Post by darkstar on Feb 7, 2005 12:13:00 GMT
'Jammin' with The DOORS" Jessa Lynn & Lee Kidd at Smith Baker Hall,
Lowell, Massachusetts October 2, 1993
[excerpted from SQUAWK Magazine,Issue #54]
Jessa: We've just heard this great concert with Ray Manzarek and
Michael McClure at Smith Baker Center for the Jack Kerouac Festival
in Lowell. During the performance you mentioned how Kerouac
influenced you. Could you elaborate on that, Ray?
Ray: Sheez, I dug Kerouac, who as a Beat, wrote about freedom, and
being out there in free space--beyond the dictates of the prevailing
myth of the last 2,000 years. Besides, the Beats looked and sounded
like they were having lots of fun, and girls liked them. I thought
it would be a great way to meet and make it with girls. Now the
whole Beat consciousness and resulting Beatnik scene is taking over
America again, it's happening all over the place.
Lee: I was also impressed by your blues riffs tonight. It's the
first time I've ever heard you play like that.
Jessa: Yes, with that boogie-woogie mix.
Ray: That's from my growing up on the South Side of Chicago, around
5th &Western Ave.
Jessa: How did The Doors evolve?
Ray: After graduating from UCLA in '65, Jim wanted to go to New York
City. I thought that was too bad because we'd just started hanging
out. He was a good guy. Two months later, I was sitting on the sand
of Venice Beach, thinking about what to do with my master's
degree...and who should come walking along; down to 135 lbs., he'd
lost 30 lbs. but James Douglas Morrison, looking hard, lean, and
mean. I said, "Hey, Jim, is that you!?" He came over, and
said, "I've decided to stay here and have been writing some songs."
So I asked him to sing me one.
When Jim sang "Moonlight Drive," "Let's swim to the moon, let's
climb through the tide, penetrate the evening that the city sleeps
to hide." I said, "Incredible! Do you have any more like these?" He
did a couple of others, and I said, "These are the best rock lyrics
I've ever heard. Let's get a rock n' roll band together."
Even now, when I listen to our "Strange Days," I enjoy our music
from those Doors' days, with Jim's poetry and voice. We had the
blending of a classical pianist, a jazz drummer, flamenco guitarist,
and a poet. It was a brilliant combination of high quality, yet
disparate elements, with people from different parts of the country--
two from California, one from Chicago, and one from Florida--all
coming together on the West Coast in the sixties. It's become one of
the great American myths.
Lee: Do you think The Doors were inspired as much by poetry as by
music? I mean that Morrison, at his best, liked poetry, but do you
feel that the Beats were really a big influence on him?
Ray: Yes, The Doors got together to do poetry and rock n'roll. We
first considered doing poetry and jazz; that cool West Coast jazz,
like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. But then we decided to do it
with rock n' roll and the psychedelic fusion that nobody was doing
lyrically then. The Beatles were still kind of a teeny-bopper band,
with "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." They hadn't gone psychedelic
yet. The Rolling Stones had just begun to venture into Chicago-style
blues, which was nothing new for me from growing up there on the
South Side.
Lee: Then your mutual regard for poetry and poetic expression really
did have an influence in bringing you together?
Ray: Yes, absolutely, I admired Morrison's words. I thought they
were just fabulous words for rock n' roll. I'd even say that Jim
Morrison is one of the best poets of his generation; if not THE
best. There's a battle between Dylan and Morrison. It depends on
whether you're a Freudian or a Jungian, whether you're cosmically
conscious, or still beholden to the prevailing myth of the last
3,500 years. I personally think Morrison is the better poet; more to
my liking anyway--more Jungian and cosmically conscious.
Jessa: It also sounds like you've also been influenced by the
philosophy of Buddhism.
Lee: We all jumped and shouted when you said you're having fun doing
this. But tell us again: why are you doing what you do?
Ray: To kill some time before it kills me. Fuckin' time is going to
kill every damn one of us. So in the meantime, I'm going to kill
some time. And I'm going to have a hell of a good time doing it!
You've got to get into that place where the darkness lives, look it
in the face, and say, "Gosh, I don't know if I'm going to come back,
but I'm going to confront the demons, the madness, and the fears
within me."
There's no reason to be afraid. Each of us is a divine creation on
the planet, and the planet is here for us. People are over-reacting
to everything, consuming things, shooting each other with gang
warfare. It's all because of fear. Don't be afraid.
