The Doors’ continued grip on popular culture shows absolutely no signs of abating with news that the band’s classic 1967 single, ‘Light My Fire’, is set for a limited edition re-release to celebrate the song’s 50th anniversary.
Limited to just 7,500 vinyl copies, “Light My Fire’ is released on July 28. The picture sleeve is a faithful reproduction of the original Japanese version of the single. Limited to just 7,500 vinyl copies, “Light My Fire’ is released on July 28.
The picture sleeve is a faithful reproduction of the original Japanese version of the single. In addition to the single-edit of the A-side, the B-side contains the album version of ‘The Crystal Ship’.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by singer Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, the band took their name from Aldous Huxley’s psychedelic essay, The Doors Of Perception. Fusing poetry with rock’n’roll with jazz and flamenco to concoct a potent psychedelic brew, The Doors came to the attention of Jac Holzman and Elektra Records on the recommendation of Love’s Arthur Lee. They released six studio albums with Jim Morrison – The Doors (1967), Strange Days (1967), Waiting For The Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970) and LA Woman (1971).
The Doors briefly continued after the mysterious death of Jim Morrison in Paris in 1971 but called it a day in 1973.
The original version of ‘Light My Fire’ appeared on The Doors’ eponymous debut album. Written by guitarist Robbie Krieger, the album version ran for over seven minutes thanks to Ray Manzarek’s extended keyboard solo. Despite initial protestations from the band, the song was released as a single with a truncated keyboard solo. Released in April 1967, ‘Light My Fire’ went on to become the first of the band’s three million singles – the others being ‘Hello, I Love You’ and ‘Touch Me’.
In 2002, Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek recruited The Cult’s singer Ian Astbury and performed as The Doors Of The 21st Century. The project came to an end after the passing of Manzarek in 2013.
