The curtain came down on The Doors with Jim Morrison forty-seven years ago today, bringing a disheartening close to a preeminent band in music. Occurring at The Warehouse in New Orleans, the iconic Morrison could barely finish the group’s final show together that fateful day in 1970. The rest of the band’s members knew in their minds the end was looming as they were looking on the precipice of a fading frontman. It’s another tale that all good things and bad, must come to an end. It’s just a matter of how you want to go out that makes all the difference.

Just a few days into the tour, the “People Are Strange” foursome was at it again, premiering tracks from their forthcoming record, L.A. Woman. With the album several months away of release and only in the beginning stages of recording, the New Orleans performance couldn’t have gone any worse. Halfway through The Doors’ set, Morrison began to forget the lyrics, such as on the song, “Riders on the Storm.” In a despairing attempt, he went on to tell an elongated, incoherent joke with little response from the crowd.

Due to the physical state Morrison was in, he no choice but to begin to hang lethargically on the microphone stand for support. When the band started to play “Light My Fire,” Morrison barely got through the first verse of the song and when the solos came, he sat down on John Densmore’s drum riser. As the end of solos approached, Morrison was due to sing the last verse yet he didn’t stand up from where he was sitting. Desperately, the band continued on with a few more cues before Densmore nudged Morrison with his foot to get back up and finish.

The elusive singer, known for his spirited and unprecedented live performances, looked like a ghost on stage during the twenty-song-set. Ray Manzarek describes seeing all of Morrison’s “psychic energy go out the top of his head.” Exasperated, Morrison bashed the microphone stand into the wooden floor of the stage, splintering it. In hostile rage, he stormed off the stage. The band decided to halt their tour and head back to Los Angeles to finish recording L.A. Woman. However, the days of Morrison leading The Doors were sadly soon over.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1965, the Doors consisted of Morrison, bassist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They infused blues, jazz, and psychedelia with sex and death into reckless rock & roll and became the soundtrack for a rebellious generation, many who opposed the Vietnam War. 1971’s L.A Woman is considered as one of The Doors finest records. In 2003, L.A. Woman was ranked at 362 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

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