After all, what's the worst thing that can happen to you? The worst
thing that can happen is you die. What happens when you die? Well,
that's what we humans gotta find. I propose that what happens when
you die is that you emerge. You merge into the energy of the
universe, into the energy of light. It's the most wonderful place to
be--full of energy, light, life.
Lee: It sounds like you're upbeat.
Ray: Yes, of course, it's very upbeat. There's always hope for the
New Age that's coming. I'm talking about the astrological age. We're
leaving the Age of Pisces with the sign of the Fish, and coming into
Aquarius, the sign of the Water-Bearer. This will result in a
drastic changes on earth.
No matter what the fascists do, they can't stop the New Age from
coming. No matter how they try to squash it, Consciousness will
rise. Kundalini or serpent power, and Goddess power is going to rise
all over the globe and transform us. Hopefully, women will be able
to instill in their men a deep confidence in love, so that the men
can make love, not war. It's up to the women because men are
basically beasts!
Lee: We see the Beats as our spiritual ancestors. We shouldn't worry
so much about labels, but just go on and do our own scene. We need
to define what's happening for us now in the nineties.
Ray: Yes, it's certainly true that the whole Beatnik consciousness
is sweeping America as we speak, and the celebration of Beat poetry
is happening all over. As far as I can see it, there's only one of
two directions it can go--either artistic, spiritual, feminine
consciousness-raising for men and women, where peace and love
prevail on the earth--or just the opposite.
Yet they continue to cut down the forests. The men in power feel
like they have cut down all the trees. It's like they want to
convert the planet into a bone. In the Pacific Northwest, for
example, they're really going after the old timber. They want to get
that hard, solid, old-growth wood.
Lee: Actually what's been happening around here in New England--just
to bring up the irony--is the forests are coming back. In Emerson's
time, this land was all cleared for farming. Now after 150 years,
the forests are creeping back. Being from the West Virginia-Ohio
region, I've noticed that possums didn't exist in this part of the
country until about fifteen years ago. They couldn't come this far
East because they travel through the woods. Now there's possums
every friggin' place you look. So all of this re-foresting is
happening at the exact same time that the woods are being cut down
somewhere else.
Ray: That's great! It's so easy to give up. Of course, the trees can
reseed themselves. We're entering a New Age, and it's up to us to
create it. It's our responsibility. We're the heralds of the light!
[exits whistling: "Break On Thru to the Other Side."]
Source: www.angelfire.com/music/squawk/manz.html
Lowell, Massachusetts October 2, 1993
[excerpted from SQUAWK Magazine,Issue #54]
Jessa: We've just heard this great concert with Ray Manzarek and
Michael McClure at Smith Baker Center for the Jack Kerouac Festival
in Lowell. During the performance you mentioned how Kerouac
influenced you. Could you elaborate on that, Ray?
Ray: Sheez, I dug Kerouac, who as a Beat, wrote about freedom, and
being out there in free space--beyond the dictates of the prevailing
myth of the last 2,000 years. Besides, the Beats looked and sounded
like they were having lots of fun, and girls liked them. I thought
it would be a great way to meet and make it with girls. Now the
whole Beat consciousness and resulting Beatnik scene is taking over
America again, it's happening all over the place.
Lee: I was also impressed by your blues riffs tonight. It's the
first time I've ever heard you play like that.
Jessa: Yes, with that boogie-woogie mix.
Ray: That's from my growing up on the South Side of Chicago, around
5th &Western Ave.
Jessa: How did The Doors evolve?
Ray: After graduating from UCLA in '65, Jim wanted to go to New York
City. I thought that was too bad because we'd just started hanging
out. He was a good guy. Two months later, I was sitting on the sand
of Venice Beach, thinking about what to do with my master's
degree...and who should come walking along; down to 135 lbs., he'd
lost 30 lbs. but James Douglas Morrison, looking hard, lean, and
mean. I said, "Hey, Jim, is that you!?" He came over, and
said, "I've decided to stay here and have been writing some songs."
So I asked him to sing me one.
When Jim sang "Moonlight Drive," "Let's swim to the moon, let's
climb through the tide, penetrate the evening that the city sleeps
to hide." I said, "Incredible! Do you have any more like these?" He
did a couple of others, and I said, "These are the best rock lyrics
I've ever heard. Let's get a rock n' roll band together."
Even now, when I listen to our "Strange Days," I enjoy our music
from those Doors' days, with Jim's poetry and voice. We had the
blending of a classical pianist, a jazz drummer, flamenco guitarist,
and a poet. It was a brilliant combination of high quality, yet
disparate elements, with people from different parts of the country--
two from California, one from Chicago, and one from Florida--all
coming together on the West Coast in the sixties. It's become one of
the great American myths.
