The Whisky a Go-Go was The Doors goal when they were the house band at the London Fog. Even though the London Fog was only a half a block away from the prestigious Whisky a Go-Go it didn’t have the same reputation or clientele as The Whisky. The Fog was a hole in the wall club that didn’t even get the Whisky’s run-off business but drunken sailors and people looking for a Sunset Strip hotspot which they quickly discovered the Fog was not. The Doors played there to small or nonexistent audiences, but it afforded them the chance to work on their original songs and get paid for it (as little as that was). It was at the London Fog The Doors improvised, improved and lengthened songs like “Light My Fire,” “When the Music’s Over,” and “The End”. Soon they came to the attention of Ronnie Haran, the booker at the Whisky.
In between sets at the London Fog The Doors would run over to the Whisky to catch whatever band was playing there, and Jim Morrison would talk up Haran until she agreed to come over to the Fog to see them play. Haran was smitten with Morrison and soon she was recommending them to the Whisky’s owner Elmer Valentine (other owners included Mario Maglieri, and Phil Tanzini). The Doors were a hard sell to Valentine. He thought Jim Morrison was an amateur who was posing to cover up for his lack of talent, and he didn’t like Morrison’s use of foul language. Haran prevailed, or maybe wore Valentine down, and on or about, May 9th, 1966 (the exact date is unknown), The Doors auditioned at The Whisky, and Valentine was impressed enough to book them, but still wary enough to offer only a one week booking.
The Doors started their one week appearance at The Whisky on May 16th, 1966. During that week there were no incidents that raised alarms for Valentine so he offered The Doors the position of being the house band at The Whisky. On May 23 The Doors started as The Whisky’s house band. This appearance started their ascension into the world of the Sunset Strip and eventually catapulted them into legendary status on the strip and into a recording contract with Elektra Records.
The Whisky represented success to The Doors. Jim Morrison later said in an interview that at one time that their goal was to be as big as Love, the house band at The Whisky while The Doors were still doing their journeyman work at the London Fog. The Whisky not only gave the band access to a greater audience, and a higher profile on the Sunset Strip but also gave them the opportunity to play with established bands such as Them, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, and The Animals. Their goal was “to blow the other bands off the stage.”
The Doors tenure at The Whisky would be short, lasting only until August 21, 1966 when Jim Morrison performed “The End” adding in the Oedipal section for the first time, which probably exceeded Valentine’s worst fears of Morrison’s swearing onstage, Valentine fired the band vowing The Doors would never play The Whisky again.
Although The Doors were fired Morrison adding the Oedipal section into “The End” and performing it onstage launched them into legendary status on the Sunset Strip. Luckily, previously to being fired Elektra Records owner Jac Holzman, on the recommendation of Love’s Arthur Lee had seen The Doors and liked them enough to offer them a recording contract
Despite Valentine swearing The Doors would never play The Whisky again, they do. Almost a year to the day later of starting as the house band at The Whisky The Doors played The Whisky for the last time May 21st, 1967, just as “Light My Fire” starts getting airplay as a single.
Note: In the video above the version of “Light My Fire” is attributed to being from the Whisky a Go-Go but there doesn’t seem to be any known recordings of The Doors at The Whisky. I used the video because it gives the viewer a feel for what L.A. and The Whisky were like in 1966.
The Fat Angel Sings 