March BEAT

      Just as the Beatles have maintained a high presence in the pop culture and on the pop charts decades after their demise, so have The Doors, a L.A. band which was the creative vessel for dark verses conceived in the mind of a peyote popping Navy brat turned poet.

      Despite the death of the thinking man’s Beatle, John Lennon, the Fab Four have continually churned out a steady stream of palatable product. So much so, the Beatles latest CD, a recycle set of hits aptly titled, "One," is credited with single-handly saving music retail from the most dismal holiday shopping season in years.

     The multi-million dollar sales of "One," only further insured the group’s continued status as the best-selling musical artist of all time. Far ahead of Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Elton John and yes, The Doors.

      Still, there are parallels between the continued success of The Beatles and The Doors. Both bands seem to run in cycles of popularity ranging from steady to fervent.

     Just as the Fabs have survived and thrived in the wake of the Lennon’s 1980 assasination, the Doors have endured despite the death of their famous frontman, Jim Morrison.

     Morrison died (or so the story goes) in 1971 in a Paris bathtub, but Doors music is more alive today as when the leather-clad demigod stalked the stage.   The three surviving Doors members –– guitarist Robby Krieger, drummer John Densmore and keyboardist Ray Manzarek –– have kept the home fires burning for three generations of fans.

COME ON AND TOUCH ME BABE...

     “I’m really not sure what it is,” said Krieger of the Doors longevity. “I don’t think any of us can really point to one thing and say this is why the music still touches a nerve. Our kind of popularity not like that of The Beatles or Elvis. Despite the tremendous success over the years, we’ve stayed more of an underground thing. People still hear something in the music we made together. I’m happy to have been part of something that has lasted so long and touched so many people.”

      There’s a sweet irony in that statement, considering that Krieger is the author of the aptly titled, “Touch Me,” one of the best known songs in the Doors catalog.

     Midwest BEAT Magazine caught up to Robby Krieger late last month when he
was in town with his self-named band for a live show at – 115 Bourbon Street – an eclectic club on Chicago’s South Side. The talented string-bender is currently on the road promoting his latest solo CD, "Cinematrix," a jazz/rock/blues hybrid of stellar instrumental selections.

    Krieger, aware of his status as a cultural icon, is cordial in chatting about his history with one of the most controversial bands of all time. And it’s to his advantage, considering that he’s involved in the making and marketing of three new Doors-related projects.

   Actually, only one is a really “new” project – an all-star tribute album to his alma mater titled, Stoned Immaculate. The other two projects are an extensively re-edted version of the Oliver Stone film, “The Doors,” and the formation of Doors-owned record label to be used to release 18 newly discovered live Doors concerts, taped between 1967-1970.

DIONYSUS OF DEBAUCHERY...

     In an era when Eminem can be nominated for a “Record of the Year” award for his twisted tirades about murder and mayhem, it is important for us all to remember that similar rantings spewed forth from the lips of the late, lamented Lizard King more than thirty years earlier and for them the band paid a heady price.

     In 1967, James Douglas Morrison, the self-acclaimed Dionysus of rock ‘n’ roll, stunned even a supposedly enlighten audience at L.A.’s Whiskey A Go Go with his dramatic reading of an Oedipus-inspired poetic dirge called, “The End.”

   Today’s rappers and rockers may intend to shock with their faux debauchery
and groin grabbing antics, but it’s old hat to those of us who grew up with The Doors.

   “Yeah, we broke ground for what all these guys are doing today,” sums up Krieger. “Now they can just about do whatever they want on stage and in videos. I wish they’d realize what we went through so that they can do their thing now.”

    The infamous Miami concert that concluded the live shows by the band is the stuff of legends. Was Morrison, who was accused of exposing himself on stage to fans at that show, really the out of control character depicted in the 1991 Oliver Stone film, “The Doors,” or has the truth been distorted by the passing of the years.

    “No, not really,” laughs Krieger, an advisor on that film. “Jim was definitely a very bad boy. He liked pushing everyone’s buttons and seeing how far he could go. He’d go right up to cops and sass them to their faces. He’d tell them their gun was just a big pecker and that they carried it to compensate for their own shortcomings. It was like he wanted to get beat up or something. Things were always a pretty crazy whenever Jim was around.”

ODE TO A “TOAD”...

     Krieger is presently touring the U.S. with a four-piece band that includes his guitar-slinging son, Waylon. Although out to promote his solo CD, "Cinematrix," a good deal of Doors songs permeate their play list.

    “We do lots of Doors stuff,” he said. “More it seems as time goes by. My son and I do the vocals and sometimes we let someone from the audience sing ‘Roadhouse Blues’ with us, which is fun.”

      Along with Doors songs like the Krieger-penned classics – “Touch Me,” “Live My Fire” and “Love Me Two Times,” the band’s live set also includes new Krieger songs “Snake Oil,” “Red Alert” and “Idolatry.” Like his past solo recordings, Cinematrix, is largely an instrumental album, so radio programmers have not fallen over themselves adding it to play lists.

