| This became The Doors' signature song.
Released on their first album, it was a huge hit and launched them
to stardom. |
| The Doors' record company thought this was too
long to get radio play, so the guitar solos were edited down for the
single to make it considerably shorter. Many stations played the
6:50 album version anyway. Since the single was a shortened version,
fans had to buy the album to get the extended mix, which helped spur
sales of the album. |
| Most of the lyrics were written by Doors
guitarist Robbie Krieger. He wanted to write about one of the
elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Jim Morrison wrote some of
the second verse, and Ray Manzarek came up with the organ intro. |
| Before this was released, The Doors were an
underground band popular in the Los Angeles area. This got the
attention of a mass audience. |
| The chord progression was inspired by John
Coltrane's "My Favourite Things," a version of which Julie Andrews
sang in The Sound of Music. |
| This was produced by Paul Rothchild and was
recorded in late 1966 and then released in April 1967. |
| The song topped the chart for the first three
weeks in July 1967. It sold over one million copies and was the
first #1 hit for their record label Elektra. (thanks, Kain -
Charleston, SC, for above 2) |
| The producers of The Ed Sullivan Show
asked the band to change the line "Girl we couldn't get much higher"
for their appearance in 1967. Morrison said he would, but sung it
anyway. Afterwards, he told Sullivan that he was nervous and simply
forgot to change the line. This didn't fly, and The Doors were never
invited back. |
| The Doors sold the recording rights to Jose
Feliciano. His version reached #3 in 1968. (thanks, Jim - Hopatcong,
NJ) |
| Buick offered The Doors $100,000 to use this
in a commercial as "Come on Buick, light my fire." With Morrison
away, Krieger, Densmore, and Manzarek agreed to allow it. When
Morrison found out, he pitched a fit and killed the deal. |
| This was the last song Morrison performed
live. It was a show at The Warehouse in New Orleans. |
| Train covered this on the 2000 Doors tribute
album Stoned Immaculate. Lead singer Pat Monahan sang with
the remaining members (Manzarek, Krieger, Densmore) on the VH1's
Storytellers dedicated to the Doors. |
| Jim Morrison indicated in his notebooks that
he despised this song and hated performing it. He also seemed to
resent that the popularity of the band derived from this song, which
he had just a small part writing. (thanks, John - Topeka, KS) |
