The Doors were among the most intense and revolutionary bands of the Sixties (or any decade, for that matter). The impact of their meteoric career has resonated far beyond their brief half-decade as a recording and performing entity. Their words and music captured the Sixties zeitgeist with undeniable power. A cult of personality continues to surround Jim Morrison, their tempestuous lead singer. Morrison was a brooding, charismatic frontman in the classic mold of Elvis Presley and Mick Jagger. Yet he was given to more extreme and confrontational forms of behavior than those icons. Morrison pushed himself to the limit with drugs, alcohol and hard living, becoming one of rock’s most celebrated martyrs when his body gave out at the age of 27. Only six years passed from the Doors’ formation in 1966 to Morrison’s death in 1971. During that time, the group released six studio albums and left a smoldering trail of memorable and often controversial concert performances that cemented Morrison’s legend.

The Doors comprised vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. Their music combined classical elocution with jazzy improvisation and infused heady psychedelic rock with the earthiness of the blues. As Manzarek put it in a 1997 interview: “We just combined the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Dionysian side is the blues, and the Apollonian side is classical music. The proper artist combines Apollonian rigor and correctness with Dionysian frenzy, passion and excitement. You blend those two together, and you have the complete, whole artist.” Quite obviously, the Doors were no ordinary group. Thirty years earlier, in the group’s original bio, Manzarek had listed his “hobbies” as “projecting the feel of the future.”

Morrison’s lyrics, sung in a resonant baritone, evinced the sophistication of a schooled poet and the street-level immediacy of a rock lyricist. Especially on the classic albums The Doors and Strange Days, the group epitomized the sound of “acid rock,” which took psychedelia to its limits.

Morrison’s charged theatricality and the band’s challenging musical flights were suffused with unpredictability and genuine danger. On several occasions, the singer’s erratic behavior, which included baiting audiences and authorities from the stage, put him in legal jeopardy and physical risk. He fearlessly approached Doors performances as a kind of experiment in mass provocation, resulting in scenes of illumination and chaos. It was his way of externalizing a personal philosophy. As he stated in the Doors’ original Elektra Records bio: “I’ve always been attracted to ideas that were about revolt against authority. I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos – especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to be to be the road toward freedom...”

What the Doors offered listeners was not just entertainment but an exhortation to “break on through to the other side.” That was, in fact, the title of the Doors’ first single and the opening track of their self-titled debut album from 1967. In addition to “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” The Doors included “Light My Fire.” Penned by guitarist Krieger in his first songwriting attempt, the song catapulted the group to stardom, topping the charts for three weeks during the Summer of Love. (For purposes of AM airplay, the single version of “Light My Fire” was edited from its nearly seven-minute album length to just under three minutes.) Then there was “The End,” a harrowing epic that ambitiously recast elements of the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex in a disturbing, acid-rock frenzy. “The End” ran for more than 11 minutes, making it one of rock’s first long-form compositions.

Over the next four years, The Doors released five more studio albums – Strange Days (1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968), The Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970) and L.A. Woman (1971) – and the concert compendium Absolutely Live (1970). In the 40 years since Morrison’s death, there have been numerous compilations, live releases and box sets. The surviving members even recorded two albums (Other Voices and Full Circle) as a trio. Still, the original studio albums remain the core of the Doors’ still-viable catalog.

More than any other band, the Doors reflected the turbulence of the Sixties and the clash between generations. “We want the world and we want it now,” Morrison screamed in “When the Music’s Over” (from Strange Days). This album-closing masterpiece warned of ecological apocalypse well before the rise of an organized environmental movement that would sound similar alarms. “The Unknown Soldier,” an unlikely Top 40 hit, was the most potent antiwar song of the Vietnam era. Drawing upon Morrison’s and Manzarek’s background in film studies, the Doors further recast the song as a dramatic rock video – one of the first.

The Doors’ outsized personality came largely from Morrison, who projected sexuality (he once described the Doors as “erotic politicians”), a deep interest in shamanism and ritual, and an unsettling preoccupation with death. The source of Morrison’s intensity was addressed early in the group’s existence. “It’s the feeling of a bowstring being pulled back for 22 years and suddenly let go,” he explained.

