My Musical Journey. Part 10: Break On Through.

The first rock concert I ever attended was the opening of the new Anaheim Convention Center in June 1967. Jefferson Airplane headed the bill and the first act was The Doors. 

Like everyone else I loved “Surrealistic Pillow” and Grace Slick, but I also loved the new band I’d been hearing on the radio—The Doors. “Break On Through” was in heavy rotation at the time and I was looking forward to seeing them live.

Unfortunately, a lot of my fellow concert goers did not feel the same. By the time Morrison was screaming his way through 11 minutes of “The End,” people were booing and yelling to “Bring on the Airplane!”

The Doors left without an encore.

I loved The Doors. Jim Morrison’s passionate poetry and soulful screams, Ray Manzarek’s formidable musicality, Robby Krieger’s gorgeous guitar lines, and Skip Spense’s jazz-inflected drumming just clicked with me. They started to go downhill for me after “Waiting for the Sun,” though. Morrison lost it and I lost interest. For a brief moment, though they truly opened the doors of perception for me.

P.

recorded fall 1966 - lyrics: You know the day destroys the night Night divides the day Tried to run Tried to hide Break on through to the other side Break on...