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Music Books > 3 Doors Down > Item 4
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DOORS, THE
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by The Doors and Ben Fong-Torres
Sales Rank: 54250
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List Price: $45.00
$29.70
At Amazon
on 12-29-2007.
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Features
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Hyperion October 25, 2006
Language: English
ISBN-10: 140130303X
ISBN-13: 978-1401303037
Product Dimensions:
11.7 x 10.7 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
L.A.'s answer to the British Invasion, the Doors burned brightly, burned out and left behind a clouded legacy. The continued fascination with the band has everything to do with Jim Morrison, of course, the charismatic singer who died young. Talented, inconsistent and a raging alcoholic, Morrison intentionally tried to channel the contradictory energies of the era and became its shaman stud. In this photo-rich volume, longtime music writer and former Rolling Stone editor Fong-Torres has expertly woven together a narrative from interviews with the band members—Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore—as well as Morrison's family and closest friends. Collaboration created the Doors' sound and songs, and the biographies of each musician bring perspective to the more famous Morrison story. While there are no shocking revelations, it's useful to discover just how talented Morrison's band mates were in an age of three-chord wonders. Now middle-aged, the remaining Doors are clearheaded about their youthful extravagances and don't waste time with character assassination. Drug use is discussed openly, although Morrison's death is left needlessly vague (when a 27-year-old dies with only his junkie girlfriend, it's a good bet that heroin was involved). For the most part, though, this understated work further elucidates this iconic band. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
From 1966 on, the Doors established themselves as a wildly popular and influential act. They eventually burned out amid charges of indecent exposure on stage and increasingly spotty performance by singer-lyricist Jim Morrison. Introducing imagery strongly influenced by shamanism and psychedelia, the short-lived Morrison attracted a cultish fandom that regarded him as a sort of electric Rimbaud. The legend is on display again in this -illustration-heavy montage of interviews with band members, interested observers, and coconspirators. Keyboardist-cofounder Ray Manzarek observes that the group was "the Doors . . . [n]ever 'Jim Morrison and the Doors,'" which may be accurate as far as billing goes but was never true for the fans. Morrison, who remains the model for tragic rock star as romantic poet, was central to the band's appeal and is the main attraction here. A must for the rock shelves, the book may be the last word on Morrison. Nah, there'll be more. As Rolling Stone said so eloquently decades ago, "He's hot, he's sexy, he's dead." And the pictures live on. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
Ben Fong-Torres has demonstrated journalistic brilliance in the way this book is organized. Each section is laid out like a conversation; interspersed among comments and reflections by Densmore, Krieger and Manzarek, as well as members of the Morrison and Courson families, is just enough narrative for clarity. Fong-Torres smoothly inserts quotes from interviews with Jim Morrison, and the result is a unified presentation of The Doors as an entity. Inevitably, it is the Morrison persona that dominates, but this book does a credible job of portraying all of the Doors. The descriptions of the studio experience, particularly challenges of the technology of the late 60s, are fascinating. There is a great deal of insight into the creative process of the band. While Morrison's rampant alcohol and drug abuse is not the focus of the book, there is ample evidence of the ripple effect it had on his bandmates. The photos from the band's private collection justify the cost.
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DOORS, THE
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