Doors [50Th Anniversary Remastered Edition] [1Cd]

Overview

The Doors are rock royalty. Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore reinvented rock 'n' roll in the 60s, and their influence can be felt even today. Now, for the first time, the living members of the band are opening up their personal archives to their fans, telling their story in their own words. This book is filled with untold anecdotes and never-before-seen photos from their private collections. Fans can learn first-hand what really went on in America's most enigmatic and mythical band.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	0081227934422
Publisher:	WARNER/ELEKTRA/ATLANTIC CORP
Publication date:	06/02/2017
Sales rank:	1,706
Product dimensions:	4.92(w) x 0.21(h) x 5.60(d)

Editorial Reviews

A tremendous debut album, and indeed one of the best first-time outings in rock history, introducing the band's fusion of rock, blues, classical, jazz, and poetry with a knockout punch. The lean, spidery guitar and organ riffs interweave with a hypnotic menace, providing a seductive backdrop for Jim Morrison's captivating vocals and probing prose. "Light My Fire" was the cut that topped the charts and established the group as stars, but most of the rest of the album is just as impressive, including some of their best songs: the propulsive "Break on Through" (their first single), the beguiling mystery of "The Crystal Ship," the mysterious "End of the Night," "Take It as It Comes" (one of several tunes besides "Light My Fire" that also had hit potential), and the stomping rock of "Soul Kitchen" and "Twentieth Century Fox." The 11-minute Oedipal drama "The End" was the group at its most daring and, some would contend, overambitious. It was nonetheless a haunting cap to an album whose nonstop melodicism and dynamic tension would never be equaled by the group again, let alone bettered.

L.A.'s answer to the British Invasion, the Doors burned brightly, burned out and left behind a clouded legacy. The continued fascination with the band has everything to do with Jim Morrison, of course, the charismatic singer who died young. Talented, inconsistent and a raging alcoholic, Morrison intentionally tried to channel the contradictory energies of the era and became its shaman stud. In this photo-rich volume, longtime music writer and former Rolling Stone editor Fong-Torres has expertly woven together a narrative from interviews with the band members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore as well as Morrison's family and closest friends. Collaboration created the Doors' sound and songs, and the biographies of each musician bring perspective to the more famous Morrison story. While there are no shocking revelations, it's useful to discover just how talented Morrison's band mates were in an age of three-chord wonders. Now middle-aged, the remaining Doors are clearheaded about their youthful extravagances and don't waste time with character assassination. Drug use is discussed openly, although Morrison's death is left needlessly vague (when a 27-year-old dies with only his junkie girlfriend, it's a good bet that heroin was involved). For the most part, though, this understated work further elucidates this iconic band. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Through reissues, hit movies, and books, the history of the Doors has been revisited time and time again. This history as told by the band members themselves (with a little help from former Rolling Stone senior editor Fong-Torres) is the third such effort: founding member and keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore have each previously published books on their experiences with the group. For casual and hard-core fans alike, the present work is an engaging effort, replete with unreleased gems from the band's archives, including photos, interviews, personal memoirs, and anecdotes. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect are thoughts on late frontman Jim Morrison and the band by Morrison's family members and the mother of his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson. Complete with gushing forewords by musicians Henry Rollins and Perry Farrell, as well as briefer thoughts on the group from a number of other contemporary artists, this 40th anniversary tribute belongs in larger public libraries and all music libraries. Long live the Lizard King! Dave Valencia, King Cty. Lib. Syst., Seattle Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal