The Doors' Lasting Legacy: A Photo Gallery

It's been a year of fortieth anniversaries here at Rolling Stone, as we've looked back at the Summer of Love and the beginnings of the magazine in 1967. That year also marked the debut album from Jim Morrison's Doors, an event being celebrated at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum with a special exhibit titled Break on Through -- The Lasting Legacy of the Doors. The exhibition, the first ever to be endorsed by the Morrison estate and the surviving members of the band, features the handwritten lyrics to "Not to Touch the Earth," Morrison's first-ever childhood poem, Robby Krieger's custom Gibson guitar, a piece of drummer John Densmore's original kit, a promotional record that came with purchases of toothpaste and shampoo and even Ray Manzarek's marriage certificate. Get a close-up look at these pieces of memorabilia and more by checking out our Break on Through photo gallery.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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