End up the week with The Doors, in concert at The Matrix in San Francisco on March 3, 1967 – broadcast by KSAN-FM.
Aside from the uneasy sound and the sparse audience, this is one of the earliest examples of The Doors in concert that’s been around. And it’s been in various alliterations the past several decades – so diehard Doors fans no doubt have at least one format in varying degrees of sound, depending on the source material.
Even though The Doors during this time were hugely popular in L.A., it didn’t appear to be the case, even to the north of us. Applause is polite, the crowd is not rowdy, the crowd (even though this gig was miked the old-fashioned way – vocal mike up front and everything else clamoring for second place) didn’t appear to be even half-full. Granted, this was the first of three shows that night – and another set of shows recorded on the 10th. So maybe, rather than jam everyone in for one show, they spread it out over three shows.
Still . . .
Maybe because I was in L.A. at the time, I naturally thought everyone had fallen under Jim Morrison’s spell and that wasn’t something that picked up momentum until a year later.
Needless to say, this is a historic concert, warts and all, during a period of time there were east-coast/west-coast rivalries and even Southern California/Northern California rivalries as far as establishing the definitive voice of Rock Music of the 60’s. If you were around at the time, and listening to your radio or lurking around your local record store – who was the better musical spokesperson for you wasn’t important – the notes ultimately were. Jim Morrison was, after all, a unique and compelling presence, and for that we have a lot of gratitude.
If you aren’t familiar with this concert, or even The Doors (yes, there are people – more every day – who have no idea who The Doors or Jim Morrison were aside from a movie Val Kilmer was in). Or perhaps you are, but weren’t aware this recording was floating around.
Either way, it’s history and it’s popular culture and you can lear a lot from it.
So, crank it up and relax.
