The Doors! Such a great band! They got their name from a poem by William Blake, which contains the line, "When the Doors Of Perception are cleansed, everything will appear to man as it is--infinite." This was a great choice. I've always considered this song to be their "introductory calling card", if you will. An incredible statement of intent, letting us know that they were gonna "break on through" into hitherto uncharted areas of pop/rock music; exploring darkness, philosophy, madness, pure unadulterated joy, insanity, violence, chaos and death. Some other great songs of theirs worth a listen include "Roadhouse Blues", "Five To One", "Love Me Two Times", "Light My Fire" and "Riders On The Storm". ❤ Love you! You're beautiful! Love your reactions!
Considered one of Americas best rock n roll bands of the 60's. They became legendary, and continued to gain fans, long after the lead singer had died and the band disbanded.
A very kool reaction 😎! Break On Through (To The Other Side) was released as the lead single from The Doors' 1966 album: The Doors. It was written by The Doors. It was produced by Paul A Rothchild. The song reached #126 on the Billboard Pop chart. The song was one of six songs The Doors recorded for a demo on Aura Records while they were trying to get signed in 1965. Robby Krieger was not yet with the group. It has been widely considered one of the band's greatest songs. In 2021, The Guardian ranked the song number two on their list of the 30 greatest Doors songs, and Louder Sound ranked it number five on their list of the 20 greatest Doors songs. In 2012, the song was selected to be played on Mars during a NASA mission. Elektra Records boss Jac Holzman commissioned a promotional film for this song - later known as a music video. The music video, directed by Mark Abramson, is fairly basic but with excellent production value, centering on the very photogenic Jim Morrison singing the song. The video was sent to many broadcast outlets in hopes they would air it. The group was an unknown commodity so very few did, but they did get some use out of the clip, playing it at concerts in 1967 and 1968. It was later used in various Doors video compilations and played on networks like MTV. Like The Beatles, The Doors were innovators in the music video medium, creating films of various kinds to accompany some of their songs. In the song, Jim Morrison looks to shake things up, a common theme in his songwriting. In 1966, he said: "I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning". The vocals are a mix of two of Jim Morrison's takes. This was the first song on The Doors first album, and also their first single. It got some airplay on Los Angeles radio stations after their friends and fans kept requesting it. The original line in the chorus was "she gets high", but their producer Paul Rothchild thought that would limit the song's airplay potential, and convinced the group to leave it out. Instead, "high" was edited out, making it sound like, "she get uuggh", but the "high" line can be heard in live versions. You can also hear the song as intended in the 1999 reissue of the album, which was overseen by their original engineer Bruce Botnick. He also replaced Jim Morrison's "f--k"s on "The End." These edits went over about as well as the digital revisions to Star Wars. Jim Morrison got some of the lyrics from John Rechy's 1963 book City of Night. In that book, John Rechy writes about "the other side" in reference to Hollywood. There's also a passage where he writes: "place to place, week to week, night to night", which Jim Morrison appropriated in the lyrics: Made the scene / Week to week / Day to day / Hour to hour . Robby Krieger's guitar melody was inspired by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's song: "Shake Your Money Maker", which was released on the group's debut album in 1965. Robby Krieger was a huge fan of Paul Butterfield, and found himself emulating the riff when they were working on "Break On Through". The Doors didn't have a bass player, so their keyboard player Ray Manzarek created most of the low-end sounds. On this track, he borrowed the bass notes from the Ray Charles song "What'd I Say". John Densmore added the knocking drum sound by hitting his drum stick sideways across the snare. In 1967, Jim Morrison did an interview with Hit Parader magazine where he said that he wrote this song while crossing canals in Venice. "I was walking over a bridge", he said. "I guess it's one girl, a girl I knew at the time". Elektra Records promoted the album with a billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood with a photo of the band and the headline: "The Doors Break On Through With An Electrifying Album". It was likely the first billboard advertising a Rock band ever displayed in that area, and it got lots of attention for the band. Ray Manzarek said this was the last song the band played live. It was during the Isle Of The Wight Festival in the summer of 1970. The festival occurred while Jim Morrison was on trial in Miami faced with charges of indecent exposure, and the band got a special five days of recess to be in England and get back to US. "This was to be the first gig of an European tour just as Miami was to be the first