Light My Fire

“Light My Fire” is a song by The Doors, which was recorded in August 1966 and released the first week of January 1967 on the Doors’ debut album. Released as a single in April, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song originated as a Robby Krieger unfinished composition, which the other band members then expanded upon, namely the recognizable intro composed by Ray Manzarek. Although the album version was just over seven minutes long, it was widely requested for radio play, so a single version was edited to just under three minutes with nearly all the instrumental break removed for airplay on AM radio.

Vocalist and guitarist José Feliciano experienced significant international success, when he released his version of “Light My Fire” in 1968 as a single on the RCA Victor label. It is perhaps the best known cover of this song, reaching number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, only a year after the original had been a number 1 hit on the same chart. Feliciano’s remake blended Latin influences, including a mixture of classic Spanish guitar and flamenco, with American pop sounds.