Light My Fire by Ray Manzarek
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Book Reviews of Light My Fire
Book Review: Of the Doors, Ray was the closest to him.
Summary: 3 Stars
Mainly an autobiorgraphy covering his early childhood till the demise of Morrison. Manzarek's charm is clearly evident in the writing. Insight into Morrison's personality as well as his personal motivations are offered. Manzarek is one of the very few people who truly knew Morrison well enough to write intelligently about him personnaly and is willing to talk about his experience. A must read for anyone interested in The Doors. Very much a man of his times, Manzarek also provides some insight into the mindset of psychedelic hippie philosophy.
I was however, after reading the book, left wondering why Manzarek (who seems to have clearly been a father figure both to Morrison & the other Doors), was so tolerant of Morrison's destructive behavior. Manzarek expresses a fear of Morrison's alter-ego, which has a ring of truth to it...but still?
No matter how you slice it Manzarek, The Doors, us and even Morrison himself, all suffer from a tragic and senseless loss.
Book Review: Suspend your disbeliefs
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed this book. It was well-written and fun to read, with cool pictures inside. However, after researching the Doors and reading articles about them, I have learned that Ray Manzarek has a reputation for fabricating and glamourizing the truth. If you read this book, try to sort out what you don't believe. Many things in the book did happen, such as the Miami concert. I thought John Densmore's(drummer) book was more believable, realistic and better, but this one is definetly worth reading.Book Review: Starts out great........
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is almost like it was written by two different people. The first of the book is thoughtful then it becomes more like a trashy novel! But for Doors fans it's interesting.Book Review: A Sorely Missed Opportunity
Summary: 2 Stars
I can still remember when I first came across the hard covered version of this book back in early 1999, and thinking how relieving it is, to finally get the version of events of Jim Morrison the The Doors from the man who co-founded the band, in Ray Manzarek. Ray has always come off as a pretty cool and really nice guy. Someone you'd love to meet and have dinner with and a beer, or two and discuss music, poetry, art, film, and as he himself would often say, man, God, and Existence. But I have to be honest in saying that this book was very, very disappointing. For one, it is way, way too repetitive. How many times could he drone on and on about the Sun, the water, the Ether, the Chi, ect. After a while you really get the feeling that maybe Ray either did one too many hits of Lightening Bold Acid back in the day, or is simply stuck, trapped, and wallowing in the past.
Even more troubling is the length Ray goes, as to create an alter ego for Jim Morrison..."Jimbo". Ray seems to believe that Morrison's dark side is the southern, alcoholic who hangs around with his "hanger-on's", ect. Where the good side of Jim is the poet, artist, and pot head from the early days while they were all hanging out on Venice Beach, and first forming the band. The fact is, is Jim was Jim in all his forms. That's what made the man so complex and that is why even a near four decades after his death he still remains one of the most enticing figures in pop culture. To simply explain his dark demons away as to call him "Jimbo" and make it out to be an alter ego, is pretty shallow for Mr. Manzarek.
Most upsetting to me about this book, is the bitterness showed by Ray. He seems to be a very bitter and angry man. He scorns Oliver Stone repeatedly throughout this book and calls him a fascist. Could it be just a tad case of jealousy there Ray? Because you couldn't make your version into a star-studded major motion picture. Oh yeah, that would've been a really entertaining movie, to watch a man playing Jim Morrison, what? Just sitting there writing poetry at a desk? Come on Ray?
As a matter of a fact, Ray seems to use the term "fascist" quite a bit excessively in my humble opinion. It seems like anyone who may disagree with Rays worldly point of view gets labeled that. Oliver Stone, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Corporate CEO's. Funny, I don't recall Oliver Stone, John Wayne, or President Reagan ever lining up people and throwing them into gas chambers, or ever forcing anyone against their will to do something. Or is this just a part of Ray like so many of the people of his generation, trying to tap into that youthful feeling once again. Some may say it's simply a bad case of being stuck in the 60's. Kind of ironic for a man who seems to do very well for himself...while still living off of the fruits of wealth from four decades ago. Let's be frank here...as Ray actually did anything worth while musically since the dis-banding of The Doors in 1973? I think we all know the painful answer to that one. How about it Ray? What...can we expect another greatest hit's cd out? Or another...boxed set?
