The story of The Doors’ first show supporting Van Morrison’s band Them
Before he became known as a legendary solo artist, Van Morrison was a member of the Irish rock band Them. Blending rhythm and blues and garage rock, Them were responsible for creating the iconic track ‘Gloria’, which was notably adapted for Patti Smith’s debut album, Horses.
Alongside Smith and her admiration of ‘Gloria’ was the wild Los Angeles-based group The Doors, who were also big fans of the track, frequently covering it during live performances. The celebrated American rockers are among the best-selling bands of all time, known for their blues rock and frontman Jim Morrison’s mysterious yet captivating persona and poetical lyricism.
The Doors defined American rock during the 1960s, a period otherwise dominated by bands that formed the British Invasion, such as The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who and The Rolling Stones. The Doors’ hypnotic and psychedelic sound, paired with Morrison’s wild and tragic legacy, made them one of the most influential bands ever. According to keyboardist Ray Manzarek, when The Doors began, he and his fellow bandmates were heavily inspired by Them.
Discussing Them’s debut album, The Angry Young Them, Manzarek said: “That album was as big an influence on The Doors as any ‘rock’ band. We were more like Them than other rock bands. We loved the darkness of Van Morrison. We were always like, ‘That guy’s slightly possessed’. Van Morrison really has that touch of the shaman about him. As I say, Jim was a big fan – well, they were both Morrisons. Van just had that eerie darkness, and we were really drawn to it. Of course we loved that beat; all those songs have such a strong beat. And what a blues voice Van had on him.”
He continued: “Rock’n’roll in the US was these pompadour white guys: Frankie Avalon, Bobby Vinton, those kinda guys. So I was listening to all the great ’60s jazz – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus. Then came the British Invasion. We had The Beatles with their inventive pop, the Stones selling Chicago blues back to us… and we had Them. We just hadn’t heard anything quite like it up until that point. It was truly amazing.”
Manzarek explained that The Doors landed one of their earliest gigs supporting Them a year before they released their 1967 self-titled debut record. “Our first gig at the Whiskey A Go Go was supporting Van Morrison, where we opened for Them for a week. I was like ‘You’re fucking kidding me!’ Watching Van Morrison up there was amazing, playing my favourite album back to me. And then we could go talk about backstage. Van said to me: ‘Aren’t you getting a little tired of this?’ I was like: ‘No, man, we’re just getting started!’ He said: ‘Oh, I thought you were famous.’ I was like: ‘No. We haven’t even recorded our first album yet.'”
Following their run of shows with Them, The Doors began a residency at the Whiskey A Go Go, opening for other bands such as Buffalo Springfield and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band. They were eventually fired from the venue when Morrison incorporated an explicit verse into his performance of ‘The End’. However, that didn’t matter, as the band had just signed with Elektra Records, which welcomed even bigger opportunities.