     “That’s okay,” sighed Krieger. “It’d be nice, but radio has gotten harder and harder to crack. That goes for college radio too, because record companies have recognized how important college stations are to breaking new artists so now they’ve sunk their claws into that too.”

     One track from his new solo album that is getting some air play though is “War Toad,” a techno-fueled remix by DJ Robbie Amar of The Doors’ “Peace Frog.”

     That a remix of an old song has gotten the most attention from a collection that also features nine other brilliant tracks, is sad in the grand scheme of things. But it goes to show how thirty years after Morrison slipped into the soap suds for the last time, the public is still ravenously hungry for anything connected to The Doors.

"MOONLIGHT DRIVE" AT MIDNIGHT...

     Further proof can be found in the excitement caused by the unearthing of 18 previously unreleased live concert tapes and the formation of Bright Midnight Records by the three surviving Doors members and longtime manager, Danny Sugerman. “The label will release three titles every six months over the next six years,” explained Krieger.

    The treasure trove, consisting of more than 30 hours of live music, was discovered while the band was consolidating it’s audio and visual work to create 1997’s "The Doors Box."   Scattered around the world in various storage facilities under the protective custody of long-time Doors producer, Paul Rothchild, the tapes were only discovered after Rothchild’s death.

    The four Bright Midnight partners have personally reviewed all the live tapes and agreed that while they are not up to today’s commercial standards, the concerts should be made available to die-hard Doors fans, uncut, unedited and in their entirety. Not via retail outlets, but only through the group’s official web site: www.thedoors.com

    “Our goal with these CDs is to give serious Doors fans the material they want,” said Krieger, adding that fans should not expect any unreleased spoken word recordings from Morrison (long rumored to be vaulted somewhere). While the band controls the musical output, Morrison’s poetry is under the exclusive control of the Morrison estate, who have no interest in sharing them with the public.

     “So as such, there will be no more ‘American Prayer’ type releases,” said Krieger, referring to the 1979 album where the surviving Doors put new music behind Morrison’s poetry readings.

ROCKERS SALUTE THE DOORS AS "STONED IMMACULATE"....

     Another very high profile Doors project is the aforementioned, "Stoned Immaculate," a tribute compilation featuring a plethora of today’s top rock stars. Begun by producer Ralph Sall as a small indie release, the album became a full-fledged Doors project released in November by Elektra Records.

     “I guess the artists contacted by Ralph Sall told him that they’d really like to record the songs with the guys from the Doors instead of just doing it on their own,” said Krieger. “So we wound up playing on most of the tracks. I’m on all or most of them and John and Ray are on a lot of them too.”

      The 17-track collection finds Creed, Stone Temple Pilots, Smash Mouth, Days Of The New, Aerosmith and The Cult jamming on tried and true Doors classics alongside the original trio of players. “It was pretty surreal actually,” said Krieger of the nearly two year recording project. “It’s weird to play on your own tribute album.”

     The trio of survivors made a point include their late lead singer on Stoned Immaculate.   “It wouldn’t be The Doors without Jim there,” said Krieger, who explained that Morrison’s vocals were blended with freshly recorded vocal tracks by one of the band’s heroes, John Lee Hooker. The resulting duet on “Roadhouse Blues” is haunting.

    Another legendary artist included on the album is Bo Diddley, the ‘50s blues/rock guitarist who along with Chuck Berry, was a primary influence on Krieger’s own playing.

      Since the recording of the "Stoned Immaculate" sessions, Krieger has jammed on stage with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots (at House of Blues in L.A.) and Creed (at Woodstock). He sees a direct link to the music he helped to forge with The Doors and many of today’s groups.

      “When Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam joined us (The Doors) on stage at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, it was as though Jim were there in a lot of ways,” said Krieger, who added that he got the same kind of feeling when playing alongside of Scott Stapp of Creed.

     “I think Pearl Jam have their own sound and I think Creed have their own sound. But are there similarities between those two bands? Sure!   They were both heavily influenced by The Doors,” said Krieger with an almost parental boastfulness. “They told me that, but even if they hadn’t said it in words, you can hear it in their (respective) music. They both took the sound we had to new places and to a new generation.”

      Krieger chuckles as he tells how members of both Pearl Jam and Creed confessed to having Doors posters hanging in their bedrooms while growing up. “It’s a wonderful feeling to know that something you did has influenced others in such a major way,” he said of being a living icon. “Because that insures that something of you will live on after you’ve gone.”

     Is Jim Morrison is still alive as the rumors say? “Listen to the music of Pearl Jam, Creed, Days of the New and so many other bands,” concluded Krieger. “Jim is there. So yeah...he’s still with us.”

      For more information on Krieger’s solo work or the Doors projects, log on to: www.robby krieger.com and www.thedoors.com .