John Densmore – Morally Preserving The Doors (Exclusive Interview)

Through clever wit and vivid detail, Doors drummer John Densmore’s new book The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial tells his side of a feud with former band mates Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek over the use of the group’s name, as well as the use of their songs for commercial purposes. The result of the rift was a six-year legal struggle, in which Densmore depicts integrity and greed battling it out before judge and jury. Interspersed throughout his courtroom chronicling, the author and rock and roll hall of famer reflects on the events leading up to the trial and elaborates on his reasons for standing up for his beliefs.

As the story goes, turbulence between Densmore and his former band mates arose back in 2003, when Cadillac approached the band to use one of their songs in a television commercial. Initially, the band was offered six million dollars in which all of the surviving members had declined, but Cadillac kept on raising the stakes until the offer topped off at fifteen million dollars, the most money that any band had ever been offered for the commercial licensing of a song. Manzarek and Krieger were now willing to give the green light.

Bands like the Who and Led Zeppelin had accepted similar offers around this time, abandoning the long-held belief that selling songs for commercial purposes was taboo. However, Densmore used his veto power to shoot down the deal, remembering a time when lead singer Jim Morrison furiously shouted at and shamed the band for considering to accept $75,000 for the use of “Light My Fire” in a Buick advertisement. To Jim, this was a bargain with the devil and he vowed to raise hell if ever such a commercial (which would’ve change the lyrics from “Come on baby light my fire” to “Come on Buick light my fire”) were to be made.

Another dispute arose shortly after the Cadillac deal was squashed, when Manzarek & Kreiger embarked on a tour as the Doors of the 21st Century, with “of the 21st Century” appearing in small print. Densmore was taken aback by such advertising. To him, Jim Morrison’s passing in the summer of 1971 marked the end of the Doors, and not even the band’s surviving members could appropriate the use of the band’s name for any of their posthumous projects.

He certainly took no issue with Manzarek and Krieger touring together, playing material from the Doors catalog, just like he has had no problem with the plethora of cover bands playing those songs night after night, as long as they don’t use the songs to sell products. His gripe spawned from the misleading presentation of the show, which was being advertised as a continuation of what was. One advertisement used a line of Morrison’s poetry, “THE CEREMONY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN,” followed by the word, “AGAIN.”

Densmore contacted Krieger and asked him to change the name. Krieger agreed but failed to act. This disappointment led Densmore to contact Jim’s estate (consisting of both his parents and his widow’s parents) and informed them of the quarreling going on amongst the surviving members. Together, they sued Manzarek and Krieger in an attempt to curb the use of the band’s name and also to prevent them from going through with the Cadillac deal. Krieger and Manzarek counter-sued for a whopping forty million dollars, stating that they were being prevented from making a living as musicians.

Aside from the enormous amount that of money that Densmore was being sued for (which supposedly was more money than all four members had made combined over the lifetime of the band), Densmore was served another upsetting blow from his band mates during the trial. Perhaps out of the desperation for not having much of case, the opposing legal team took advantage of post 9/11 paranoia and made cringe worthy attempts at destroying Densmore’s character by accusing him to be un-American, a communist, and even a terrorist. Such bizarre claims were concocted from his decision to pass on the Cadillac deal, his criticism of Bush-era foreign policy and his association with non-violent and hardly controversial environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.

If he felt alone amongst the surviving members of the band, he did find support for several musicians, including – Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Jim Keltner, Tom Waits and Randy Newman – all who expressed admiration for the legal action that Densmore chose to take.  The following is just a sample of the rapport that Densmore received for his moral stances during the trial and for the book it produced;

“Though it’s something I don’t like to think about, there will come a time when I will be a dead rock star. I can only hope that in my inevitable absence there will be someone with the integrity and principled behavior of Mr. Densmore looking after whatever legacy our group may leave behind.” –Eddie Vedder

“John Densmore is not for sale and that is his gift to us.” – Tom Waits

“We have seen so many great artists succumb to the theory that any dollar, is a good dollar. This book does much to disprove this mindset. A must read by any artist who feels his work might be worth more than money. Bravo to John Densmore.”  – Tom Petty

One ally to Densmore was Police drummer Stewart Copeland, who had temporarily sat behind the drum kit for the Doors of the 21st Century and played a crucial role in the trial. His turn on the witness stand revealed a behind-the-scenes memo addressed to Manzarek, Krieger, Ian Astbury (who handled vocals for the project) and Tom Victorino (the band’s manager) that expressed his uneasiness with the governance of the new band and their decision to tour under the Doors name. To Copeland, there were disingenuous elements to the project, but Manzarek badgered him drop such skepticism. In Densmore’s eyes, the lure of large crowds, big bucks, fame and notoriety had a hold of his former band mates, and it was Copeland’s testimonial that exposed this.

