The Doors The Lizard King

The Doors: The Lizard King is an unlicensed UK picture disc LP from 1993, issued with no label identification and no catalog number. The pressing carries a stated limitation of 500 copies, placing it firmly in the category of small-run bootleg picture discs that circulated through specialist dealers and record fairs during the early 1990s. The source material draws from three distinct performances: the Felt Forum show, two Matrix San Francisco dates from March 1967, and the Smothers Brothers television appearance. This is not to be confused with the follow-up release, The Lizard King (vol 2), which shares the series name but differs in content and pressing details.

The disc itself is the entire package here; there is no sleeve, no insert, and no inner bag included with this release. Both sides carry identical artwork and identical printed track listings, which is either a production shortcut or an intentional design choice depending on how generously you read it. The photo used across the disc is a close-up portrait of Jim Morrison, rendered in cold blue and teal tones with a slightly washed-out quality. Morrison's face dominates the lower two-thirds of the disc, his dark hair falling loosely around his face, his expression direct and unguarded. The image has the feel of a candid or semi-candid late-1960s photograph, the colors muted and the contrast fairly flat, giving the whole disc a moody, nocturnal quality that suits the source material. At the top of the disc, the band name and title appear in white text: THE DOORS in bold block capitals, with THE LIZARD KING beneath it in a slightly more stylized italic font. The track listing is printed directly onto the disc surface in small white text on the left side, laid out as Side A with seven tracks including run times. On the right side, the Side B breakdown lists the Smothers Brothers Show and the two Matrix San Francisco dates. The phrase LIMITED EDITION OF 500 appears in small caps near the lower right of the disc face. The print quality is serviceable but not refined; the text is legible under decent light but the small sizing means you are squinting at track times in anything less than ideal conditions. The pressing itself shows the typical characteristics of early-1990s UK bootleg picture discs: the image laminate is adequate, the disc edges are reasonably clean, and the overall construction is sturdy enough for careful handling. Playback quality on picture discs of this type is generally noisier than standard black vinyl, and this one is unlikely to be an exception.

The content here pulls from three well-documented but historically significant sources. The Felt Forum material gives the disc its first side, with seven tracks running from Touch Me through Orange County Suite. The Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden was a regular stop for the band, and recordings from those shows have appeared across numerous bootleg configurations over the years. Collectors familiar with the Archives series or the The Riot Show will recognize the general pool of live source material this disc draws from. The Side B content shifts to the Matrix in San Francisco, with recordings dated March 10 and March 7, 1967, two early performances that predate the band's commercial breakthrough and capture a rawer, club-level version of the group. The Smothers Brothers television performance rounds out Side B, and collectors looking for more from that era of Doors television appearances might also cross-reference Television 1968 for related broadcast material. The Discogs data lists Side B as Celebration Of The Lizard rather than the individual Matrix and Smothers Brothers breakdown shown in the printed track listing on the disc itself, suggesting some inconsistency between catalog records and the physical object. With 27 collectors logging ownership and 46 wanting it on Discogs, demand meaningfully outpaces supply, which is consistent with a genuine 500-copy limitation. That said, verification of the exact print run on unlicensed releases of this type is always difficult, and the stated number should be treated as the producer's claim rather than a confirmed fact. No equivalent picture disc pressing of this specific track configuration appears to exist, making it the only option for collectors who want this particular combination of sources on picture disc vinyl. The The Lizard King (vol 2) variant covers different ground and should not be treated as a substitute.

At 500 copies pressed, with a want-to-have ratio on Discogs that reflects genuine collector interest, this UK picture disc is a legitimately scarce item. The production is rough by any objective standard, both sides carry the same artwork, and it comes with no sleeve or inserts. None of that changes the fact that it is a small-run unlicensed pressing from 1993 with a specific combination of live and broadcast sources that does not duplicate other releases in an obvious way. If the Matrix 1967 recordings and the Smothers Brothers material are gaps in your collection, this is a targeted acquisition worth pursuing when one surfaces at a fair price.