END OF THE NIGHT: FROM THE '65 DEMO TO THE "THE DOORS" LP

Among the charming poems that Jim Morrison brought with him when The Doors were born, we find the mysterious and enchanting melody of 'End of the Night'.

Still in their early days and without Robby Krieger, the group arranged the tune and shortly thereafter included it among the six songs recorded as demos in September 1965.

In this early version (here's the link), the composition was still sparse, although the structure was almost completely defined, and more importantly, the definitive lyrics were already in place.

At this stage, its most striking feature was that it stood out in the American musical landscape of summer 1965 thanks to its unusual verse and chorus melodies. However, the somber charm of the words was not yet adequately enhanced by the instrumentation and arrangement.

While partly lingering in rhythm and blues, the song projects itself forward towards rock, which was taking its first exciting steps in those same months of '65.

Supported several times by Manzarek, Morrison's rather thin voice reduces its undeveloped timbre to a sharp whisper in the verse, rising in the chorus, but stil lacking the necessary force.

Densmore uses a tambourine to reinforce the soft drum line, which is played partly with brushes instead of sticks and partly by softly hitting the edge of the snare drum.

Manzarek's creative piano playing is responsible for a short solo. Unfortunately, it is overshadowed by the harmonica, played by his brother, which clumsily covers several other passages of the composition.

The song remained in the band's repertoire for several months, before being officially recorded (this time with Krieger on electric guitar) in late summer 1966 for the group's debut LP, "The Doors" (released in January 1967).

Around the same time, 'End of the Night' was released as the B-side of The Doors' debut single, the A-side of which was “Break On Through (To The Other Side)”.

For the version included on their debut album, the band shortened the song a bit, making it more concise and effective by eliminating two elements present in the demo: an additional verse before the final chorus and a repetition of the title at the end of each verse.

Additionally, the tempo of the track on the group's debut album is slightly slower than the demo. This helps to emphasize the song's admirable internal organization: verse – verse – chorus with reprise of the last part of the verse – solo – chorus with reprise of the last part of the verse.

However, the most significant change in this official version is the transformation of the 1965 song into a beautiful psychedelic rock ballad with dark and surreal tones.

Once again, the band's innovative approach is evident. In fact, the first fully psychedelic song in history, "Rain" by The Beatles, was released only three months earlier, in May 1966.

The overall sound of “End Of The Night” is characterized by a striking background composed of two distinctive elements, imaginatively constructed by Manzarek's keyboards.

The first is the electric organ (a Vox Continental), played with a built-in 'vibrato' distortion. The result is a carpet of dreamlike chords that sway swiftly at the bottom of the arrangement, like an object observed beneath the surface of water. This provides a fluid and unreal foundation for the other instruments.

Manzarek's second contribution to the song is the piano part, which punctuates the entire tune with high but rounded and muted notes, like a carillon offering its wistful twinkle to the listener's imagination.

Against this psychedelic backdrop, Krieger's electric guitar plays languid, dreamy phrases.

The guitar chord that opens the tune and drives the lazy, meandering progression of the verses spreads out, propelled by a deep reverberation that distorts and blurs its contours. This expansion into space is reminiscent of an enigmatic question that resonates ethereally, losing itself in elusive vibrations and fading too quickly to be grasped or understood.

During the choruses, the guitarist switches to slide guitar technique. Originally from 1920s and 1930s Country Blues, Krieger combines this technique with the aforementioned strong reverb, adapting it to the rock genre and adding a new facet to psychedelia in the process.

He would use this new interpretation of the slide guitar more extensively and frequently in the band's next work, the LP "Strange Days", released in September 1967 (an outstanding example of psychedelic rock).

Slide guitar is also evident in the guitarist's brief but fascinating solo. His elongated notes spread out in desolate, solitary lines, like ephemeral arcs of sound sketched onto the black backdrop of the "endless night" evoked by the lyrics.

At the center of the composition, Jim Morrison's voice emerges wonderfully, modified in two different ways.

Firstly, doubled vocals are employed at the end of the verse and throughout the chorus to amplify the power and intensity of the voice. Secondly, a wide ambient reverb is achieved without artificial distortion by simply singing in a purpose-built room.

These studio treatments improve Morrison's vocals, enabling him to explore dark depths and sublime melodic abysses and represent a striking leap forward compared to the previous year's demo.

In the final chorus the vocal line rises in pitch and explodes, invoking the "Realms of bliss" and the "Realms of light" with mystical desperation. These images merge with William Blake's nineteenth-century verses, dissolving into the lysergic immensity created by the song (listen from min. 2.05 to min. 2.31).

The lyrics of 'End of the Night', written by the singer who drew inspiration from poets such as Blake and writers like Louis-Ferdinand Céline, greatly contribute to the song's fascinating and psychedelic beauty.

With this enthralling electric spell from August 1966, The Doors present us with opulent musical enchantment that showcases the incredible talent of the Los Angeles quartet.

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

Here’s a link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”