He certainly made his case to the courtroom deciders, winning the trial on both accounts.
Gliderecently had the opportunity to speak with Densmore about his new book, making amends with Manzarek and Krieger, the elements that made the Doors’ music so inimitable and his plans for the future.

So you have this new book out, The Doors Unhinged. Let’s start with the cover art by Shepard Fairey. Are you a fan of street art and if so, what do you appreciate about it?

Well, it’s the voice of the people, you know? It’s not graffiti… I mean some of it is… The tagging…

You know, I’ll tell you a story that’s pretty interesting. I self-published this book because I had a deal with a New York company and they were giving me shit, saying, “Write more about Jim!” I’m like “What?! I did! It was a bestseller called ‘Riders on the Storm,’ check it out!” So they say, “No there are more stories.” Oh jeez, these people wanted trash. Then they said they hated the title, “The Doors Unhinged.” Really? I thought it was provocative. They thought it was too negative. Oh god… Well it is about a struggle and a trial. So I left this company, but before that, I had acquired Shepard to do the cover. I said to them, “I’m so excited! Shepard Fairey is gonna do the cover!” and they said, “Who’s he? How much is that going to cost?” At that point I said, “I’m outta here. Goodbye.” So there’s a little side note about that.

What pleased me so much was that I showed Shepard the photo of the Doors’ first publicity photo, the one with Jim leaning on my shoulder, and he said, “Jim’s holding something.” I said “What? Really?” A few days later, he put a key in Jim’s hand. I thought that was so fucking brilliant. In other words, Jim holds the key to the Doors’ legacy. Then he surrounded Jim’s face with a keyhole. God damn… In one visual, he captured the whole book. So I’m very, very pleased

The final chapter of this book is an open letter to your former band mates, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, in which you state the following: “When I look back at the purpose for this book, I wrote it for two reasons. First, to clear my name and set the record straight about what happened between us. Second, we have to start talking about this greed thing.” In regards to the first purpose for writing this book, can you please explain what happened with you and the surviving members of the Doors?

Well, you know, I had this tinnitus ringing in my ear from playing, from crashing my cymbals for so long. Ray and Robby and I were offered this gig with Harley Davidson and I said “I can’t do it.” They said they were going to do it. I said “Cool.” They got Ian Astbury to sing and apparently it went well, but then they booked this whole tour behind my back and called it the Doors… of the 21st Century… I’m whispering ‘of the 21st Century’ because they put that in small print… Ehhh what?! The Doors without Jim, let alone me! The Stones without Mick, the Police without Sting. No no no no no, stop this please! So I had to start this train wreck, this five-year legal struggle… Which I had no idea that it was going to be so long… Expensive… Shattering…

Looking back at it, I don’t regret it, but it was really hard. The Doors are back on their hinges now, thank you… Meaning that it’s Jim, Ray, Robby and John. Not Ian, Stewart, Ray, Robby, Phil, Shirley and Fred.

I think that is one of the biggest misinterpretations of the band’s dynamic… That Jim was the leader… That it was Jim Morrison and the Doors… Maybe it’s the first album cover that leads people to think that… In reality, you guys were more like a band of musical brothers, am I right? What was the band’s dynamic, from both the songwriting and music standpoint?

That’s really, really it. There’s that story… Some DJ introduced us at a concert as Jim Morrison and the Doors, so Jim dragged him back out and had him reintroduce us as the Doors. Jim was just so damn handsome and he got enlarged on that first album cover and you know, the lead singer has his bright spotlight but behind closed doors, we were totally equal, and not only was I the drummer, I had a big mouth about arranging all the songs, as did Ray. So yeah… Ray said in many interviews that the Doors were four equal parts of a diamond and with one missing you couldn’t function. Of course, he read that on the witness stand and… oh, this is challenging… Oh dear… The late great Ray Manzarek…

How about the band’s dynamic from a business standpoint? You guys had a really unique contract. Usually the songwriter received the lion’s share of the credit for a song, but with the Doors, you all received equal recognition.

Jim couldn’t play a chord on any instrument so he was insecure about songwriting, and so he said, “How do we do this? Let’s do this altogether and let’s split all the money. I am the lyricist, but let’s just say ‘music by the Doors’.” So that was the most generous, amazing… I mean is there any other group in music that has ever done that? I don’t know. So that made us want to give 200% you know? It was a great foundation.

In this book, you state, “Jim’s genius, for some reason, came in the Dionysian package of man’s benefactor and man’s destroyer.” For all Jim’s talent, he certainly had demons that you and those around him were unable to stop. Is there anything that you could’ve done differently today that you think could have saved him from a premature death?

