The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Through the majority of its existence, the group consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. At their time they were considered a controversial and influential band, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and enthusiastic, yet chaotic stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a threesome until disbanding in 1973.
Despite a career that barely totalled eight years, The Doors still have an enormous fanbase as well as status in the mainstream music industry as being hugely influential and original. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone.

Debut album
'The Doors' self-titled debut LP was released in the first week of January 1967. It featured most of the major songs from their set, including the nearly 12-minute musical drama "The End". The band recorded their first album at Sunset Sound Recording Studios from August 24 to 31, 1966, almost entirely live in the studio.
In November 1966, Mark Abramson directed a promotional film for the lead single "Break On Through (To the Other Side)."
To promote the single, the Doors made their television debut on a Los Angeles TV show called Boss City, circa 1966, possibly early 1967 and then on a Los Angeles TV show called Shebang, miming to "Break On Through," on New Years 1967. This clip has never been officially released by the Doors.
The second single, "Light My Fire," became a smash hit after its release in June 1967, selling 1 million copies and reaching #1 on the Billboard Charts on July 29, keeping the top spot for three weeks. It helped establish the group as one of America's counterculture bands. For AM radio airplay, the long middle organ and guitar solos were cut from the song making it 2:52 instead of the 7:06 original.

Early live recordings at The Matrix
From March 7 to March 11, 1967, The Doors performed at The Matrix Club in San Francisco, California. The March 7 and 10 shows were recorded by a co-owner of The Matrix, Peter Abram. These recordings are notable as they are among the earliest live recordings of the band to circulate. On November 18, 2008, The Doors published a compilation of these recordings, Live at the Matrix 1967, on the band's boutique Bright Midnight Archives label.

Early television performances
On August 25, 1967, The Doors appeared on American television, possibly for the first time. They guest starred on the variety TV series Malibu U performing "Light My Fire". They did not, however, appear live. The band is seen on a beach and are performing the song in play back. The music video did not gain any commercial success and the performance was more or less forgotten. It was not until they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show that they gained attention on television.
In September 1967 the Doors gave a memorable performance of "Light My Fire" on the Ed Sullivan Show. According to Ray Manzarek, network executives asked that the word 'higher' be removed in favor of 'better', as you couldn't say 'high' on national TV. The group initially agreed to this, but nonetheless performed the song in its original form, either because they had never intended to comply with the request, or Jim Morrison was nervous and forgot to make the change (Manzarek has given conflicting accounts). Either way, 'higher' was sung out on national TV, and a furious Ed Sullivan cancelled another six shows that had been planned, to which Jim Morrison reportedly said: "Hey man, so what? We just did the Ed Sullivan Show".
In May 1967, The Doors made their international television debut by recording a version of "The End" for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) at O'Keefe Centre in Toronto. It remained unreleased except in bootleg form since its initial broadcasts until the release of The Doors Soundstage Performances DVD in 2002.
On December 24, the Doors taped "Light My Fire" and "Moonlight Drive" live for the Jonathan Winters Show. From December 26 to December 28, the group played at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. An excerpt taken from Stephen Davis' book on Jim Morrison p. 219–220:
The next night at Winterland, a TV set was wheeled onstage during the Doors set so the band could see themselves on the Jonathan Winters Show. They stopped playing Back Door Man when their song came on. The audience watched the Doors watching themselves on TV. They finished the song when their bit was done, and Ray walked over and turned the TV off. The next night was their last ever in Winterland.
They played two more dates in Denver on December 30 and December 31, capping off a year of almost constant touring.