Writers: The Doors
Producer: Paul A. Rothchild
Recorded: Winter-spring 1968 at Sunset Recorders, Hollywood, California
Released: July 1968
| Players: | Jim Morrison–vocals Ray Manzarek–keyboards Robbie Krieger–guitar John Densmore–drums |
| Album: | Waiting For The Sun (Elektra, 1968) |
“Hello, I Love You” was adapted from a poem Jim Morrison wrote before the Doors formed, while he was living in Venice, California, following his graduation from UCLA.
When the group was looking for material for its third album, Elektra Records owner Jac Holzman's son Adam remembered it from the Doors' original demo tape.
Morrison said he was inspired to write the song when he and keyboardist Ray Manzarek watched a young black woman walking along Venice Beach. “Actually, I think the music came to my mind first and then I made up the words to hang onto the melody. I could hear it, and since I had no way of writing it down musically, the only way I could remember it was to try and get words to put to it. And a lot of times I would end up with just the words and couldn't remember the melody.”
The single hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the group's second million-selling single, following “Light My Fire.”
Morrison's alcohol consumption began to affect the band during the Waiting For The Sun sessions. He would occasionally pass out in the studio, and during live shows at the time his performances became spotty–he was sometimes too drunk to do the shows, and in Chicago that May he incited the crowd to riot.
At one point during the sessions, drummer John Densmore temporarily quit the band due to frustrations with Morrison's unreliability.
In an effort to police Morrison's behavior, the Doors hired Bob Dylan confidante Bob Neuwirth as a kind of assistant/babysitter.
During this time, the Doors also worked on several film projects, including a full-length documentary about the band, but all were eventually scuttled.
Despite the difficulty in making it, Waiting For The Sun became the only Doors album to hit Number One on the Billboard 200. It also earned the group its second platinum album for sales of a million copies.