The Doors of Misconception

A co-worker of mine recently saw Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman’s Doors bio "No One Here Gets Out Alive" on my desk. This guy likes music, so a conversation started that ended with his declaration that he thinks The Doors are the most over-rated band in rock history. He should have his credentials sent to the house of detention for such a statement.

Here’s why he’s wrong:

Nowhere is the sex-and-drugs-and- triumvirate more complete. They managed ethereal and earthly all at once. They paired Bach and Bacchus. And while they may have borrowed their blues elements and even a couple numbers from the blacks, they made it their own. They didn’t just thieve it like Zeppelin.

They paved the way for other artists to merge jazz and contemporary, which can be witnessed in acts from Jeff Beck to Steely Dan to Tribe Called Quest to Ben Folds.

They let rock be smart, with literary influences, which was later carried on by acts like Dire Straits and Elvis Costello, who, if you listen to the keyboards, you can hear Ray Manzarek’s influence. As you can on most New Wave, e.g., The Cars.

Yeah, they pretty much invented the rock of college radio.

Regarding their intellect, where but in a bio about them could you find an event described as "like an Ingmar Bergman film, as written by Bertolt Brecht and staged by Ionesco" (Hopkins and Sugerman describing Jim’s meeting with Nico).

Because their delving into darker motifs paved the way for acts like Velvet Underground and, oh, all of grunge music.

The loud and then soft thing that Cobain did so well can be heard in the Pixies, too...But years before that, Jim was doing it. "We want the world and we want it...NOW!"

Because the sense of revolution they brought in songs like "When the Music’s Over" and "Five to One" paved the way for punk. X even covered "Soul Kitchen."

Because their stuff is 35 years old and doesn’t sound dated.

Jim Morrison was the iconic front man. The leather pants, the good looks, the swagger (both cocky and drunken), the persona. He was the first real character of a lead singer, which led to The Stooges and David Bowie, and today, Marilyn Manson. The sense of theatrics led to acts like Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls. Cooper’s guillotine isn’t far removed from Jim’s execution by firing squad during "Unknown Soldier."

Because Jimbo started the booze-and-broads Sunset Strip thing that was the mainstay of 80s rock. Axl Rose is a parody of Jim Morrison.

The Doors were the first real fighters against censorship. The war that Eminem’s still waging started during "The End" at The Whiskey, continued with "Light My Fire" on Ed Sullivan, and was brought to the stage in New Haven and Miami (where he never actually exposed himself, but the fact that the myth continues is a sign of their impact).

How many other music acts could engage/provoke the audience like them? Jim knew what he was doing, and he invented stage diving, could lead the crowd in a conga, and could make them shut up and really listen, and think, or dance, yell, and riot. Dig a live performance of "The End."

And lastly, because without them, what song could’ve given such a foreboding start to "Apocalypse Now?"

This dude at work further commented, "They wouldn’t be remembered if Jim hadn’t died." The Doors borrowed myth, and then made their own, and, yeah, Jim was a martyr to it. But then again, you could say the same thing about the Christians.

***
So all this beggars the question, then who is the most over-rated artist? My contenders:

Elvis - clown, puppet, and thief.

Zeppelin – thieves, and for all their striving for mysticism, they were about as deep as a can of Red Bull. Fuck them and their hedgerows.

The Dead, man – did more for the drug culture than for music. Because you had to be high to think that was how the blues should sound.

Nirvana – Because there’s a band that really would be forgotten if the lead singer hadn’t died.

All apologies. Now show me the way to the next whisky bar.