Much as Bob Dylan raised the bar for lyric-writing in the folk realm, Morrison brought a heightened poetical sensibility to rock lyrics. As keyboardist Manzarek stated in a 2006 interview, “Jim Morrison was a great young American poet working in the genre of rock and roll.” He was well-read and had a keen intellect. His principal literary influences ranged from Beat Generation writers (notably Jack Kerouac) to French symbolist poets (especially Arthur Rimbaud) and English poet-savants including John Keats and William Blake. He derived the Doors’ name from a passage in Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell”: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” That same passage inspired the title of Aldous Huxley’s 1954 essay on his first psychedelic experience, "The Doors of Perception," which Morrison had read.

The origins of the Doors date back to the summer of 1965, when Morrison and Manzarek – who’d met as students at UCLA’s film school – first broached the idea of forming a rock band that would marry words and music in provocative new ways. Morrison had come to Southern California after an itinerant childhood. (His father, George Morrison, was a naval officer who attained the rank of admiral.) Young “Jimmy” Morrison lived in Clearwater and Tallahassee, Florida; Alexandria, Virginia; and Alameda, California, among other places. Manzarek hailed from Chicago, growing up in proximity to the blues scene on the city’s Southside.

During a chance meeting between the two on Venice Beach, Morrison sang a few of his songs to Manzarek, including “Moonlight Drive” (which would appear on Strange Days, their second album). Manzarek responded by saying: “Jim, those are the best songs I’ve ever heard... Man, we’ve got to get a band together. We’re going to make a million dollars!” Morrison responded, “Ray, that’s exactly what I had in mind.” Morrison even had the band’s name picked out: The Doors.

Early Doors lineups evolved out of Rick and the Ravens, Manzarek’s bar band, which included his brothers Rick and Jim. Guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, both of whom were in a meditation group with Manzarek, joined as others fell away, and the group solidified as a four-piece. Krieger could play a variety of styles, including flamenco, blues and psychedelia, and his skill as a slide guitarist became a core ingredient in the group’s sound. As a drummer, Densmore had a creative, dynamic flair that lent itself to the Doors’ surreal, kaleidoscopic music. Notably, the Doors had no bass player. Manzarek filled that role at live shows and on early recordings by playing a Fender keyboard bass with his left hand while playing conventional keyboards (organ and piano) with his right hand. In the studio, they’d occasionally recruit other musicians to play bass. The list of bassists who played on Doors albums included sessionmen Larry Knechtel and Jerry Scheff, Clear Light’s Douglas Lubahn and old-school rocker Lonnie Mack.

Much of the Doors’ original repertoire came together during a series of extended club residencies on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip. For much of 1966 and 1967, the Doors were the house band at the London Fog and then the more prestigious and popular Whisky a Go Go. Their six-song demo, recorded in 1965, had been turned down by nearly every other label. Based largely on their burgeoning popularity as a live band, the Doors were offered a contract by Elektra Records. Among their champions on the local scene was Love, a band of similarly anarchic spirits who were on Elektra.

Having conquered the L.A. club scene, the Doors achieved national success and critical acclaim soon after the release of The Doors, their 1967 debut. Produced by Paul Rothchild – as was every one of the original Doors albums except L.A. Woman – The Doors was a tour de force of literate, visionary acid-rock and one of the major releases of 1967. Its followup, Strange Days, appeared later the same year and drew from the same impressive wellspring of material. Notable tracks included “When the Music’s Over,” “Love Me Two Times” (a raunchy, riff-driven hit) and the haunting title song. For the last of these, Morrison’s vocal received an eerie electronic treatment from Moog synthesizer pioneer Paul Beaver. If any album ever captured the disorienting aura of those conflicted times, steeped in violence-, political- and drug-induced paranoia, it was Strange Days. The album was strange right down to its Fellini-esque cover rendering of a back-street carnival freak show.