gig of a 20-city US tour. We never got beyond the first date of either one", said Ray Manzarek. In an episode of The Simpsons, Krusty The Klown sings this when he shows the crowd a tape of him when he was younger. This is one of a few Doors' songs used in the 1994 film: Forrest Gump, as Forrest becomes adept at ping pong, and the only one included on the two-disc movie soundtrack. Critical Reception 🗣: "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" was described by Billboard as an "excitement filled rocker" that represents a "powerful debut". Cash Box said the single is a "driving pulsating track that should see plenty of spins". Song Credits 📝: Jim Morrison - vocals Ray Manzarek - Vox Continental organ, keyboard, bass Robby Krieger - guitar John Densmore - drums Lyrics 🗒: You know the day destroys the night Night divides the day Tried to run Tried to hide Break on through to the other side Break on through to the other side Break on through to the other side, yeah We chased our pleasures here Dug our treasures there But can you still recall The time we cried Break on through to the other side Break on through to the other side Yeah C'mon, yeah Everybody loves my baby Everybody loves my baby She get high She get high She get high She get high, yeah I found an island in your arms Country in your eyes Arms that chain us Eyes that lie Break on through to the other side Break on through to the other side Break on through, ow Oh, yeah Made the scene Week to week Day to day Hour to hour The gate is straight Deep and wide Break on through to the other side Break on through to the other side Break on through Break on through Break on through Break on through Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah The Doors Info 📰: The Doors were a Rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial Rock acts of the 1960s, primarily due to Jim Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona and legal issues. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture. The band took its name from the title of English writer Aldous Huxley's book: The Doors Of Perception, itself a reference to a quote by English poet William Blake. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, The Doors with Jim Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time, including their self-titled debut album: The Doors (1967), Strange Days (1967), and L.A. Woman (1971). Dubbed the "Kings Of Acid Rock", they were one of the most successful bands of their time and by 1972 The Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly 8 million in singles. Jim Morrison passed away under uncertain circumstances in 1971. The band continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. They released three more albums in the 1970s, one of which featured earlier recordings by Jim Morrison, and over the decades reunited on stage in various configurations. In 2002, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and Ian Astbury of The Cult on vocals started performing as "The Doors Of The 21st Century". John Densmore and the Jim Morrison estate successfully sued them over the use of the band's name. After a short time as Riders On The Storm, they settled on the name Ray Manzarek-Robby Krieger and toured until Ray Manzarek's passing in 2013. *****CONTINUE BELOW*****
After Jim Morrison's passing in 1971, John Densmore and Robby Krieger went to London looking for a new lead singer. They formed The Butts Band in 1973 there, signing with Blue Thumb Records. They released an album titled: Butts Band, the same year, then disbanded in 1975 after a second album with Phil Chen on bass. Ray Manzarek made three solo albums from 1974 to 1983 and formed a band called Nite City in 1975, which released two albums in 1977-1978. Robby Krieger released six solo albums from 1977 to 2010. John Densmore left the music industry in the 1980s, moving to the world of dance as he performed with Bess Snyder and Co., touring the United States for two years. He also got involved in acting and producing stage musicals and plays. The play: Rounds, which he co-produced, won the NAACP award for theatre in 1987. In 1988, he played a feature role in Band Dreams and Bebop at the Gene Dynarski Theatre. He has acted in numerous TV shows, most memorably as himself in the 1980s show: Square Pegs, working as a drummer for Johnny Slash's band Open 24 Hours, and in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210 in 1992, in Series 2, Episode 23, where he plays Ben, Dylan's sponsor.He wrote his best-selling autobiography: Riders On The Storm, in 1990. The Doors were the first American band to accumulate eight consecutive Gold albums. According to the RIAA, they have sold 34 million albums in the United States and over 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The Doors have been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines including Rolling Stone, which ranked them 41st on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In 1993, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Jim Morrison in fifth place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time". In another Rolling Stone list, entitled "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time", he was ranked 47th. NME