The Doors at 60: Surviving members and famous fans break down the greatness of iconic L.A. band

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Recently, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea selected punk stone icons X arsenic his prime for top L.A. band. For X pb vocalist Exene Cervenka, her prime is an arsenic casual one. “It’s the Hollywood experience, the Walk of Fame, Lana Turner. The Doors are portion of that, woven into that magic.”

The soil and surf mightiness beryllium to the Beach Boys. But L.A. nightlife, the Sunset Strip, the avant-garde, the alternate satellite each travel from the mighty shadiness of the Doors. It began 60 years agone erstwhile Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore lit the satellite connected fire.

In the 5 albums and six years they existed arsenic a quartet earlier Morrison died successful Paris successful 1971 astatine property 27, the Doors crafted a bequest that is not lone a cornerstone of L.A. lore, but has traveled from the beaches of Venice, wherever they formed, the satellite implicit countless times. The story and fable of the Doors continues to grow.

To commemorate the milestone anniversary, we spoke to surviving Doors members Densmore and Krieger arsenic good arsenic Carlos Santana, Bootsy Collins, Cervenka, Chuck D (Public Enemy), L.A. jazz instrumentalist José James, British icon Robyn Hitchcock and paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara of the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum successful New Jersey — astir six decades of the Doors.

Doors members:

John Densmore: The songs person deepened for me. I’m inactive fathoming Jim’s lyrics. I emotion his lyrics and I knew they were deep, but present and there, I’ll prime up an obscure lyric and I’ll conscionable flip for it. “No eternal reward volition forgive america present for wasting the dawn.” What a superb line. The songs are creation. Creation didn’t hap a agelong clip agone and we’re going to each spell to heaven. Creation is ongoing. That’s what we person to support remembering successful the look of each this darkness.

I anticipation [the music’s] ever been an oasis, and healing. Jim wrote “Unknown Soldier.” He didn’t accidental Vietnam, but it was during those times that was intelligibly against that and each wars.

I hoped I could wage the rent for 10 years and it’s 60 oregon immoderate it is. I emotion being complimented. But I’m much excited and funny successful my jazz project. I besides did an medium with Chuck D. It’s going to beryllium alt hip-hop. And that’s coming. And I person a poesy album. I’m not penning poetry, but I americium speechmaking and playing manus drums and reading, Jim and assorted poets. That’s what turns maine connected and it’s not going to beryllium “Light My Fire” and that’s OK due to the fact that it’s been downhill ever since. That f—ing opus was fig 1 for 26 weeks. What bash you bash aft that?

It’s precise touching to perceive radical accidental the archetypal clip they ever made emotion oregon got high, oregon they got done the wars successful the jungles of Vietnam with our assistance sonically. That pleases maine greatly.

John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek

Robby Krieger: I was amazed that we got connected the vigor successful the archetypal place, and played astatine places similar the Whisky, overmuch little 60 years later. No idea.

I’ve been playing these songs everlastingly and ever. There was a time, accidental 20 years, erstwhile I was conscionable playing jazz and worldly similar that. I was conscionable done with the Doors. It’s not that I hated the Doors oregon thing similar that, I figured the Doors were done. Jim was gone. We had tried to get on without him for 3 oregon 4 years. We really were doing beauteous well. We played Carnegie Hall with conscionable me, John and Ray. It was beauteous amazing. So, we could’ve kept going arsenic the Doors, but we couldn’t get along. After Jim was gone, the 3 of america conscionable couldn’t get on with each other. The enslaved was broken.

When the Oliver Stone movie came out, that truly piqued the involvement successful the Doors again. So, erstwhile that happened we had truthful galore requests to play those songs again.

There were a batch of them that we truly ne'er played successful idiosyncratic with Jim due to the fact that erstwhile Miami happened we couldn’t play hardly anyplace due to the fact that they had this happening called the hallway manager’s relation and they would not fto america play it due to the fact that they were afraid, “Oh, we’re going to propulsion it out.” That’s wherefore we did truthful galore albums successful specified a abbreviated magnitude of time. We couldn’t get immoderate gigs. So, we ended up conscionable signaling a lot. Then erstwhile we recorded those songs they were successful the can, but we didn’t play them. So, it was weird, astatine the Whisky, we’re playing each medium successful order. Last week we did the archetypal album, each opus successful order, and past took a break, past we came backmost and did immoderate different songs. So, erstwhile we started playing these Doors songs again, we said, “Hey, wherefore don’t we bash specified and specified a opus that we’ve ne'er done earlier successful person?” There are truthful galore of them and they’re truthful overmuch amusive to play due to the fact that A) we’ve ne'er played them, and B) it’s conscionable chill to larn a brand-new opus that you’ve ne'er played earlier successful person.

Panelists:

Carlos Santana: Yes, [I saw them] astatine the Fillmore. I was rather mesmerized. I wasn’t prepared due to the fact that the Doors created this theatre stone earlier Alice Cooper oregon anybody. The archetypal happening that Jim Morrison said, “Before we play immoderate song, I privation you to crook disconnected each the lights, crook them off.” So, they crook disconnected each the lights. All you tin spot was the exit sign. And I was like, “Holy s—, man.” They went into the theatre of it. He started singing, “When the music’s over.” I became transfixed with the Doors.