Waiting for the Sun - the Doors’ third album, released in 1968 - was their first (and only) album to hit Number One, a position it held for four weeks. Despite its chart success, it had been a difficult album to make, as the group had nearly exhausted its reserve of original material and “hit the third album wall,” in producer Paul Rothchild’s words. Moreover, Morrison’s hedonistic lifestyle was wearing him out and wearying his bandmates as well. The group failed to cut a satisfactory take of Morrison’s magnum opus, a suite of poetic songs and snippets entitled “Celebration of the Lizard,” although lyrics from it were printed inside the album. Still, it had some exceptional moments, including “The Unknown Soldier,” “Hello, I Love You” and “Five to One.” The last of these, a bluesy rant about generational conflict and youthful revolt, contained the often-quoted line “No one here gets out alive.”

The most problematic of the Doors’ albums, The Soft Parade, followed a year later. It was made with relatively less enthusiasm and involvement from Morrison, and the inclusion of strings and horns on many tracks took it far afield from the Doors’ previous work. Tellingly, he insisted that the shared group songwriting credit be abandoned and that each song’s primary writer – either Krieger or Morrison – be identified. The album reached Number Six and spawned four Krieger-penned singles, including the Number Three hit “Touch Me,” which included a jazzy sax solo by hornman Curtis Amy. The eight-minute title track, largely a Morrison creation, was the most notable track and the Doors’ last epic composition.

Morrison reasserted himself on Morrison Hotel, their fifth album, which took a bluesier, more down-to-earth approach. It kicked off with “Roadhouse Blues,” their hardest-charging song and a bonafide anthem on par with Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.” It also included “Waiting for the Sun” (a song left off the album of the same name), the sublime, jazzy “Queen of the Highway” and “Peace Frog,” an apocalyptic slice of psychedelia revisited.

Away from the studio, Morrison’s ongoing issues with drugs and alcohol – combined with his antiauthoritarian mindset - resulted in ever-unpredictable behavior. He was arrested onstage in New Haven in December 1967. His performances at Doors concerts during the difficult year of 1968 were erratic – often brilliant, sometimes problematic. The tumult engendered by Morrison culminated in Florida. During an infamous concert at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium on March 1, 1969, he was alleged to have exposed himself onstage and was subsequently charged with indecent exposure and public profanity.

With the specter and distraction of a court trial – and possible jail time - hanging over his head, Morrison found himself in real trouble. Interestingly, no photographic evidence affirming his exposure has ever surfaced. Prior to the Miami show, Morrison had been attending and even participating in performances by the provocative Living Theatre troupe. While he no doubt meant to challenge the audience in Miami in much the same way, it would appear that he employed suggestion and illusion to do so, stopping short of exposure. Nevertheless, he was found guilty on both charges and sentenced to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Those convictions were under appeal when Morrison died in 1971. In 2010 he was officially pardoned by the Florida Clemency Board, led by Governor Charlie Crist. 

In the wake of the Miami incident and pending trial, Morrison and the Doors rebounded from adversity with renewed focus. They undertook a U.S. concert tour that found them delivering some of the strongest shows of their career. Many were taped for the double album Absolutely Live, which culled the best takes from along the tour. By this point, the Doors were working more bluesy and roots-oriented material – both originals and covers – into their sets. (“The Doors were basically a roadhouse blues band with intellectual pretensions,” Manzarek noted in Keyboard magazine.) Decades later, beginning in 2001, a number of these concerts were released in their entirety on Bright Midnight, the surviving Doors’ label for archival releases. The Doors’ final performance took place in New Orleans, on December 12, 1970, where Morrison appeared creatively spent and mentally and physically exhausted.

All the while, much like such kindred spirits and guiding lights as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg, Morrison nurtured a growing fascination with America in his later song lyrics and the poems he was writing outside the group. Some of Morrison’s readings of his poetry – recorded in a Los Angeles studio on his 27th (and last) birthday - were posthumously issued in 1978, with music overdubbed by the surviving Doors, as An American Prayer.

The Doors sixth and final studio album - L.A. Woman, released in 1971 - harked back to their early years, when they collectively worked out new material in a more casual, workshop-type setting. After Paul Rothchild, the Doors’ long-time producer, walked out in frustration early in the sessions, the Doors decided to self-produce the album with engineer Bruce Botnik. The group rose to the challenge – especially Morrison, who tempered his excesses as best he could during the sessions. Despite all the controversy, including blacklisting by radio stations and concert promoters, the Doors still proved capable of cracking the Top 40, as both “Love Her Madly” and “Riders On the Storm” were sizable hits in 1971. The propulsive, seven-minute title track acutely captured the alluring yin and alienating yang of the City of Angels, becoming one of the group’s best-loved songs.

