THE DOORS ON TV IN THE SPRING OF 1967: ON THE WAY TO SUCCESS

 

Following their television debut in February 1967, The Doors made five more appearances over the following months.

At this time, the California-based group was developing a more mature live sound and gaining the confidence that would characterize their resounding live performances from the summer of '67 onwards.

From late February to mid-June 1967, The Doors played around 60 concerts in venues ranging from California to New York. The only recording from this period is that of their performance at "The Matrix" in San Francisco.

During this period, several songs that would end up on their second LP, "Strange Days" (released in September 1967), were refined to a near-definitive standard.

Songs from the album that took on their final musical structure that spring included "Love Me Two Times", "Unhappy Girl", "People Are Strange" and "I Can't See Your Face in My Mind”.

Throughout this fertile and feverish musical period, the group appeared on the television show "Shebang" on 25 February, which was recorded in Los Angeles.

They performed "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" in playback (link here) and, fortunately, this performance was recorded. Despite being one of the best rock songs of all time, the tune only reached number 126 in the US charts.

They made their next TV appearance in the second half of March 1967 while performing a twenty-day residency at a club in New York City.

As well as performing almost every night at the trendy New York venue, the Ondine, the band also recorded a TV performance which was later broadcast on the Clay Cole Diskotek show. In this context, The Doors played "Break On Through" once more.

The third show they participated in was Boss City, this time recorded in Los Angeles, in which they had already been featured in the first half of February. For an article about this episode link here.

They most likely played the full version of "Light My Fire", which was released just a couple of days before as the second single from their debut LP, "The Doors".

In mid-June 1967, The Doors returned to New York for a series of performances at another of the city's famous venues, "The Scene". Again, their stay lasted about twenty days.

As in March, the group appeared on the Clay Cole Diskotek programme, performing "Light My Fire". The song was climbing the singles charts at the time and was beginning to gain popularity outside of California.

The fifth and final TV appearance of the band in spring 1967 was on the "Disc-o-Teen" show, to which they were also invited during their June stay in New York.

They performed "Light My Fire" lip-sync, followed by a short interview.

By this time, the studio sessions for the second album, "Strange Days", were well underway.

The growing interest in The Doors continued to take them to more prestigious television venues, but the five occasions mentioned in this article were important formative moments.

The importance of these television appearances became apparent alongside the notoriety gained from the success of the single "Light My Fire", which reached number one in the singles charts by the end of July.

Just as the many concerts they did in the spring served as a musical laboratory in preparation for the big shows of the following months and years, these television appearances gave the group the opportunity to reach a wide audience and build up their notoriety.

P.S.: My book "The Doors Through Strange Days"- The most comprehensive journey ever made through The Doors' second LP, is available on Amazon.com, .uk, .mx, .it, etc.

Here’s a link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”