THE DOORS AND NEW YORK CITY: A DEEP AND EXITING RELATIONSHIP

 

The bitter contradictions and evocative consonances of New York City have played a central role in the history of modern and contemporary music.

Since the advent of the first recording techniques in the 1910s, the city has provided a vibrant backdrop for a variety of musical genres, groups, and artists.

For The Doors this chaotic and stimulating city was highly relevant, and the relationship between the band and the city took on the eager, attractive, and passionate contours of an uninterrupted and intense love affair.

From the beginning of their exciting career in 1966 until 1970, New York was always a place where the quartet could take adventurous artistic steps and expand their sound horizons above the skyline of America's largest metropolis.

Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore made several trips to New York City and the state of which it is the capital.

For the purposes of this article, however, we will focus only on those that took place in the city's metropolitan area, omitting the many trips the band made to communities in its immediate surroundings (such as the infamous New Haven show).

Taking this distinction into account, we can identify ten separate occasions over a period of three years and three months in which The Doors participated in New York City's musical life by headlining concerts.

The Doors' visits to this city mark the evolution of the California-based band during the second half of the 1960s, like separate yet interconnected episodes of the same narrative.

Let’s take a look at the unfolding of The Doors' relationship with New York in chronological order. It was an intimate bond which flowed under the gaze of a noisy, restless society.

October 24 - November 27, 1966

The Californian group first encountered the metropolis in autumn 1966, shortly after recording their enchanting debut album, titled “The Doors”, in August of that year.

Still unknown outside California, the four were hired for most of November at a small underground venue called 'Ondine'.

This prolonged immersion in an artistic and human context quite different from that of the West Coast would lead to a further expansion of the band's talent. In fact, they had already demonstrated their astonishing musical skills on vinyl but had yet to fully express them live.

The band’s first experience of New York City helped The Doors to refine their repertoire in front of a culturally diverse audience, providing them with the invaluable experience of performing numerous times on stage in a stimulating and cosmopolitan environment.

 

March 13 - April 2, 1967

The U.S. release of the band's debut album and single in January 1967 did not initially bear the desired fruit.

Consequently, the residency at the Ondine in New York was repeated for promotional purposes and due to a lack of more prestigious engagements.

For about twenty more days, they devoted themselves to disseminating increasingly intellectual and original music, capable of captivating listeners' senses and deeply affecting their imaginations.

The big city that welcomed these guys into its crowded streets that spring could not help but observe the band's genius that was boldly surfacing amidst the endless expanse of steel, concrete, dazzling lights, and raging desires.

As soon as they returned to Los Angeles, The Doors began recording their wonderful second LP, “Strange Days”.

 

June 11 - July 1, 1967

Halfway through the sessions that would produce the album “Strange Days”, the single 'Light My Fire' (in its abbreviated version) was climbing the US charts.

The song's growing sales and resulting fame rapidly increased the demand for live performances by the band.

The decision was made to stop recording in order to accept twenty more concert dates on the East Coast.

These included the Village Theatre, which became the famous Fillmore East in 1968, and The Scene, two well-known New York venues frequented by innovative music enthusiasts.

Having moved on from the underground alleys of the Big Apple, where The Doors' music had been heard a few months earlier, the group now performed on more famous stages to larger audiences.

This was a significant leap forward, opening the best phase of the expressiveness that the group displayed on stage and beyond.

August 12, 1967

'Light My Fire' had topped the US charts just a few days earlier, on 29 July. This hugely popular single led the quartet to perform a series of highly attended concerts, which coincided with the final phase of the “Strange Days” recording sessions.

Among these, The Doors played a well-received single show at a stadium in New York City's Queens borough, gaining widespread notoriety.

The city provided the perfect backdrop to the band's musical success. Their well-deserved success sparkled with promise in the glasses raised in the August sun.

September 9, 1967

'Strange Days' is now complete and will be released on 25 September. The group returned to the Village Theatre, where they performed earlier in the summer.

Having been greeted with interest by critics and wild euphoria by boys and girls in New York, The Doors had now fully developed their psychedelic cocktail made of two exciting ingredients: rock and theatre.

They served this electrifying drink to a city eager to reciprocate. The sound innovations distilled by the provocative creativity of the Californian band stood out boldly on its lively streets.

November 24, 1967

Two and a half months apart from each other is a long time for two lovers, and New York welcomes The Doors back to rekindle a feeling that is not only mutual, but also generates new musical possibilities.

Two and a half months apart from each other is a long time for two lovers, and New York welcomes The Doors back to rekindle a feeling that is not only mutual but also generates new musical possibilities.