Before the release of L.A. Woman, Morrison took an open-ended hiatus from the Doors and moved to Paris. There was talk of him returning to tour with the group, based on the resurgent momentum generated by the album’s success, but it was not to be. Jim Morrison died of a heart attack in the Paris apartment he shared with longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson on July 3, 1971.

Morrison’s death at age 27 closed the door on the original group, although the surviving members released two albums as a trio – Other Voices (1971) and Full Circle (1972) – before disbanding and moving on to other projects. Both Krieger and Manzarek have issued solo albums. Manzarek also produced the first four albums by the celebrated L.A. punk-rock group X; briefly belonged to Nite City, an L.A. rock group; and collaborated with Beat Generation poet Michael McClure. Drummer Densmore and keyboardist Manzarek published autobiographies of their lives with the Doors in 1990 and 1998, respectively.

Meanwhile, the continuing interest surrounding the Doors periodically erupted into a phenomenon whenever a fresh young audience discovered them. The first such wave occurred in 1980. It was triggered by three things: the use of “The End” in a scene from director Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now; the publication of the first in-depth Doors biography (No One Here Gets Out Alive, by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugarman); and Elektra Records’ release of Greatest Hits (which has sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S.). In 1981 Rolling Stone ran a feature on the Doors’ resurgence with a cover shot of Morrison alongside the unforgettable line, “He’s hot, he’s sexy and he’s dead.”

Oliver Stone’s 1990 film biography of the band, which ran for more than two hours, triggered another wave of Doors-mania. Another newsworthy event was the 2000 release of Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors. This 17-track CD found a variety of artists – ranging from John Lee Hooker and Aerosmith to Creed and Stone Temple Pilots – covering Doors songs, often joined by one or more original band members. The release of several Doors box sets - especially 1997’s The Doors Box Set, with its wealth of unreleased material, and the 2006 leviathan Perception - also provided ways for new and old fans to approach or rediscover the legacy. Meanwhile The Best of the Doors, a double-disc compilation released in 1987, has quietly become the top-selling album of their career, having been certified nine times platinum (the equivalent of nine million copies sold).

In 2002 Krieger and Manzarek formed the Doors of the 21st Century with vocalist Ian Astbury (of the Cult) and other musicians, touring under that name in 2003 and 2004. Drummer Densmore sued his former bandmates over their use of that name, and in 2005 a California court decreed that no permutation of the Doors’ name could be used without the consent of all members of the Doors’ partnership. (That decision was upheld by the California Supreme Court in 2008.) Krieger and Manzarek have subsequently performed as Riders on the Storm and Manzarek-Krieger.

Densmore has also refused to allow the Doors’ songs to be used for commercial purposes, despite offers of millions of dollars. In a partnership proposed by Morrison back in 1965, each group-related decision requires unanimity. In 1969, Morrison strongly disapproved when the others approved the use of “Light My Fire” for a Chrysler commercial without his consent, threatening to take a sledgehammer to the car in question on national TV if the deal weren’t rescinded. By honoring Morrison’s refusal to license the Doors’ songs, Densmore has allowed their music – almost alone among rock acts of any significance – to remain uncompromised by such associations.

1971–73

Other Voices

The surviving Doors continued for some time, initially considering replacing Morrison with a new singer. Instead, Krieger and Manzarek took over on vocals and The Doors released two more albums before disbanding. The recording of Other Voices took place from June to August 1971, and the album was released in October 1971. The LP featured the single "Tightrope Ride", which received some airplay.

The trio begin performing again with additional supporting members on Friday, November 12, 1971 at Pershing Municipal Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska, followed by shows in Carnegie Hall on November 23, 1971, and the Hollywood Palladium on November 26, 1971.

Full Circle

The recordings for Full Circle took place during the spring of 1972, and the album was released in August 1972. The last album expanded into jazz territory. While neither album has been reissued on CD in the United States, they have been released on 2-on-1 CDs in Germany and Russia.

For the tours during this period, The Doors enlisted Jack Conrad on bass (who had played on several tracks on both "Other Voices" and "Full Circle") as well as Bobby Ray Henson on rhythm guitar. They began a European tour covering France, Germany, Holland, Amsterdam, and England beginning in May. The fruit of this effort can be seen in their appearance on the German show Beat-Club of which many high quality sources can be found online.

Break-up

The group disbanded in 1973 and Krieger and Densmore would go on to form The Butts Band from 1973 to 1975. Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore reunited in 1978 for An American Prayer, 1993 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1997 in the studio to complete the Morrison penned "Orange County Suite" and 2000 for VH1's Storytellers: A Celebration and on the tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of the Doors, which featured band members playing alongside guest performers as well as recording new music.

Reunions

1978 – An American Prayer

The third post-Morrison album, An American Prayer, was released in 1978. It consisted of the band adding musical backing tracks to previously recorded spoken-word performances of Morrison reciting his poetry. The record was a commercial success, acquiring a platinum certificate.  An American Prayer was re-mastered and re-released with bonus tracks in 1995.

1993 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

In 1993, The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the ceremony Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore reunited once again to perform "Roadhouse Blues", "Break On Through" and "Light My Fire". Eddie Vedder filled in on lead vocals, while Don Was played bass.

1997 – "Orange County Suite"

For the 1997 boxed set, the surviving members of The Doors once again reunited to complete "Orange County Suite". The track was one that Morrison had written and recorded, providing vocals and piano.

2000 – VH1's Storytellers and Stoned Immaculate

The Doors reunited in 2000 to perform on VH1's Storytellers. For this last live performance, the band was joined by Angelo Barbera on bass and numerous guest vocalists. Guest vocalists included Ian Astbury (of The Cult), Scott Weiland, Scott Stapp, Perry Farrell,Pat Monahan and Travis Meeks. Following the recording the Storytellers: A Celebration, the band members joined solo and together to record on the Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors. These sessions also yielded new songs credited to The Doors; "Under Waterfall" and "The Cosmic Movie". Astbury became lead singer of The Doors of the 21st Century in 2002. The group featured original Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek.

2007 – "Woman in the Window"

On May 29, 2007, Perry Farrell's latest group The Satellite Party released its first album Ultra Payloaded on Columbia Records. The album features "Woman in the Window", a new song with music and a pre-recorded vocal performance provided by Jim Morrison.

2011 – Re:GENERATION

"I like to say this is the first new Doors track of the 21st century", Ray Manzarek said of a new song he recorded with Robby Krieger, John Densmore and DJ/producer Skrillex (Sonny Moore). The recording session and song are part of a new documentary film,Re:GENERATION, that recruited five popular DJs/producers to work with artists from five separate genres and had them record new music. Manzarek and Skrillex had an immediate musical connection. "Sonny plays his beat, all he had to do was play the one thing. I listened to it and I said, ‘Holy shit, that's strong,’" Manzarek says. "Basically, it's a variation on ‘Milestones’, by Miles Davis, and if I do say so myself, sounds fucking great, hot as hell." The track, called "Breakn' a Sweat", was included on Skrillex's EP Bangarang.

The Butts Band (1973–1975)

Krieger and Densmore formed The Butts Band in 1973, but disbanded in 1975 after two albums. Phil Chen who played bass on the band's second album, would later join Robby once again with Manzarek–Krieger.

Manzarek's solo work and Nite City (1974–2013)

Manzarek made three solo albums from 1974 to 1983 and formed a band called Nite City in 1975, which released two albums from 1977 to 1978. Krieger released six solo albums from 1977 to 2010. All of the ex-Doors solo albums have met with mixed reviews. In recent years Densmore formed a jazz band called Tribaljazz and they released a self-titled album in 2006.

Manzarek–Krieger (2002–2013)

In 2002 Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger formed a new version of The Doors which they called The Doors of the 21st Century. After legal battles over use of The Doors name with drummer John Densmore, they changed their name several times and ultimately toured under the name "Manzarek–Krieger" or "Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors". The group was dedicated to performing the music of The Doors and Jim Morrison. John Densmore refused to participate because of Morrison's absence, although Manzarek and Krieger always invited him. On May 20, 2013, Ray Manzarek died of complications related to bile duct cancer.

