Light my Fire: My Life with the Doors - Hardcover

Manzarek, Ray

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399143998 ISBN 13: 9780399143991

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

Synopsis

With the turbulence and psychedelia of the sixties as a backdrop, this is the untold story of the wild and nihilistic life of The Doors and lead singer Jim Morrison, by the only one who was there from the beginning.The Doors. Arguably the most important rock-and-roll band of the sixties, unquestionably a catalyst for American music as we know it. Their music was the product of late-sixties southern California, with its idyllic facades. The Doors looked beyond these facades and wrote music about what they found, thus becoming the ultimate symbol for rebellion and alienation.Ray Manzarek. The driving force, leader, and, along with Jim Morrison, cofounder of The Doors in the summer of 1965. Together with Robby Krieger and John Densmore, they created a legend. Their original mix of jazz, classical, California surf, Flamenco guitar, and Chicago blues made an irreversible impact on the music of the day. When "Light My Fire" hit number one on the charts, the legend began. Their worldwide popularity was and still is remarkable. Today, The Doors sell nearly two million albums a year.Jim Morrison. A magnetic presence and rock icon in life, still a legend more than twenty-five years after his death. Manzarek and Morrison were both UCLA Film School graduates, best friends, and rarely apart until Morrison moved to Paris shortly before his death in 1971. What Ray Manzarek knows about Jim Morrison and The Doors, no one else does. His story gives illumination to the dark myths and lays to rest the rumors that have abounded about Jim Morrison and the band. Bright Midnight truly gives us an insight into the times, the enigmatic lead singer, and the magic circle that was The Doors.

About this title

Review:

"[The] jewel-like passage (a description of Manzarek and two young buddies who manage to gain entrance to a black juke joint to hear blues singer Muddy Waters) is one of the most moving and exhilarating portraits of white boys succumbing to the power of black music this reviewer has read, worthy of Kerouac's stunning prose on jazz clubs... [An] engaging read." (The Washington Post Book World)

"The best book yet about The Doors" (Booklist)

Book Description:

A unique blend of biography and autobiography, Light My Fire reveals the secrets and truths behind the musical legend, and one of the most popular bands of all time, The Doors.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0399143998
• ISBN 13: 9780399143991
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352