The Doors - A Legend in American Rock Music

by

 Sebastian Schmid

Contents

I. Introduction

II. The history of the 1960s

III. The Doors

1. Music, lyrics and influences
2. Image and performance
3. Jim Morrison

IV. Conclusion

V. Bibliography

I. Introduction

The Doors, who were recently honoured to be the most famous band of the USA, are now selling more records per year than during their whole career with vocalist Jim Morrison¹. Almost everything about this band is legendary: their singer, the electric poet Morrison, their all styles of music including sound, the rise and fall of the band and their entry into the Hall of Fame².

In order to analyse The Doors one must consider the historical and political events, which had a deep impact on the social changes of the 60s. At a time when the world was threatened to lose control, the college students who were the main audience for rock music wanted musicians and performers who also threatened to go out of control³ and that was what The Doors did at that time. Furthermore one has to take a close look on their music, lyrics, image and live performance.

The late 60s were the era of mass movement. There was a need among young people for the intimacy of the listening experience, public events, such as the Monterey Pop Festival, the Human Be-Ins in San Franzisco and Woodstock⁴ took place during this period.

The Doors were the first of the new era of Rock ’n’ Roll who brought theatrical quality to music and knew about the power of entertainment. They represented one possible form of the merging between high culture and popular culture. They were so successful, that they were the first American rock band to produce eight consecutive gold albums.

What were the reasons for the success of The Doors during the 60s, why have they influenced so many bands and why are they still so successful?

II. The history of the 1960s

The cultural climate of the 1950s was very restrictive⁵. Nevertheless musicians like Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Elvis Presley were the initiators of a new style of music: Rock ’n’ Roll and the first rebellious youth movement was born⁶.The 60s developed into the mysterious decade of the 20th century, not only in pop culture but in history aswell⁷. The early 1960s were characterised by the Cold War, the Cuba crisis and the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion⁸. The whole world was on the edge of the Third World War. The peak of this decade⁹ was the period from 1964, after Kennedy’s assassination and the first concert of The Beatles in America, to 1969, when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. The outbreak of the Vietnam war was of course the central event in the second half of the 60s. Not only war itself but the fact that every American citizen could watch it on TV. This experience for the American public was completely new, so that some people called the war in Vietnam "the living room war"¹⁰. The discovery of the deep effects of violent pictures changed the broadcasting of news on the TV screen. The visual criteria became the most important one during the war and battle footage was of course most impressive.

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1 Moddemann, Rainer. The Doors. Königswinter: Heel Verlag, 2001., p. 7

2 Ibid., p. 9

3 Curtis, Jim. Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954-1984. Bowling Green/Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987.,  p. 215

4 Ibid., p. 130

5 Schober, Ingeborg. Jim Morrison. Munich: dtv, 2001, p. 13

6 Ibid., p. 13

7 Curtis, p. 109

8 Kinder/Hilgemann, p. 549

9 Curtis, p. 110

10 Ibid., p. 110