The band confidently mastered an enticing, unprecedented and revolutionary sound, which was further embellished by Morrison's subversive impetuosity during this period's concerts.

The physical and spiritual attraction that had been established in 1967 between The Doors and New York was confirmed in the Hunter college assembly hall.

The band and the city held each other in a sensual and fruitful embrace: on one side, four daring musicians at the peak of their artistic prowess; on the other, an unpredictable, fast evolving city turned towards the future.

March 22-23, 1968

In 1968, the Village Theatre changed its name to the Fillmore East. It was a legendary venue that welcomed bands with an atmosphere of poetic cultural revolt, which was typical of the late 1960s.

The Doors' two unforgettable live performances interpreted the fears and hopes of an entire generation, channeling their explosive energy into a city undergoing constant and rapid social change.

This temple of music was the setting for the band's rise to fame in the United States, despite the absence of any available recording of this resounding performance.

This is the most significant moment in the relationship between New York and The Doors: a moment when the band's excellent musical and theatrical expression blends with the turmoil, anxiety and enthusiasm of an urban area filled with agitation, conflict and overwhelming modernity.

 

August 2, 1968

This concert marked a radical change in the fruitful exchange between New York and The Doors.

Held in the borough of Queens (Flushing Meadows), a decentralized suburb of the vast New York metropolitan area, the live show was in fact a celebration of the remarkable fame that The Doors had achieved shortly after their single "Hello, I Love You" and their LP "Waiting For The Sun" reached number one on the US charts.

The city's skyscrapers, which had previously provided a vibrant training ground to be explored and conquered, now formed an impressive backdrop to an unforgettable gig attended by thousands.

This historic live show, for which there is quite eloquent footage, embodied the group's peak of success in a packed, turbulent stadium.

It is an event that became a symbol of the creative transgression propagated by The Doors' eerie and magnificent musical vibes among American youth.

 

January 24, 1969

Five months had passed since their last performance, and many things in the life of this rock band had changed. The personal relationship between Morrison and the rest of the band was at its most critical point.

The emergence of a series of questionable songs and arrangements intended for the next album, 'The Soft Parade', had also exacerbated the singer's artistic discomfort.

Against this backdrop, the group landed in New York for a very special concert at the majestic Madison Square Garden.

This was not a setting that suited Morrison, who preferred medium-sized venues and audiences; here, the frontman found himself in front of 20,000 spectators, most of whom were at a considerable distance from the stage.

Despite the undeniable charm of this performance, Madison Square Garden became the scenery for a performance lacking the magic that the quartet had woven over the past year and a half with their electric textures.

The sinuous, dazzling sound ritual enacted by the band lost some of its incisiveness as it traversed the vast spaces separating musicians and audience in this famous location.

This time, the glittering crowd that had flocked to the concert prevented New York from connecting deeply with the band, allowing celebrity to replace spontaneity — just as superficial dialogue can sometimes prevent us from saying what we really want to say to a loved one.

 

January 17-18, 1970

Exactly one year after their last visit to the city, The Doors returned for two critically acclaimed nights at the Felt Forum — the only live show they played in New York City that was properly recorded.

The musicians enjoyed playing two concerts, stretching themselves with noticeable pleasure and abundant inventiveness.

This was the first gig of the 'Morrison Hotel' LP tour, which began where the press and spotlights could best highlight the band's captivating sound.

It was the group's compelling and memorable musical farewell to the city. The Doors' engaging musical style proved highly captivating to both the vast audience present and posterity.

Their departure from New York left behind a vivid and positive memory of the artistic and emotional connection between the band and this busy metropolis made of of buildings, crowds, fashions, and avant-gardes.

 

After Morrison

We conclude this journey with a curiosity. Following the tragic death of Jim Morrison on 3 July 1971, the band continued as a trio for two more years.

The two albums released without their historic frontman were accompanied by promotional tours, one of which touched New York on 23 November 1971 to promote the LP Other Voices and another on 21 August 1972 to promote the album Full Circle.

 

Conclusions

As we have seen, the relationship between The Doors and the Big Apple was intense and frequent, with important episodes scattered throughout the artistic journey of this extraordinary group like sparkling diamonds on dark velvet.

With its rough contradictions, audiences thirsty for experimentation, and relentless succession of novelties, this city could not fail to attract the four musicians, acting as a kaleidoscopic sounding board for the different periods of their musical history.

Thanks to mildequator.com for the concert dates.

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, ca, etc.

Here’s the link:

Amazon – “The Doors Through Strange Days”