Photographer Bobby Klein Talks About This Photo Shoot: “We Arrived In Venice In The Morning And Walked

By 1966, Guy Webster had established himself as a go-to guy for every record company in Hollywood, so it was hardly a surprise that fall when Jac Holzman of Elektra Records hired him to create the cover for the debut album by a new group Holzman had signed. What was a surprise, at least for Guy, was that when the band showed up at his studio for the shoot, the lead singer greeted him like an old friend. It turned out they had met years before when Guy was taking a philosophy class at UCLA. It was Jim Morrison, much thinner and with much longer hair than when Guy had last seen him in the classroom. The group, of course, was the Doors, and the album cover, dominated by Morrison’s handsome face, would earn Guy his second Grammy nomination.

1966,11.  Beverly Hills, CA. © Guy Webster

Jim Morrison, Dorothy Manzarek, Ray's mother Helen Manzarek, and Thor (Jim Manzarek's dog). Palos Verdes, California, 1965. 📷From the archive of Ray Manzarek

Crosstown Bus, Brighton, MA, 1967.08.10-11. 📷 Peter Simon

1967.09.08 Lagoon Patio Gardens, Farmington, Utah. 📷 Mikel Covey

July 1967. Photo by Paul Ferrara.

"Cheetah, Santa Monica,  California,  April 9, 1967. © Chuck Boyd

"Everybody was waiting for us. 'Break On Through' was out and people were turning onto the album. It was our first really large crowd. Over two thousand."-Robbie Krieger.

The Doors appear for two shows with The Jefferson Airplane playing to their largest crowd to date of over 2,000. This new Cheetah patterned itself after the one in NYC and just opened on March 21st sporting a 7,000 sq. ft. dance floor surrounded by stainless steel walls. Riding the upward swing of success their new album is producing, The Doors, for the first time, top billing over the biggest bands from rival San Francisco. Jim is highly delighted tonight and falls off the stage in a wild rage, some 8 feet, for the first time during a performance. This is obviously a big night for the band.

1967.05.26. Crescenta Valley High School, La Crescenta, CA.  Photos by Linda Neff (Backstage) / Unidentified (KRLA Beat) 

by niiloi

MORE THAN just a good rock group, The Doors represent two things to their millions of followers. Either they project the music-plus-sensuality that is The Doors musical sense combined with Morrison's presence, or they can project the strange drama and rock that comes from Morrison's head.” -Pop Scene Service, April 6, 1968

©  Joel Brodsky, November 1966, New York

March 1968, NYC, NY.- NY Subway Session in Navy Blue Coat. ©️Paul Ferrara.