I used to answer this question by saying that he was a kamikaze drunk and even if he was around today he wouldn’t be clean and sober… but I’ve changed my mind. I look at Eric Clapton; I look at Eminem who is another angry, creative guy like Jim… It’s a different time. We didn’t have substance abuse clinics back then. I didn’t know he was an alcoholic with a disease. We’re more aware of those pitfalls now.

So let’s talk about the second aim of this book… Which is to tackle what you call the “greed gene.” What is the “greed gene” and how did it cause a rift amongst the surviving members of the Doors?

I wrote this article in the Nation, which is in the back of the book, and I came up with this “greed gene” thing because I… After I heard that John Lennon was giving 10 percent of his income to charity, I started to do that, back in the eighties and I’ve done it ever since. When the Oliver Stone movie came out, my hand was shaking as I’m writing all these checks. I’m like, “You idiot, what’s your problem here? It just means you’re doing incredible.” Ohhhh, it’s the hand of greed, right there in me! Amazing. So… Gosh…

I’m very pleased that the book opens with Jim yelling “Fuck you!” to us for considering “Come on Buick Light My Fire” for a commercial, and he primarily didn’t write those words! Robby did! OK, so he threw in a line or two… “Our love become a funeral pyre,” which is very Morrison-esque… So what did that say? He cares so much about the whole catalog of songs and what the whole band means… Wow… He’s not here anymore, so I want to fight for that.

Look, I’m not a PC purist. If you’re a new band trying to pay the rent, I get it. It’s hard out there, harder than ever. Maybe do a commercial, but if you get a toehold on success, you may want to reexamine that, because you’re changing your lyrics to a jingle, and that’s the sound of coins in your pocket, and maybe you just sold your audience. I’m quoting Tom Waits.

Let me tell you, it’s a provocative subject. I’ve got Pete Townshend in there saying “I don’t give a fuck if you fell in love with Shirley to my song, I’ll do what I want with it,” which I understand, but I think about the original formation of our band and the original business setup of four equal parts and see, if I hadn’t won the lawsuit, the governance would have been changed to majority rules, rather than unanimous. Then Ray and Robby could’ve done all the damn commercials they wanted. Oh boy. Trouble.

Fast forward to the early 2000s, commercial licensing became the topic of disagreement once again when Cadillac came knocking on the door of the Doors… Offering $6 million…. Then $8 million…  and finally $15 million… At the time, it was the biggest offer in history, in regards to commercial licensing for a song. You turned down the offer, because of the residual lesson that you took from the Buick incident?

When Jim said “Let’s split everything, I don’t know how to write songs, and let’s have veto power, just in case somebody gets weird.” Well I became Mr. Veto, and believe me, when I said no and it escalated all the way up to $15 million, my knees were shaking! It’s an obscene amount of money, but since we split everything over the years, I know down to the penny what everybody has.  Ray and Robby had a nice house and several cars like me so it wasn’t a situation of somebody not being able to pay the rent, and so we have got to honor Jim.

Why not take the money and give it to a charity?

That’s good. Peter Pan, why not? Yea, that’s one way, but I just tried to adhere to Jim’s flip out in regards to the Buick ad, so I stayed pure on that.

In this book you state, “I understand that, in the larger scheme of things, whether or not the Doors’ music is used in commercials will not address the more profound issues facing our world today. Likewise, I know that whether or not Ray and Robby are allowed to call themselves the Doors will not change the current state of society. I am under no illusions about either of those two things. But I do think that the conflict among the three of us is a profound metaphor for some of what ails society today.” What’s the bigger picture that you are seeing? What’s the State of the Union according to John Densmore?

Well, we’re at the crutch of it right now, with this disparity between the rich and the poor. I haven’t seen The Wolf of Wall Street but it’s obviously about the rich and excess to the max. That’s why I had trouble getting this book published. That’s why I had to do it myself, because it wasn’t about excess. It’s the opposite of excess. It’s about me saying no to money for commercials, so it wasn’t a crazy, rock star thing… Sex, drugs and rock and roll, which sells. I do say in the book, “Money is like fertilizer – When hoarded, it stinks, and when spread around, things grow.” These corporate CEO beavers are damming up the flow by hoarding. If we spread the fertilizer around more, we’d have a better go at things.

You express disappointment in other bands of the sixties who have given up on the idealism of those times and have approved the use of their songs for selling cars, deodorant and other corporate products. There’s a story in this book about how dismayed you felt when Bob Dylan not only lent his song “Love Sick” to a Victoria Secret commercial, but he appeared in the commercial as well. Apparently Bob’s at it again with a pair of Superbowl ads, one where he appears in a Chrysler commercial with his song “Things Have Changed,” and another where he  licensed “I Want You” to sell Chobani yogurt.

