Riding high on the legacy of the Beat Generation, Jim Morrison gained global recognition. He became The Doors’ mysterious frontman in the late 1960s. The band brought well-balanced instrumental and poetic nuances to the forefront, fitting comfortably into the West Coast psychedelic rock scene. Along with Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore, Morrison commanded a stable of skilled musicians. They could support his lyrical abstractions, which were frequently subversive.
Morrison gave the band their name about one of the earliest and best-known literary examinations of the psychedelic experience, Aldous Huxley’s 1954 essay The Doors of Perception. Morrison shared Aldous Huxley’s boundless curiosity and ravenous appetite for expanding consciousness. Morrison’s messiah complex, however, ran counter to both the peace movement and the ego loss linked to LSD use. This was most likely a result of the celebrity’s abrupt rise to fame, which he regrettably found difficult to adjust to.
Morrison had aspirations of becoming a singer like Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” early in his career. However, he eventually came to love Frank Sinatra’s crooning style. With Presley’s intensity bringing Morrison’s cries to life in “Break on Through (To the Other Side),” both influences could be just as potent in The Doors catalog. Sinatra’s seductive crooning in “Indian Summer” similarly added depth to their sound.
Mr. Mojo Risin believed that strong music could have many different aspects, but that a macabre or melancholy quality was essential. Morrison was enthralled with one band in the San Francisco psych-rock scene. Despite his generally obedient sparse support of modern bands.
Morrison called the group, Blue Cheer, “the single most powerful band I’ve ever seen.” The Doors frontman was a fan. However, the power he was alluding to when he made this statement was not the silky croons of 1950s jazz-pop, but rather the loud rock ‘n’ roll kind.
Eric Albronda, Leigh Stephens, and Dickie Peterson founded the psychedelic rock group Blue Cheer in 1966. Maintaining a tough persona, the group thrived under former Hells Angel Allen “Gut” Terk’s leadership. With a heavy rock sound that foreshadowed the impending metal wave, they spearheaded a sonic revolution in the late 1960s.
Blue Cheer chose a heavy, psychedelic sound after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. This sound eventually shifted toward metal and proto-punk influences. The version of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which appeared on the 1968 debut album Vincebus Eruptum, is also regarded by some as the first metal song ever recorded. It served as the band’s first hit single. However, others will trace the genre back to The Who’s 1966 song ‘Boris the Spider’.
