The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. They were one of the most controversial bands of their time, due mostly to Morrison's cryptic lyrics and unpredictable stage persona. Since the band's dissolution in the early 1970s — and especially since Morrison's death in 1971 — interest in the Doors' music has remained high. They have sold over 76 million albums worldwide, and still sell 1 million annually.

Origins: 1965–1966

The Doors (1967)

The origins of The Doors lay in a chance meeting between acquaintances and UCLA film school students Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach, California in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs and, at Manzarek's encouragement, sang "Moonlight Drive". Impressed by Morrison's lyrics, Manzarek suggested they form a band.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek was in a band called Rick and The Ravens with his brother Rick Manzarek, while Robby Krieger and John Densmore were playing with The Psychedelic Rangers and knew Manzarek from yoga and meditation classes. In August, Densmore joined the group and along with members of the Ravens and bass player Patty Sullivan, recorded a six-song demo in September 1965. This was widely bootlegged and appeared in full on the 1997 Doors box set.

That month the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and the final lineup — Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore — was complete. The band took their name from the title of a book by Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, which was in turn borrowed from a line in a poem by the 18th century artist and poet William Blake: "If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite". ^[1]

The Doors were unusual among rock groups because they did not use a bass guitar when playing live. Instead, Manzarek played the bass lines with his left hand on the newly invented Fender Rhodes bass keyboard, an offshoot of the well-known Fender Rhodes electric piano, playing other keyboards with his right hand. On their studio albums, The Doors did use bass players such as Jerry Scheff, Doug Lubahn, Harvey Brooks, Kerry Magness, Lonnie Mack, Larry Knechtel, Leroy Vinegar, and Ray Neapolitan.

Scorpions

Scorpions are a hard rock/heavy metal band from Sarstedt near Hanover, Germany, best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "Wind of Change", "No One Like You", "Still Loving You", and "Send Me an Angel". The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.^[1]

Contrary to common usage, the band's name is "Scorpions" and not "The Scorpions."

Formation and early history (1965-1973)

Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, set out to find a band in 1965. At first, the band was school-kind with beat influences and Schenker himself on vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the break up of the Scorpions. In 1973, guitarist Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was in a band called Dawn Road. He had been offered the role as lead guitarist in Scorpions after Michael Schenker's departure but turned the band down. Rudolf decided that he wanted to work with Roth but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup.

Rudolf Schenker attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass),Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join, which he did soon after. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because they had released an album and were known in the German hard rock scene. [1]

Queen

Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, lead vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. Queen rose to prominence during the 1970s and are one of Britain's most successful bands of the past three decades.^[1]

The band are noted for their musical diversity, multi-layered arrangements, vocal harmonies and incorporation of audience participation into their live performances.^[2] Their 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best live music performance of all time in a BBC poll.^[3]

Queen had moderate success in the early 1970s, with the albums Queen and Queen II, but it was with the release of Sheer Heart Attack in 1974 and A Night at the Opera the following year that the band gained international success. All of the band's studio albums reached number one on numerous charts around the world. Since 1973, they have released fifteen studio albums, five live albums, and numerous compilation albums. According to OhmyNews, the band have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide,^[4] including more than 32.5 million in the United States alone,^[5] making them one of the world's best-selling music artists.

Following Mercury's death and Deacon's retirement in the 1990s,^[6] May and Taylor collaborated with Paul Rodgers, under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English band whose blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll-infused music became popular during the "British Invasion" in the early 1960s.^[1] The band was formed in London in 1962 by original leader Brian Jones, but eventually led by the songwriting partnership of singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Pianist Ian Stewart, drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman completed the early lineup. Jones died in 1969 shortly after being fired from the band and was replaced by 20-year-old Mick Taylor. After Taylor quit in 1974, former Faces guitarist Ron Wood took over. Wyman retired in 1993 being replaced by Darryl Jones who has played bass on subsequent recordings, but is not an official member of the band. The band has released 55 albums of original work^[2] and compilations, and have had 32 U.K & U.S top-10 singles.^[3] They have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.^[4] 1971's Sticky Fingers began a string of eight consecutive studio albums at number one in the United States. In 1989 the Rolling Stones were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004 they were ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[5] Their latest album, A Bigger Bang, was released in 2005 and accompanied by their highest-grossing tour, which lasted into late summer 2007. During the 1969 American tour, tour manager Sam Cutler introduced them as "The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World".^[6] Their image of unkempt and surly youth is one that many musicians still emulate.^[6]

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock group from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.^[2]

In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries: their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion discs and tapes worldwide.^[3] The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.^[4]

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[5] According to that same magazine, their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s,^[2] and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.

The Beatles led the mid-1960s musical "British Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.