Aquarian Weekly (cover:
Primal Scream)
April 16-23, 2003
issue
ROBBIE KRIEGER
Rock Is Not Dead
by Glyn
Emmerson
Jim Morrison left planet earth in 1971. The Doors called it quits a year
later after releasing two albums that were noticeably devoid of the Lizard
King’s charms. In 1978 they regrouped in the studio briefly and backed
some spoken word poetry that Morrison had left in the vaults for a final stab
at brilliance on American Prayer.
In the 90’s John Densmore and Ray Manzarek took swipes at each other and
the Morrison myth in their autobiographies while guitarist Robby Krieger kept
the flame alive touring quietly with his own band, including son Waylon on
guitar. In the Fall of 2000 the three remaining members taped VH1’s
Storytellers with an assortment of vocalists including ex-Cult singer Ian
Astbury.
Last year ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland replaced John Densmore and
Astbury was recruited to fill in on vocals for a gig honoring Harley Davidson
Motorcycles 100th anniversary. Copeland injured himself this
winter in a bicycle accident and had to give up the throne to Robby Krieger
Band drummer Ty Dennis.
As the Doors turn and the soap opera unfolds Copeland and Densmore have
since filed lawsuits against the new band. One thing is for sure, the
Doors 21st Century will rock Roseland on April 24th.
Check out www.thedoors.com and L.A.Woman Confidential at
www.idafan.com for the insider scoop.
We caught up with Robby Krieger by phone from Houston between dates of
the current tour.
Why tour now after all these years?
We said we’d never be the Doors again without Jim, but every time I
would go out with my own band that would be the first question people would
ask. We wouldn’t have thought about it if it wasn’t for the fans.
People really want to see the three of us play but since John’s not interested
Ray and I decided to do it.
Why doesn’t Densmore want to be involved in the new
Doors?
I really don’t know. First it was his ears, he had tinnitus.
He and Ray also haven’t gotten along lately. He did the VH1 show
Storytellers with us that was great. I just don’t know why he won’t
do it. If he realized how much the fans wanted to see it he would do it.
Now he’s saying that Ian is up there aping Jim and stuff like that. I
don’t know what to say to that.
What happened to Stewart Copeland?
Stewart Copeland had some health problems and we had to let him go and
he’s suing us too (laughs)
Is it difficult playing on this tour with these
lawsuits going on?
No it doesn’t bother me. It’s a joke to me, the thing is nobody
sues you unless you’re doing great. John didn’t think we were going to
do more than one or two more shows so he didn’t care and now he does.
Will there be any surprises in the songs that the band
will be doing?
Just a lot of Doors songs, we might be doing a couple of new ones.
We’re working on some new material, so far we haven’t done anything onstage
yet but I’m trying to talk the other guys into it.
Is the band working on a new album?
That’s the idea, Ray and I have been working on some stuff and we’ve got
these songs by Jim Carroll who wrote Basketball Diaries. We’re
gonna try and get some other poets to come up with some lyrics and it could be
good.
How is it different playing with Ian than with Jim
Morrison?
You can’t compare anybody to Morrison because with him you never knew
what you were gonna get, it was always a surprise every night. With Ian you
sort of know what to expect. In a way it’s not as exciting, but in a way its
better. Let’s face it, a lot of times the audience was let down at Doors
shows when Jim wasn’t great. Sometimes he was great but that’s what you
took your chances on. This time around it’s more of a sure thing.
How has the crowd been accepting Ian?
At the L.A. and Phoenix shows hundreds of people rushed the stage during
"Soul Kitchen" and we couldn’t get them off.
It seems as if the Doors courted chaos in the old days
Jim always loved that and he always wanted that to happen
How was it for you?
I always dug it too! It got a little scary sometimes but nothing bad
ever happened, its just rock and roll.
Some people feel the music is sacrilegious, that Ian is
an imposter and shouldn’t really be onstage with you guys. What do you
say to that?
I’d just say don’t come. Go see a Doors tribute band if you think
that will be better. This is the closest thing you’ll ever see to the
real thing. If you never saw the real thing then this is as close as
you’re gonna get.
What do you think Morrison would think of you guys coming
out and playing without him?
You never know what Morrison was going to think (laughs) but I think he
would say, -Hey, why not, you’ve waited thirty years, everyone else is doing
it, look at the Rolling Stones-. I think he’d want the songs to be heard
again.
This article is reprinted from
The Aquarian Weekly
April 16-23, 2003 issue
There are two current press photos of Ray, Ian,
and Robby with the story
Check their site for archived rock interviews,
including one with Ray Manzarek