 The Doors had achieved commercial and critical success by 1969 , but for much of that year , they were blacklisted from radio playlists and their concert bookings dwindled , after singer Jim Morrison had been charged with profanity and indecent exposure stemming from a concert in Miami , Florida , on March 1 . Promoters feared another episode like this . Morrison , who craved recognition as a serious poet and had also begun dabbling in film , had mentioned leaving the group at the end of 1968 , only to be convinced by keyboardist Ray Manzarek to stay on another six months . On September 20 , 1970 , Morrison was convicted for the Miami incident . In a 1971 interview with Ben Fong @-@ Torres , Morrison said of Miami , " I think subconsciously I was trying to get across in that concert , I was trying to reduce it to absurdity . And it worked too well . " 
