John news only 2009   

 December 31, 2009         John 'first person' story
John Densmore wrote a 'First Person' piece that appears in tomorrow's L.A. Times Calendar section.  In an interesting twist, John's story is from the perspective of being the fan; in this case, of L.A. Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel.  It is insightful into many of John's influences.  Titled The rocker and 'The Dude', you can read it at:   http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-densmore1-2010jan01,0,7423002.story

 December 18, 2009          John in Record Collector Mag
A John Densmore interview appears in the January 2010 issue (#371) of Record Collector Magazine.  It looks like The Doors got the cover!  Check that out at:  http://www.recordcollectormag.com/issues/issue-detail/371.   Only subscribers can read it on-line, but here is a sample of the story:   http://www.recordcollectormag.com/articles/article-detail/614  (thanks, Gilles)

 December 16, 2009          John in magazine story 
John Densmore is featured in the January 2010 issue of 'Modern Drummer.'  The story title is '14 Reasons To Love John Densmore.'  The story can be read on the home page at www.johndensmore.com  and/or downloaded from a link there.  (thanks, Jim)

 December 1, 2009          HB to JD 
Happy birthday wishes today to John Densmore, who is celebrating his 65th.   John's birthday kicks off the 10-week period in which all members of The Doors AND their #1 Fan AND Jim and Dave (the Webmasters of John's, Ray's and Robby's websites) celebrate (or, maybe not so much anymore) turning another year older.  Freaky, eh?

 November 12, 2009         John at UCLA
John Densmore closed out a program on Tuesday night at UCLA that celebrated 40 years of ethnic studies with poetry and drum music.  The story linked here says that since 1991, John has funded a scholarship program through the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.  Read full story at:  http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ethnic-studies-40th-anniversary-112272.aspx

 October 21, 2009         A Shot of Whisky
'A Shot of Whisky' is the title of a forthcoming 90-minute film documentary about the Whisky-a-Go-Go.  It will be supplemented by a CD that highlights artists who played there.  There is a 7-minute film clip about the film on YoutTube which includes John Densmore reminiscing, but I'm having trouble linking directly to it ... so just search on A Shot of Whisky trailer.  (thanks, Gigi and Stuart).  To read a press release about the film, go here

 October 16, 2009         John not going to London <> WYS picked up for UK distribution
John Densmore has had a change of plans and will NOT be attending 'When You're Strange' screenings at the BFI London Film Festival.  However, expect a probable appearance when the film premieres in theaters in Europe sometime in the first half of 2010.

 October 9, 2009        John at London WYS screening
John Densmore will be attending the October 18th screening of 'When You're Strange' at the London Film Festival.  That festival also screens the film on October 16th.  The screening dates are now scheduled for the Viennale (Austria) Film Festival:  October 23 and 24.  See calendar for more information and links.

 October 3, 2009        'When You're Strange' interview
'When You're Strange' Writer and Director Tom DiCillo and John Densmore are featured in a nice long (2 page) interview about the film at:  http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/london_film_festival/article6852578.ece

 September 4, 2009       John the 'quiet activist' 
John Densmore is the subject of an on-line story with a YouTube clip about his 'quiet activism' including recent support of the Havasupai tribe of Arizona, who are battling uranium mining around the Grand Canyon.  Read full story at:  http://www.examiner.com/x-21763-The-Doors-Examiner~y2009m9d3-John-Densmore-quiet-activist

 August 23, 2009         John in Tucson
John Densmore was expected to join musician John Coinman and writer Michael Blake last night in Tucson, Arizona at a concert and multimedia presentation to raise awareness and money for endangered wild horses.  Read the full story here:  http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/305715

 August 9, 2009         revamped website
John Densmore's revamped website came back on-line last week.  Check that out at:   johndensmore.com

 August 4, 2009         revamped websites
All of the official websites have been revamped (again).   johndensmore.com is still 'under maintenance', but raymanzarek.us and  robbykrieger.com are up and running.  If you are a fan of flash websites that don't allow you to conveniently print out information, then you will still love these sites.

