The Doors Faced “Third Album Syndrome” and Jim Morrison’s Struggles During ‘Waiting for the Sun’ Sessions

The “sophomore jinx” is a common concern for new bands following a breakout success, but in 1967, The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger was more preoccupied with “third album syndrome.”

Krieger, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and frontman Jim Morrison had already avoided a follow-up flop earlier that year when their second LP, Strange Days, reached number three on the US charts. However, as the band reconvened at Sunset Sound studios in the late autumn of ‘67, they recognized they had largely exhausted the material from the prolific songwriting period leading up to their self-titled debut.

Much of Morrison’s lyrical poetry from 1965 and 1966 had been thoroughly examined and either used or discarded, leaving the band to consider a different approach for the album that would turn into Waiting for the Sun.

An Ambitious Suite Abandoned

Side A of the record would include songs in a style similar to their previous work, but side B was initially planned to consist of an ambitious “suite” called ‘Celebration of the Lizard,’ a partially spoken-word art piece based on jam sessions the band had begun incorporating into their live performances. This idea was quickly abandoned, in part due to Morrison’s increasing struggles with alcohol and reliability.

This left the rest of the band facing a challenge. As Krieger recalled in the 1987 band biography, The Doors, “Usually a group will have enough songs in their repertoire to record one or maybe two albums. Then what will happen is they go on tour and they don’t have time to write any more stuff. By the third album you find yourself trying to write stuff in the studio and it shows.”

This “third album syndrome,” combined with Morrison’s personal difficulties, caused tension within the band. Densmore reportedly threw his drumsticks across the room and threatened to quit, expressing his frustration and urging Morrison to address his self-destructive behavior.

Revisiting Old Lyrics and a Fortuitous Beat

In a state of desperation, Densmore, Krieger, and Manzarek decided to revisit some of Morrison’s unused lyrics when he wasn’t present, particularly material he’d written even as living in Venice with Manzarek after graduating from UCLA. This led them back to ‘Hello, I Love You,’ a song idea they had previously considered and shelved.

Morrison had originally written the lyrics as an ode to a woman he’d seen on the beach. He explained that he initially created the melody first and then added words to fit it, admitting that this approach often resulted in lyrics that were merely placeholders. As he stated in the 1980 biography No One Here Gets Out Alive, he often couldn’t remember the melody after some time, leaving only the words.

Recognizing the lyrics weren’t his strongest, the band decided to re-engineer the song. Krieger instructed Densmore to employ a beat similar to Cream’s ‘Sunshine of Your Love.’ However, Krieger’s guitar riff bore a resemblance to the Kinks’ ‘All Day and All of the Night,’ leading Ray Davies to collect the majority of the royalties earned from the song in the UK.

A Hit Song Emerges

Despite these challenges, ‘Hello, I Love You’ proved successful, becoming the lead-off track on Waiting for the Sun and one of The Doors’ biggest hits, reaching number one in 1968. The band had, by most accounts, avoided the dreaded “third album syndrome.”