This autobiography tells the story from an insider’s view in a witty and academic style. From Manzarek's upbringing in Chicago, to gaining an MFA in film at UCLA in Los Angeles, and then founding The Doors, there is a wealth of information.
Included are many interesting tales about the 1960's in Los Angeles and the culture there at the time, as Manzarek and his girlfriend go out on the town. He vividly describes the club scene and student environment that set the stage for the creation of one of the world's most famous bands.
Morrison and Manzarek Meet in Film Class and The Doors are Opened
After meeting Morrison in film classes, Manzarek learned they shared the same interests in art, music, and concepts. Ultimately at a chance meeting at sunset on the beach, Morrison sang some new songs to Manzarek, including Moonlight Drive, that he’d been working on, and The Doors were born.
The Doors Acquire a Rhythm Section in One Go
They almost immediately met guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, both at a yoga class, as all four were interested in Hinduism and Indian culture. The band was complete, and Morrison had created the name from an Aldous Huxley book The Doors of Perception.
After securing a short lived contract with Columbia Records, the band began a residency at the notorious Whiskey A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip. They became extremely popular, largely due to a huge female fan base that hung on to everything Morrison did and said.
Then they were fired, as Jim Morrison sang for the first time new lyrics to The End, which included the Oedipal tale of a man who accidentally killed his father and had sex with his mother. After he screamed the climactic phrase, “Father, I want to kill you, Mother I want to …. you,” the management showed them the door. The song became an integral part of the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now.
The Doors Finally Get Signed After Getting Out of Columbia Contract
Elektra Records signed them to a three-album contract, 5 percent royalty, and the record company kept the publishing. Not a great deal, but okay by the standards. It is without doubt that Columbia Records was sorry they let them buy out of their contract.
During this period, Morrison was descending into a drug and alcohol stupor, and trying exotic drugs such as jimsomweed, or datura. The seeds of his death not far in the future were being planted, according Manzarek.
But for now, the band had an album to deliver,and they entered Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. During the taping for Light My Fire, Morrison noticed a TV in the studio that was tuned to a baseball game. An enraged Morrison threw the set at the control room window, and it bounced off the safety glass and shattered when it hit the floor. The recording was over for the day.
Morrison Breaks Into Recording Studio High on Acid
After another session Morrison did acid and became so convince that the studio was on fire that he returned at night, climbed over the fence and broke in, and sprayed water on something glowing red, which as actually just a work light. There was minimal damage, and the recording went on the day after next.
The band ignored Ed Sullivan's orders and sang the word "higher" in Light My Fire, and their next six performances on the famous show were canceled. The song was so popular it pushed the Beatles out of the #1 slot.
Manzarek describes a bizarre trip to perform in New York City and meeting Andy Warhol and the degenerate gang at The Factory. Then it was back to L.A., where their producer cuts Light My Fire from over seven minutes to three, and the Doors have a smash number one hit the summer of 1967. They sold more records at that time than any other artist, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Later The Doors record Soft Parade, and plans a tour, which is canceled after the notorious exposure charges Morrison faced in Miami. Morrison is depressed after the conviction, goes further into drug and alcohol abuse, and becomes more and more removed from reality as stardom and stress catch up with him.
Once Manzarek tried to keep up with Morrison in a bar in New York, and had to give up after 15 shots. The day he could hardly move, yet there is Morrison in the hotel bar already drinking that afternoon.
Morrison Goes to Paris After Last Meeting With the Band
The book describes the final time the band met in L.A. after they finished their last album, one that contained massive hits like Love Her Madly and Riders On The Storm. Manzarek also recounts the last phone conversation before news arrives of his death. Morrison died in Paris on July 3, 1971 in a bathtub, and no one exactly sure how it happened, but drugs were involved.
This is an outstanding feat, the details, as the style of writing, the professorial content, and plenty of lurid details make it one of the best books connected to the Doors.
Manzarek, Ray, Light My Fire (My Life With The Doors), G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998, ISBN 0-399-14399-8
Join the Conversation