THE DOORS
Sunday September 15, 1968
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

- First European tour (September 5, 1968 - September 20, 1968) -

Late Show 11:30 p.m. (Early Show 7:00 p.m.)

1. Announcement by Vince Treanor and Ray 2:47
2. Break On Through > There You Sit 5:39
3. Soul Kitchen 7:05
4. Alabama Song 1:38
5. Back Door Man 6:13
6. Hello, I Love You 3:09
7. Light My Fire 14:59
8. The Unknown Soldier (cuts) 1:08

Total running time: 42:38

xx. Light My Fire (incomplete) 9:09


SOURCE
Audience recording
Lineage: Aud > 1st gen > SHN > Wav > Flac

"The sound is the best on this source but originally comes with an incomplete 'Light My Fire' in addition with the missing 'Unknown Soldier' so it's been upgraded by copying the missing material from a complete 3rd gen source (came with noise reduction, provided by Christophe and uploaded by Bluesky22 to Trader's Den on January 17, 2007) which differs slightly in quality. Otherwise all files are kept intact and the incomplete 'Light My Fire' is included for sake of completeness.


There is only one recording made of the Amsterdam show with three different transfers of the tape in circulation. The first cuts out during 'Light My Fire' while the second contains 'Light My Fire' in its entirety but misses Vince's introduction. Only the third source which contains all including 'The Unknown Soldier' (lasting only for a minute; probably that's why it was left off from the other sources). "The only bad part, - as Porsche pointed out, - about this is that noise reduction was used, giving us a less hissy but much more tin-can sound."" Buda

"Greg Shaw claims the recording comes from the late show, but I'm not sure what he's basing that info on since he says it could also be from the early show. They did two sets that evening, Jefferson Airplane came first and the Doors second. So on the first set Jim came out and did his "dance". Then before the Doors would appear Vince Treanor comes out at the start and says Jim is in the hospital and asks the crowd if the band should play without Jim. When Ray comes out, he assures everyone that it isn't a joke and Jim really is sick. The whole show has a bit of a somber feel to it. Ray does most of the vocals. Robby sings the beginning of "The Unknown Soldier" before Ray takes over. Doesn't sound like a bad gig at all. Ray jokes a bit with the audience. He says they're going to play a famous radio song "but not as famous as the one after it" before singing "Hello, I Love You." And before LMF, he says, "Decisions, decisions....what do we play now?" Ray even inserts "There You Sit" into "Break On Through." It all just goes to show that, in a pinch, Screamin' Ray Daniels is your man." Porsche


NOTES
from Stephen Davis, John Densmore, Ray Manzarek,
Vince Treanor, Leon Barnard and Mick Farren

THE DOORS' FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR ITINEARY
September 5, 1968 - September 20, 1968
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Thu. Sept. 5th BBC-1 TV "Top of The Pops," London, England (with Canned Heat)
Fri. Sept. 6th The Roundhouse, London, England (Early & Late Show with Jefferson Airplane)
Sat. Sept. 7th The Roundhouse, London, England (Early & Late Show with Jefferson Airplane)
Fri. Sept. 13th ZDF-TV "4-3-2-1 Hot & Sweet," R�merberg Square, Frankfurt, West Germany
Sat. Sept. 14th Kongresshalle, Frankfurt, West Germany (Early & Late Show with Canned Heat)
Sun. Sept. 15th Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Early & Late Show with Jefferson Airplane)
Tue. Sept. 17th Falkoner Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark (Early & Late Show with Savoy Brown)
Wed. Sept. 18th Television-Byen, Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fri. Sept. 20th Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden (Early & Late Show with Jefferson Airplane)

On September 15, 1968 a drugged and drunken Jim Morrison was taken to hospital after collapsing on the stage of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, having stumbled into the middle of Jefferson Airplane's first live set during "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Morrison's consumption of alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs was legendary, but the incident suggested he might no longer be in control of his intake. His collapse in Amsterdam came after a day of heavy drinking, and sources close to the band revealed he swallowed a sizeable block of hashish given to him by a fan immediately before the show. It was the Doors' road manager Vince Treanor who were told to go out by his boss Bill Siddons, the manager of the Doors to make the announcement to the crowd about the singer's absence. After that Ray came out and spoke a few words. The audience surprisingly well received the bad news and this played a major factor pulling off a great show eventually. Ray sang quite well and included the usual poetry of Jim during 'Break On Through' and 'Soul Kitchen,' Robby started singing 'The Unknown Soldier' and Ray continues it. As a trio, the Doors impressed.


