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The band continued as a trio until disbanding in 1973. Morrison died in uncertain circumstances in 1971. They were one of the most successful bands during that time and by 1972 the Doors had sold over 4 million albums domestically and nearly 8 million singles. After signing with Elektra Records in 1966, the Doors with Morrison recorded and released six studio albums in five years, some of which are generally considered among the greatest of all time, including their self-titled debut (1967), Strange Days (1967), and L.A. The band took its name from the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, itself a reference to a quote by William Blake. The group is widely regarded as an important figure of the era's counterculture. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts of the 1960s, partly due to Morrison's lyrics and voice, along with his erratic stage persona. And by 1971, the year of NPR's story, The Doors had played some of the biggest gigs, like the Hollywood Bowl and The Ed Sullivan Show.The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. When Morrison performed, he and the band packed auditoriums with their theatrical screams and pulsating electronic music. Listeners were also entranced by the band's unmistakably dark sound. Morrison often wrote about alienation, drawing millions of fans, including generations of high school kids who could relate. The title track is one of the great rock songs of that period: "Driving down your freeways / Midnight alleys roam / Cops in cars, the topless bars / Never saw a woman / So alone, so alone," Morrison sings on the rock classic, a vignette about people at the margins of society. Woman, an album so memorable it still lives and breathes, half a century later.
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Morrison's death was a cultural milestone of NPR's first year.
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It was the first year of NPR and Mike Walters, an early host of All Things Considered, worked his way up to that news by reciting a few relevant lyrics from "An American Prayer," a song written by Morrison: "We live, we die, and death not ends it / Journey we more into the nightmare / Cling to life our passioned flower." 1, 2021.įifty years ago, on July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison - lead singer of the rock group The Doors - died in Paris. The members of The Doors, from left to right: Jim Morrison, John Densmore, Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek (seated).
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