When the Doors first met Jim Morrison, not everyone was convinced he had the potential to be a rock ‘n’ roll frontman…that is, until they heard the lyrics to what would become one of the most classic songs in their catalogue. Even without melody or instrumental arrangement, the band knew they had just found something special.
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It just goes to show you should never judge a book by its cover, especially when that book is the pained creative type.
Bandmates Recall Meeting Jim Morrison For The First Time
The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek was the first person to run into Jim Morrison on Venice Beach in the summer of 1965. The two former UCLA classmates began talking about music. Morrison shared lyrics he had been writing, and Manzarek was inspired to come up with a sonic backdrop for his eerie, metaphysical poetry. Manzarek happened to know a drummer, John Densmore, from a meditation class and invited him to join his jam sessions with Morrison.
In a later interview with Dan Rather, Densmore recalled going to the garage for his first practice with Manzarek. “Lurking in the corner is this guy, barefeet, t-shirt, cords. Really shy,” the drummer said. “Ray says, ‘This is Jim, the singer.’ And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding?’ But then he hands me some lyrics. The day destroys the night, the night divides the day. Tried to run, tried to hide, break on through to the other side. I’m like, ‘Wow, I want to drum to that immediately.’”
“He had never sung before,” Densmore continued. “He said he heard a concert in his head. But he had never done this. So, it was just a gift. A lot of singers blow out their throats singing improperly, and he never did. He could scream from the bowls of his soul. In the beginning, he would face [the band] at the London Fog. He couldn’t even look out at the audience. But he gradually evolved into the lizard king.” Guitarist Robby Krieger, who joined the band several months after Densmore, added, “I think he always had that in him.”
That First Song Became a Doors Classic and Concert Staple
The first song that Jim Morrison ever showed drummer John Densmore, the one that adequately convinced him of Morrison’s frontman abilities, became the band’s opening track of their eponymous 1967 debut. “Break On Through (To the Other Side)” wasn’t their most commercially successful song from the album. “Light My Fire” far and away earned that superlative after spending three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Still, “Break On Through” has become synonymous with the band’s legacy.
While the song’s bossa nova introduction and driving groove make it an easy, fun listen, one of the most alluring parts of the song is Morrison’s psychedelic imagery. Morrison’s reputation might have moved to the forefront of the band’s image after multiple arrests, on-stage outbursts that led to the Whisky A Go Go firing the band, and, of course, his tragically young death at 27. But his poetry was the glue that held the Doors together.
As John Densmore explained to Dan Rather, “Self-destruction and creativity don’t always come in the same package. Picasso lived to 90. But with Jim, they came together. Time has helped me notice that, wow, I really miss his words. God, and his melodies. He had melodies in his head. He couldn’t play a guitar, couldn’t play a chord on anything. But in his mind, he had this stuff.”
Photo by Alan Messer/Shutterstock
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