The Doors – Touch Me

Performance at Smother Bros. Comedy Hour
Taped: December 6th, 1968 Aired: December 15th
Saxophone: Curtis Amy
String & Horn sections: Nelson Riddle Orchestra

“Touch Me” – Single by the Doors from the album The Soft Parade
B-side: “Wild Child”
Released: December 1968
Recorded; November 1968
Studio: Elektra Sound Recorders, Los Angeles
Label: Elektra
Songwriter: Robby Krieger
Producer: Paul A. Rothchild
Charted No.3 in US, Ni.1 Canada, No.10 Australia, No.6 New Zealand, 39 West Germany

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger wrote this song as “Hit Me,” based on fights he had with his girlfriend. The lyric was, “C’mon, hit me, I’m not afraid.” In a rare show of restraint, lead singer Jim Morrison insisted on changing it to “Touch Me.”
At the end of the song, Morrison chants “Stronger than dirt!” The line is from an Ajax commercial popular at the time where a white knight rides around destroying dirt. The last four chords of the song were also lifted from the commercial.

It was released as a single in December 1968 and reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (their last Top Ten hit in US) and No. 1 in the Cashbox Top 100 in early 1969 (the band’s third American number-one single). The single also did well elsewhere, peaking at No. 1 in the RPM Canadian Singles Chart and at No. 10 in the Kent Music Report in Australia. However, despite the band’s commercial success the previous year, “Touch Me” did not chart in the UK Singles Chart.

Rumors started that Krieger had gotten into a backstage fight with Morrison. Drummer John Dunsmore later muddied the waters with a claim that a car accident caused the injury. Krieger and Ray Manzarek eventually put the matter to rest by explaining that two days before the show, Morrison had gotten into a fight with three “rednecks” at a bar down the road from the Doors’ office. Krieger tried to protect him. Morrison ducked, Krieger didn’t, and so resulted the black eye. The Smothers Brothers staff wanted to put makeup on it, but Krieger liked the idea of performing on television with a real black eye.

This marked the Doors’ final American network television appearance featuring Jim Morrison.

The Doors
Jim Morrison – lead vocals
Ray Manzarek – Gibson Kalamazoo organ, celesta
Robby Krieger – guitar
John Densmore – drums

Additional personnel
Paul Harris – orchestral arrangements
Curtis Amy – tenor saxophone (solo)
Harvey Brooks – bass guitar