John Densmore: New Book to Preserve The Doors' Legacy

Doors' drummer details controversial trial in new book
13 hours ago • By Kevin C. Johnson / Pop music critic / [email protected]



[H]is 2013 book “The Doors: Unhinged,” which documents his battle with the estate of Jim Morrison vs. the Doors’ Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger.

Densmore...says he had to write the “The Doors: Unhinged” in response to fans who thought he was trying to ruin the Doors.

“...I was trying to preserve the legacy, not tear it down,” says Densmore....

The hubbub began after the surviving Doors were approached by Cadillac in 2002 with a $15 million contract that would include the use of a Doors song. Manzarek and Kreiger were for it; Densmore wasn’t.

“Jim had a spirit that was incapable of compromise. I couldn’t get Jim’s ghost out of my head,” he says.

Densmore says...it’s not the Doors without Morrison....

Densmore and Krieger are in the process of organizing an all-star show of Doors songs in tribute to Manzarek. The pair also got together about eight months ago for the screening of “Mr. Mojo Risin’: The Making of L.A. Woman,” where they played acoustically for 10 minutes.

“It was so sweet,” Densmore says. “All these years of struggles, and then there’s this music that’s in your blood that you’ve played 1,000 times. It only took us a minute to get back to the core of what it was.”

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Scott K Fish: Life Beyond the Cymbals

Hey Scott, you've got a great blog going there! Thanks for sharing. I've got it book marked at the top of my list!
Paul

Thank you, Big Foot.

I was reading this story about John Densmore, shaking my head in amazement. I first heard Mr. Densmore on the Doors' first album in 1967, and saw him with the Doors live one year later. That's 47 years ago! Yikes!

I've always liked Densmore's drumming. He always had a strong "jazz" feel to his playing. When I saw the Doors live at Westbury Music Fair, Long Island, NY, he was playing a 4-piece orange swirl Ludwig set. The same year and finish as this 5-piece set:



Best,
skf

Scott - thank you, these posts are great. I've bookmarked your blog as well. Have to find some time to read it all.

Scott K Fish said:

“Jim had a spirit that was incapable of compromise. I couldn’t get Jim’s ghost out of my head,” he says.

Densmore says...it’s not the Doors without Morrison....

Click to expand...

Hey Densmore, I got your ghost right here! It was certainly The Doors without Morrison back in the day, at least according to Elektra Records!

The Doors continued to record throughout 1973 as a trio, but after two albums it seemed they had exhausted the possibilities of a band without a commanding lead singer.

Read more:

I think John Densmore makes a valid point. As a major fan of The Doors, I was less than thrilled by their "Other Voices" LP. And I'm just learning today that there was a second trio album. Jim Morrison, as it turns out, was irreplaceable.

Best,
Scott K Fish

I sort of liked the Other Voices release.

Most if not all was written for Morrison.

Doesn't seem plausible? Well... Krieger wrote "Light My Fire" and in the Doors, no matter who wrote it, it always was written by "The Doors" - Morrison insisted on it.

The hubbub began after the surviving Doors were approached by Cadillac in 2002 with a $15 million contract that would include the use of a Doors song. Manzarek and Kreiger were for it; Densmore wasn’t.

Click to expand...

I believe the ghost of Morrison was talking, and it was saying "Brothers ♡, I give you fifteen million dollars."