{"id":10309,"date":"2026-04-17T15:08:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/how-the-doors-held-it-together-then-fell-apart-after-jim-morrisons-death-154096\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:08:26","slug":"how-the-doors-held-it-together-then-fell-apart-after-jim-morrisons-death-154096","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/how-the-doors-held-it-together-then-fell-apart-after-jim-morrisons-death-154096\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Doors held it together \u2013 then fell apart \u2013 after Jim Morrison\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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First published in Uncut Take 222 (November 2015<\/em><\/strong> issue…)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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First published in Uncut Take 222 (November 2015<\/em><\/strong> issue\u2026)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In Spring 1972 \u2013 a year after Jim Morrison\u2019s death \u2013 the remaining members of The Doors toured Europe. While in England, they had shows in Newcastle, Birmingham and Guildford as well as a session for The Old Grey Whistle Test. <\/p>\n

To promote their new album, Other Voices, and a compilation, Weird Scenes From The Goldmine, they took to the streets of London in a specially decorated double-decker bus. But there was another agenda to their visit: they were hunting for a singer to replace Morrison. <\/p>\n

Paul Rodgers revealed to Uncut in 2011 that The Doors had sought him out to offer him the job. \u201cI\u2019d buried myself in the country, working on things, and they couldn\u2019t get hold of me,\u201d he bemoaned. They met, too, with Midlands soul-rock singer Jess Roden and Howard Werth from progressive rock band Audience. \u201cI did some rehearsing with them in a summer house down by the river,\u201d Werth told Uncut in 2011. \u201cJim Morrison\u2019s name wasn\u2019t mentioned at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it transpired that Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore had loftier ambitions. They had their sights on Paul McCartney, then thought to be languishing after the breakup of The Beatles. An unlikely story, surely?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might have talked about it,\u201d says Robby Krieger today. \u201cBut I never really got the nerve to ask him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that would\u2019ve been excellent,\u201d laughs Densmore. \u201cNow? There\u2019s only two Beatles now and two Doors, so let\u2019s see, that\u2019ll be two drummers, guitar and a bass player who\u2019s pretty good on keys. It\u2019s a wonderful fantasy, but Sir Paul is rather high up on the echelon there\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

