A Conversation with The Doors’ John Densmore – HuffPost 10.24.12
Mike Ragogna: Hey John, welcome to Solar-Powered KRUU-FM.
John Densmore: Wow, I’m feeling the sun!
MR: if you were “Waiting For The Sun,” you wouldn’t have to wait any longer.
JD: [laughs] Solar-powered, no more waiting.
MR: Thanks, John. Okay, let’s talk about the release, Live At The Bowl ’68. It’s a classic film and CD, and this newly remastered Blu-ray and CD have three bonus tracks plus material, all the music having been remixed.
JD: Yeah. Previously, we didn’t think it could be done and as you hear on one of the comment tracks, our longtime engineer Bruce Botnick had to–I think on “Hello, I Love You”–patch together several different performances. But he was the original engineer who recorded all this stuff, so it’s allowed because he did it with love and he technically understood how.
MR: Can you give a little background as far as what your impressions were of that tour and that particular performance?
JD: The Hollywood Bowl. As a kid, I went there to see The Hollywood Bowl Symphony and I never dreamed I would be on that stage. That stage has had all the greats in the arts throughout history. I was very excited to play there. “The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat),” that you just played? Technically, it’s kind of difficult for the drummer, that’s me. We never really played it live much and I’m so pleased that it’s on here and it’s very tight. The band is tight, which is important for any ensemble. I’m proud of it.
MR: Did the band feel like this was a real special occasion?
JD: Mick Jagger was sitting out in the audience, so you want to be good.
MR: Historically, this is important in the history of The Doors and rock performances at The Hollywood Bowl. How do you feel it came out?
JD: Well, they’ve restored every frame and the sound is stereo and 5.1 surround and hi-def color, it’s almost, like, unreal. What’s that, “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon?
MR: “They gave us those nice bright colors…”
JD: Buffed jewel that’s been shined clean.
MR: [laughs] When you looked at the final version of this, the work that went into the projects and how they came out in the end, do you go, “Yeah, this is something special.”
JD: Yeah, but we were in the loop a little earlier than that. We didn’t just do one screening, we saw several and commented on the editing. “Could you tweak this?” “That sounds a little funny.” “Darken that color,” whatever. We all have big mouths about film because we love film.
MR: Bruce Botnick was obviously in the mix, but were you guys more tuned into the audio over the video?
JD: Well, they go hand-in-hand, the audio and the video.
MR: Yeah, but I’m just imagining because of things like the 5.1 mixes, there were new experiences that were coming along with the process, like you might have had an “Oh wow, we’re now in this environment.”
JD: Botnick’s specialty is 5.1, so he primarily did that. That’s where you position the sound all over the room. It’s rather technical and fantastic, really.
MR: Right. Nother one of the newly released performances from The Hollywood Bowl is “Spanish Caravan.”
JD: Right, another rather technical and difficult song to play. It came out of Robbie’s flamenco. Jim loved singing it because it was kind of a crooning–he liked to croon like Sinatra sometimes. The technology now puts you on stage with us, practically, which is so wonderful.
MR: Now on the project, you also have extras like video bonus tracks.
JD: Yeah, “Wild Child” from The Smothers Brothers Show, “Light My Fire” from The Jonathan Winters Show, and a version of Van Morrison’s “Gloria.” You know, that’s kind of the past, and it’s good to show the route of the band to The Bowl.
MR: Do you have any thoughts about why The Doors had such an effect on its generation and beyond?
JD: It’s the drumming, Mike!
MR: Obviously!
JD: In addition to that, listen in the extra tracks where we’re talking about the evening. I mention that The Shaman took LSD that night, unbeknownst to the band, and somehow got through the whole concert. Maybe that’s why it has a spiritual context. I don’t know.
MR: There have been so many Doors collections and previously released sets, etc., over the years. What do you think about all this material? I imagine there’s still more music that perhaps you might be looking at releasing in the future?
JD: Not too much. We’re down at the bottom of the barrel, but everything is precious because Jim’s not around so it’s wonderful to see. I have an album of John Coltrane songs where they do six versions of one song and one of them is the master take and the others are the warmups. It’s very interesting to me to see the process. So in that spirit, I’m okay with all this stuff being released because people seem to be interested.
MR: Yeah, and in a lot of ways, it’s a learning experience for the people you brought along with the music.
JD: Right.
MR: Looking at the history of The Doors now in 2012, what are your thoughts as far as the band’s significance or even a thought or two on why it was popular?
JD: Originally, I had hoped we would last one decade and pay the rent, and I don’t know, I’m going to be sixty-eight in a month and we’re still lighting people’s fire. I’m proud.
MR: After Jim’s passing and all these years later in 2012, what are your thoughts about Jim and his magic that he brought to the group?
JD: There was no one like him. I don’t miss his self-destruction, but I miss his lyrics, because when he would just say to me, “Day destroys the night, night divides the day, try to run, try to hide, break on through to the other side,” I just heard drumming when he would talk the lyrics. That was a gift that he had. Couldn’t play a chord on an instrument, but he definitely had magic. That’s what I miss the most.
MR: Nice. And there was a bit of–I don’t want to use the word “rapping”–but at least “bounce” to the lyrics.
JD: Oh, definitely. I heard rhythms when he would just read the lyrics.
MR: What advice might you have for new artists?
JD: Try and find your uniqueness. Technically, you don’t have to be the best, but you need enough technique to say what you personally have to say within you. That’ll make you different from others and get noticed.
MR: Just like The Doors.
JD: There you go.
MR: At the time, did you guys feel like you were so different that… If I were part of The Doors, I would’ve felt like, “This is so cool and so different.”
JD: Well, we weren’t that confident, but we knew without a bass player, we were a bit odd. That left a hole for me to improvise. It was more open. And The Vietnam War was going and we kind of were the dark underbelly of that negativity whereas everyone else was sort of doing “Flower Power Sixties Peace and Love,” so we were different.
MR: And it can be argued there was a bit of a punk element going on.
JD: Yeah, I suppose so. Thank you.
MR: The reason why I also say that is because your attitude was obvious, consider The Ed Sullivan Show performance.
JD: And you know, Mike, I find myself saying that L.A. Woman was kind of the first punk album because we had done The Soft Parade with strings and horns, were trying to do Sgt. Pepper, made a whole bunch of dough, and L.A. Woman was in a rehearsal room with portable equipment, made really cheap. Then Elvis Costello put out an album, My Aim Is True, for about a couple grand and punk was launched.
MR: Plus when you think about the type of vocals that punk assumed over the years, think of how they approached it. Gee, who does that remind you of?
JD: [laughs] Yeah, Mister Mojo Rising.
MR: All right, this was really wonderful. Let’s end the segment with something from Live At The Bowl ’68. John, would you take us out with another one of your favorite tracks from the project?
JD: Yeah. There’s a lyric, “The sidewalk crouches at her feet like a dog that begs for something sweet. Do you hope to make her see, you fool? Do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel? Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name?”
MR: You, sir, have it. This has been really, really fantastic. I’d love to re-interview you in the future, so let’s do it again sometime.
JD: A pleasure, Mike.
Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne