Light My Fire by Ray Manzarek
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Book Reviews of Light My Fire
Book Review: A tale of two Morrisons: Jim and Jimbo
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading this book I was left with the impression that Manzarek has a very narrow definition of what a poet should be. Thus he attempts to recreate Morrison to fit into this definition. Any of Morrison's personality traits which don't fit into Manzarek's image of a poetic genius (There seems to have been many in Morrison's case) he lamely dismisses as the bufoonish behavior of an alter ego he creates and calls 'Jimbo.'
Manzarek often refers to Morrison's associates, who do not share his own passions in life, as 'losers' and 'degenerates.' He describes a friendship Morrison had with two such individuals whom he shared an interest with in horseback riding and target shooting. Obviously, in Manzarek's view, such all-American activities should not be pursued by poets. Thus he forcefully confronts these men and tells them "Jim does not f***ing ride horses."...Only 'Jimbo' would ride horses.
He also describes Morrison as a nonviolent advocate of peace. Thus when he relays such incidents of Morrison getting into a brawl with Chicano low-riders or whacking a woman with a board, he dismisses this as the actions of 'Jimbo.'...Jim would never do such things.
I also get the feeling that Manzarek was not supportive of any artistic ventures that Morrison undertook independently of the Doors. He makes very brief mention of Morrison's poetry publication and, oddly I feel, offers no personal insight into this collection of works. When Morrison collaborates with several friends in the filming of a Doors documentary, Manzarek is skeptical of this artistic endeavor because only 'Jimbo' would lend his creative vision to a group of 'degenerates' who were unimpressive in film school. Manzarek also quickly dismisses Morrison's independent film project called "Highway" as a silly attempt at art... Only something 'Jimbo' would do.
I give this book 3 stars because I feel that Manzarek, unkowingly, provided deep insight into what was a very complex and often combustible relationship between himself and Morrison. It is obvious that Manzarek had great respect for Morrison as a creative genius and lots of love for him as a person. But reading between the lines I get the feeling that this relationship was not unlike that of a responsible individual and his rebellious and wayward kid brother. I also get the feeling, that like most relationships of this sort, along with the mutual love there is also a strong hint of mutual resentment.
Morrison was obviously a very complex person with many facets to his personality. One of which was a two-fisted Celtic boozer with a bit of 'good old boy' American South in his blood. And obviously those aspects of Morrison were (and still are) very difficult for Manzarek to accept. Thus he picks and chooses the traits of Morrison that he himself feels an artist should convey and attributes those to a man he loves and respects called 'Jim.' But any Morrison traits that do not neatly fit into Manzarek's own ideals of who a poet should be, he easily dismisses and attributes these to a man whom he resented and could not understand, called 'Jimbo.'
Book Review: Alright.
Summary: 3 Stars
I kinda suspected what kind of book this would be like when I saw Ray Manzarek's name as the author. Reading it, it became a cross between myth-making and hippie-babbling. A lot areas have Manzarek attacking Oliver Stone and his film "The Doors," claiming it is fiction. Really? Then why should we even take Manzarek's claims as fact? Jim Morrison is not alive and therefore can't defend himself or set the record straight, Manzarek has proven to be a little "strange" when detailing Doors stories, oh, it's fun to read, of course, Jim Morrison is now first and foremost, a mythic icon of popular music. I suggest you read it but not ready to take it all in as the truth. Many parts seem to walk away from Morrison and The Doors' story and turn into weird, sometimes hard to understand hippie philosophies that have quickly died-out (Morrison was reported to dislike the hippie movement in the first place), it gets tiresome to hear Manzarek just say some "babblings," especially when he tries to support the use of pot (he obviously hasn't seen the many teens today ruined by drug-use and still thinks acid is a "spiritual" thing), never really realizing that excess never did any good for Morrison, it just killed the guy. It is neat the way he incorporates classic Doors lyrics into the text, and there were some parts that though obviously fiction, were entertaining in a cinematic sort of way. I had a good laugh during the part where Manzarek describes sex for teens in the 50s. I suspect a lot of the text works for people who around in the 60s, but for those of us born in the current generation that embraces Doors music in a more powerful, emotional way (as seen in the bands the group has influenced like Creed, Stone Temple Pilots and The Cult), a generation that looks at the poetry and power of the music which is more timeless today than ever, the hippie stuff can get boring. When you listen to songs like "People Are Strange," "Break On Through," "Five To One," "The End," "When The Music's Over" and "Strange Days," you don't get flower-power, you get violent, atmospheric, gothic and powerful experiences. "Light My Fire" is surely 60s myth-making at it's best, while Stone revealed an artist brought down by excess who was still brilliant, Manzarek tries to make it all sound innocent and yet mythic like Greek mythology with a dose of acid, what he describes doesn't fit with the picture. When you're talking about a guy who wrote lyrics even Marilyn Manson sings (check out his cool "Five To One" cover), I don't think hippie dreams is a fitting way to remember him.Book Review: A passionate, proselytizing, polemic
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is a passionate, proselytizing, polemic - a jolt of energy shedding light on this fascinating period of rock history. In his reminiscences of the glory days of the '60s, Ray Manzarek, The Doors' keyboardist, is rightly convinced that he and his band played a pivotal role in shaping the soundscape of those special and turbulent times.
