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New
Haven Register, April 28, 2003
Strange days, indeed
Three decades later, a reincarnation of The Doors
Fran Fried
The
big question isn't why Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger have revived
The Doors without the band's focal point. After all, they recorded
two albums and carried on for 16 months after the death of singer
Jim Morrison in July 1971. As what's being billed as The Doors 21st
Century pulls into Wallingford's Oakdale Theatre for a show tonight,
the big question is: Why now?
There have been other times when it would have
made more sense – say, the late '70s, when Doorsmania inexplicably
erupted (hallmarked by the Rolling Stone Morrison cover: "He's
Hot. He's Sexy. He's Dead."); or perhaps in 1991, when Oliver
Stone's film "The Doors" came out, starring Val Kilmer
as Morrison.
"Why now? Because it's the 21st century,"
said Manzarek, the band's keyboardist, from his Los Angeles home
two weeks ago. "The Doors were not going to get together in
the 20th century. But there's wars going on and the economy is going
down the drain and the environment is being threatened ... it's
like the '60s all over again." Besides, he added, "In
'91, it would have been clever to capitalize on the movie. But who
would we have gotten to sing?" You could hear the sneer. "Vallll – Kilmer?"
The singer this time is Ian Astbury, longtime
leader of English band The Cult. He hooked up with Manzarek and
guitarist Krieger at a "VH-1 Storytellers" session last
year, at which they also played with Scott Stapp of Creed and Scott
Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. The TV show was, in fact, the reason
Manzarek and Krieger's fire was lit to reunite. "Ian just did
a bangup job," Manzarek said. Shortly after, Harley-Davidson
called Krieger, asking them to play the company's 100th-anniversary
concerts. "We said, 'Let's get Ian,'" said Manzarek. "The
Cult was breaking up, the timing was right – BOOM! That was it."
Astbury has dark, brooding features like Morrison
did, but his voice is different – a top-of-the-lungs delivery compared
to Morrison's raw yell from the middle of his gut. Well, don't expect
another Morrison, Manzarek said; they weren't trying to mimic him.
"He's got that touch of the shaman to him," said Manzarek.
"He's not Jim Morrison, but some people say he's channeling
him. He's into the same things Jim was into: American Indians, spirituality,
that sorta black Celtic thing Morrison had going. (But) it's not
Jim Morrison. It's Ian singing. It's his interpretation of Doors
songs."
As it turned out, getting the drummer turned out
to be the tricky part. Manzarek and Krieger currently have not one,
but two lawsuits to eventually contend with. Original drummer John
Densmore sued the band for copyright infringement and breach of
contract. Then, former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, who played
a few shows with them last year, sued for $1 million because he
said the band broke an oral contract with him when they decided
to continue without him. Meanwhile, this version of The Doors carries
on with drummer Ty Dennis and bassist Angelo Barbera. (The bassist
is a new twist; in the "classic" days, Manzarek played
the bass parts on the keyboard.)
"That's nuisance lawsuits," said Manzarek.
"That's a couple of drummers having a hissy fit. Stewart is
having a hissy fit; John is having a hissy fit. We don't take it
real seriously. It's drummers having semi-hysterical reactions.
Stewart we decided against because he didn't have the mystery. John,
there was talk of a pre-existing medical condition I don't want
to talk about. (He did mention tinnitus to Dave Ferman of the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram.) Besides, I don't think he could play two hours
of solid rock 'n' roll. And John's always been at sixes-and-nines
with us, always being contrary."
But to The Doors' credit, this isn't going to
be just a jukebox show of everything you've heard ad nauseum on
"rock" radio the past 35 years. Of course, you'll hear
Light My Fire (which was written by Krieger), Roadhouse
Blues, Break On Through, etc. There will also be an unexpected
rarity, such as Maggie M'Gill. But the group will also play
some new material as well.
Manzarek and Krieger are writing the music for
an album to be released later this year; the lyrics are being written
by an array of people, including poets Jim Carroll and Michael McClure,
and singers Henry Rollins and John Doe (whose 1979 debut album with
the band X, LOS ANGELES, was produced by Manzarek and included a
version of The Doors' Soul Kitchen).
But there will always be the piercing eyes of
the young, adventurous, self-destructive Morrison lurking in the
background. "It's a dionysian resurrection," said Manzarek,
64, referring to Dionysus, the dying-and-resurrecting god of ancient
Greece. "Dionysus resurrects himself every spring. Morrison
was Dionysus, man, in an American guise."
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