This was just another curious twist in the adventures of Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore after Morrison\u2019s death. It was a peculiar, transitional time \u2013 featuring a former psychiatric nurse from Derby, a mariachi song about a mosquito and multiple bass players \u2013 during which The Doors attempted to recalibrate and find a way forward without their singer. \u201cJimi Hendrix had passed before Jim, and Janis Joplin,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cJim used to joke that he would be number three. It was kind of weird. We thought he was kidding. He never planned on joining the 27 Club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three months before Morrison\u2019s death, The Doors were enjoying a career high. Their sixth album, LA Woman, was well-received, while a pair of hit singles, \u201cLove Her Madly\u201d and \u201cRiders On The Storm\u201d, bookended the spring of 1971. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe had a lot of fun making LA Woman,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cFor one thing, we produced it ourselves with Bruce Botnick. Before that, Paul Rothchild had produced all of our records. He did a great job and all, but it was always very difficult because he was a real perfectionist. He always took all day to get the drum sound and Jim especially would get bored. But LA Woman, we just recorded it in our little rehearsal place, and it seemed like more of a jam, you know? I think that\u2019s a good way to make records.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good atmosphere,\u201d agrees drummer John Densmore. \u201cWe said we were gonna make a garage album with a lot of passion and mistakes, and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sessions appeared to revitalise Morrison. Prior to recording LA Woman, his drinking had begun to hamper the band \u2013 especially during the making of 1969\u2019s The Soft Parade. He was keen, too, to put behind him his 1970 trial for indecent exposure on stage in Florida. \u201cOn LA Woman, Jim was straight,\u201d says Botnick. \u201cHe would have the occasional brew, you know, a beer. He was in great form. We were looking forward to doing more after LA Woman.\u201d During his trip to Paris, Morrison wrote poetry, took long walks and luxuriated in the splendour of the city, so different from the California sprawl he knew. Though happily ensconced in an apartment between Bastille and Ile Saint-Louis with his partner Pamela Courson, Paris seems to have always been a temporary home \u2013 Morrison kept in touch with his bandmates, keen to find out how LA Woman was selling. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Krieger, Densmore and Manzarek worked on new songs back on the West Coast, waiting for Morrison\u2019s return. \u201cJim didn\u2019t say, \u2018I\u2019m sick of being a rock star,’\u201d explains Densmore. \u201cHe just said he wanted to go to Paris and take a break, rekindle. There\u2019s a tradition of American writers going to Paris. That was the idea. He kind of implied he\u2019d be back eventually to record some more songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he would return, at some point,\u201d agrees Botnick. \u201cI think he needed to have some space and get away from everybody, and get away from being Jim Morrison. It\u2019s tough for an artist when they\u2019re perceived to be one thing and they\u2019re really another \u2013 he was very intellectual. Very, very, polite. Incredibly well read. A great conversationalist. Artists like him, they see things and they\u2019re on such a high plane that it\u2019s difficult for them to have somebody to be on the same plane with. Jim was like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This method of working \u2013 where the trio would write the music and then Morrison would add vocals and lyrics \u2013 was the standard way of working for The Doors. Often, the singer would look in his many notebooks of poetry and work up a lyric from an existing poem, as on \u201cPeace Frog\u201d from 1970\u2019s Morrison Hotel. When news of Jim Morrison\u2019s death first filtered through to Los Angeles, Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore were jamming new songs in their Workshop studio by the Sunset Strip. \u201cWe were downstairs, rehearsing, hoping for Jim to return,\u201d says producer Bruce Botnick, who was present when the news of Morrison\u2019s death reached the others in July, 1971. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know for sure if it was real, because there had been so many reports of him dying before that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIT WAS EITHER JUMP IN THE WATER, OR DON\u2019T\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It soon became clear that the news of Morrison\u2019s death was genuine. \u201cWe were just devastated. We didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d says Densmore. \u201cThe music is a healing thing, so we just plunged into this stuff. We just sublimated our sadness into music and that\u2019s why we did it so quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was either jump in the water or don\u2019t,\u201d adds Krieger. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to do, but all we knew was music so we just kept rehearsing and working on those songs. It was a good therapy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first person they approached to replace Morrison was Kevin Coyne, the Derby-born former drug counsellor and psychiatric nurse. \u201cI was called in the morning after Jim Morrison died and asked how did I fancy joining The Doors,\u201d Coyne told Uncut in 2003. \u201cIt showed how mercenary the music business was, but the leather trousers were a long way from my plans.\u201d They also considered asking Joe Cocker, a year on from his successful Mad Dogs And Englishmen tour. \u201cThen we thought, \u2018Shit, we can\u2019t just get some other singer and expect him to follow in Jim\u2019s footsteps,’\u201d says Krieger. \u201cSo we just decided it would be better for us to sing. With us not really being singers, the expectation level wouldn\u2019t be so high.\u201d<\/p>\n

