Prior News

In the on-going litigation between Densmore et al -vs- Manzarek and Krieger, et al, there was a Proposed Statement of Decision filed on May 9th. Apparently this means that Judge Alarcon has rendered a proposed judgement, i.e., there is still no final decision. The court website indicates that there is a hearing scheduled for June 15th, described as a case review re the status of the case. To (try to) follow along as this case continues, visit the court website at: http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org/civilCaseSummary/ and insert Case Number: BC289730 for the John Densmore lawsuit, and Case Number: BC294495 for Morrison & Courson families lawsuit. These cases were tried simultaneously, so the same results will be found on both case links.

Perry Farrell will record an album with The Doors, according to an item on Perry Farrell's fan page at www.aintnoright.com. The story also says that Perry will perform with The Doors in August at the VH1 taping of Decades: "Perry Farrell to Record With Surviving Members of The Doors May 28th, 2005 Perry has been approached by the Doors to record an album with them. At the very least, Perry will be performing a couple of songs with them at the VH1 taping of Decades: The Doors, at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in August. This news comes on the heels of the report that Perry will be producing and possibly including a recently unearthed Jim Morrison track "Woman in the Window" for Satellite Party."

John and Robby were both on hand when legendary Los Angeles deejay Jim Ladd was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 6th in front of the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. On the Jim Ladd section on the 95.5 KLOS website there are a number of photos of the event. This photo shows Robby (in the red cap) kneeling, and John standing right behind Jim Ladd. To see a fan's photo of John and Doors Manager Jeff Jampol at the ceremony, go here

DJ Paul Edge and his 'Unlock The Doors' club tour opens in Seattle, Washington, on June 3rd. However, a press release issued on Thursday states that scheduling conflicts will prevent Robby, Ray and Ray's son, Pablo from attending, as previously planned and announced. Ray and Pablo were scheduled to introduce their reworked versions of Ship Of Fools and You Make Me Real as part of the event. Despite their scheduling change that prevents them from attending in person, the band members are enthused about and support this tour. In a statement, Ray said that he and Pablo will try to hit one of the other dates on the tour, and Ray also plans to participate in a phone interview with a Seattle radio station in connection with the tour. read the press release

R & B singer Babyface was a guest on TV's American Idol show on Wednesday night. I have been told that he was wearing a Doors t-shirt with the classic logo and the 'crucifixation pose' (as seen on the back of the American Prayer album). You just never can figure who is going to pop up next as a fan! (thanks, Chris)

May 22, 2005 'Unlock The Doors' tour <> Doors song in TV show <> A Current Affair feature

The official website of The Doors reported on their news page at: http://www.thedoors.com/news/ a month or two ago, about a U.S. club tour with UK DJ Paul Edge called 'Unlock The Doors.' The site went on to say that the DJ would be playing his electro-dance remixes of The Doors' classic tunes, along with some other Doors remixes that have been surfacing. The club tour is scheduled to start in Seattle, Washington, on June 3rd. I've been advised that on that date there will be an 'Unlock The Doors' launch party. Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and his son Pablo are all scheduled to appear, along with The Doors manager Jeff Jampol. Ray and Pablo will introduce their reworked versions of Ship Of Fools and You Make Me Real. The event will be held at a nightclub in Seattle called Element, website: http://www.elementseattle.com/ Also keep checking for more info at: www.unlockthedoors.com (thanks, Dante)

Tonight's season finale of 'Cold Case' on CBS used 'Riders On The Storm' in a scene early in the show.

'A Current Affair' ran a segment last Friday, purporting to "investigate rumors that singer Jim Morrison may still be alive." This story is about the bogus videotape of a heavily disguised and cowboy-hatted man in the Pacific Northwest who claims he is Jim. I have seen this video ... trust me, do not waste your $30. to buy it from the woman who is peddling it. If you are curious about the program, it looks like this segment will be aired several more times: on Monday, May 23 at 4:30 a.m. on LA's Channel 11, and at 3:30 p.m. on FOX network (west coast time). Please, do not email me afterwards asking for my opinion on this nonsense. (thanks, Dennis)

The Doors of the 21st Century have announced more new tour dates in North America as part of their Strange Days Festival with Vanilla Fudge, Yardbirds, Pat Travers, and sometimes Steppenwolf. These latest additions to their summer tour will take the band to Columbus, OH; Wallingford, CT; Gilford, NH; Portsmouth, VA, and Clarkston, MI. See above for more information.

May 16, 2005 Ty Dennis interview <> Cleveland's Rock Hall <> Perry Farrell & Jim <> Jim the Poet <> San Francisco posters book <> Jim Morrison stories <> Moby covers The Doors

Ty Dennis has been sitting in the D21C drum seat for over two years, when he was selected to replace Stewart Copeland. A terrific recent interview with him has come to my attention, to share with fans. To read it, go to: http://www.davesontour.com/interviews/ty_dennis.html (thanks, Steve)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is downright bereft of Doors exhibits currently. I spent most of last Monday there during a cross-country driving trip. A 1968 Guild F-212 acoustic guitar donated by Robby is on display in a circular case of guitars on the lower level. On that same level near the administrative offices, there is a photo of Eddie Vedder performing with Ray, Robby and John when they were inducted on January 12, 1993. There are two Doors songs (Light My Fire and The End) included in the '500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.' A full wall of Rolling Stone Magazine covers included the obit issue, and the 'He's Hot, He's Sexy, He's Dead' issue. There is a theater continuously playing old clips honoring all the inductees, by year. I lucked out and entered the room just before the 1993 clips, which were comprised of familiar footage instead of the induction ceremony performance. When I visited in summer of 2003, there was a long display case dedicated to Jim Morrison memorabilia and artifacts on loan from the Morrison family. (read about it) By last summer, that had been changed over to John Lennon artifacts, and that display is still in place. The exhibits do get changed over periodically, and hopefully there will be another significant exhibit honoring our band, real soon.

