Copeland, Astbury Join Doors For Long Haul
 

Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Cult vocalist Ian Astbury (singing the late Jim Morrison's parts) weren't just temporary additions to the Doors' lineup for last weekend's show in Fontana, Calif. As Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek tells Billboard.com, "Stewart is drumming from here on out. Ian is singing from here on out. We're not doing a TV show. We're playing live music. This is the new Doors lineup for the 21st century."

As previously reported, Copeland is filling in for drummer John Densmore, who is battling the hearing disorder tinitus but may participate in sessions for the Doors' first new studio album in more than 30 years. "We will go into the recording studio in the year 2003," Manzarek says. "We're going into composition [of new material] next week."

A North American/European tour is also in the works for next year, and while Manzarek says it is too early to predict how extensive the jaunt may be, he promises it "will definitely not be 60 cities." The Doors have one more show on their schedule for now: Sept. 29 concert at Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario, just outside of Toronto.

Three days earlier, Manzarek will join pianist George Winston for a duet concert in New York in support of Winston's upcoming Doors covers album, "Night Divides the Day." Both artists will be playing separate pianos simultaneously. "Then he'll do one solo piece and I'll do one solo piece within the context of the concert," Manzarek says. "What he's going to play is his choice. What I'm going to play is not a Doors song!"

 

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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