the Doors' Robby Krieger - Set the Night on Fire
Robby Krieger
I love the Doors. I don’t think they are properly regarded by rock historians, or the public in general. Denis Leary famously summed up his angle on the the Doors: “look, I’m Jim Morrison. I'm drunk, I'm nobody. I'm drunk, I'm famous. I'm drunk, I’m dead.” Yes, Jim Morrison was a raging drunk. Of bigger concern, he was a bad drunk. But that’s all people remember. Look at Keith Moon, he was a really really bad drunk… and is beloved. Anyhow, this is another Doors book. I read John Densmore’s (he was the drummer). It was pretty good. There is a review below, on the Densmore book. It was a while ago, let’s look. It’s WAY down there, when I was logging books, but not putting a date stamp on it. That makes is about 2007 or before, no wonder why I don’t remember any of it. Interesting, Amazon readers ranked both of these books (this Krieger book I am describing here, and the John Densemore book) at 4.5 stars, each with about 500 reviews.
I'm sure Ray (the keyboard player) has several books. I don’t like him, though. He comes off to me as a self aggrandizing narcissist. I would bet Ray is so eager to cash in on the Doors, he probably has like 7 books. I would imagine their titles would be “Jim Morrison and Me”, or “How I am the Doors and everyone else can kiss my ass, but here are some made up Jim stories”. I did see he has books, but I am not linking them here. I am being petulant. I told you I don’t like him. Mostly because of below.
It also bothered me that Ray loved to keep the story alive the Jim Morrison was still alive out there somewhere. I just think its offensive. Here is the way I see Jim’s death. There is, correctly, a LOT of mystery around Jim’s death. There were no doctors involved, there was no autopsy, or coroners report. There was no ambulance or hospital involved. Apparently, no one from the Doors camp or Jim’s family ever even saw his body. But here is the way I see Jim’s end: Had he not died that night, and faked his death (it does sound like a Jim Morrison stunt), he would have been dead of something else… a week later or a year later. He was not long for this world, sadly.
So about this book, Robbie was their terrific guitar player. An incredible guitar player, who also doesn’t get his due. He wrote many of the Doors songs. Remember, Jim didn’t play an instrument. He didn’t even write all the words. Robbie wrote ‘Light my Fire’, words and music. And dude doesn’t use a pic for guitar playing. That is incredibly unusual. And check out Spanish Caravan if you want to hear his bona fides. Its a great book. Note, this isn't a book about Jim Morrison. It’s Robbie’s story. If you want just 200 pages of crazy ass (and likely half true) Jim Morrison stories, read Danny Sugerman’s ‘on one here gets out alive’. I’ll admit, its a great read. But, its also so tabloid.. A la the rock biography standard bearer ‘the Hammer of the Gods’, about the mighty Zeppelin. The Sugarman book should really be listed as fiction, but it remains a great read.
I learned Robbie had a lot of hardcore drug addictions. Coke, heroin… and then coke & heroin together. This of course is known as ‘speedball’. I really like how he talks about his drug history. Obviously, I’ve read a million rock star drug accounts. He talks about it matter of factly. He doesn’t glamourize it. More importantly, he doesn’t do the whole self pity you here from every other addict in recovery. Here is what every other person (save for the hilarious Joe Walsh) tells this story… verbatim. “I thought I was having fun. Really, I was covering a deep horrible sadness I was afraid to confront. I was never comfortable around people. On drugs, though, I had the self confidence I thought I lacked. I thought I was the life of the party, and that life was a party. Now, I just look back and feel a fool.” Robbie’s is somewhere in between regret, and ful Joe Walsh. I mention him here a couple times because he is a great rock star and a famous addict. When he talks about his time, he says “it was a blast, man!’
I’ll have my editor double check, but since I have no editor… don’t hold your breath. This books (yeah, its an audiobook, but sadly not read by Robby. Anyhow, I don’t think he used a ghost writer. All rock stars use ghost writers, which I get. In fact, they all use the same one, Anthony Bozza. In fact, in all of the rock books I have read - which is most of them - I can only think of two who I don’t feel used a ghost writer. Robby Krieger here, and Bruce Springsteen. Holy shit is Bruce’s book really terrific. Incredibly well written. I feel he could have been a novelist.
So what does Robby have to say about Jim? Let’s admit it, that is why we are all here, isn’t it. Of course, you get the ‘he really was a gentle soul… a true poet’. He says Jim never wanted to go solo, and insisted the whole band split all royalties. That all songs be credited to all four. He would never allow any collateral that said “Jim Morrison and the Doors”. That Jim was not just totally checked out of the world around him. He was very much involved in the business and marketing of the Doors. Also, I thought this was cool. When Jim released his poetry book ‘An American Prayer’, he didn’t want people to buy it because he was the guy from the Doors. He wanted it to stand on its own merits. So, he published it under his full name - James Douglas Morrison. The sad thing is that it is now marketed and packaged as ‘Jim Morrison’s An American Prayer’. That is a dick move, and clearly against Jim’s wishes. Especially putting his photo on the cover. So much for anonymity. To be fair, it is a great picture, though.
Ok those are the nice parts. The not so nice parts that maybe you didn’t know? He always had a drinking problem, and he was always a complete jackass bordering on psycho when drunk. I thought Jim was this delicate flower that fame and money turned into a jackass. Nope, both sides were always there with Jim. Note, this link goes to my other website, Maybe I am Wrong.com. Its strictly my music writing.
Keith Moon was a drunken buffoon. Moon the loon is lionized as a silly adventurist. Well, he also drove over and killed his chaffuer when he was drunk, and drove a Rolls Royce into a pool. How is that last one so bad? Well, the Rolls wasn’t his, and neither was the pool. Ok, the department store tale about the trousers cut in half is brilliant. But he was a terrible person and dangerously unpredictable when he drank, which was always. Same case with John Bonham. In fact, the Zepp members had a code name for John Bonham when he was drunk. They called him ‘Bonzo’. You know the nickname, but you didn’t know it was how the band spoke in code around him. “Heads up, Bonzo is downstairs”. This meant that 1) John Bonham was downstairs, and 2) he was wasted.
Ok, that went long. Sorry, I just love the Doors and want their story told. L.A. Woman is a masterpiece of an album. Fact. If you are a Doors fan, you will enjoy it. I think its the best Doors book from any of the members. However, if you want a Jim Morrison book, read Sugarman’s book. Take it with a grain of salt. I feel like this book is a right of passage to read in high school if you are a music fan. “No One Here Gets Out Alive”. In fact, here are some books I feel all (classic) rock fans should read:
My Life Inside Rock and Out> Bill Graham (the man who literally invented rock promotion
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
JIm Morrison - No One Here Get Out Alive - Danny Sugarman
Led Zeppelin- The Hammer of the Gods - Steven Davis
The Frank Zappa Book - Frank Zappa. Who cares that you don’t know much of his music, its hilarious.
Feb 2022
*** afternote - I wrote this while I was still enjoying the book. I mention above my total disdain for Ray Manzarek. Not his brilliant music, but him as a person. I mentioned he was an exploitive attention whore. I also mentioned it really bothered me that he kept perpetuating the myth that Jim was still alive. Those the opinions of me, NOT the author. Well, that changed. As I get to the back of the book, Robby tees off on Ray all over the place. I am a little pleased to tell you his problems were identical to mine. Actually, we learn Ray was even a worse and more exploitive person than new initially knew. Just sayin… I told you so. Er… I was Correct!
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