July 23, 2005
 

Ray Manzarek is finding most people don't object to the Doors of the 21st Century.

They object to the idea of the Doors of the 21st Century, which hits the Saddledome tomorrow night as part of the Strange Days Festival.

They're two very different things.

And many of those who object to the idea of Manzarek, keyboardist for the seminal '60s act, teaming up with guitarist Robby Krieger to perform the music of the Doors, do so only because someone else's is singing the words of the band's iconic late frontman Jim Morrison -- a man who has been mythologized and deified since his death in 1971 at the age of 27.

"They're not Doors fans," says Manzarek bluntly. "They're Jim Morrison, leather pants fans.

"It's the persona of Jim Morrison -- of, course, as Dionysus ...

"That's what they're worshipping, Dionysus, but of course they don't understand that."

And Manzarek doesn't understand it either.

"This is Jim, our buddy -- this is not God," says the 66-year-old of his friend oft remembered as the Lizard King.

"This is my buddy, he's the guy I went to film school with, we put a rock 'n' roll band together -- we were a couple of pot heads, acid heads.

"We talked about life, death, man and existence -- and all of a sudden he died."

With him died, for many people, the band, but also plans he and the surviving members had for albums, plays, concerts, theatrics and, Manzarek also says, politics.

But what didn't die was the music -- and that's the main reason behind Doors of the 21st Century.

The songs -- rock classics such as Light my Fire, L.A. Woman and Break on Through -- Manzarek says, are an important part of his and everyone else's life, and to have them buried along with the man who often mistakenly receives all the credit for them would be a shame.

"I take it as a real insult for people to say, 'Well, you're just doing this for the money,' " he says. "God, can't we do it just to play the songs? Robby and I want to play. It's like, listen, I'm not going to be doing this for too much longer -- don't you get it?

"Sorry, man, we're living, we're playing rock 'n' roll. And you know what? We play great. We're a great band."

Rounding out that great band -- and it is, say many of those skeptics who've seen it -- is former Cult frontman Ian Astbury.

He has the unenviable task of singing the words of Morrison, which has made him a target.

In fact, original drummer John Densmore filed a lawsuit against Manzarek and Krieger and refused to participate, because, Manzarek says, Densmore objected to the idea of replacing Morrison.

"Ian is going to sing the songs of the Doors," says Manzarek, taking exception with the word "replace."

"It's like Rod Stewart and the Great American Songbook -- it's Ian Astbury singing the Doors songbook ...

"And Ian's doing's a great job. We told him right off the bat, 'Do not imitate Jim Morrison. You be Ian Astbury singing Jim's words ...'

"He's his own man. But he's cut from the same cloth as Morrison -- Celtic, Christian, dark, brooding."

But he's Ian Astbury, not Jim Morrison.

Again, two very different things.