Post by darkstar3 on Jan 17, 2011 1:16:25 GMT
Jim Morrison's Dead, but The Doors Live On
Vancouver Sun
November 22, 2010
By JOHN MACKIE
VANCOUVER -- Jim Morrison died in 1971, but nearly four decades later his band, The Doors, is as popular as ever. The quartet are a staple of classic rock radio, and continue to sell product by the truckload: Each of the seven albums the band released while Morrison was alive has sold several million copies.
Record companies have done their bit to keep Jimbo the Lizard King by releasing a steady stream of hits and rarities compilations (21 are listed on Wikipedia). There has also been a torrent of live albums released from gigs in L.A., Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh and Boston (18 to date).
Next up: The Doors Live in Vancouver, 1970, a double CD of the band’s show at the Pacific Coliseum on June 6, 1970, which is being released Nov. 23 by Rhino records.
Keyboard player Ray Manzarek says the band was “on a creative high” that night, which meant the songs are longer than usual because everybody was improvising (Light My Fire is 17 minutes and 55 seconds long).
Why were they in such a good mood? Because blues great Albert King was the opening act, and got up to jam with the Doors on four blues-rock standards: Little Red Rooster, Money, Rock Me and Who Do You Love.
“We played dark and deep and funky,” Manzarek, 71, recalled over the phone from his home in Napa Valley, Calif.
“Morrison was just transfixed by Albert King’s manual dexterity and adroitness on the guitar, so he was in blues-boy heaven. We were all blues boys, we had all gone to the south side of Chicago, which appeared magically in Vancouver, Canada. And we’re playing the blues, we’re a blues band on the south side of Chicago playing with Albert King.”
Manzarek said The Doors loved playing Vancouver, a counterculture hot spot that was viewed as a “safety net” by young Americans at odds with their country’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
“It was the West Coast escape centre [for draft dodgers],” he said. “It was like the Civil War and the underground railroad, moving people up from the south to the north. That’s where people were going, to Vancouver.
“So you knew when you played Vancouver it was going to be a great audience, there was going to be a lot of pot in the air, and there’d probably be a lot of expats, American expatriates, in the audience. That’s the way it seemed when we played there.”
Manzarek still loves Vancouver, in fact.
“In all honesty, Sarah Palin gets elected in 2012, Ray and Dorothy Manzarek escape to Vancouver,” Manzarek said.
“We’re getting out, man. We’ll keep the property here in Napa, but until she’s out of office, we’re going to go up and eat a lot of salmon and Chinese food and all the other great stuff you guys have up there in Vancouver.
“It’s a fabulous city. And it doesn’t snow! It snows outside of Vancouver, but it doesn’t snow [in the city]. For us California people, we can handle the weather there, because it’s so close to the ocean. And it’s so civilized, you guys are so damn civilized.”
But back to the record. The show was recorded by the band’s road manager, and the recording isn’t perfect: At times, Morrison’s vocals are a bit distorted. But Doors fans will be thrilled to hear his blood-curdling scream in the middle of When The Music’s Over, the interplay of King and Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, and Manzarek improvising like mad on the organ.
Morrison seems to be on his best behaviour, a far cry from some of his other shows.
Asked what the wildest thing he ever saw Morrison do, Manzarek laughs.
“What was the wildest thing? I’m not telling you! Are you kidding? How about Miami, let’s go with Miami (where Morrison exposed himself to the audience in 1969). The man could eventually have gone to jail for that performance. Can you imagine that? They were going to put him in jail for Miami.”
In fact, Morrison was sentenced to six months in jail for his Miami hijinks, and was out on bail when he died in Paris on July 3, 1971. Manzarek has probably talked about the Miami show thousands of times, but still gets worked up discussing Morrison’s legal troubles.
“[He was] scared. Scared [bleepless], man. We were all scared [bleepless]. He was going to go to jail. To jail! ‘What did I do?’ ‘Well, you performed an obscene act in public.’ ‘What was obscene?’ ‘You whipped out that thing.’
“And there were no photos. There were a hundred photos offered in evidence, and not a single photo of that magnificent [body part].”
He laughed.
“What, did people stop taking photos all of a sudden? Fourteen thousand people went ‘Oh! My God, look at it! It’s there! It’s alive!’ It was odd. There were photos of everything else, the riots, Jim with the lamb, all offered in evidence, and not a single photo of exposure. And yet he was found guilty of that charge [indecent exposure]. He was found guilty of two charges. One was obscenity, open profanity: ‘Oh my God, he used the f-word at a concert! How horrible, he must be put in jail for that!’ And he exposed himself publicly.
“Each one of those was a three-month sentence. Wouldn’t you think that public exposure would be a lot longer? But they were equal sentences, three months apiece.”
Are there more live albums in the pipeline? Manzarek won’t say. But he is still keeping a busy schedule as a musician. He toured the States and Europe with Krieger this summer, and is gigging with blues guitarist Roy Rogers. Resting on his laurels is the last thing on his mind.
“Why? My fingers still work, my brain still works. I’m strong and healthy, eat good food, and I love to play music. People have said to me ‘Why do you do this, Ray?’