National Poetry Month was observed last month, bringing from throughout California to the San Francisco Bay Area a large assembly of poets with the title of Poet Laureate given by their city or county, the first such gathering in California history. The three day program ended with a tour on April 25 led by Mary Rudge, (the convention program chairperson and the city of Alameda's first Poet Laureate) of Literary sites in Alameda where historical writers including Jack London, Jim Morrison (of The Doors), Phyllis Diller, William Saroyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Duncan, lived or wrote. I thought it was both interesting and significant that Jim was acknowledged as a poet and included in this event!

'Off the Wall: Psychedelic Rock Posters from San Francisco' is the title of a coffee table book by Amelie Gastaut and Jean-Pierre Criqui available through Amazon.com (144 pages) featuring 120 color illustrations of the most striking and unconventional posters from the 60s, announcing the concerts that were held at places such as the fabled Fillmore and the Avalon Ballroom. The posters were created by some of the most inventive graphic designers of the era, including the "Big Five" of psychedelic poster design — Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Rick Griffin, Alton Kelley, and Stanley "Mouse" Miller. It goes without saying that some of the stunning posters of Doors concerts are included in this book. (thanks, Fred)

Author Jim Cherry has recently put up a website for his books 'Becoming Angel' and 'Stranger Souls'. 'Stranger Souls' includes a couple of stories which are about Jim Morrison (When The Butterfly Screamed and Pursued) which have previously been published on other Doors fan sites. A forthcoming novel, 'The Last Stage,' is about the exploits and shortcomings of a Doors cover band. For more info, go to: http://www.jymsbooks.com/ (thanks, Jim)

When Moby played a show at L.A.'s Wiltern Theater on May 7th, the set included a cover of 'Break On Through.' This was reported on May 13th in the L.A. City Beat publication.

May 15, 2005 new D21C tour dates <> ticket offers for fans <> Robby & John appearance <> new songs <> Ian project dropped <> DVD documentary <> Robby & Easy Rider <> Joe Perry's Crystal Ship <> another remix <> Stephen Davis book in Spain

The Doors of the 21st Century recently announced a whole slew of new tour dates in North America. Ten of the concerts are called the Strange Days Festival, with The Doors of the 21st Century headlining shows that include Vanilla Fudge, Yardbirds, Pat Travers, and sometimes Steppenwolf. Those shows will take the band to up the east coast from Florida to Long Island, New York, and then across Canada. More dates are expected to be announced. The Doors of the 21st Century also announced other shows under their own name, with more tour dates expected.

In conjunction with their newly announced tour dates, The Doors of the 21st Century are taking steps to ensure that their loyal fans get the first opportunity to by tickets for the Strange Days Festival shows. Fans can register at https://tix.artistarena.com/thedoors21c to receive ticket offers for some of the shows before they go on sale to the general public. The maximum order is four tickets, and is a first-come, first-served ticket ordering system.

Legendary Los Angeles deejay Jim Ladd was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, May 6th in front of the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Jim Ladd is a huge fan and supporter of The Doors, and all week leading up to the event, radio station 95.5 KLOS was announcing that some members of The Doors would be in attendance at the ceremony. I was far from home and unable to attend, but I did get reports (and a photo) from others who attended. Honorary Mayor Johnny Grant said it was the largest crowd ever, with many rock stars and celebrities in attendance, including Robby Krieger and John Densmore, Jackson Browne, George Thorogood, Woody Harrelson, and Ed Begley Jr. John spoke quite beautifully about the honoree at the podium, along with others. After the ceremony when all were assembled for photos at the star with Jim Ladd, John and Robby spoke privately for some time, and even posed for some photos of just the two of them. To see a photo of John and Doors Manager Jeff Jampol at the ceremony, go here (thanks, Shelley & Michael)

The Doors of the 21st Century have reportedly tried out several new songs in recent soundchecks. Those song titles are 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'An American Woman.' It'll be great if we get to hear these new songs in the upcoming shows.

Ian Astbury collaborated on a project with Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor some years ago, before Ian joined The Doors of the 21st Century. In recent on-line stories, Trent Reznor is quoted as saying that he has lost his interest in producing other artists in recent years, and has dumped the side projects he had worked on with Ian, as well as one with Maynard James Keenan of A Perfect Circle.

"Inside The Doors" is a double-DVD documentary that was recently released in England. This is believed to be an official release. (thanks, Gilles)

Robby Krieger contributed original music to the "making of" documentary called 'Easy Rider: Shaking The Cage' that is part of the 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition DVD of the classic '60s counter-culture film 'Easy Rider' which was released in 1999. This isn't brand new news, but I was not aware of it and it's worth mentioning! (thanks, Dennis)

Joe Perry of Aerosmith released his fourth solo album on May 3rd, which included a cover of The Doors' 'Crystal Ship.' A recent on-line story quotes Joe as saying: "

Jim Morrison Vida, Muerta y Leyenda is the Stephen Davis book (Jim Morrison Life, Death, Legend) which has been translated from English into Spanish and is now released in Spain. http://www.supernovapop.com/noticias/noticia.aspx?noticia=3303 (thanks, Dave)