MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > The Doors - What Do You Think Of Them?

The Doors - What Do You Think Of Them?

posted 4 years ago by BillHicksFan (10712)
32 replies | jump to latest

I always thought The Doors were the first real progressive rock group. Some might say The Beatles, but I don't think so.

First off, it's stunning that The Doors first album was in 1967, and L.A. Woman was released in 1971, which are both my favorite albums, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be "L.A. Woman".. "The Doors" self-entitled album starts with "Break on Through" and ends with one of my favorite songs by any group, "The End", but what's in the middle isn't as strong as L.A. Woman.

Back to "prog" - take all the different rhythms this band utilized in their very short time together.
-bossa nova
-Latin
-Tango
-Shuffle
-Military
-Jazz
-Tribal
-Rock
-Blues
-German Oompah
-Waltz
-Native American
-Disco (Peace Frog)
-Wild Child (whatever that is, during the verse, is awesome)
-Funky (The Changeling)
-Consistent Pounding on "Spanish Caravan"
-And whatever rhythm would be classified on "Love Me Two Times", going all over the toms, while keeping the beat

Musically, also very diverse. You had Robby with his flamenco, Middle-Eastern, Indiana influences, along with the bottleneck bluesy stuff, jazz, etc etc.... Ray with his classical influences, some boogie-woogie, jazz, etc., and with Jim's creativity, not just the lyrics, but how he delivered them rhythmically (with great melodies to accompany them), his pauses between lines that are simple, but always stuck with me, "Cops in cars, the topless bars, never saw a woman............ so alone"... speaking of L.A. Woman "motel, money, murder, madness" (I like alliteration), or unique phrases, hell, even interesting titles like "Peace Frog", "The Soft Parade" and many others.

Anyway, I'm sure many of you have things to add, so I'll stop there, but I'll post a cool interview of Jim, which is contrary to the lie that oliver stone movie was, and I'd advise the young people who haven't got "into" them to go to the primary sources - the band, not rumors of debauchery (Grace Slick admitting on Roseanne Barr's talk show she lied about having sex with Morrison, because her publisher paid her a million bucks) and second-hand rumors... Check out video, audio, print interview to have a good blueprint, and THEN read the books (Friends Gathered Together, Summer With Morrison)... Too many times (not here) I have discussions where someone references an inaccuracy from a movie, or whatever, and it sticks in their head, since it's been said that first impressions tend to stick the most, along with convenient fact, as opposed to truthful nuance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQfr-BtcDII

[–] DoctorThirteen (15297) 4 years ago

I like them. Not enough to buy their stuff, but if they come on the radio I'll turn it up.

[–] AndyKing1967 (39846) 4 years ago

They would appear in my Top 100 artists.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78560) 4 years ago

The Doors are great, any list of 'classic rock' songs will likely include a bunch of their stuff

Growing up I knew a number of kids who were inclined to make music and some still do as a side job
Most of them cited The Doors as a big influence on them (along with metal and folk songs)

Great link/interview, I've listened to about half and will finish the rest later
Much obliged👍

[–] BillHicksFan (10712) 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed it!

Let me know what you think once you're done.

[–] Roguemail (1634) 4 years ago

I would say they were more of a psychedelic band than progressive. Simply using diverse musical styles does not denote progressive.

Progressive bands, like The Beatles, Floyd etc were more about experimentation.

[–] BillHicksFan (10712) 4 years ago

The Doors experimented all the time, especially live.

[–] nyctc7 (44104) 4 years ago

I like them, but don't play them very often, not sure why. I certainly like them more than Jerry Garcia did. I wonder if Jerry was a little jealous of them, or of Jim Morrison, the good-looking rock star, which Jerry, for all his talent, was not. See here

https://archive.org/post/157591/why-jerry-hated-the-doors

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78560) 4 years ago

Interesting read
Like that one poster I don't really get the Mick Jagger rip-off comment but I'm no rock historian

Maybe Garcia WAS a bit jealous of Mick and Jim, they were getting bras pitched at them during gigs and he was likely not

[–] nyctc7 (44104) 4 years ago

Ha, there was so much space below the post I didn't realize there were replies there!

[–] snepts (11123) 4 years ago

I really respect the musicianship in the Doors group, and the songs are always well constructed and interesting.
One minor complaint is the lack of harmony vocals. Every song is going to be solely Jim in a key he is comfortable in, so there seems to be a sameness inherent, even though there seems to be stylistic differences among the compositions.
And the songs seem to be arranged such that they don't leave much room for fun. I mean, Love Street is one of the only songs that isn't a serious grind.
But yes, whenever I hear the Doors I'm always impressed with how unique their music was while also being very accessible.

[–] StoneKeeper (28333) 4 years ago

Very interesting. The doors are my favourite band. Jim Morrison is my favourite singer.

I got all their albums, all their DVD’s, some very rare vinyls, posters, patches...

I’m listening to them every 2-3 months or so now but 10-15 years ago it was non-stop. The movie is one of my all time favorite.

The last song I’ve listen from them was The soft parade. I was taking a walk and felt the urge to put it on my phone.

So yeah, greatest band in history imo.
Followed by Nirvana, Placebo, supertramp, cypress hill and Styx. ;)

[–] diezman (2241) 4 years ago

Not much to add. I just love the Doors. I have all of their albums. My older brother got me into the Doors when I was a kid back in the 70s.

[–] StoneKeeper (28333) 4 years ago

I found the Best of the doors in my brother's room when I was 16 and been hooked since.