 August 1, 2009         John & east L.A. mural
John Densmore is funding a portion of the $3,000. expense to restore a mural in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles that was recently damaged by graffiti.  Refer to the July 14th news for that back story.  The restored mural will be coated with an anti-graffiti product to protect it.  Read the latest story at:   http://egpnews.com/?p=11564

 July 14, 2009         John & community arts
John Densmore figures prominently in a story in today's L.A. Times about the damage to a 120-foot mural that he helped fund more than 10 years ago, and generally about supporting community arts.  Read it at:  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez15-2009jul15,0,6587036,full.column

 July 7, 2009         John guest appearance
John Densmore was a special guest artist on a Grammy-nominated CD called "Spirits In The Wind" released by native American musicians Burning Sky in 2002.  (To see 2002 website story, go here).   On Saturday July 25th, John will re-unite with Burning Sky and native American dancers from several tribes as part of a protest gathering at their sacred site Red Butte, which is threatened by uranium mining located near the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  This event is free and open to the public.  For more information and directions, refer to this press release.

 June 13, 2009        John at Tia Chucha's
John Densmore did a poetry reading last night at Tia Chucha's Cafe in Sylmar, CA.  His first poem was (translated) "I Am Not I" and then he recited from Morrison's 'An American Prayer'.  There was a T.V. film crew there from ABC.  I heard one of the people say that it would be seen on Sunday morning at 11am on ABC, but she was unsure if it would be as soon as tomorrow.  To see some photos, go here.

 June 11, 2009        John appearance Friday <> John letter to R.S.
John Densmore will be at Tia Chucha's Cafe this Friday, June 12 for Open Mic:  Night of Music & Spoken Word from 8-10 p.m.  Tia Chucha's is located at 13197-A Gladstone Avenue, Sylmar, CA.  For info, go to:  www.tiachucha.com

John Densmore wrote a letter to the Rolling Stone 'correspondence' column which appears in the June 25 issue (cover: Adam Lambert).  The letter gives high praise about a prior issue's article on 'Dr. Cornel West, Philosopher of the Blues.'

 February 3, 2009      John's webmaster interviewed
John Densmore's webmaster Jim Southwick was interviewed last night on a northern California radio station, KMUD at 91.1 FM.  Jim attended a screening last month in Salt Lake City of the 'When You're Strange' film, and he spoke extensively of that as well as the website and fan forum he runs at www.johndensmore.com.   The interview runs about 15 minutes and can be heard at:   http://www.johndensmore.com/humboldt.mp3  

 January 27, 2009      John at Whisky tribute
John Densmore contributed a 'quick drum roll' in memory of Elmer Valentine at last night's tribute concert honoring the Whisky A Go-Go's co-founder who died last month.  Johnny Rivers was the headliner but also shared the spotlight with Stephen Stills and Chris Hillman.  According to the story in today's L.A. Times, John showed up last night in what he called his 'hippie jacket' of buckskin with fringed sleeves.  Read the full story at:  http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-et-valentine28-2009jan28,0,7823119.story

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 January 22, 2009      John interview <> Jim vs. Bono 'quiz' 
John Densmore was interviewed while he was at the Sundance Film Festival for the film's premiere:  read this one at:   http://www.vancouversun.com/Entertainment/Doors+documentary+recalls+strange+days+when+Morrison+ruled+stage/1198627/story.html  (thanks, Bill)

John Densmore compared Jim Morrison to U2's Bono in an interview I linked to on Saturday.  Now that has led to a 'Bono vs. Jim Morrison' quiz at:  http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2009/01/21/battle-royale-bono-vs-jim-morrison.aspx

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 January 19, 2009      Sundance 'WYS' reviews <> John on Bono
Last evening was the screening of 'When You're Strange' for press and industry, so there are a bunch of reviews popping up.  I'm not going to use every one but will select the most comprehensive ones to share.  I'm going to start with these:  http://www.thestar.com/Entertainment/article/573260  and  http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=42684                   

John Densmore compared U2 frontman Bono to Jim Morrison in an interview yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival.  Read the full story at:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gAP7_Wge7G1avPf-r5PRqgv_zlzQ

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John news 2008 <> John news 2007 <> John news 2006 <> John news 2005 <> John news 2004 <> John news 2003 <> John news 2002

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all Prior News  &  Reviews

  http://www.henhousestudios.com/    John is involved in Hen House Studios, a community recording studio in Venice, CA 

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