named him the 13th greatest singer of all time. He was also ranked number 22 on Classic Rock magazine's "50 Greatest Singers in Rock". The two surviving members of The Doors: John Densmore and Robby Krieger, have occasionally appeared together on stage over the years. The Doors Group Members Who Passed 🙏: 1. James "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 - July 3, 1971) After recording the album: L.A. Woman, with The Doors in Los Angeles, Jim Morrison announced to the band his intention to go to Paris, France. His bandmates generally felt it was a good idea. In March 1971, he joined girlfriend Pamela Courson in Paris at an apartment she had rented at 17-19, Rue Beautreillis in Le Marais, 4th arrondissement. In letters to friends, he described going alone for long walks through the city.[96] During this time, he shaved his beard and lost some of the weight he had gained in the previous months. He also telephoned John Densmore to ask him how the album: L.A. Woman, was doing commercially; he was the last band member to ever speak with him. On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison was found unresponsive in the bathtub of the apartment at approximately 6:00 am by Pamela Courson. He was 27 years old. The official cause of passing was listed as heart failure, although no autopsy was performed as it was not required by French law. Pamela Courson said that Jim Morrison's last words, as he was bathing, were: "Pam, are you still there?". Several individuals who say they were eyewitnesses, including Marianne Faithfull, claim that his death was due to an accidental heroin overdose. Sam Bernett, founder and manager of the Rock 'n' Roll Circus night club, affirmed that he had found Jim Morrison unconscious in the club's bathrooms after a purported heroin overdose around 2:00 am and that his body was taken away from the club by two men supposed to be the drug dealers. Due to the lack of an autopsy however, these statements could never be confirmed. Jim Morrison's passing came two years to the day after the passing of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and approximately nine months after the passings of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. All of these popular musicians died at the age of 27, leading to the emergence of the 27 Club urban legend. Since the date of his demise, there have been a number of conspiracy theories concerning Jim Morrison's passing. Jim Morrison was laid to rest in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France in a private funeral ceremony. 2. Ray Manzarek (February 12, 1939 - May 20, 2013) In March 2013, Ray Manzarek was diagnosed with a rare cancer called cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and traveled to Germany for special treatment. During that time, before his passing, he reconciled with bandmate John Densmore and spoke to Robby Krieger. He also performed a private concert for his doctors and nurses. According to his manager, Ray Manzarek was "feeling better" until things took a turn for the worse. On May 20, 2013, Ray Manzarek passed away at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 74. His body was cremated and the ashes given to his family. The Doors Group Members 👨🎤🎹🎸🥁: Jim Morrison - lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1965-1971) Ray Manzarek - keyboards, organ, backing and lead vocals (1965-1973, 1978, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2011-2012, 2012-2013) Robby Krieger - guitar, backing and lead vocals (1965-1973, 1978, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2011-2012, 2012-2013) John Densmore - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1965-1973, 1978, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2011-2012, 2012-2013) Honors & Awards 🏅: In 1991, Oliver Stone directed a biopic film about Jim Morrison called: The Doors, with actor Val Kilmer portraying him. Kilmer learned over twenty of The Doors' songs to achieve Jim Morrison's role. In 1993, The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1998, the band's song: "Light My Fire", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track). In 1998, VH-1 compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll. The Doors were ranked number 20 by top music artists while Rock on the Net readers ranked them number 15. In 2000, The Doors were ranked number 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists, and the band's song: "Light My Fire", was ranked number seven on VH1's Greatest Rock Songs. In 2002, their 1968 self-titled album' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (Album). In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked The Doors 41st on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Also in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included two of their songs: "Light My Fire" at number 35 and "The End" at number 328. In 2007, The Doors received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement. In 2007, The Doors received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010, the band's song: "Riders On The Storm", was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track). In 2011, The Doors received a Grammy Award in Best Long Form Music Video for the