"Jim runs into a few problems. Before the show, members of The Jefferson Airplane and The Doors are walking around town and, since drugs are legal in Amsterdam, the fans in the streets are giving the members all sorts of drugs to either try some or to take with them for later. Well, Jim takes everything that is given to him and later ends up on stage during the Airplane's opening set dancing around and soon passes out cold. Jim is taken to the hospital and upset with Jim the other three members perform and go on without him doing an outstanding show with Ray handling the singing sounding incredibly like him. Jim recovers the next morning and reads rave reviews of the band going on without him. He jokes about the show but something else is going on. Jim realizes that he is not The Doors."
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Copyright � 2006 The Doors Interactive Chronological History at www.doorshistory.com


Excpert taken from Stephen Davis' book "Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend," 2004, p.282-283;
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"The Doors flew to Amsterdam on September 15. A flight attendant asked Jim for an autograph; he wrote a poem for her on an airsickness bag. "O stewardess/Observe most carefully/Some day you may pour wine/for the tired man." That afternoon the Doors and the Airplane storlled around Amsterdam's old town. Crossing the bridges over the city's canals, they found themselves in the district of quaint, gaily decorated shops and caf�s that reminded them of San Fancisco. As they were progressing down the street, Dutch kids came up and started giving them blocks of fresh hashish and pills of all varieties and colors. the others discreetly pocketed the dope - Amsterdam was famously tolerant toward recreational drugs - but Jim Morrison swallowed everything that was handed to him, without question. Grace Slick said later that he probably ate an ounce of hash and half a dozen pills that day. Jim was flying by the time the Airplane opened the show at the venerable Concertgebouw symphony hall at eight o' clock that eveining. He seemed bored and manic hanging out with the other Doors in the dressing room, so he hopped onstage with the Airplane during "Plastic Fantastic Lover" and performed a crazed leather dervish dance, getting tangled in the guitarists' electric cords and thoroughly annoying the band. Jim twirled and spun, made himslef dizzy, and fell down. Helped backstage, he threw up and passed out. No one could wake him. His breathing was shallow and he looked green and ghastly. The promoter, afraid that Jim was dying on him, called the ambulance and Jim was carried out cold on a stretcher and transported to a hospital. The doctors examined him and said he had to sleep it off overnight. So the Doors went on without their singer. The audience was told Jim was ill and offered a refund, but everyone stayed to hear Ray Manzarek sing Jim's parts, and the three Doors played two complete shows without him. Contemporary reviews in the Dutch press indicate that the band pulled this off with flying colors. Jim woke up the next morning, feeling good and rested, and asked what had happened. John Densmore proudly told Jim that the Doors had survived without him."


Excpert taken from John Densmore's biography "Riders On The Storm," 1990 p.177-178;
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"A week later we were sitting in a pristine side room of the Amsterdam Concert Hall, surronunded by statuettes of Mozart, Chopin, and the rest of the classical lads. It was half an hour before we were supposed to perform, and Jim and Robby had wandered out somewhere in the auditorium. All of a sudden Jim was being carried past on a stretcher, out cold. He was put in an ambulance and he was gone.
"What the fuck happened, Leon?" I screamed to the publicist. "You were supposed to watch Jim this afternoon!" "We were on the street and someone came up and gave Jim a little block of hash, and he popped the whole thing in his mouth right there," Leon replied with exasperation. "Vince! Go out and make an announcememt that Jim got sick and they can have their money back. Or the three of us would play, I guess." Ray didn't sound so sure. "We can do it." I jumped in. Vince came running by in a fancy green sparkle jacket he'd put on just for the announcement. I went up to the Airplane's dressing room. Grace Slick said Jim had been onstage in the middle of their set and acted kind of crazy, but everyone had thought it was part of the act. The Airplane was mellow. Marty Balin was quiet, but Grace and Paul Kantnor were very friendly. When I got back downstairs, Vince ran up and said the audience wanted the Doors, with or without Jim. A couple of members of the Airplane, including Spencer Dryden, their drummer, came down to the wings to see how we would do. Ray handed the vocals fairly well; I exaggerated my performance because there was no lead singer blocking my view of the audience, and therefore, for once, I was the focal point. I liked that. The Dutch seemed to like us. Our lyrics weren't in Dutch, anyway, so they had to go with the mood. That's the way I judged new records, anyhow. If the mood got me, I would listen again to pick up all the lyrics. After the concert we called the hospital. Jim had recovered after taking a nice nap. The next morning, walked out of the hotel, we noticed that I was on the front cover of the local newspaper! An interpreter translated and said they liked my playing and stage presence. I glanced at Jim; he was expressionless. I was feeling very proud of myself. check it out, Jim!"


