We're sitting on a sofa in the control tower of studio one, Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood. Before us, on the other side of a huge picture window, engineer Bruce Botnick is setting up mikes and speakers. To the left, behind another window, in a dark cell of a room is Jim Morrison, waiting ...doing things with his mind.

Finally Bruce leaves the sound set, shutting off all the lights except for one row which borders right in front of Morrison's black window and a soft ball of red light clean across the room from the Doors' lead vocalist.

Bruce enters the control tower, and we're ready to launch into flight. Least, that's what we think. Paul Rothchild, the bearded producer, does a few switches and buttons, Bruce then speaks to Morrison, who tests the mikes with his famous "yeahh" grunts.

Then there's the music ... the instrumental version, of which alone could have been a Doors hit, and Jim Morrison begins singing "I Can't See Your Face In My Mind."

But it sounds awful. Morrison is coming in with a broken, warbled voice. From the control tower, Rothchild halts everything. He knows this won't get off the runway.

Bruce Botnick re-enters the sound stage, readjusts mikes and speakers and goes into Morrison's black window for a while. When he comes back out, he does some more redoing and is about ready to leave the runway when, over the mikes, Morrison asks him to shut off ALL the lights, save the red glow.

With this done, we sit in a dark control tower, looking at the blacker window in the left wall of the sound set which haunts itself in the soft darkness of the red ball. Then again, the already recorded instrumental comes on. This time the room fills with excitement as the rich voice of Jim Morrison rides over everything, loud and clear.

Wow! And, it keeps happening from here on, deep into the night as Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore keep weaving one magical blende after another. Sounds that turn us on, they redo and redo, never losing, but always adding to the spell. They keep at it, for that turn-on known as self-satisfaction. And then, when they finally have it in the can, there's still no telling when they'll want to take the trip over.

AIRPORT