Alright! What can I say? I tried to forgive him at the end of that diatribe, because he’s such a friggin’ genius. Now he’s changing a love song to sell yogurt. I don’t know, maybe he has stomach trouble and needs some positive bacteria! Owwww! Oh god, he’ll never speak to me again!

Interspersed throughout the courtroom battles are reflections of other artists who you respect for how they deal with their legacies… Artists like George Harrison, Neil Young and Eddie Vedder… What is it that you admire about them?

Well, I think that they think, “If my music has touched a lot of people and it has become the soundtrack to people’s life and helped them in difficult or wonderful moments, and in turn I have made such a great living off this, maybe I should leave it alone and not go for one more fancy car or house or whatever it may be and risk making the meaning of the songs about… yogurt.”

What was the countersuit about? You were countersued for $40 million dollars…   Why so much?

Fear. They had these goliath lawyers who rarely went to court because they scared the crap out of anybody who approached their famous clients… And it scared me! They we’re suing me for more money than all of us made collectively in our lives. Pretty scary. I don’t know, I just put my head in the sand and went on.

You met Jim’s father for the first time through this experience. What was it like to meet the admiral?

Fantastic. I mean I never saw that coming. A real blessing. It sort of felt like a healing of the sixties, Here’s this archetypal military man, whose son was part of the counterculture. His son is gone but his son’s band mate is around, and we’re both trying to hold up his legacy. It was really touching.

So throughout the trial, your former band mates’ lawyers accused you of being a communist and a terrorist. What was that all about? A case of post 9/11 hysteria?

Yea. It was McCarthyism, which is still… I mean just look at how polarized this country is. That’s why they throw out Al Qaeda, or anarchist stuff. Because they’re trying to get the judge and jury to think I’m some kind of weird commie pinko and that they should vote against me.

In the end, the courts sided with you in regards to the use of the band’s name and the commercial licensing dispute. After such a long and grueling journey, what did you take from the experience?

Stay true to your instincts, and there are rocks in the road and sometimes they turn into boulders, but you’ll make it.

Before Ray’s passing, did you get to make amends?

So I sent Ray and Robby the last chapter that you talked about, before I published the book, with a note that said,  “Listen you guys, this is probably going to be a hard pill to swallow, and I want to be sure that you get to this last chapter. It’s where I say ‘I love you’’’ How can I not say that? We’re musical brothers. I wasn’t speaking to Ray or Robby for quite awhile. I’d see them in court but, you know, we were quite estranged. Then when I heard Ray was getting really sick, I called him and fortunately he picked up and we had closure.

What are some of your favorite memories of the four of you playing together?

Well you know, I think about Ray now. In the end, we certainly had our differences, but I hear the songs now and marvel at his ability to split his brain into two halves; his left hand is the bass player and his right hand is the keys. All those great hooks that stick in your brain… And then the feel. Ray and I were the rhythm section, the bass and the drums and so, you know, thank God that we felt the pocket the same, because that’s everything. That’s the groove, that’s what makes people dance. And then of course Robby floated on top.

In December, you and Robby reunited onstage for an abbreviated performance on the eve of Jim’s 70th birthday at “Mojo Risen: The Making of LA Woman” event at LACMA. How’d that go?

I just suggested “Hey there is gonna be Q&A, so why don’t we play acoustic for ten minutes or so?” It was really sweet. I said to the audience, “Well we’re known for the drumming and the guitar, and we’re gonna try and sing, will you help us out?” and they all sang along. It was really nice.

And now you are planning a memorial for Ray right? What can we expect of the event?

Death trumps everything, and I said to Robby, “Let’s honor Ray and play a concert.”  We haven’t played together in a really long time. I suggested that before this little LACMA thing. Let’s make it a benefit for cancer and see who we can get. The letters have just gone out, so I don’t know if we’re going to be at the Whiskey or Madison Square Garden. It kind of depends on whether or not Bob Dylan sits in!  Just kidding, we didn’t even ask him… or did we? You know, if I say names, they might read about it and it might get weird. You know who they are, all the greats. We we’re shooting for Ray’s birthday on February 12th but obviously that didn’t happen. Maybe summer hopefully.

On a final note, what does John Densmore have in store for the rest of 2014 and beyond?  
Well, I’m writing again, and I’ve had so much fun at these book signings that I’m going to do that some more, but not as much. I do them at record stores, and it’s really cool because record store people love music, and so vinyl is kind of coming back and they have books and posters and this sense of community at all these record stores, and so I’m still going to be doing that, just somewhat less. I’m starting to think about more books.