THE DOORS PLAY AS A THREE PIECE - Ray Manzarek's recollections taken from an interview;
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Ray Manzarek: "What a show that was. I'll never forget seeing Jim Morrison carried out on a stretcher... It's an interesting story... We were in Germany and we were playing with Canned Heat and Canned Heat was doing a lot of hash... "The Bear" had given Jim this large chunk of hash at the airport... And we're about to cross a border... And a rock and roll band and a bunch of "long-hairs"... You know we're gonna get searched. So, our manager came up to us and said, "If anyone's got any dope then for God's sake... get rid of it. We're going into Holland... Get rid of it... We're not gonna cross a border with anyone carrying anything"... So Jim reached into his coat pocket and "Woops... I've got this ball of hash... Well, I guess I'll get rid of it...gulp!" And he shoved it into his mouth before any of us could anything. We all went, "Jim... Oh no!" So, he started drinking on the airplane. Had a few drinks to wash it down you know... We got to Amsterdam and he was no doubt feeling the effects of it by then... And had a few more drinks at the hotel and was starting to get really out there. We went to the auditorium and Jefferson Airplane was playing, we were gonna go on second and then they were gonna go an again and we would go on again. It was two sets for each group. By the time Jim got to the auditorium he was just blitzed. Absolutely gone. Went on stage with the Jefferson Airplane... Started dancing around in the middle of their set. He started singing with Grace Slick and hugging her... I think he pinched her on the bottom or tried to do some obscene gesture with Grace Slick... And then he finally sort of... after five minutes... danced off the stage. Went back into the dressing room and passed out cold. Everyone tried to revive him, "Jim... Jim!" Jefferson Airplane finished up their set, "Jim... Jim!" The equipment is being changed... Our equipment is ready to go and they've called the paramedics. The ambulance people come and take one look at him and say, "Listen, there's no way this guy's gonna go on." "Are you kidding?!" "He can't go on and sing. We're taking him to hospital" They put him on a stretcher. They wrapped him up in a rubber sheet. They put an oxygen mask on his face. I walked into the dressing room, five minutes before it's time to go on stage and I walk in going, "Jim... It's time to..." And there goes Jim being carried out by two people. They put him into an ambulance, hit the siren and drove off. John and Robbie and I look at each other and go, "Wait a minute we're supposed to go on in two minutes!" Our roadie is saying, "C'mon... c'mon... we're ready" ... "We're ready" ... What will we do. We've got two sets to do tonight and our manager said, "You can't cancel... Just go out there and do it. You guys go out there" ... "Us... well, we know the songs..." And I said, "Okay Vince... Give me a vocal mike". Put a mike on a boom - put it over the keyboards. "Give Robbie a vocal mike and we'll just go out and hope that everyone accepts the fact that Jim Morrison's not here. Let's not say anything about it. Let's just go out and start to play. Hopefully they won't really notice." And we got through it. They didn't notice. Nobody said, "Hey where's Morrison".
- Wait a minute ... on the tape you come out and say he's been taken to hospital or something like that.
Ray Manzarek: Did I? Well, thank God... Okay, good. Did I actually tell the audience, "We're sorry but Jim Morrison will not be here tonight." (laughs).
- You told them something like that.
Ray Manzarek: "Jim Morrison is incapacitated and has been taken away to the hospital." So we told them... Well,that's probably why they were so nice about it and said, "Well,okay ... just go ahead and play some Doors' songs." You know they didn't really care as long as they got to hear "Light My Fire" ... and they did. So everything worked out very nicely but it was the hardest night of the Doors' career. We did two sets."