Lee: Do you think The Doors were inspired as much by poetry as by
music? I mean that Morrison, at his best, liked poetry, but do you
feel that the Beats were really a big influence on him?
Ray: Yes, The Doors got together to do poetry and rock n'roll. We
first considered doing poetry and jazz; that cool West Coast jazz,
like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. But then we decided to do it
with rock n' roll and the psychedelic fusion that nobody was doing
lyrically then. The Beatles were still kind of a teeny-bopper band,
with "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." They hadn't gone psychedelic
yet. The Rolling Stones had just begun to venture into Chicago-style
blues, which was nothing new for me from growing up there on the
South Side.
Lee: Then your mutual regard for poetry and poetic expression really
did have an influence in bringing you together?
Ray: Yes, absolutely, I admired Morrison's words. I thought they
were just fabulous words for rock n' roll. I'd even say that Jim
Morrison is one of the best poets of his generation; if not THE
best. There's a battle between Dylan and Morrison. It depends on
whether you're a Freudian or a Jungian, whether you're cosmically
conscious, or still beholden to the prevailing myth of the last
3,500 years. I personally think Morrison is the better poet; more to
my liking anyway--more Jungian and cosmically conscious.
Jessa: It also sounds like you've also been influenced by the
philosophy of Buddhism.
Lee: We all jumped and shouted when you said you're having fun doing
this. But tell us again: why are you doing what you do?
Ray: To kill some time before it kills me. Fuckin' time is going to
kill every damn one of us. So in the meantime, I'm going to kill
some time. And I'm going to have a hell of a good time doing it!
You've got to get into that place where the darkness lives, look it
in the face, and say, "Gosh, I don't know if I'm going to come back,
but I'm going to confront the demons, the madness, and the fears
within me."
There's no reason to be afraid. Each of us is a divine creation on
the planet, and the planet is here for us. People are over-reacting
to everything, consuming things, shooting each other with gang
warfare. It's all because of fear. Don't be afraid.
After all, what's the worst thing that can happen to you? The worst
thing that can happen is you die. What happens when you die? Well,
that's what we humans gotta find. I propose that what happens when
you die is that you emerge. You merge into the energy of the
universe, into the energy of light. It's the most wonderful place to
be--full of energy, light, life.
Lee: It sounds like you're upbeat.
Ray: Yes, of course, it's very upbeat. There's always hope for the
New Age that's coming. I'm talking about the astrological age. We're
leaving the Age of Pisces with the sign of the Fish, and coming into
Aquarius, the sign of the Water-Bearer. This will result in a
drastic changes on earth.
No matter what the fascists do, they can't stop the New Age from
coming. No matter how they try to squash it, Consciousness will
rise. Kundalini or serpent power, and Goddess power is going to rise
all over the globe and transform us. Hopefully, women will be able
to instill in their men a deep confidence in love, so that the men
can make love, not war. It's up to the women because men are
basically beasts!
Lee: We see the Beats as our spiritual ancestors. We shouldn't worry
so much about labels, but just go on and do our own scene. We need
to define what's happening for us now in the nineties.
Ray: Yes, it's certainly true that the whole Beatnik consciousness
is sweeping America as we speak, and the celebration of Beat poetry
is happening all over. As far as I can see it, there's only one of
two directions it can go--either artistic, spiritual, feminine
consciousness-raising for men and women, where peace and love
prevail on the earth--or just the opposite.
Yet they continue to cut down the forests. The men in power feel
like they have cut down all the trees. It's like they want to
convert the planet into a bone. In the Pacific Northwest, for
example, they're really going after the old timber. They want to get
that hard, solid, old-growth wood.
Lee: Actually what's been happening around here in New England--just
to bring up the irony--is the forests are coming back. In Emerson's
time, this land was all cleared for farming. Now after 150 years,
the forests are creeping back. Being from the West Virginia-Ohio
region, I've noticed that possums didn't exist in this part of the
country until about fifteen years ago. They couldn't come this far
East because they travel through the woods. Now there's possums
every friggin' place you look. So all of this re-foresting is
happening at the exact same time that the woods are being cut down
somewhere else.
Ray: That's great! It's so easy to give up. Of course, the trees can
reseed themselves. We're entering a New Age, and it's up to us to
create it. It's our responsibility. We're the heralds of the light!
[exits whistling: "Break On Thru to the Other Side."]
Source: www.angelfire.com/music/squawk/manz.html