New tour opens up Doors to criticism

By:Robert K. Elder - Knight Ridder/Tribune

When Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek talks about his band's legacy and its new touring incarnation as the Doors of the21st Century, he doesn't separate the two thoughts.

"Jim would love the Doors of the 21st Century, because he's a poet and his words are being spoken out one more time to a new audience. What more does a poet want?" Manzarek said.

Jim, of course, is Jim Morrison ---- the self-styled "lizard king" and charismatic Doors frontman who died at age 27 in 1971.

For the first time in three decades, Manzarek is back on the road, touring with Doors guitarist Robby Krieger and vocalist Ian Astbury (the Cult) as the Doors of the 21st Century. Predictably, the tour has drawn a barrage of stones and roses ---- mostly jagged, high-velocity stones from critics and a lawsuit from original drummer John Densmore.

"'The f---- arrogance of the man to come back and play music again!"' said Manzarek, 64, lampooning but perhaps accurately summarizing critical sentiments. " 'Who does he think he is to come back without (Morrison)? Who do you think you are?' "

Although the keyboard player once called talking about Morrison and the Doors a "golden albatross," he seems to genuinely enjoy expounding on the band's legacy.

"For me, it's all an avenue to proselytize, to somehow get America to once again consider hallucinogenics and psychedelics," he says.

Not all band members share the same vision of the Doors, however. It seems as if each sees himself as keeper of a different flame. For instance, although the trio signed off on Oliver Stone's movie "The Doors," Manzarek railed against the project, saying it inaccurately portrayed Morrison as a humor-free, drunken lout.

His attacks led to Stone calling Manzarek the "chief enemy" of a film his bandmates supported.

"He still hates it," said Krieger.

Even today, original drummer Densmore is suing both Manzarek and Krieger for breach of contract and trademark infringement for the Doors of the 21st Century tour.

The Morrison estate ---- Morrison's parents and the parents of his common-law wife, Pamela Courson ---- also filed suit in April in Los Angeles Superior Court, calling the new tour "a deliberate scheme" to make money and "confuse the public." Densmore's injunctions have been twice denied, and a third attempt to stop name use is pending.

(Attempts to contact Densmore and the Morrison estate for this article through their lawyers were unsuccessful.)

"We still to this day invite him to play with us," said Manzarek. Previously in the conversation, Densmore's name had been surrounded by four-letter configurations.

But, again, none of this is new. The drummer and keyboardist have been publicly trading barbs for the past few years, privately for much longer. After Densmore portrayed Manzarek as a pompous blowhard in his 1990 autobiography "Riders on the Storm," Manzarek returned the verbal volley eight years later in his book "Light My Fire," calling Densmore the band's "resident whiner," among other things. Densmore has repeatedly opposed commercial use of Doors songs, despite arguments to the contrary by his bandmates.

Recent Cadillac commercials scored with Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" featured the tagline "Break Through." Originally, the automakers wanted the Doors' hit "Break on Through" as the anthem for the spots, which Densmore vetoed. (Similarly, Morrison opposed use of "Light My Fire" in 1967 for a Buick commercial.)

"I believe that as a rock band, as an artist, you should get in bed with industry, get in bed with politicians. Help the things you believe are good," Manzarek said of the philosophical split. "Jim was no dummy. He'd be the first one to say, 'Let's get our music on TV.' "

After a sold-out show in New York City's Roseland in April, Daily News critic Jim Farber accused the band of "necrophilic worship" and wrote: "This show was cold. It was sexless. It was dead." The New York Times' Jon Pareles was only slightly kinder, calling the new lineup "a passable Doors tribute band holding an invaluable trademark."

"How can we be a tribute band?" asks Manzarek rhetorically. "Robby is the guy that wrote 'Light My Fire' and I'm the guy who came up with the organ opening!"

The Doors of the 21st Century

When: 10:15 p.m. Sept. 5

Where: Best Buy Stage, Street Scene, San Diego