John Densmore

This book is a story of the Doors lawsuit where John Densmore was defending the agreement that the group made to require unanimity on any decisions, meaning each member had veto power. Densmore was upholding both his and Jim Morrison's wish to not commercialize the name and music of the group. Furthermore, he was protesting the actions of Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger to call themselves "The Doors" when they went touring. It makes for a long and involved story, as the legal wranglings stretched out for years. In the end Densmore won.
Most of the book is Densmore relating the blow-by-blow proceedings, complete with verbatim testimony and arguments, so it may be somewhat boring. Densmore interposes his views on the history of the group's discussions, as well as his political and philosophical stance. I admired his motive to protect the artistry and philosophy of the group and their music, and Morrison's legacy. He astutely points out that they all made a ton of money from their collaboration. Is it really necessary to despoil their art just to make more?? How much is enough??
I grew up with the Doors music -- in college we wore out their albums. So it's a big part of our musical history. Thus I found the book interesting and relevant, but for some people the long descriptions of legal procedure might prevent them from enjoying it.… (más)

Thanks to the publisher, through LibraryThing.com for providing me with a copy of this book.

First off, I'm a big Doors fan. I was just the right age when "Light My Fire" came out to really get into the song. I'd noticed on my Doors' albums that all the songs were credited to 'The Doors' not to the individual members of the band. I don't think I realized how unusual that was at the time.

Apparently the 4 members of the Doors signed a contract which gave equal shares of proceeds from their albums and concerts to each member. The contract also stipulated that each member had full veto power over any future use of their music (like in TV commercials, movie sound tracks, and the like). This provision was due to the late Jim Morrison's (lead singer) utter refusal to allow their music to be used in TV commercials. Jim died in 1971 which made it difficult for the band to continue on as The Doors.

Skip to 2003. Two of the former members, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, with a drummer and a singer, went on tour as 'The New Doors of the 21st Century', apparently using the familiar Doors logo. John Densmore, the former drummer with the band (and the author of this book) took exception and vetoed the use of the name. They went on tour, prompting Densmore to sue. Manzarek and Krieger countersued over Densmore's veto of using a Doors' song in a Cadillac commercial (a deal worth $15 million). Densmore wanted no money, the other two wanted $40 million. Morrison's parents and sister also joined in a lawsuit supporting Densmore. Densmore vetoed the commercial in support of Morrison's memory.

The book is almost entirely about Densmore's experience in court the summer of 2003. How boring it was, how scary it was (where was he going to come up with $40M?) and how disillusioning it was (how could his former band mates and friends do this to him?).

I was puzzled why this book took so long to be written. The court cases were finally over in 2008, Manzarek and Krieger having appealed all the way to the California Supreme Court. Apparently this is a paperback reissue of the book originally published in 2013.

The book was readable but mostly dull, literally court transcriptions, interrupted by Densmore's thoughts on what was happening, his philosophical take on the proceedings and liberal name dropping of all the famous people he's met in his long career.

There's a little bit about the Doors' early days and Morrison's destructive behavior. This isn't a history of The Doors.… (más)

The Doors Unhinged by John Densmore is an interesting account of his legal battle with the other remaining members of The Doors (at the time) over the use of the name. That said, it went slightly off-track periodically when he would go on a bit too much about why he was waging the fight.

You'll see reviews that call him what the reviewer actually is, something about "whiny." What I think gets lost is that Densmore acknowledges that he had made a couple of missteps with regard to honoring what Jim Morrison wanted for the music. Would Morrison have changed his mind if he was still alive? Maybe, but it doesn't matter. The only definitive thing we have to go on is what he stated, repeatedly, while alive. To make it sound like anyone has the power to change his wishes because "maybe, perhaps, he would have changed his mind" is simply upset they either missed a show or they don't care about ethically abiding by an agreement they all made. All it takes is one veto.

As for using the name of the band in the name of the new band, that is misleading. Again, some reviewer falsely claimed Densmore called everyone who attended the shows too stupid to know what they were getting. They could have still capitalized on the Doors name by doing as Densmore suggested, billing themselves as two former members of the band. Insisting on implementing Doors into their band name was misleading, and intentionally so, or they would have used the alternative.

The writing is uneven but the story says a lot about how people will readily decide to renege on their word if it means more money. As great a keyboardist as Manzarek was, the band would not have been the smash they were without Morrison's words and his persona. Abiding by the word you gave to Morrison doesn't seem like too much to ask. If you believed you would be successful without Morrison you could have not agreed to the terms and stopped working with him, and been any one of the many wonderfully talented session musicians. Manzarek knew what would take good music into the area of iconic music, and it was Morrison. Don't break your word, especially to the one who allowed you to have a comfortable lifestyle well beyond your talent would have afforded otherwise.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing.… (más)