm; B2. I’m Horny, I’m Stoned; B3. Wandering Musician; B4. Hang on to Your Life

1972-07 LP FULL CIRCLE (US Elektra EKS 75039): A1. Get Up and Dance; A2. 4 Billion Souls; A3. Verdilac; A4. Hardwood Floor; A5. Good Rockin’; B1. The Mosquito; B2. The Piano Bird; B3. It Slipped My Mind; B4. The Peking King and the New York Queen

1978-11 LP AN AMERICAN PRAYER (Jim Morrison and the Doors) (US Elektra 5E-502): A1. Awake (Ghost Song-Dawn’s Highway-Newborn Awakening); A2. To Come of Age (Black Polished Crome-Latino Chrome-Angels and Sailors-Stoned Immaculate); A3. The Poet’s Dream (The Movie-Curses, Invocations); B1. World on Fire (American Night-Roadhouse Blues-The World on Fire-Lament-The Hitchhiker); B2. An American Prayer