Prior News

Prior News & Reviews

March 2006

March 31, 2006 The Cult on t.v. tonight <> symphony performs Doors music <> Carmina Burana at the Bowl <> Paul Rothchild & Joplin photo

Ian Astbury and The Cult will be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS tonight. This show is not a re-run, so it will probably be the band's performance of Love Removal Machine, the other song they performed at the show taping. (thanks, Lorie)

The Charlotte Symphony performs 'The Music of The Doors' in an upcoming show at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday, April 8th. This orchestra has previously performed The Music of Led Zeppelin and The Music of Pink Floyd. For more info, go to: http://www.charlottesymphony.org/home.asp (thanks, Lorie)

The Los Angeles Philharmonic performs "Carmina Burana" on Thursday, September 14 at the Hollywood Bowl. For more info, go to: http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/index.cfm (thanks, Beverly)

Doors producer Paul Rothchild is pictured along with Janis Joplin in an undated photo. Take a look! (thanks, Gilles) see photo

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March 29, 2006 no more Riders '06 dates? <> Jim's Vegas arrest <> The Cult to tour Canada

There may be no more Riders On The Storm tour dates following next month's European tour. This is according to a post on The Cult's forum which says that Tom Vitorino (manager of both Riders On The Storm and The Cult) indicated that the balance of 2006 will be all The Cult, and that we can expect more Riders On The Storm dates in 2007, 40 years after the first album by The Doors was released. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Riders fans will not have to wait that long to see them play again in the U.S. (thanks, Jes)

Jim Morrison was arrested in Las Vegas in January 1968 for public intoxication, vagrancy, and failure to possess adequate identification. Last week the Las Vegas Review Journal ran a story about Jim's arrest report and mug shot on display at the Hogs & Heifers Saloon there. (thanks, Gilles) read more

Ian Astbury will be on tour with The Cult in Canada during May. For more information on The Cult and their tour dates, go to: www.thecult.us

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March 27, 2006 John producing play in Hollywood <> Ian & The Cult in Tucson

John Densmore takes on the role of Producer of a new play opening in Hollywood next week. "Window Of Opportunity" previews on Thursday, April 6 and opens on Friday, April 7 at the MET Theatre at 1089 North Oxford Street. The play is directed by Billy Hayes of "Midnight Express" fame and runs through Sunday, May 14. For the full press release and details, go here

Ian Astbury will be performing with The Cult on April 29th at the Sports Park in Tucson, Arizona for KFMA-Day along with The Strokes and other bands. That gives Ian a one-week break after he returns from Europe with Riders On The Storm. To see a poster for the show, go here

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March 26, 2006 Jim included in museum exhibit

The National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts will pay tribute to American music history in an exhibit titled “Gershwin to Gillespie: Portraits in American Music,” April 15 through Sept. 17. The exhibit will feature portraits of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and many others from photographers including Philippe Halsman and Annie Leibovitz more info

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March 24, 2006 Norway dates for Riders On The Storm are cancelled

Riders On The Storm were scheduled to play two festival dates in Norway on April 7 and April 8. According to a statement that has been posted on the official websites for Ray and Robby, the promoter failed to meet his obligations and Riders On The Storm will not be playing at those shows. Apparently the festival dates are still on, but they will be Rider-less, so to speak.

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March 23, 2006 Paul Ferrara photos <> Ray's high school yearbook <> quest for the Blue Lady <> Tribaljazz concert dates

Paul Ferrara has contributed several wonderful photos to the Photo Gallery on Ray Manzarek's website. One photo is of the three surviving Doors, a great photo! One is of Ray from the Nite City era, and the last is a photo of the Nite City band. Watch for more photos from Paul to show up there. They can be seen at http://www.raymanzarek.us/photo_ferrara.html And as a reminder: Ray's website can be accessed through any of these urls: www.raymanzarek.org or www.raymanzarek.net or www.raymanzarek.us or raymanzarek.thedoors.com/

Ray Manzarek's yearbook from St. Rita High School 1956, has popped up in an eBay auction which ends on March 31. The auction shows a photo of Ray as a high school senior. You can also see all the activities he participated in during high school. The eBay auction # is 7602740623

A collector has surfaced on one of the Doors message boards seeking information on Jim's Shelby GT500, the car he got as a gift from Elektra Records. The fate of the 'Blue Lady' is one of those unsolved mysteries in Doors history. The post indicated that Collector Car Central is owned by a huge Doors fan who happens to be an actor. He is on a quest to find this Mustang and is considering making a film about the search. A Yahoo Group has been created at: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/MorrisonsMustang/ for the gathering of information, stories, and interested people. Paul Ferrara told me that the license plate # that was on the car during the HWY shoot was CA VRD389, that Babe Hill is the person who named it the 'Blue Lady' after one of the characters in the "Hitchhiker," and that the car was taken away from Jim by The Doors management. I know that many people have tried to solve the mystery of the whereabouts of that car, so it'll be interesting to see where this quest goes.

