As it's nigh on 45 years since the band called The Doors began in and around Venice Beach lets explore what those of you who call yourself fans have found most appealing in the years you have been a fan.

Pick a moment in time from your own personal experiences....or even several ....from any era and any aspect and share it/them with your fellow fans. It's hard but could be fun.

And you guys who just lurk around here getcha self involved.

This is a pretty decent forum and one where you don't have to look over your shoulder as it's run by a couple of really nice people. So come on ....if you call yourself a Doors fan surely you must have some opinion on this.

I will be back later with mine as I need to have a bit of a think......so come on guys and gals....give it some thought and lets hear from you

Here are a couple from me.....

The first is from the late 70s....not sure of the time or even the year....but it happened in a pub in the village of Norton which was the suburb of Stockton I was brought up.
I always had hung out with people who were into rock music from school onwards but never found anyone who was a fan of The Doors. Most ignored the band and many hated them completely.
My best mate Geoff Davis was a hater....not rabid but he had a healthy contempt for Jim.
He was extremely knowledgeable when it came to rock and was a big Deep Purple fan and of Yes who were his two fave bands.
We talked rock all the time in pubs and went to gigs together with our circle of friends.
Doors conversations were few and far between in my circle of rock mates as nobody liked the band but I remember one evening meeting Geoff in a pub in Norton for a pint and he made an amazing revelation to me which rather shocked me.
He had bought a copy of LA Woman and told me he was quite enjoying listening to it. I cannot recall exactly why he had a change of heart but know he never came to call himself a fan although he did indeed buy several more Doors albums and liked them.
Here was my best mate whom I had known since the age of 5 back at Junior School in 1960 asking me to explain a bit about The Doors and recommend some tracks to listen to.
A supremely wonderful Doors moment for me which I never forgot even if I cannot remember the date and time of the event.

The other great moment happened in 2002 on July 2nd when I wandered into La Renaissance Bar in Paris and for the first time ever stood in a room with my Doors peers having a beer and talking about The Doors.
Realising what a canny bunch Doors fans were even if some of them were a bit mental and meeting for the first time friends who are still friends today.

I love this thread Alex! I just got home from work.. so I need a little time to think.. but I'll be back. In the meantime.. I hope others share some of their 'moments' with us here. This will also be a real nice thread for some of our lurker-non-posters to finally jump in and start posting.

ok...doors moments...

hearing break on through in the mid eighties amazing sound. Hearing stereo and learning what it was for the first time when i was 11 and playing with my balance controls on the stereo to hear lighty my fire from one speaker to the other to hear that amazing sound.

discovering different books on the doors, the break on through is the best jim/doors bio

listening to how ray hated the oliver stone movie, thought it was interesting but had a bit of a distate for the moivie myself, although the movie grows on you. One of the concert scenes i like when you see jim jump into the audience on a from a rope into the audience while light my fire is playing before you get to see the doors in the limo and ed sullivan show. The worst part is the fire closet scene, really senseless, i nearly switcehd the movie off.

getting john's book riders and the best of the doors on cd for my 18th birthday and blasting it loud.

Fun topic...God, there are so many moments...I'll just throw a few out.

First is of course the discovery of them in 1969 at age 5. I don't know if the fact I liked them at such a young age made me precocious or an idiot savant. It was cool to be able to hear them on my brother's transistor radio or when my older siblings forced my parents to change the radio in the car...which wasn't very often.

2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th....getting each album (spread out over several years).

7th making love for the first time to light my fire...a plan that actually went right!

Is there any video? especially the instrumental part

EDIT...... I shud be banned for that mate........hangs head in shame....

I remember as a kid in high school the rumor went out that Jim Morrison cut his own hair.....it was the most uncanny time....I was maybe 14-15 at the time, not sure if the story was in fact true....heard since that in fact he did....just took some scissors himself and cut it, anyway it went through the school like wild fire....of course all kinds of happenings were spoken of at the time....Hendix, Joplin, you name it....The Doors ruled and any information that came out at that time was hard to verify. Even of it wasn't true it was a time where you rebelled against everything and everyone in the so called "establishment"....Jim was a hero to a lot of kids .
Rock on!!!!!!

The cutter who created Jim's 'young lion' look was Jay Sebring. The movie "Shampoo" starring Warren Beatty was based on Jay, and his contemporaries. Jim certainly knew how to pick artists he wanted to work with.

Jay was senselessly murdered by the Manson Family, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I hope that kids understand the positive side of Jim is all.

I think the hair cutting I'm referring to was in May 1968.....after a few years with long hair all of a sudden it was over his ears, neck length....I think the point being even getting a haircut was major news, mind you whether he actually did it himself probably no one really knows....maybe Pam took to scissors when he was well let me say not totally in the loop to prove a point!!!!!

Now I know you are thinking it just happened yesterday...but I gotta tell ya video cams were not the norm at the time.

You are right about the hair cutting incident Bob I think he did it a couple of times.
I am not sure of the exact time or location of the incident i am thinking of but I remember reading about it in one of the UK rock newspapers or magazines ....
I think that it was Dave Marsh who was a witness to this but am not 100% certain.
What I recall is Morrison grabbed his hair in one hand bunched it behind his head and using a pair of scissors cut straight across and left his hair just below shoulder height.
I do believe this was just before he went on stage but I might be wrong on that one.
Possibly at a rock festival possibly 69.... as I say I remember the incident well just not where it happened.
There are quite a lot of photos of Jim with the resulting haircut from that incident including one taken just after it had happened walking up some scaffolding stairs at an open air event which I am pretty sure is where it took place.

I found the link to the haircutting in 1968 anyway.....go to the month of May on the timeline.....several pic's of Jim with the short hair. Your right he probably cut it himself more than once.....if it grew as fast as his beard he'd need scissors close at hand!!!!
Interesting the comment that even getting Jim's haircut caused a "media frenzy" shows just how popular they were at the time and how Jim Morrison was revered already as a rock icon.
http://www.doorshistory.com/doors1968.html

To me, every moment with the music is a "best" Doors moment. The look on Danny Sugerman's face when he'd be lost in thought and then just quietly reflect something about Jim Morrison were also some of the "best" Doors moments for me. A little bar in Philly with The Doors music, a good friend, and Margaritas was another "best" Doors moment. There have been so many "best" Doors moments over the years...

Good to see that site up and running again ....tho they want to sort 1971 out and maybe do 72/73.
It fell into a bit of dissrepair for a few years and looked quite sad and forlorn for a long while but looks back to it's best again.
A fantastic Doors reference site with some great information. Well recommended!

It has to be noted however that Morrison was only a rock icon in the US by 1968 and it would not be until after his death he would receive that status anywhere else.
The Miami incident passed pretty unremarked here and I presume most everywhere else as Brit bands ruled the airwaves pretty much everywhere. If John or Ringo had gotten a mohawk cut it would have been on the front pages but Jim sadly was not considered to be in that company.....something by the way I do happen to disagree with but thats History for you.

I been pondering this and do seem to recall a couple of references to his haircut habit in a couple of books but can't find any as yet. It's no surprise as he was not really one for being a style icon....even though he is actually remembered as one......he barely bothered to wash and wore his clothes till they could stand up and be called sentient beings.....not the sort of bloke I would want my daughter hanging out with

Have only been in to The Doors for a year now but would say the feeling I got after hearing Roadhouse Blues live for the first time would be my favourite moment. A great song and I knew I was on to some thing special. They have now over taken The Beatles as my favourite band.

We miss you Jim.