Books about The Doors
May 28, 2006 6:10 PM Subscribe
The best book about The Doors?
Looking to work my way from the best book about The Doors downwards. Is there a definitive account? All recommendations of any good book on the subject welcome.
Looking to work my way from the best book about The Doors downwards. Is there a definitive account? All recommendations of any good book on the subject welcome.
I remember The Lizard King : The Essential Jim Morrison as being really really good. About 1/3 of the book consists of interviews with Morrison, which I found to be pretty interesting.
No One Here Gets Out Alive was pretty good. Originally, Danny Sugarman had fudged some of the details of Jim's final days to cover for the fact that he used to shoot up with Jim's wife. This lead to some of the "Jim is still alive" speculation. I'm pretty sure he corrected this in later editions.
Incidentally, you might enjoy another book by Sugarman, Wonderland Avenue. It details Sugarman's teenage years as a Doors hanger-on and later a Ray Manzarek hanger-on. Interesting tales of 1960s and 1970s excess contained therein.
I'll conclude by saying that there's no need to bother reading Riders on the Storm by John Densmore. Here, I'll save you $10 and 300 pages : "I was a rockstar back in the 60s. Then, the only talented member of my band went and died. Now I'm just a loser with no career. Waaaaah! Oh yeah, and I'm also into some lame self-help shit now."
However, you may want to take my reccomendations with a grain of salt, as its been at least 10 years since I've read any of these.
posted by Afroblanco at 6:32 PM on May 28, 2006
No One Here Gets Out Alive was pretty good. Originally, Danny Sugarman had fudged some of the details of Jim's final days to cover for the fact that he used to shoot up with Jim's wife. This lead to some of the "Jim is still alive" speculation. I'm pretty sure he corrected this in later editions.
Incidentally, you might enjoy another book by Sugarman, Wonderland Avenue. It details Sugarman's teenage years as a Doors hanger-on and later a Ray Manzarek hanger-on. Interesting tales of 1960s and 1970s excess contained therein.
I'll conclude by saying that there's no need to bother reading Riders on the Storm by John Densmore. Here, I'll save you $10 and 300 pages : "I was a rockstar back in the 60s. Then, the only talented member of my band went and died. Now I'm just a loser with no career. Waaaaah! Oh yeah, and I'm also into some lame self-help shit now."
However, you may want to take my reccomendations with a grain of salt, as its been at least 10 years since I've read any of these.
posted by Afroblanco at 6:32 PM on May 28, 2006
Jim Morrisson summary: I'm drunk I'm nobody, I'm drunk I'm famous, I'm drunk I'm dead.
posted by Deep Dish at 6:45 PM on May 28, 2006
posted by Deep Dish at 6:45 PM on May 28, 2006
I found No One Here Gets Out Alive very entertaining, but it doesn't paint a very rosy picture of Morrison.
I had much the same reaction to the Densmore book. He's very much into baring his soul and all that, but it does get tiresome by the end: "I used to be rich and famous; now I'm just rich. Oh, and sometimes I got bored playing 'The End.' Sorry, Jim." That said, I thought there was a fairly interesting homoerotic subtext to the book; I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into it or if it was intentional.
posted by Tuwa at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2006
I had much the same reaction to the Densmore book. He's very much into baring his soul and all that, but it does get tiresome by the end: "I used to be rich and famous; now I'm just rich. Oh, and sometimes I got bored playing 'The End.' Sorry, Jim." That said, I thought there was a fairly interesting homoerotic subtext to the book; I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into it or if it was intentional.
posted by Tuwa at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2006
"much the same reaction" as Afroblanco, I mean: that is, the Densmore book struck me as self-pitying and generally a waste of time.
posted by Tuwa at 7:44 PM on May 28, 2006
posted by Tuwa at 7:44 PM on May 28, 2006
I second The Lizard King.
If you want something really Jim specific, or after you have tried all the others, I highly suggest Angels Dance and Angels Die, which focuses on Jim & Pam's relationship.
posted by haplesschild at 3:35 AM on May 29, 2006
If you want something really Jim specific, or after you have tried all the others, I highly suggest Angels Dance and Angels Die, which focuses on Jim & Pam's relationship.
posted by haplesschild at 3:35 AM on May 29, 2006
I loved No One Here Gets Out Alive.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:48 AM on May 29, 2006
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:48 AM on May 29, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:17 PM on May 28, 2006