The first single, Break on Through, didn't. An editing job on the seven-minute album version of "Light My Fire" by producer Paul Rothchild cut it down to a more radio-friendly three minutes and the rest, as they say, is history.
"Light My Fire" was the first single from Elektra Records single to reach number one on the Billboard chart, moved over a million copies and fired the album into the upper reaches of the album chart in the process. Touring behind the album and hit single got them further attention and while the next few singles failed to connect and the second album (Strange Days) only made it to number three on the Billboard chart
The next bit of the story turns mildly schizophrenic (at least from where I was sitting), as the band tried to sort out where they sat in the late sixties landscape. Focus on Morrison delivered extensive coverage in glossy teenybopper magazines at the same time as Jim worked a more confrontational persona on stage. The first two albums had exhausted the first batches of original material. While Waiting for the Sun worked the poetic side of things, there wasn't room for another lengthy track. Celebration of the Lizard might have been the centrepiece of the band's live shows, but according to producer Paul Rothchild it wasn't commercial enough, which might suggest where he was heading. And you could make a definite case for a turn towards the poppier middle of the road on The Soft Parade.
But while they were heading in that direction, looking, you might argue, for chart success, Morrison was doing his best to get himself into alcohol-fuelled confrontations with authority figures. In New Haven, Connecticut he was the first rock artist to be arrested onstage during a concert, thanks to a tirade directed straight at the local police, who just happened to be surrounding the stage. Inciting a riot and public obscenity charges were laid but dropped several weeks later.
He went one better in Miami on 1 March 1969 at the concert that effectively ended The Doors as a touring act. Alcohol was again a major factor, and after a warrant for Morrison's arrest four days later with allegations of indecent exposure and public obscenity Morrison turned down a plea bargain that would get him off in exchange for a free concert. Convicted, he was sentenced to six months with hard labor, remained free pending an appeal against the conviction, and died before the case was resolved.