Post by tzinana on Aug 13, 2005 6:31:25 GMT
"Drummer beats a wild tattoo with the Doors"
By Bruce McClelland
The Arizona Daily Star
March 10, 1991
The truth from the drum stool.
This perspective on the legendary rock group the Doors is laid down by its drummer, John Densmore.
Densmore offers a descriptive and sometimes painful recollection of the '60s and early '70s when the Doors became the best-selling American rock group.
Each chapter has the title of a Doors song. The narrative is interspersed with personal letters written by Densmore to Jim Morrison since Morrison's death in 1971.
Morrison died in Paris at age 27 after a meteoric rise to fame. His death was attributed to fast living and drugs. Densmore calls him "Rock 'n' Roll's Dorian Gray."
Densmore's letters are filled with guilt and anxiety. It is as though Morrison, or his presence, is still with us, and Densmore is just bringing him up to speed.
Readers are made acutely aware of Morrison's charisma. The aura that surrounded Morrison and engulfed his audiences in no small way affected the band members.
Nearly 20 years after his death, Morrison is still alive in Densmore's mind and in his letters.
It hurts Densmore that he could do nothing to stem the tide of Morrison's emotional and physical decline. No member of the Doors ever confronted Morrison directly about his drug and lifestyle excesses.
The Doors were not only prisoners of their own fame, but of a decade when confronting people about their lifestyle or drug use was just not cool. Band members could not prevent Morrison's slide into darkness once it began.
Densmore once threatened to quit the band and eventually did for a short time. But the band members were young, in their early 20s, and just not equipped to handle their self-destructive lead singer.
Densmore fills in gaps about the band's origins and the musical influence of each member of the group. He tells how the four musicians met and how they clicked early on. He describes how they melded the dark lyrics of Morrison with his own otherworldly music and that of guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboard player Ray Manzarek.
The Doors music was not about peace and love, but about sex and death.
Densmore describes the joy of playing in a successful rock 'n' roll band and cautions about the pitfalls that success can bring.
Oddly enough, even with Morrison's death and the demise of the band, the Doors' music sold better throughout the '80s than it did in the '60s. Because each member was co-credited for song writing, the surviving members all share in the royalties.
"Riders on the Storm" has the dual effect of being a cautionary tale, yet an enjoyable read for those of us who lived through those turbulent and often violent times.
By Bruce McClelland
The Arizona Daily Star
March 10, 1991
The truth from the drum stool.
This perspective on the legendary rock group the Doors is laid down by its drummer, John Densmore.
Densmore offers a descriptive and sometimes painful recollection of the '60s and early '70s when the Doors became the best-selling American rock group.
Each chapter has the title of a Doors song. The narrative is interspersed with personal letters written by Densmore to Jim Morrison since Morrison's death in 1971.
Morrison died in Paris at age 27 after a meteoric rise to fame. His death was attributed to fast living and drugs. Densmore calls him "Rock 'n' Roll's Dorian Gray."
Densmore's letters are filled with guilt and anxiety. It is as though Morrison, or his presence, is still with us, and Densmore is just bringing him up to speed.
Readers are made acutely aware of Morrison's charisma. The aura that surrounded Morrison and engulfed his audiences in no small way affected the band members.
Nearly 20 years after his death, Morrison is still alive in Densmore's mind and in his letters.
It hurts Densmore that he could do nothing to stem the tide of Morrison's emotional and physical decline. No member of the Doors ever confronted Morrison directly about his drug and lifestyle excesses.
The Doors were not only prisoners of their own fame, but of a decade when confronting people about their lifestyle or drug use was just not cool. Band members could not prevent Morrison's slide into darkness once it began.
Densmore once threatened to quit the band and eventually did for a short time. But the band members were young, in their early 20s, and just not equipped to handle their self-destructive lead singer.
Densmore fills in gaps about the band's origins and the musical influence of each member of the group. He tells how the four musicians met and how they clicked early on. He describes how they melded the dark lyrics of Morrison with his own otherworldly music and that of guitarist Robby Krieger and keyboard player Ray Manzarek.
The Doors music was not about peace and love, but about sex and death.
Densmore describes the joy of playing in a successful rock 'n' roll band and cautions about the pitfalls that success can bring.
Oddly enough, even with Morrison's death and the demise of the band, the Doors' music sold better throughout the '80s than it did in the '60s. Because each member was co-credited for song writing, the surviving members all share in the royalties.
"Riders on the Storm" has the dual effect of being a cautionary tale, yet an enjoyable read for those of us who lived through those turbulent and often violent times.