The Doors - "Light my fire"

When Robby Krieger (guitars) became a member of the band, The Doors started rehearsing on a daily basis, getting tighter and closer, developing what they later called a 'oneness'.
Everything came together at a rehearsal early in the New Year 1966, at Robby's parents' place. The evening before, Jim Morrison (vocals) had suggested that everyone write a song that night using universal imagery. Morrison's song was "The end", which would eventually be his epitaph ("This is the end my only friend"). Krieger also had a song, which was worked on first, as it seemed easier to arrange. The chord progression was inspired by John Coltrane's "My Favourite Things". Everyone tried out things. Ray Manczarek (organ) composed an intro and used a carnival organ sound. John Densmore (drums) struck a 3/4 jazz tempo on his brushes, and Morrison started singing the first verse of Krieger's "Light my fire". Just as they were getting going, Morrison looked up from Krieger's notepaper and asked : "Where's the rest of it ?". Krieger told him that he had got stuck after the first verse. Morrison thought for a moment and just invented the second verse as he stood there. Everyone came together in the chorus, blasting out the last lines : "Try to set the night on... fi-yerrrrrrrrrrr".

Apparently, during that rehearsal, Morrison said that he thought that they should divide evenly all the money the band made, including the songwriting money. Since Morrison was the main songwriter, it was a generous offer, although as he pointed out himself, all the band was sharing in the arranging.

The Doors' record company thought "Light my fire" was too long to get radio play, so the guitar solos were edited down for the single to make it considerably shorter. Many stations played the 6:50 album version anyway. Since the single was a shortened version, fans had to buy the album to get the extended mix, which helped spur sales of the album.

The producers of The Ed Sullivan Show asked the band to change the line "Girl we couldn't get much higher" for their appearance in 1967. Morrison said he would, but sung it anyway. Afterwards, he told Sullivan that he was nervous and simply forgot to change the line. This didn't fly, and The Doors were never invited back.

"Light my fire" was the last song Morrison performed live. It was a show at The Warehouse in New Orleans.

Available on the self-titled album "The Doors"