The Doors' road manager, Vince Treanor's recollections taken from www.thefreedomman.com forums, 2007;
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"I did make the announcement at the request of the Manager, Bill Siddons. Why he did not do it is a mystery - as manager it was his responsibility. He foisted it off on me. I think it was a good show. It certainly demonstrated the skills and flexibility of Ray and Robby. The crowd liked it and the critics who were in attendance wrote good reviews. Personally I liked the show. I enjoyed it. Yes, it did not have the dynamics that Jim might have brought out with his gymnastic activities. However, it was good musically and went smoothly. Still, the Amsterdam show, I firmly convinced is the turning point in the fortunes of the Doors as it depended on Jim. Also, the imparied drinking began after this show. You know when riding a roller coaster, you climb to success and then, whoosh. Instead of this being a thrill, we could say that Roundhouse was near the top. Frankfurt was at the top and Amsterdam was on the way down, New Orleans was the pits. End of the line. LA Woman was the derailment. In Paris, he hit the gound - literally. However, Miami is a result of this event and Jim's increasing trend to show that he was the star. I spoke to him about it before a show one time. I said something to the effect - Jim, these people came here to see a good show. Stay sober and give them a great performance. Of course, he got drunk and it was a blah show. Afterward, with a smile on his face, he said "You made me do it, Vince". Really? I MADE him do it. What, with a gun at his head?"


The Doors' publicist during the 1968 European tour, Leon Barnard's recollections, 2004;
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"After he collapsed backstage in Amsterdam from an overdose of hashish (eaten) and washed down with whiskey, I visited him the next day in the hospital. He sat up in bed with crystal clear blue eyes sparkling, and rosy cheeks looking like a picture of well being suitable for the cover of any health magazine. The doctors insisted on keeping him there for an extra day, and he requested some chewing gum and a Playboy magazine. When I told him about my own experience in a hospital, he looked at me with the kind of �special intensity� you�re asking about, and I felt right then and there that he was reading me on inner levels."


Excpert taken from
HUNTING OF THE LIZARD KING - NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS - SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 4, 1975 by Mick Farren;
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"When on tour, Bill Siddons and Vince, the chief roadie, found themselves in the position of having to
treat Morrison like a recalcitrant child. Vince even went to the absurd lengths of taking away Morrison's
personal, gold plated microphone if he behaved badly, and substituting one with a dull crackle finish body. Siddons began appointing one of the road crew to the unenviable post as Jim's personal mentor who was charged with the responsibility of making sure that Morrison didn't drink himself into a state where he'd be unable to appear.
Steve Spakes, a jovial, unflappable ex-mod, at the time assistant to Fairport/Incredible String Band producer Joe Boyd was hired to perform exactly this role on a European tour. "It was a virtually impossible job. Jim
totally resented anyone checking up on him or his drinking. All it achieved was that it made him worse. He
deliberately got paralytic because Siddons tried to prevent it. It got to be a game. One afternoon, before the
show in Amsterdam, I had to follow him around to maybe a dozen bars. He was drinking brandies and nibbling
on a lump of hash.
"He must have had 14 doubles before I could persuade him that maybe it'd be a good idea if we went back to the concert hall. When we got there, the Jefferson Airplane ahd already gone on. Jim started raving about how he wanted to sing with the Airplane. Before anyone could stop him he'd plunged on to the stage. He danced maybe three lunmbering steps and fell flat on his face. Grace Slick and Marty Balin broke up. Jim didn't get up, so a couple of the Airplane's roadies carried him backstage. We tried to sober him up. I think Siddons called an ambulance. Anyway, Jim was carted off to the hospital and the Doors went on as a three piece. Needless to say, I got the blame.""