film: When You're Strange, directed by Tom DiCillo. In 2012, Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time included three of their studio albums: The Doors at number 42, L.A. Woman at number 362, and Strange Days at number 407. In 2014, The Doors were voted by British Classic Rock magazine's readers to receive that year's Roll of Honor Tommy Vance "Inspiration" Award. In 2015, The Library of Congress selected The Doors for inclusion in the National Recording Registry based on its cultural, artistic or historical significance. In 2016, The Doors received a Grammy Award in Favorite Reissues and Compilation for the live album London Fog 1966. The Doors were honored for the 50th anniversary of their self-titled album release, January 4, 2017, with the city of Los Angeles proclaiming that date "The Day of the Doors". At a ceremony in Venice, Los Angeles Councilmember Mike Bonin introduced surviving members John Densmore and Robby Krieger, presenting them with a framed proclamation and lighting a Doors sign beneath the famed 'Venice' letters. The 2018 Asbury Park Music & Film Festival has announced the film submission award winners. The ceremony was held on Sunday, April 29 at the Asbury Hotel hosted by Shelli Sonstein, two-time Gracie Award winner, co-host of the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show on Q104.3 and APMFF Board member. The film Break on Thru: Celebration of Ray Manzarek and The Doors, won the best length feature at the festival. In 2020, Rolling Stone listed the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Doors box set: Morrison Hotel, among "The Best Box Sets Of The Year". The Doors Films & Documentaries 📽: The Doors Are Open (1968) Live In Europe (1968) Live At The Hollywood Bowl (1968) Feast Of Friends (1970) The Doors: A Tribute To Jim Morrison (1981) The Doors: Dance On Fire (1985) The Doors (1991) The Soft Parade, A Retrospective (1991) The Doors: No One Here Gets Out Alive (2001) Final 24: Jim Morrison (2007) When You're Strange (2009) Rock Poet: Jim Morrison (2010) Morrison's Mustang - A Vision Quest To Find The Blue Lady (2011) Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story Of L.A. Woman (2011) The Doors Live At The Bowl '68 (2012) The Doors: R-Evolution (2013) Feast Of Friends (2014) Danny Says (2016) Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 (2018) *****CONTINUE BELOW*****
The Doors Albums 📀: The Doors (1967) Strange Days (1967) Waiting For The Sun (1968) The Soft Parade (1969) Morrison Hotel (1970) L.A. Woman (1971) An American Prayer (1978) Robby Krieger Albums 📀: 1. Solo Robbie Krieger & Friends (1977) Versions (1982) Robby Krieger (1985) No Habla (1989) Door Jams (1989) Cinematix (2000) Singularity (2010) The Ritual Begins at Sundown (2020) 2. With Butts Band (w/ John Densmore) Butts Band (1974) Hear And Now (1975) 3. With Red Shift Red Shift (1979) Shifting On Strong (1980) Ray Manzarek Albums 📀: 1. Solo The Golden Scarab (1974) The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control (1974) Carmina Burana (1983) Love Her Madly (2006) 2. Nite City Nite City (1977) Starwood Club, Los Angeles. 02/23/1977 (1977) Golden Days Diamond Nights (1978) 3. With X Los Angeles (1978) 4. With Piotr Bal Atonal Head (2006) 5. With Echo & The Bunnymen Bedbugs And Ballyhoo (1987) 6. With Michael McClure Love Lion (1993) The Piano Poems: Live From San Francisco (2012) 7. With Darryl Read Freshly Dug (1999) 8. With Roy Rogers Ballads Before The Rain (2008) Translucent Blues (2011) Twisted Tales (2013) Some more good songs by The Doors 🎶: Light My Fire, The End, Riders On The Storm, Touch Me, Soul Kitchen, Unhappy Girl, The Crystal Ship, Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), Do It, Back Door Man, I Looked At You, End Of The Night, Wandering Musician, In The Eye Of The Sun, Variety Is The Spice Of Life, Ships w/ Sails, Tightrope Ride, The Changeling, Love Her Madly, I'm Horny I'm Stoned, Hang On To Your Life, Been Down So Long, Cars Hiss By My Window, L'America, Hyacinth House, Crawling King Snake, Land Ho!, The Spy, Queen Of The Highway, Indian Summer, Maggie M'Gill, Take It As It Comes, Strange Days, You're Lost Little Girl, Love Me Two Times, I Can't See Your Face In My Mind, Horse Latitudes, Peace Frog, Wild Child, Moonlight Drive, People Are Strange, Easy Ride, Tell All The People, Wishful Sinful, Runnin' Blue, The Soft Parade, Shaman's Blues, Down On The Farm, My Eyes Have Seen You, When The Music's Over, Hello I Love You, Love Street, Not To Touch The Earth, Wintertime Love, The Unknown Soldier, My Wild Love, LA Woman, Five To One, Spanish Caravan, Hardwood Floor, Roadhouse Blues, Wintertime Love, The Ghost Song, Waiting For The Sun, You Make Me Real, Blue Sunday, We Could Be So Good Together, Ship Of Fools, Love Street, Summer's Almost Gone, Twentieth Century Fox, Yes The River Knows and The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat). Fun Fact 🕵: The 1969 film: HWY: An American Pastoral, is a short film by Jim Morrison, Frank Lisciandro, Paul Ferrara, and Babe Hill. Starring Jim Morrison as a mysterious hitchhiker, it is a 50-minute experimental film in Direct Cinema style. It was shot during the spring and summer of 1969 in the Mojave Desert and in Los Angeles.
