“Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors.”
Jim Morrison

A symbol for the people, the doors encompassed every aspect of Americas counter culture movement from experimentation to rocks music to new wave thinking and writing not to dissimilar to that of the beats, they had it all an amalgamation of a generations need to rebel.

They combined poetry with the grit and power of the blues, they let rip a howl that would shake the chains of America.
They formed in the idyllic surroundings of California and practiced and wrote some of their first hits in a beach house on Venice beach (beats a sweaty studio hands down) they soon lit up the LA scene playing at venues like London fog and the whiskey a Go Go.

It was during these gigs that Morrison and the doors cultivated their powerful stage presence, their control of the musical dynamics they played could send their audience into frenzy and then lull them into a trance where Morrison would then hypnotize them with his often improvised poetry.  It was at a gig at the whiskey a go go that Morrison caused a great deal of controversy during the final section of their song ‘the end’ Morrison artistically portrayed the Oedipus complex bringing a bit of Greek drama to rock and roll .

‘the killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on, he took a face from the ancient gallery and he walked on down the hall, he went into the room were his sister lived and, then he, paid a visit to his brother and then he, walked on down the hall, then he came to a door, and he looked inside, father, yes son, I want to kill you, mother, I want to, fuck you’        
The doors signed to Elektra records and released their first self-titled EP in January 1967 which included light my fire a song which gave them commercial success.
They remained to be a controversial band with incidents like when they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show where they were asked to change the lyrics to one of their songs and didn’t aggravating the producers and shocking audiences at home. Morrison also faced an obscenity charge after he allegedly exposed himself during a show.   

   
I think the doors are such an influential band not only for their music or Morrison’s poetry but because of their whole persona, after all being in a rock band isn’t just about how well you play your instruments it’s about the façade you create around you that takes you from being a musician to an idle that people want to imitate that people draw inspiration from. How you influence people is defined by the way they perceive you, and up until today the doors and Jim Morrison are perceived with all the romanticism that many people feel when they envision rock and roll, a perception that every band hopes to emulate.    

Words Ben Robinson