No, this was a very limited and very scornful view of events passed. And no Ray, I do not believe that the 21st Century is going to be Century of the lovers. Yes, believe it or not, many of us would love for it to turn out that way. But the simple fact is there will always be greed, tyrants, despots, dictators, and other forms of tyranny and disease that consume the planet and have to be dealt with from time to time. And yes, there will always by tycoons, and captains of industry who make their evil profits off of the backs of us benevolent poor souls. For we are "Man" Ray. And as "Man, we are "Human", and as "Human's" we all have to potential and temptation to be duplicitous by our very own nature.
For a good book an The Doors, it is best to stick with the original, "No One Here Get's Out Alive". Also James Riordon's biography of Jim Morrison, "Break On Through" is a great read. And most recently, "Angels Dance and Angels Die" is even more revealing with a lot more insight and a lot more new revelations into the enigma and phenomena of one James Douglas Morrison.
Book Review: Youch! Ray the Historian...
Summary: 2 Stars
Since this book appeared in 1998, The Doors--sans John Densmore, who had an iota of self-respect--have played Las Vegas. Thank God Jim Morrison didn't live to see his bandmates mutated into an embarassing lounge act, singing his songs in the performance graveyard that is Vegas.It's clear Ray Manzarek does not like Densmore. It's clear now and it's bitingly clear in this book. Ray Manzarek has a real go at the history of The Doors, rewriting it exactly as he'd like it to sound in his mind. Ray conveniently ignores entire albums, tours, and other events in favor of waxing on about the chi, about how unbelievably incredible The Doors were and still are. He has a lot of love for Jim Morrison, but even this is tinged with a nasty shade of green. Instead of facing the fact that Morrison had a serious drug and alcohol problem, Manzarek creates an alter ego for Morrison known as 'Jimbo'. See, it's all 'Jimbo's' fault. Jimbo is the redneck alcoholic idiot that Morrison would become at random times, not the regular Jim Morrison who was a brilliant poet and all around nice guy.
You can imagine why he hates Densmore. Riders on the Storm, Densmore's version of the story, clearly shows that the drummer felt guilt over Morrison's spiral downward. Densmore came off as honest; he didn't beat the reader over the head with endless babble about Dionysus or the Age of Aquarius and the massive amount of acid Ray appears to have taken.
Meanwhile Manzarek would rather attach some kind of cosmo-spiritual explanation to Morrison's decline. He claims to have seen the spirit literally leaving Morrison's head the night of the final Doors performance in New Orleans in 1970. It's embarassing, it's manipulative and it speaks volumes about Ray's character.
Ray always looked like an erudite. He was well-spoken and he loved Morrison, backing his friend up as a serious poet.
However, Ray comes off as vindictive, clouded, and plain silly in this book. He has a serious beef with Oliver Stone, referring to him as a fascist, a term Ray still throws around like it's 1968. Ray was horrified at another version of The Doors' story by another artist since Ray wants it told according to hiw own memory. Unfortunately, what Ray remembers is very selective. This book spends eternity to reach the release of the first Doors album in 1967 and the same year follow, Strange Days. Ray just doesn't want to get too involved in the REST of The Doors' days. He hardly makes mention of the fact that after Morrison died the band kept going, releasing two studio albums and touring. Conveniently, those two albums STILL have never been released to CD. As with their impressive resume of doctoring live albums, The Doors are unmatched in selling the same material over and over while keeping the stuff fans really want tucked away (hence the boxset delay and its underwhelming content).
I would recommend this strictly as an offical version of the story from one of the band. However, be very careful in reading Ray's story. He wants everyone to remember The Doors only as he does...