1983 saw the release of the live album Alive, She Cried, which was compiled from live recordings made between 1968 and 1970. The tapes consisted of the soundtrack to a 1968 Danish TV special and unreleased multitrack recordings from the Absolutely Live live shows. This was the first "new" Doors material since "An American Prayer". "Gloria" (recorded at the Aquarius Theater rehearsals) was edited and issued as a single and a video was created to promote the track.

Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1987. This 5 song EP was released to coincide with the release of the 1968 Hollywood Bowl show on home video. It was released as a 12" vinyl EP, cassette and compact disc. The release was limited and went out of print quickly. The EP was later included on a double CD, In Concert, which also compiled the Alive She Cried album as well as Absolutely Live for the first time on CD. In Concert has since been replaced with a single disc remastered edition of Absolutely Live. The Alive, She Cried and Live at the Hollywood Bowl recordings have not seen reissue since.

In 1997, the first archive material in many years was included on the release of The Doors: Box Set, a four-CD set, one of which was a "greatest hits" type CD. Some of the material had been previously available on bootlegs. A notable inclusion on the compilation was a CD of highlights from the 1970 Felt Forum concert and a cleaned-up recording of the (edited) 1969 "Rock Is Dead" session. The surviving members again re-united to add new musical backing to the solo Morrison song "Orange County Suite".

The 1999 Complete Studio Recordings box set only included the first six studio albums (omitting An American Prayer, Other Voices and Full Circle), and the Perception box set, released on November 21, 2006, continued the same trend omitting the three post-Morrison studio albums. The 2006 box set contained about two hours of mostly unheard studio outtakes from the first six albums. Each album was represented by two discs: a CD of the album and the bonus tracks, and a DVD-Audio with both stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes (produced and mixed by Bruce Botnick) in 96 kHz/24-bit LPCM, Dolby Digital, and DTS, as well as mostly previously released video footage. The discs were accompanied by new liner notes by Botnick and articles from several music critics and historians for each album.

Following the recording of Storytellers: A Celebration, the band members joined solo and together to record for Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors. These sessions also yielded new songs credited to The Doors; "Under Waterfall" and "The Cosmic Movie".

In November 2000, The Doors announced the creation of Bright Midnight Records, a label through which 36 albums and 90 hours of previously unreleased Morrison-era Doors material would be made available on CD. This was launched with a sampler of forthcoming material, mostly from live concerts. The first full release was a two-CD set of the May 1970 show at Detroit's Cobo Center, notable for being, according to Doors manager Danny Sugerman in its liner notes, "easily... the longest Doors set ever performed." It was followed by two CDs of interviews, mostly with Morrison, and the two 1969 Aquarius shows and one of the rehearsals. A four-CD set Boot Yer Butt included bootleg quality material but sold out nevertheless. It was notable for the inclusion of the only known performances of songs from L.A. Woman including the title track and "The Changeling" from The Doors' final recorded show in December 1970, Dallas, Texas. In 2005, a two-CD concert from Philadelphia in 1970 was released.

Many bootleg recordings are available of the group. Among them are a wealth of shows from March 1967 at the Matrix Club in San Francisco. Many shows are available from 1968 when the band reached the height of its popularity, notably two shows in Stockholm, Sweden. The infamous Miami show has become widely available while many 1970 shows, notably a radio broadcast of the June 5 Seattle and June 6 Vancouver show, make the rounds. The complete 1969 Rock Is Dead studio jam was discovered in the mid-1990s. InRock is Dead and in interviews Morrison makes it clear that the music is a continued exploration of the Dionysian mythic content that had informed his earlier poetry. The apocalyptic elements in the music and the poetry were ahead of the music of the day; later groups like Nirvana are influenced by The Doors. We also have to consider the possible influence of Pamela Courson.

In July 2007, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – Live In Boston, a three-disc live album by The Doors. It was recorded on April 10, 1970, as part of the Absolutely Live tour. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by The Doors.

In March 2008, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – Pittsburgh Civic Arena, a live album by The Doors released in 2008. The concert was recorded in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena on May 2, 1970. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by The Doors.