John Densmore & Tribaljazz have announced three concert dates, according to today's Newsletter #2 from John's webmaster. There will be two shows in Venice, California on May 19 and May 20 at the Electric Lodge Performing and Visual Arts Center. Tribaljazz also makes a return appearance at the annual Topanga Days Country Fair in Topanga, California.

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March 19, 2006 Barney's Beanery history <> July 3rd tribute to Jim

Barney's Beanery is a landmark eatery in Doors lore. Today's L.A. Times ran an interesting back-story about the restaurant and its place in the community. read it

"Poetry In Motion" is a poetry reading tribute to Jim Morrison scheduled for July 3rd in Paris in the area just outside of Pere Lachaise. For more information, go here (thanks, Stuart)

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March 18, 2006 Morrison Hotel is boarded up & shut down

The Morrison Hotel at 1246 Hope Street in Los Angeles is closed. The windows and doors are boarded up and there is a heavy chain and padlock on the entrance. This building was the focus of a slumlord lawsuit filed in December 2004 on behalf of its tenants due to vermin infestation and deplorable living conditions. Several months ago the owners were convicted of 21 charges of criminal negligence. There is a civil case pending which is scheduled for trial in September 2006. see photos

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March 17, 2006 Ray's website back on-line <> Benvenuto update

Ray Manzarek's website is back on-line after a month of server problems. In addition to getting there this way: http://raymanzarek.thedoors.com/ you can also use www.raymanzarek.org or www.raymanzarek.net or www.raymanzarek.us Check it out ... it has a new look and new features!

Benvenuto Cafe at 8512 Santa Monica Boulevard is on track with their renovations. The target date to re-open the restaurant is late April or early May. In addition to the extension of the ground floor patio all the way to the sidewalk, the upstairs lounge will be enlarged with the addition of a deck that will extend over the patio, doubling their previous capacity. I'm looking forward to returning to the great food and atmosphere there this spring.

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March 15, 2006 long-lost Robby project <> on-line photos of band <> Moby covers Doors <> Ray's website back on-line

Robby Krieger apparently began an audio project in the mid-1980's known as "A Cat's Tale." It is believed that the audio story that was going to be made into a cartoon, but was never completed. The voices of Robby and his wife Lynn are used for the characters. A copy of this 30-minute tape has just surfaced from a collector. If you have any additional information about this project to share with the person in possession of this recording, please send it along and I'll get it to the tape's owner, who hopes to be able to gain permission to share some clips of it.

Photos of Robby, Ray and John can all be seen on West L.A. Music's website at www.westlamusic.com In the photo gallery, just click on the section for the corresponding instrument and find their names. (thanks, David my son)

Moby's newest DVD titled "Moby Live: Hotel Tour 2005" includes a cover of "Break On Through." (thanks, Gilles)

Ray Manzarek's website is back on-line after a month of server problems. For now, the domain is temporarily changed to: http://raymanzarek.thedoors.com/ Check it out ... it has a new look and some new features!

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March 11, 2006 Robby quoted regarding new Riders songs

Robby Krieger is quoted in today's The Sunday Times - Ireland with some exciting news, especially for the fans who will attend the Riders On The Storm concert in Dublin on April 11th: "In a year in which the Eagles, the Who and the Rolling Stones are set to play Ireland, perhaps it is only fitting that the current incarnation of the Doors are planning to use an Irish date to test their first material for more than three decades. The last time the band recorded new material was in 1972, a year after Jim Morrison, the band’s iconic frontman, was found dead, at the age of 27, in a bathtub in Paris. Now, 34 years on, Robby Krieger, the guitarist, has revealed he has recorded five new songs with fellow original member Ray Manzarek, the organist. Providing the vocals in place of Morrison is Ian Astbury, former lead singer with British band the Cult. Krieger says he will try out the new material when he performs at the RDS in Dublin next month, along with classic hits such as Light My Fire."

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March 9, 2006 Paul Ferrara's forthcoming book <> poster exhibit in Boston

Paul Ferrara -- film maker and photographer for The Doors -- has completed the second draft of his forthcoming autobiography and is shopping for a publisher. Naturally, there will be lots about Paul's adventures with the band contained within the 370 pages of "Flash Of Eden." Paul allowed me to see the only piece of film that is not owned by The Doors, behind-the-scenes footage from HWY's Bald Mountain segment which included Jim and the Blue Lady, Babe Hill, Paul Lisciandro and Paul's ex-wife, Georgia. There is no telling where and how this footage will surface, but Paul is considering including it in his book as an extra bonus! (thanks, Paul)

"Light My Fire: Rock Posters from the Summer of Love" is the name of a current exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts featuring approximately two dozen posters created to advertise concerts at San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore Auditorium in 1967 and 1968. The exhibit is free and runs through August 13th. (thanks, Clay) read more

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March 8, 2006 Morrison Hotel apparel <> translation re forthcoming German book

Morrison Hotel tee- and sweatshirts, bearing the lettering style that was in the window that The Doors famously posed behind at the hotel of that name in downtown L.A., are on-sale at photographer Henry Diltz's Morrison Hotel galleries and on-line. To check them out or to order, go to: http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=apparel When you explore http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/index.html further, you'll find Henry's images of The Doors and the countless other bands he has photographed.