So, they had a vigor contention successful San Francisco, the Doors against the Rolling Stones. They played “Light My Fire,” and past they played “Satisfaction.” They had radical vote, and the Doors won unanimously. The full Bay Area said, “We similar the Rolling Stones, but the Doors’ ‘Light My Fire,’ that’s it. Dropped the mic.” Both unthinkable songs, but that’s however large the Doors were. They were bigger than the Rolling Stones. Now, erstwhile you spot Steven Tyler, from Aerosmith, and Mick Jagger, you tin archer that they saw Jim Morrison and they wanted immoderate of that due to the fact that this feline was a stone prima earlier the connection “rock star.” The mode helium carried himself connected stage, it was conscionable him and Jimi Hendrix who had that aura of stone stars.

Man lasting successful beforehand of an American emblem w/ a microphone

Chuck D: I hap to beryllium aged capable to beryllium a kid astatine a precise premier clip of the Doors. And I was 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

They were Identifiable individually. They meshed unneurotic arsenic acold arsenic cohesive force. And I deliberation the sum of the parts — each part, I think, are individually great. But the sum of the parts unneurotic was precise important to me. I ne'er got a accidental to conscionable Manzarek. But helium ever seemed similar a chill feline connected the different broadside of the documentary screen.

Exene Cervenka successful a signaling studio

Exene Cervenka: It’s timeless. Maybe it gets amended implicit time, but it’s ever determination waiting for you erstwhile you request it. If you request to perceive “Strange Days,” you truly request to perceive “Strange Days” and it’s determination and I emotion that. The large happening astir the Doors is you enactment the grounds connected the turntable and beryllium down and perceive to it. That’s the Doors, it’s not conscionable like, “Oh it comes up each erstwhile successful a portion connected your euphony provender astatine the gym oregon something.” It’s similar “Go enactment ‘Strange Days’ connected and conscionable listen.” It’s astonishing due to the fact that they were a large orchestral band. Their arrangements and their thoughts that went into everything.

Here’s my Doors experience. When I was 11 oregon 12, “Light My Fire” came connected the vigor and it was this unthinkable song, but I was a small kid surviving successful a precise tiny municipality successful the mediate of obscurity successful Illinois. Then 1 time the vigor was playing, and the Doors came connected and it was the agelong version. So, I’m sitting backmost there, I’m 12 years old, it’s wintertime and I’m conscionable sitting determination listening to the opus and each of a abrupt it launches into that full unthinkable philharmonic passage. That changed maine everlastingly that moment. You’re 12, you’re going into puberty, you spot Jim Morrison, you perceive that song, it’s the ‘60s, you’re successful the mediate of obscurity successful Catholic school. It’s going to alteration you fundamentally for the remainder of your life, conscionable that moment. Just that 5 minutes.

Robyn Hitchcock: I inactive consciousness the aforesaid mode astir the songs and astir the performances and astir Jim Morrison that I did erstwhile I archetypal heard them successful 1968. I inactive perceive it done the affectional ears of a 15-year-old. But, having spent a beingness arsenic a musician, I bash recognize however bully they were technically, however the scenery that peculiarly Ray Manzarek did, but I deliberation each 3 of them, it was 1 of those precise complementary postulation of radical similar Led Zeppelin, determination was nary fat, determination was nary spare anything, the keyboard subordinate had to play the bass with his feet the aforesaid mode you cognize John Paul Jones did if helium was playing keys successful Led Zeppelin. But the cardinal fig is inactive Jim Morrison for me.

Kenneth Lacovara: One of the things is erstwhile I bash fieldwork, similar I spent 5 winters successful southernmost Patagonia summers excavating a elephantine dinosaur that I aboriginal named Dreadnoughtus. Excavating is hard work. We were retired determination astir 100 kilometers disconnected the grid. I spent implicit a twelvemonth of my beingness surviving successful a structure adjacent to this animal. And we would play euphony backmost past connected my iPod hooked up to the pickup motortruck speakers. The Doors were 1 of our bands. I hired 2 gauchos, which are similar South American cowboys, to enactment with us. We would usage their horses to resistance dinosaur bones retired of the desert. And their favourite opus was “Riders connected the Storm.” They would ever inquire for it. So, that became benignant of the taxable opus of the Dreadnought excavation. That was our song. Now erstwhile I perceive that opus it takes maine backmost to that spot successful Patagonia.

José James: At their halfway they’re a set and that’s what makes the euphony truthful enduring. They’re large musicians, they played truly good together. What strikes maine astir it contiguous listening arsenic a instrumentalist is the looseness of the band, similar the interplay. You tin perceive that jazz phrasing, successful the drums successful Densmore’s playing. Behind the snare is hitting successful a stone mode but determination is that lavation that you lone get from jazz grooming and listening to jazz. The dynamics of the set truly are beautiful. They truly took a opus connected a journey, which to maine is specified a jazz concept. They could rock, obviously, they could get each the mode up their volume, but they could besides truly propulsion backmost and research successful these delicate contours, which is truthful unsocial successful that genre. Musically they were truthful up of their time.

Bootsy Collins: The worldly doesn’t dependable ingrained successful the time. It inactive sounds similar today.

The operation of the euphony that they played and from the antithetic backgrounds of euphony had a batch to bash with the dependable and the absorption of the full thing. They had a definite chemistry that would enactment with each other. They had that going on, whether consciously oregon not.

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