THE DOORS ON TV: TORONTO, AUGUST 1967

 

In August 1967, the Doors had just topped the U.S. charts with the single "Light My Fire", which had been shortened to less than a half of its original length to be played by radio stations and to comply with the time constraints given by 45 rpm vinyl.

Their newly acquired fame also had a positive effect on their first LP, "The Doors" released in January '67, which reached number two on the best-selling albums chart. A celebrity that also increased opportunities for the group to appear on television as guests on several national music programs.

In Toronto, Canada, they were invited to participate in the program "The Rock Scene- Like It Is!”. In August they recorded for this program one of their most engaging and controversial songs, which will be broadcasted the following October: "The End", taken from the first album already mentioned above.

Although the composition chosen for the program is included in the Doors' first work, in those days the group was completing the recordings of their second album, "Strange Days", to be released shortly after on September 25, 1967.

This second LP marked a turn in a psychedelic direction from their previous work, hence highlighting a period of change for their sound with results that were nonetheless top-notch.

The Toronto television recording saw an audience of young people crowded in front of the stage where The Doors played live. Several versions are filmed, eventually resulting in a final one of about twelve minutes.

However, the result does not include the most problematic section of the song, the one that from the viewpoint of the TV channel couldn’t be put on air. Obviously, to be eliminated is the part where Morrison, in a soft and mysterious atmosphere recites the famous verses inspired by the Greek Oedipus myth about killing his father and having sex with his mother.

So “The End” was deprived of its point of greatest intensity, but nevertheless was rendered in an extremely fascinating way by the band. With the audience just inches away from Morrison, the footage begins with a scream from the singer, not included on the original LP track: "Wake up!".

This harsh and sudden shout came from The Doors’ concerts and typically introduced a poetic performance by the frontman backed by the other members with sound improvisations. It usually ended with the main theme of "Light My Fire" and a stunned and cheering audience.

However, the absence from the song of the Oedipus section to which we have alluded above and the increased speed with which they play on this occasion are not enough to reduce the song’s length.

That’s because of an extended instrumental part that takes up almost the entire second half of the TV recording. The latter stretches for about two minutes, coming to a loud cacophonous unison played by all the instruments and ending in a storm of abrasive Morrison’s screams.

As was always the case, the focus is on Morrison, who is dressed in the leather pants that had become part of his wardrobe just a few weeks prior. He also sports a black shirt with psychedelic inserts and remains almost motionless and with his eyes closed throughout the show.

An image that deliberately conflicted with what was usually required by live shows at the time, let alone televised ones.

Two curiosities with which to end: at the climax of this rendition of "The End" both Morrison and Krieger are kneeling on stage while Manzarek plays the electric organ standing up. The involvement they put into their music was real and very heartfelt.

The other curiosity to mention is that at the end of the song Morrison bows to the studio audience, a rather unusual way for the singer to end a public appearance.

We went through a short history fragment that, although deprived of a key part of the song, is definitely worth seeing and listening to even more than one time.

In addition to The Doors' great and unquestioned expressive ability, this show allows us to witness a live performance dating back to the recording period of the "Strange Days" LP.

A phase of their career of which there are unfortunately very few audio or video records of concerts, despite the large number of performances held by the band.