John Densmore at a recent signing at Fingerprints in Long Beach, CA.
On April 17th
of 2013, John Densmore released his second book The Doors Unhinged: Jim
Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial recounting the drummer's legal battle with
the remaining members of The Doors over the use of trademark and his veto for
Cadillac to buy the rights to the Doors music. Densmore is not free of such sin
as the book opens to a very distraught Morrison cursing his other band members
for allowing Buick the rights to “Light My Fire” back in 1968. As Densmore
quickly explains, Morrison had a peculiar theory that a band should run like
the Three Musketeers, “All for one, and one for all.” This meant that all
members had equal share in the royalties, writing credit, and any member of the
band had the power to veto a decision. Morrison had such strong feelings on
this that he wanted the albums to feature all the band members and was quick to
correct reporters that it was “The Doors” not “Jim Morrison and The Doors.” So
to hear that the other band members had gone ahead and sold out, devastated Jim
Morrison and angered him to no end. Densmore describes Morrison's fervent anger
that he curses the other members of the band and demands counter suing Buick,
stating that at each show he'll beat a Buick car onstage for every show until
the deal was over.
This has been imprinted on
Densmore's mind and has since tried to keep the integrity of the Doors intact,
especially after the tragic death of Jim Morrison in 1971. That is not to say
that the drummer hasn't dabbled in the dark side since the golden years as he's
allowed"Riders on the Storm" to be used to sell Pirelli Tires in
England. Which he has later stated that he heard Jim's voice and that he
donated the royalties to charity.
In 2002, Densmore vetoed an
offer by Cadillac for $15 million for "Break on Through (To the Other
Side)" because of his strong views to conserve the environment. Later,
Densmore would butt heads with the other members of the band who wanted to go
out on tour as “The Doors of the 21st Century.” This is the center
piece of this book as it recalls the legal battle throughout intermission to
golden days of the Doors with various insights and commentaries throughout.
Even though Densmore won the case, he was disappointed in his fellow band
members who continued on as “Manzarek-Krieger” or sometimes “Ray Manzarek and
Robby Krieger of The Doors.” Since their disbandment in 1973, Densmore had
thought that it would honor Jim's memory, who died two years earlier, to leave
their legacy alone. There would be projects and tribute concerts here and there
but it would be in bad taste for the band to do it for the money, which is what
Densmore had accused of Manzarek of doing. Nevertheless, Densmore had denied
each and every invitation from his band members to participate in tours.
As the end of the book nears, it
appears that the relationship between each of the band members has been
deterred and strained. He ends a the book in the same way he ends his
autobiography Riders on the Storm, with a series of letters to his two
lost brothers, explaining what they were trying to do and why who took a stand
against them.
Since the book's release, one of
the band members, Ray Manzarek had succumbed to his long battle with bile duct
cancer and died at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany on May 20th,
2013 at the age of seventy-four. In response to his death, the author said
"There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support
Jim Morrison's words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was
like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to
float on top of. I will miss my musical brother." At a recent signing for
the book at Fingerprints in Long Beach, a fan had asked whether Densmore had
reconciled with Ray Manzarek before his death, in which his response was “Yeah,
I did, and I'm very grateful for that. We spent some time together. We both had
closure." Only Densmore knows the truth on this matter and it is not for
us to presume whether he said this to put the fans at ease after they had lost
another one of their heroes or it is indeed the truth.
The Doors Unhinged: Jim
Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial is a must for any fans of The Doors and anyone interested
in the integrity of music. The book is filled with wonderful insights into the
production of the Doors to the unfortunate litigation between the surviving
members of the band. There enough intermissions and humor throughout to read
this two-hundred-sixty-six page book one summer's weekend.
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