The band reopens as the Doors 21st Century, and guitarist Robby Krieger talks about the new version, the new name and the old Jim Morrison.
By GINA VIVINETTO
Published May 22, 2003
[Publicity photo]
What is old is new again as Ray Manzarek, left, Ian Astbury and Robby Krieger bring the sound of the ‘60s band the Doors to Tampa tonight as the Doors 21st Century.
Robby Krieger, guitarist for the legendary Doors, is known to be a tough interview - that is, when you can get him on the phone. Stories of Krieger blowing off scheduled interviews are legend among music writers.
But Krieger, 57, is touring with the Doors 21st Century, a new incarnation of the band that gave us Light My Fire, Break On Through and Touch Me. The band performs tonight at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. So he's feeling a little chattier.
Krieger reunites with original bandmate Ray Manzarek, 64, on keyboards. Ian Astbury, 41, lead singer of the British alt-rock band the Cult sings in place of Jim Morrison, who died in 1971. Original Doors drummer John Densmore declined to tour; then he made a legal fuss over his bandmates' using the name the Doors. Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland beat the skins for a spell, but he, too, split because, well, we'll let Krieger explain.
Turns out, get Krieger on the phone and he's a heck of a nice guy and great fun to talk with.
Of course, we do have a bond.
"I just want to thank you," I tell him. "I've been bragging for 32 years that I was born on the same day as you."
"Jan. 8?"
"Yeah, big day for rock 'n' roll. It's also Elvis' birthday, I'm sure you know."
"Oh, yeah, and David Bowie."
"Right," I say. "The Doors and Bowie were my big thing growing up, so it's always been kind of a thrill for me to share the birthdays."
Krieger laughs.
The ice is broken, and we get down to the serious stuff:
On Densmore, Asbury and what a difference a few decades make.
How do you feel when people tell you that you can't use the name the Doors? Are you like, "Man, I wrote "Light My Fire'!"
Especially when our own teammate John Densmore is saying it. It's terrible. We just wish he would play with us.
Why isn't he?
That's what he hasn't said. First, it was because his ears were messed up. He had tinnitus. . . . He claims that if we use the name the Doors, people will think he's playing and maybe Jim Morrison is playing. (Laughs.)
Ian Astbury is on the record as being a huge Doors fan. The Cult even did Doors covers. Is the admiration mutual?
Not really. I had heard of the Cult, but I had never seen them until a couple of years ago.
Were you impressed?
Yeah, oh, yeah. I was impressed by Ian, anyway. His voice is amazing. . . . In many ways, he is sort of like Jim. Psychically, he's sort of like Jim in that he's into Eastern religions and politics and all this stuff. His heritage is very similar; he's Scottish. He even kind of looks like Jim. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Do you share any of those interests? Are you into the whole Eastern trip?
Oh yeah, sure. John and I and Ray met at the meditation meeting, at the Maharishi's meeting. I've always been into that. I used to play sitar. I went to Ravi Shankar's school, stuff like that.
How are you the same - or how are you different - from when you were a young cat in your 20s and the Doors were in their heyday?
In a way, everything is the same. There's the war right now, and then we had the Vietnam War. Although I'm a little bit less of a Democrat than I used to be. I don't agree with all the leftist-type philosophies now, and maybe I did back in those days.
How's it different for you now; you're just less idealistic?
Yeah, maybe so. I used to think everything - I was into conspiracy theories and all that stuff, which maybe I don't believe so much nowadays. In general, I'm like I used to be: I hate the idea of war. And killing people.
On drummers, the timeless Doors and a class trip to Paris.
Who's idea was it to tour?
It was sort of my idea. I was talking to Ray one day, and we started to write some songs about a year ago. Then my manager mentioned that Harley-Davidson was going to do their birthday celebration and wanted to see if the Doors would play there. So I asked Ray; I kind of talked him into it. Of course, John couldn't do it. So we got Stewart Copeland and Ian. It turned out to be a huge success. It got all these great reviews. Promoters started calling us and wanting us to play.
Why isn't Stewart doing the tour?
We loved his drumming and stuff. What happened was, he broke his arm, and then he got sick, and then he missed a bunch of, well, he caused us to have to cancel some gigs. Then it just turned out that he really wasn't playing the songs how we wanted him to. He's a great drummer, but . . .
What, was he putting reggae beats on stuff?
(Laughs.) No, it wasn't especially reggae beats, it's just the feel. He's like a very on-top-of-the-beat drummer, and we needed somebody who was more like John, who's more laid back and more . . . the Doors' songs are very moody.
Are you considering with this lineup putting out a new Doors disc?
Absolutely. Hopefully by the end of the year.
Why didn't you do this tour a long time ago?
It wasn't the same without Jim. We didn't want to cheapen the image and all that. But after so many people asked, "Hey, when are you guys going to play together again?" . . . We finally figured, "Hell, why not?"
What are your favorite Doors songs to play?
When The Music's Over and Light My Fire.
How does it feel as an artist to have written these songs 30 years ago and people still want to hear them?
It's the greatest, the greatest thing you can ever imagine. So many of the other groups from that time have totally disappeared. . . . We get a lot of young people coming to the shows. A lot of them don't even realize we're from the 1960s.
During high school, we took a school trip to Paris, and everyone was excited about seeing the Eiffel Tower and the sights, and as soon as we got off the plane . . .
(Krieger is already laughing.)
Well, you know right where I went, to Jim's grave!
So, it feels pretty good onstage, doing the songs?
It's great. I can tell you, this is the closest you'll get to the real thing.
What is Jim saying to himself? Should he be looking down - or up, as the case may be - at you guys?
(Laughs.) I think he would love it. He'd love to hear us playing the songs again.
PREVIEW: The Doors 21st Century, 8 tonight, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. $39.50-$85. (813) 229-7827.