They focused on the sessions in hand, with Manzarek contributing two songs about Jim: \u201cIn The Eye Of The Sun\u201d and \u201cHang On To Your Life\u201d. \u201cThey were unconscious songs about Jim,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cHe always taught us when you\u2019re writing a song don\u2019t make it too obvious what it\u2019s about, so the listener can interpret it in their own way.\u201d Without the hedonistic Morrison, Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore found they were able to work much faster \u2013 and with greater focus. It was not entirely uncharted territory for them. The band had been forced to work round Morrison\u2019s absences in the past, just not at this level. As early as 1968, in fact, they sometimes had to fill in when their errant singer was late for concerts, with Manzarek often taking on vocal duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three of us didn\u2019t drink,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cSo Jim was tougher and tougher to deal with as time went on. He was always right there and easy to work with as far as the music went, but yeah, the three of us were very tight as a musical unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou needed three stable guys to balance Dionysus,\u201d laughs Densmore. \u201cIt was such strong energy, like a hurricane; we needed the triangle, with Jim stood on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Voices was released on October 18, 1971 \u2013 three months after Morrison\u2019s death \u2013 and reached No 31 on the Billboard chart. Today, the album sounds surprisingly strong, albeit sorely lacking Morrison\u2019s presence. \u201cI\u2019m Horny, I\u2019m Stoned\u201d is a poor facsimile of Morrison\u2019s more facile moments, but the hard boogie-blues of \u201cTightrope Ride\u201d (featuring Densmore doubling his drumkit) and \u201cIn The Eye Of The Sun\u201d would have fitted well on LA Woman. \u201cShips W\/ Sails\u201d is Other Voices\u2019 clear highlight, though, a skilful melding of Latin and jazz that had only been hinted at in the band\u2019s previous work. <\/p>\n

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With Morrison\u2019s more puritan blues influences absent, the trio felt free to expand their jazz ambitions, bringing in a host of session musicians to assist: Emil Richards provided marimba and whimwhams on \u201cDown On The Farm\u201d, and Francisco Aguabella contributed percussion to \u201cShips W\/ Sails\u201d and \u201cHang On To Your Life\u201d, while there were a total of five bassists enlisted for the album (four electric and one double-bass). \u201cWe were pretty amazed that the album sold as much as it did,\u201d marvels Krieger. \u201cIt did pretty well. We got pretty good radio play and did a couple of tours on it, so we were quite happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone was so pleased with the product, though, including their producer. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was very strong,\u201d says Botnick. \u201cIt didn\u2019t have any of the danger that The Doors\u2019 albums had. It wasn\u2019t bad, it just wasn\u2019t dangerous anymore. One of the legs of the table was missing. How could it not seem like that? I think they will all tell you that they were not individually the greatest musicians in the world, but together the four of them were the greatest musicians in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever the danger quotient, Other Voices carried on the thread of LA Woman; but its follow-up departed from that template. Botnick wasn\u2019t involved (he says he can\u2019t remember whether he was asked to return, but says he would have turned the job down if asked), the group left the Workshop for the comfort of Hollywood\u2019s A&M Studio, and even more jazz session musicians were brought in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys wanted to have a chance to work with some other musicians,\u201d says Botnick. \u201cAs they went into Full Circle they took that extension even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked them,\u201d says Charles Lloyd, who contributed tenor sax and flute to the recordings. \u201cI\u2019d met Jim Morrison at some parties in the Village around the time that their music was taking off in the mid 1960s. Barriers were down and the lines of demarcation were blurring. It was a unique open, free, time. I was free to bring it at the Full Circle sessions. My contributions were an overdub. But I did play live concerts with them in Central Park and the Hollywood Bowl \u2013 they encouraged me to stretch out. In rehearsals they were mellow and having fun. It was a very open feeling of collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cFull Circle had a different engineer \u2013 Henry Lewy,\u201d says Densmore. \u201cHe brought in Charles Lloyd and loads of other great session players. We thought maybe we could get some backing vocals to help fill out the sound of Ray and Robby singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Doors released Full Circle on August 15, 1972. The complex funk of \u201cVerdillac\u201d, the campfire pop of \u201c4 Billion Souls\u201d and the Latin fusion of \u201cThe Piano Bird\u201d were strong cuts, expanding the band\u2019s sound with greater variety and rich textures. Krieger\u2019s quicksilver guitar-playing was a delight as always, with his 12-string solo on \u201cIt Slipped My Mind\u201d a highlight. <\/p>\n