"City Of Light" is a forthcoming book in German from Philip Steele with a scheduled release date of October 2006. Thanks to Jens, a translation of the German amazon.com site is: "The last days of Jim Morrison - now as a novel. His life of being the great rock poet and charismatic singer of The Doors is not forgotten but only few things are known about Jim Morrison's last days in Paris back in 1971. Philip Steele, successful musician and composer himself, met Jim Morrison shortly before his death in the "city of light." In his moving novel he describes the tragic fall of the formerly praised hero up to his mysterious death. Philip Steele wrote the hit "City Lights" and was awarded with a Grammy for his contribution to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill 2." (thanks, Jens)

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March 6, 2006 new book on Jim due in July <> 'Riders On The Storm' re-mix

"The Lizard King Was Here: The Life and Times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia" is a new book by Mark Opsasnick with a projected release date of July 2006. This promises to be an in-depth study of Jim Morrison's time in Alexandria, Virginia between January 1959 and August 1961when he attended George Washington High School. More than 150 individuals were interviewed, including more than 60 former classmates who provided detailed memories. Visit the author's website at: http://www.capitolrock.com/news_04.html (thanks, Mark and Rich) more info

DJ Paul Edge's 'Unlock The Doors' remix of "Riders On The Storm" is used with touching images of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath for the www.Nola.com charity. To see and hear it, go to: http://nola.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ (thanks, Mary-Beth)

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March 5, 2006 Jim on the Oscars <> Ian dedication to Danny <> German book on Jim <> Robby's new forum

Jim Morrison and Val Kilmer portraying him, were included in a video montage on tonight's Oscars broadcast. The subject of the segment was movie biographies and used clips of the real subject juxtaposed with the actor portraying the subject.

Ian Astbury dedicated a song called 'Wonderland' to Danny Sugerman last night at The Cult's sold-out concert at the San Diego House of Blues. Tonight The Cult plays the brand new Key Club at Morongo Casino & Resort in Cabazon, California, followed by another sold-out show at the Fonda Music Box Theater in Hollywood.

"City Of Light" is a forthcoming book in German from Philip Steele that appears to focus on Jim Morrison. The German amazon.com site shows a scheduled release date of October 2006. Since the text is in German, I'd appreciate anyone who can translate the book summary for me. (thanks, Gilles)

Robby Krieger's new website is part of the official band website at www.thedoors.com The new Robby Krieger forum can be found at http://forum.robbykrieger.com/index.php (thanks, Mary-Beth)

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March 4, 2006 Ray interview

Ray Manzarek appears with slide-guitarist Roy Rogers at the Center for Performing Arts in Grass Valley, CA this evening. A brief interview for The Union appears on-line today. read it

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March 3, 2006 John's new DVD project

John Densmore's webmaster has sent out the first of what will become occasional newsletters to give updates on John's projects and to encourage fans to visit John's forum on his official website at http://johndensmore.com/. Today's newsletter advises of a new hour-long DVD called "Surfing LA" that features John, James Hillman and Michael Ventura taking a 'psychological tour' of L.A. For more information and to order this DVD on-line, go to: http://www.visualizethis.com/surfingla1.html (thanks, Jim)

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March 2, 2006 Miami trial flashback & photos

Jim Morrison's behavior at the March 1, 1969 Doors concert in Miami was re-visited by a Miami Herald story today about the trial with a link to additional photos. There is also a link to a 10-minute audio interview with defense attorney Robert Josefberg, and a 57-page file of trial testimony and documents. The story and the photos have been saved to this site so they will remain available. (thanks, John) trial flashback story trial photos

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March 1, 2006 missing documents from Jim's trial <> Rosanne Cash references The Doors <> Ray interview <> Ian & The Cult on tour

Jim Morrison allegedly exposed himself on stage at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium on this date in 1969. 37 years later to the day, the Miami Herald is running a story about 42 missing documents from that criminal file. Apparently the theft was not even realized until 1991 when Sotheby's New York listed one of the documents in an upcoming auction. This story indicates that the late Danny Sugerman is their "prime suspect." read the story

Rosanne Cash was today's in-studio guest on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program and played songs off her poignant new album, "Black Cadillac." During the between-song conversations she mentioned that for the title track, she was musically going for The Doors' "Riders On The Storm" and early U2 kind of atmospheric thing, but with more aggression. The show can be watched or listened to at http://www.kcrw.org/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=mb&air_date=3/1/06&tmplt_type=show (thanks, Michael)

Ray Manzarek appears with slide-guitarist Roy Rogers at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg, CA on Friday, and Center for the Performing Arts in Grass Valley, CA on Saturday. There are two more weekends of shows following. Details can be found in the calendar below. An interview with Ray about these shows appeared today on metroactive.com. read it

Ian Astbury kicks off The Cult's 'A Return To Wild' monthlong tour tonight with a show at the Fillmore in San Francisco and ending in New York City at the end of the month. Last Friday The Cult performed on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. For more information on The Cult, go to http://www.thecult.us/

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