Light My Fire (In Review)

By Josh Holm

In this autobiography/biography, Ray Manzarek takes you on the roller coaster ride of The DOORS throughout the psychedelic sixties. Manzarek, a talented music geek from Chicago, meets up with intellectually radical Jim Morrison at UCLA film school. After Jim's many failed attempts at becoming a director of film, he started writing abstract poetry. Ray's film career wasn't very bright either, so they started mixing Jim's eclectic poetry with Ray's inovative music. They loved what they had created, but how could they make the rest of the world love their music? After picking up a drummer (John Densmore) and a guitar wizard (Robby Krieger) to accompany the unique organ and voice duo they already had, they started getting opening gigs all over California.

They knew they had something special and unique, something nobody had ever heard before. It was an upbeat mixture of jazz, classical, California surf, Flamenco guitar, and Chicago blues that made an irreversible impact on the music world. As we all know, their music wasn't kept inside Californian borders. With their first number one hit "Light My Fire", they hit the big apple and moved their way inward. Their music brought them all the fame and fortune that they could have ever imagined, especially for doing what they loved.

The book is well written, and gives you a great understanding of each band member's feelings as they rode the tidal wave lives of rock stars. Ray's focus always seemed to be on Jim. As the book goes on, Ray speaks of Jim as if he studied and worshiped every move he made. He constantly brings up the girls he would woo, and is amazed by the charisma that Jim effortlessly gave off while on stage. Ray, on the other hand, was always hiding behind his organ, playing with head down and eyes closed, one hand on the organ, and the other on a bass keyboard. Ray would go on and on about how Jim would take control of the crowd with his "Shaman dances" and his spot on vocals.

Although the band seemed to be like a functional family on stage, they struggled to stay together off it. "Jimbo", (as Manzarek refered to Morrison's alter-ego. The Jim Morrison that would abuse alcohol and dabble in hard drugs) skipped many rehearsals and recordings, which drove the band crazy. The other three members had to confront Jim about his heavy alcohol use on a number of occasions, but it never seemed to sink in. As we all know, "Jimbo" lead the rock icon who had so much potential, to spontaneously separate from the DOORS, and eventually take his life at the early age of 27.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting to know the ways of the sixties rock scene. Manzarek does a great job of putting you in his shoes on stage with the likes of Van Morrison, the Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, and many other epic rockers of the time. Jim will intrigue you with his witty/spiritual poetry, and his careless spontaneity that made him the huge radical rebel that shaped the future of rock n' roll and its stars forever.

"That day, which you fear as being the end of all things, is the birthday of your eternity."