In 1967, this video introduced a new American band: The Doors, who would quickly light the music world on fire, with a sound hypnotic, mystical, and almost menacing: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, yeahThey came together 60 years ago in Venice, California: Jim Morrison, a poet in leather pants, backed by Ray Manzarek on keys, Robby Krieger on guitar, and John Densmore on drums.The Doors soon got their break, in May of '66, at London Fog, a tiny nightclub on the Sunset Strip.It's now a barber shop.
"Oh, I need a haircut," laughed Densmore on a recent return visit.The barber shop's owner, Chad Oringer, an avid Doors fan, asked for a photo with Densmore and Krieger, the band's last surviving members.
The Doors were fired by London Fog, but quickly got another gig just a few doors down Sunset, at the Whisky a Go Go.Playing there, said Krieger, was "the biggest deal in town." "It was Mecca," Densmore added.
The room isn't much different from what it was back then."The stage is lower," Densmore said.
People would dance in front of the stage."And they would just all be down there writhing around.
Very inspirational!" he laughed.He described the improvisational attitude of the band: "Ray handed me a crumpled piece of paper and it said, 'Day destroys the night.
Night divides the day.Try to run.
Try to hide … Break on through.'" Morrison had never sung lead before, and Densmore wasn't sure about him at first: "He was so shy, it was ridiculous.And I thought, 'This is not the next Mick Jagger! But I love playing music, so I'll fool around here.'" I asked, "Why did you have confidence the band would work if he was so inexperienced as a singer?""It was the words," Krieger said.
"They were so different than anything that was out there.""Gifted," said Densmore."'Let's swim to the moon....