An ultra-rare, six-song Doors acetate from 1965 sold via eBay on Monday (Oct. 10) to the highest bidder at the hefty price of $3,650. This collector’s dream piece had some serious action during the auction, pulling in no less than 40 bids before the magic words “you’re the highest bidder” came across the victor’s screen.

These demos were recorded in September of 1965 at World Pacific Jazz Studios in Los Angeles by the band (minus guitarist Robbie Krieger, but plus several members of the Manzarek family) and all six of these Jim Morrison originals eventually become Doors songs. Morrison reportedly was delighted upon hearing his voice on record for the very first time and this demo was shopped around to local labels immediately after the three-hour recording session.

This acetate was made in America on EMC records and the track listing here is very odd, quite different from the original recorded by Elektra. Notice the songs are all typewritten on the label and ‘Hello, I Love You’ is underlined as if it’s a favored track. Also of interest is the sixth track ‘Insane,’ which turns out is the early title of ‘A Little Game’ from the ‘Celebration of the Lizard’ suite.

This demo was released digitally on the 1997 boxed set by the Doors thanks to Ray Manzarek offering up his own copy of the acetate — one of only five known to exist. The copy pictured here is the one that actually sold; it’s one-sided, very heavy and came in a white generic sleeve. The seller listed it in “very good/very good +” condition. Given this item’s selling price the high bidder should be singing ‘Hello, I Love You‘ to this chunk of wax, for a long, long time.

Doors Rare 1965 Acetate Lineup Details:
Jim Morrison – lead vocals
Rick Manzarek – guitar
Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals
Pat Sullivan – bass guitar
John Densmore – drums
Jim Manzarek – harmonica

Track Listing:
1. ‘Moonlight Drive’
2. ‘Hello, I Love You’
3. ‘Summer’s Almost Gone’
4. ‘My Eyes Have Seen You’
5. ‘End of the Night’
6. ‘Insane’

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