The trade-off for sharing Manzarek's enthusiasm for the zeitgeist is his slightly gauche style - obviously there are no ghost writers tidying things up here! The repeated references to chakras and kundalini coils can be bewildering if not distracting, but Manzarek's ability to cut to the chase makes the book an easy and rewarding read. An added bonus is the many musical references: Manzarek doesn't talk down to his readers in describing the musical process of the Doors' songs, so we get discourses, for example, on the use of a major seventh chord in the minor-keyed "Crystal Ship" (indeed, nearly every Doors song was in a minor key, hence the brooding undercurrent that marked their sound as something more complex and sinister than the other "summer-of-love" rocksters).
Manzarek comes across as a sensible older brother to Jim Morrison (there was a 4-year age difference), and he and the other band members tried to get Morrison off booze but the singer seemed to believe it was his fate to live a bright, short life. It was heroin that eventually killed him in Paris at the age of 27.
Light My Fire is essential reading for Doors fans and required reading for anyone interested in the ferment that was the '60s. Above all it is a loving portrait of the friendship and artistic collaboration of two essentially opposite personae.
Manzarek believes in the '60s - that it was a watershed decade and that people of his and subsequent generations still have the ability to rekindle the fire of all that was great about that era.
Book Review: Hippy dippy Doors
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is a must-read only because Ray Manzarek wrote it. He was in the band, so I'm willing to overlook his many "hippy-dippy" tangents. I don't particularly care for Manzarek's writing style, but there are some interesting anecdotes. I particularly enjoyed hearing about Jim, Ray and Dorothy Manzarek all living together, during the "starving artist" years before the Doors broke on through. They go to the grocery store to buy dinner and Jim shoplifts!!! Ray comes off as an easy-going, amiable guy with a pretty good sense of humour. But he does gloss-over a bit. It sounds like Jim was closest to Manzarek, out of all the Doors. When Jim tells Manzarek he's having a nervous break-down and needs to rest, Manzarek doesn't want to hear it. I guess he couldn't understand what Jim was going through, Manzarek is so stable and never had the demons Jim had. But he does come off as a bit insensitive, someone who just wanted to keep on rolling in the big bucks, no matter what Jim's frame of mind, although he won't admit it. At least John Densmore admits his mistakes, saying he was taken over by greed and the one thing Jim taught him was integrity. Don't pass Manzarek's book up, just read John Densmore's "Riders On The Storm" first. It's a more enjoyable, well-written, at times funny book. Manzarek's book has too many hippy-dippy ramblings, absolutely nothing to do with the Doors, that should have been edited.Book Review: Good book for some people
Summary: 3 Stars
I have read probably 4-5 books on the Doors and Jim Morrison. I think it helps to have read or be familiar with these books, the beat poets and other artists from the past (and books like On the Road and personalites such as Neal Cassady). Arguably some knowledge of the drug culture and playing music also helps. I personally enjoy this book and after all its nice to hear about more than just Morrison, I am interested in the other Doors and how they got to where they were musically and spritually. They were more on Jim's page then people realize. So anyway, the fact that I'm already saturated with knowledge of the Jimbo and the Doors and my musical (and otherwise) background makes this a very enjoyable book to me...I would give it 5 stars personally, but for the civilians looking for pure facts or detailed dirt on Morrison this is NOT the book for you so I will put it at 3 stars. It IS a book for wanna-be artists like me. I like Manzarek's quotes so much I highlight them (and I have only ever done that to one other book, The Doors of Perception, which BTW would be useful in appreciating this book).