Few could have imagined that THE DOORS were on the verge of superstardom when they had spent the summer of 1966 as the house-band at the Whiskey a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood opening for The Byrds, The Turtles and Buffalo Springfield.
After being fired from the Whiskey, they jumped at the chance to play at a club in New York City.
The Ondine was basically a private club tucked under a bridge in an ominous part of the city, just three blocks from the East river, that brought together the rich, and the wannabes that collided in a cramped basement hotspot. Oh yeah, they served fried chicken.
Ritzy socialites, New York hipsters, celebrities, go-go dancers and an outrageous cast of characters.
In November 1966, The Doors headed to New York for their first extended engagement outside of Los Angeles.
The band of course was made up of Jim Morrison on vocals, Ray Manzarak on keyboard, John Densmore on drums and Robbie Krieger on guitar.
Brad Pierce, the manager of Ondine paid the band $500 per week and took them shopping for new stage clothes.
The club placed The Doors in the middle of New York’s downtown art scene with Andy Warhol and members of his circle, but most importantly into the cultural spotlight.
The fame junkies, celebrities and press that assembled at Ondine were eager to find out more about the psychedelic rock sounds emanating from Los Angeles and the beautiful lead singer, who fronted the band.
The Doors intensified their darkness and mysticism for the crowd with burning incense. The band was loud and powerful, they could leap from blues rock to pop to poetry. The music they played was unusual and wasn’t danceable, but the girls began to dig the lead singer and his angry songs.
Morrison twitched and pouted as a cluster of girls gathered to watch every nuance in his hips and lips.
They played multiple 30 minute sets that night, songs that would end up on the upcoming album like “Break on Through”, “20th Century Fox”, “Soul Kitchen”, “Light, My Fire”, “Back Door Man”, and “Alabama Song” (Whiskey Bar).
Warhol was nervous about meeting Morrison, but eventually overcame his stage fright at the sight of so many women mobbing Morrison, while he stood at the bar between sets.
The band stayed at the Henry Hudson Hotel and during the day they were at Elektra Studios mixing their first album, which they had recorded in 6 days at Sunset Sound Records in Hollywood.
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