The Doors

The Doors spent 1966 as the house band at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip, tightening these songs night after night until the club fired them over the Oedipal section of The End. So in the studio they simply played the set: eleven songs cut in about a week, mostly live takes. The band had no bassist; on most tracks Ray Manzarek covered the low end with a keyboard bass under his organ. Light My Fire, written mostly by guitarist Robby Krieger, went to number one and made Jim Morrison famous, which turned out to be the worst thing for him.