But with Morrison now dead for over a year, and the rock scene progressing at high speed, fans weren\u2019t exactly turned on by Full Circle\u2019s subtle growth, and the album barely scraped the Top 75 in the US. \u201cWe had a lot of cool musicians that played with us,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cIt\u2019s always fun to record, but we missed having Jim. There was nothing much we could do other than just quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joined by Jack Conrad on bass, Bobby Ray Henson on rhythm guitar and occasionally Charles Lloyd or Ron Starr on saxophone, The Doors toured Full Circle throughout Europe and America in summer and autumn 1972, before Ray Manzarek finally decided he\u2019d had enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cRay just kinda said, \u2018Look, I\u2019m out of here, I\u2019m getting tired of this, it\u2019s not working,’\u201d remembers Krieger. \u201cSo we gave it up. John and I were trying to make it work. Would we have carried on? Yeah, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Doors had a five-album record deal with Elektra,\u201d says Densmore, also clearly disappointed about the way the group fell apart, \u201cand we stopped and passed on the last three albums. \u2018OK, this has been really fun, but without Jim we\u2019re not The Doors.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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WE PASSED ON THE LAST THREE ALBUMS. THIS HAS BEEN REALLY FUN, BUT WITHOUT JIM, IT\u2019S NOT THE DOORS.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Doors played their final gig on September 10, 1972, at the Hollywood Bowl near their stomping ground. They played tracks from Other Voices and Full Circle, including \u201cShips W\/ Sails\u201d, \u201cTightrope Ride\u201d and \u201cThe Mosquito\u201d, along with \u201cLove Me Two Times\u201d and their customary closer, \u201cLight My Fire\u201d, now featuring a saxophone solo in its long jam section. This really was the end.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on those two post-Morrison albums, John Densmore has this to say: \u201cI just listened to these albums a couple of days ago. I hadn\u2019t heard them in quite a while. Boy, excuse my patting ourselves on the back, but this is a tight band. Instrumentally, it\u2019s really tight. I do miss the great baritone\u2026 nobody had Jim\u2019s voice. This is a guy who never had any proper singing instruction, and to be able to scream from the bowels of his soul and not rip up his vocal cords\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

Robby Krieger is also interested in how the albums would have turned out with Morrison there. \u201cThere\u2019s this tribute band here in LA and they did a couple of the songs from Full Circle, like \u2018Verdilac\u2019. They actually went in the studio and recorded these things, and they came out pretty good. They had a guy that sang like Jim, or tried to \u2013 it was pretty funny to hear the Jim vocal on those songs!\u201d<\/p>\n

Six years after they split, though, The Doors got back together, this time with the crucial element they\u2019d been missing \u2013 or at least, recordings of Morrison reading his poetry in 1969 and 1970. Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore returned to the studio to put music to his words and create An American Prayer, released in 1978. It was a controversial release for some fans and associates, but the band savoured the opportunity to effectively work with Morrison again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of my favourite records that we\u2019ve ever done,\u201d says Krieger. \u201cJim\u2019s spoken-word album never came out, but I had a copy. He\u2019d hired this guy, Fred Myrow, to do music for it. I was listening to it one day, and I thought, \u2018Shit, John and Ray and I should give it a try \u2013 who better?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember sitting in the studio recording An American Prayer and his voice is in our headphones,\u201d says Densmore. \u201cHe\u2019s not there, but he is there. At first it was eerie, you\u2019d look over to the vocal booth and be like, \u2018Shit, I hear him.\u2019 It was like old times, so it was special. You know, I really enjoyed hearing Other Voices and Full Circle again, but I do miss hearing that great voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post How The Doors held it together \u2013 then fell apart \u2013 after Jim Morrison\u2019s death<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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First published in Uncut Take 222 (November 2015 issue…) First published in Uncut Take 222 (November 2015 issue\u2026) In Spring 1972 \u2013 a year after Jim Morrison\u2019s death \u2013 the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,35,903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-interviews","category-the-doors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}