Doors 13

Doors 13, released in 1970 on Elektra catalog number EKS-74079, is the Israeli pressing of the band's best-of compilation, manufactured and distributed locally by General Music Co. Ltd. of Ramat-Gan. This is a full-size LP, and copies exist with a bilingual Hebrew and English sticker applied to the lower portion of the rear sleeve identifying the local distributor and confirming Israeli manufacture. That sticker detail is the primary physical differentiator separating this pressing from the many other international versions of the same catalog number circulating in the collector market.

The cover art on this Israeli pressing follows the familiar Doors 13 design: a dark, moody photographic arrangement of the four band members against a stark background, consistent with the original US issue's presentation. The Elektra butterfly logo appears on the label, and the overall print quality on Israeli pressings of this era tends to run slightly softer than their American or UK counterparts, which is worth factoring into condition assessments. The rear sleeve carries the standard track listing and production credits, with the addition, on stickered copies, of the General Music Co. attribution in both scripts. The Hebrew text runs right to left across the sticker, and the English translation sits alongside it, making for an immediately distinctive visual identifier once you know to look for it. The inner label design uses the Elektra standard format of the period, with the catalog number present and publishing credits noting that all selections are published by Doors Music Co. ASCAP, with the exception of Back Door Man, credited to Arc Music BMI. The vinyl quality on surviving copies varies considerably given the age and the relatively modest scale of Israeli pressings from this period; finding a copy in VG+ or better takes patience. The gatefold or single-sleeve configuration mirrors the standard international issue rather than offering any locally unique packaging beyond the sticker.

What makes this specific object interesting to a focused collector is its regional scarcity and the documentation it provides of The Doors' early 1970s distribution reach into the Israeli market. Doors 13 as a release was a calculated commercial move by Elektra, pulling thirteen tracks from across the band's catalog to that point and packaging them for markets that wanted a single-volume introduction to the group. The track selection here covers significant ground: the debut album contributes Light My Fire, Back Door Man, Moonlight Drive, The Crystal Ship, and You're Lost Little Girl; Strange Days supplies People Are Strange; and the later albums round out both sides with Roadhouse Blues, Touch Me, Love Me Two Times, Hello I Love You, Land Ho!, Wild Child, and The Unknown Soldier. There are no bonus tracks, alternate mixes, or region-specific content differences in the audio itself; the appeal here is purely the physical object and its provenance. The bilingual sticker, when present, is the key attribution marker, and copies without the sticker are harder to definitively pin as the Israeli pressing without examining the matrix etchings or label text closely. On Discogs, this pressing shows 159 collectors marking it as owned against 57 want-list entries, which reflects a reasonably active but not hyper-competitive market. That ratio suggests copies do surface with some regularity, but the condition spread is wide, and clean copies command attention when they appear. For context on the singles that feed into this compilation, the Love Me Two Times / Moonlight Drive single gives a sense of how those tracks were originally positioned before being folded into anthology releases like this one. Israeli pressings of major label rock from this era occupy a consistent niche in the collector market, appealing both to Doors specialists and to collectors focused on Middle Eastern pressings of Western rock generally.

This is a legitimate regional pressing with genuine collector interest, primarily for Doors completists chasing international variants of EKS-74079. It offers nothing unique in terms of audio content, but the bilingual sticker on surviving copies and the scarcity of Israeli rock pressings in high grade make it a worthwhile addition to a thorough collection. If you are building a complete international survey of Doors 13, this one belongs on your want list. Casual collectors are better served by more readily available pressings.