“What am I going to do, just sit around?”
www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Morrison+dead+Doors+live/3868338/story.html#ixzz1BFc3yIVk
Vancouver Sun
November 22, 2010
By JOHN MACKIE
VANCOUVER -- Jim Morrison died in 1971, but nearly four decades later his band, The Doors, is as popular as ever. The quartet are a staple of classic rock radio, and continue to sell product by the truckload: Each of the seven albums the band released while Morrison was alive has sold several million copies.
Record companies have done their bit to keep Jimbo the Lizard King by releasing a steady stream of hits and rarities compilations (21 are listed on Wikipedia). There has also been a torrent of live albums released from gigs in L.A., Detroit, New York, Pittsburgh and Boston (18 to date).
Next up: The Doors Live in Vancouver, 1970, a double CD of the band’s show at the Pacific Coliseum on June 6, 1970, which is being released Nov. 23 by Rhino records.
Keyboard player Ray Manzarek says the band was “on a creative high” that night, which meant the songs are longer than usual because everybody was improvising (Light My Fire is 17 minutes and 55 seconds long).
Why were they in such a good mood? Because blues great Albert King was the opening act, and got up to jam with the Doors on four blues-rock standards: Little Red Rooster, Money, Rock Me and Who Do You Love.
“We played dark and deep and funky,” Manzarek, 71, recalled over the phone from his home in Napa Valley, Calif.
“Morrison was just transfixed by Albert King’s manual dexterity and adroitness on the guitar, so he was in blues-boy heaven. We were all blues boys, we had all gone to the south side of Chicago, which appeared magically in Vancouver, Canada. And we’re playing the blues, we’re a blues band on the south side of Chicago playing with Albert King.”
Manzarek said The Doors loved playing Vancouver, a counterculture hot spot that was viewed as a “safety net” by young Americans at odds with their country’s involvement in the Vietnam War.
“It was the West Coast escape centre [for draft dodgers],” he said. “It was like the Civil War and the underground railroad, moving people up from the south to the north. That’s where people were going, to Vancouver.
“So you knew when you played Vancouver it was going to be a great audience, there was going to be a lot of pot in the air, and there’d probably be a lot of expats, American expatriates, in the audience. That’s the way it seemed when we played there.”
Manzarek still loves Vancouver, in fact.
“In all honesty, Sarah Palin gets elected in 2012, Ray and Dorothy Manzarek escape to Vancouver,” Manzarek said.
“We’re getting out, man. We’ll keep the property here in Napa, but until she’s out of office, we’re going to go up and eat a lot of salmon and Chinese food and all the other great stuff you guys have up there in Vancouver.
“It’s a fabulous city. And it doesn’t snow! It snows outside of Vancouver, but it doesn’t snow [in the city]. For us California people, we can handle the weather there, because it’s so close to the ocean. And it’s so civilized, you guys are so damn civilized.”
But back to the record. The show was recorded by the band’s road manager, and the recording isn’t perfect: At times, Morrison’s vocals are a bit distorted. But Doors fans will be thrilled to hear his blood-curdling scream in the middle of When The Music’s Over, the interplay of King and Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, and Manzarek improvising like mad on the organ.
Morrison seems to be on his best behaviour, a far cry from some of his other shows.
Asked what the wildest thing he ever saw Morrison do, Manzarek laughs.
“What was the wildest thing? I’m not telling you! Are you kidding? How about Miami, let’s go with Miami (where Morrison exposed himself to the audience in 1969). The man could eventually have gone to jail for that performance. Can you imagine that? They were going to put him in jail for Miami.”
In fact, Morrison was sentenced to six months in jail for his Miami hijinks, and was out on bail when he died in Paris on July 3, 1971. Manzarek has probably talked about the Miami show thousands of times, but still gets worked up discussing Morrison’s legal troubles.
“[He was] scared. Scared [bleepless], man. We were all scared [bleepless]. He was going to go to jail. To jail! ‘What did I do?’ ‘Well, you performed an obscene act in public.’ ‘What was obscene?’ ‘You whipped out that thing.’
“And there were no photos. There were a hundred photos offered in evidence, and not a single photo of that magnificent [body part].”
He laughed.
“What, did people stop taking photos all of a sudden? Fourteen thousand people went ‘Oh! My God, look at it! It’s there! It’s alive!’ It was odd. There were photos of everything else, the riots, Jim with the lamb, all offered in evidence, and not a single photo of exposure. And yet he was found guilty of that charge [indecent exposure]. He was found guilty of two charges. One was obscenity, open profanity: ‘Oh my God, he used the f-word at a concert! How horrible, he must be put in jail for that!’ And he exposed himself publicly.
“Each one of those was a three-month sentence. Wouldn’t you think that public exposure would be a lot longer? But they were equal sentences, three months apiece.”
Are there more live albums in the pipeline? Manzarek won’t say. But he is still keeping a busy schedule as a musician. He toured the States and Europe with Krieger this summer, and is gigging with blues guitarist Roy Rogers. Resting on his laurels is the last thing on his mind.
“Why? My fingers still work, my brain still works. I’m strong and healthy, eat good food, and I love to play music. People have said to me ‘Why do you do this, Ray?’
“What am I going to do, just sit around?”
www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Morrison+dead+Doors+live/3868338/story.html#ixzz1BFc3yIVk