In November 2008, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – Live at the Matrix 1967, a double live album compiled and resequenced from recordings made on March 7 and 10, 1967 at The Matrix in San Francisco by club co-owner Peter Abram. The recording is notable because it is one of the earliest live recordings of the band known to exist: The Doors had recorded only one album by March 1967, "Light My Fire" had yet to be released as a single, and they were still relatively unknown outside Southern California.

In November 2009, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – Live in New York, a six-disc box set of the final four concerts performed by The Doors on January 17 and 18, 1970 at the Felt Forum in New York City. About a third of the material on the set was previously unreleased.

In April 2010, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – When You're Strange: Music From The Motion Picture, a single disc of the soundtrack to the 2010 documentary film, narrated by Johnny Depp, about The Doors and their music. The soundtrack features 14 songs from The Doors’ six studio albums, with studio versions mixed with live versions, including performances from The Ed Sullivan Show, Television-Byen in Gladsaxe, Felt Forum in New York and The Isle of Wight Festival.

In November 2010, Rhino announced the release of The Doors – Live in Vancouver 1970, a two-disc live album. It was recorded on June 6, 1970 in Vancouver, Canada. Vince Treanor, The Doors’ tour manager, recorded the show for the band on a Sony reel-to-reel using two microphones placed on the stage. While not a multitrack high fidelity recording, it is clean, quiet and clear, allowing the unbridled energy of the performances to shine through. This is part of previously unreleased material of the Bright Midnight Archives collection of live albums by The Doors.

When You're Strange was released in April 2010. It is, as Ray Manzarek says, the true story of The Doors, told through use of new interviews and previously unreleased video footage. The film is narrated by Johnny Depp, and directed by Tom DiCillo. Rhino Entertainment released a soundtrack to the movie in March 2010, containing both live and studio recordings.

In July 2011, Rhino UK announced the release of The Doors – A Collection, a six-CD retrospective box set of the first six albums from The Doors recorded 1966–1971. It features remastered tracks by Bruce Botnik and original artwork in replicated paper sleeves.

In January 2012, Rhino announced the release of The Doors L.A. Woman (40th Anniversary) CD. Two CD re-issue of the original album, remastered, with an additional disc of bonus material. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of L.A. Woman, Eagle Rock Entertainment has created this documentary detailing how The Doors created their last studio album. Mr Mojo Risin’ goes into detail of how the album came about, its recording and what was happening to the band at the time. The story is told through new interviews with the three surviving Doors: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore plus contributions from Jac Holzman, founder of their label, Elektra Records; Bill Siddons, their manager; Bruce Botnick, engineer and co-producer of the album and others associated with the Doors at this time. The show includes archive footage of the Doors performing both live and in the studio, classic photographs and new musical demonstrations from the Doors. The documentary was released in (DVD/Blu-ray Disc) on January 24, 2012.

In January 2012, The Doors announced the release of L.A. Woman: The Workshop Sessions (2 LP Vinyl Set) An alternate take on L.A. Woman, featuring the previously unreleased alternate versions of songs and studio chatter found on the 40th anniversary edition. Pressed on 180-gram heavy vinyl at RTI, with lacquers cut at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

In November 2012, The Doors announced the release of The Doors: Live At The Bowl ‘68 in (CD/DVD & Blu-ray Disc).

In November 2013, The Doors announced the release of The Doors: R-Evolution in (DVD/Blu-ray Disc) & (DVD deluxe edition/Blu-ray Disc deluxe edition).

In 1991, the film The Doors was released, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Val Kilmer as Morrison. The original band members did not like the film's portrayal of the events. In the book The Doors, Manzarek says, "That Oliver Stone thing did real damage to the guy I knew: Jim Morrison, the poet." Densmore said, "A third of it's fiction." In the same volume, Krieger agrees with the other two, but also says, "It could have been a lot worse."

·         The Doors (1967)

·         Strange Days (1967)

·         Waiting for the Sun (1968)

·         The Soft Parade (1969)

·         Morrison Hotel (1970)

·         L.A. Woman (1971)

·         Other Voices (1971)

·         Full Circle (1972)

·         An American Prayer (1978)