24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quick buck perhaps?, August 13, 2005
Don't be fooled by this book. These are all second- and third-hand accounts of events. This guy did zero-null-nada extra research to write a book about Jim Morrison. He took all of it from all the other books (Manzarek, Densmore, Sugarman/Hopkins, etc.) written about Morrison. On top of that the book could be organized better. Story after story are strung together with no connection to each other. Davis takes some literary license making it read like a polished novel: he seems to know every facial expression that was exchanged between people and exactly how many drinks Jim had wherever he went.
1. Didn't go into the full conversation that Ray and Jim had discussing the full meaning behind naming the band "The Doors".
2. Made a passing comment that Ray and his wife and Jim may have had a menage a trois.
3. Stated that The Doors were first on a list of bands at Columbia Records that were being dropped by the company. According to Ray or John's book the Doors were in the middle of the list.
4. He said that after Jim hosed down the studio after recording "The End" that Jim had jumped the studio fence and Paul Rothchild grabbed him as Jim tried to run away. Patricia Butler ("Angels Dance and Angels Die") states that Jim scaled the fence and returned to Pam waiting in her car by climbing back over the fence and getting his boot caught in the fence. The boot was then found the next day and later traced to Jim. (Mrs. Butler actually did some research in her book if you read her bibliography).
5. Davis states that the boyfriend of the girl that Jim was making out with backstage in New Haven had asked the Police to look for her which is how the Police stumbled upon Jim and maced him. According to Ray Manzarek, that's not why the Police were backstage before the show.
6. States that the Doors' Buick commercials ran in the South and Midwest. In Manzarek's or Densmore's book it states that Buick pulled the plug after making the deal and never ran the ad.
7. States that Robby took Spanish Caravan from Isaac Albeniz Partido No. 1. He took it from Albeniz Spanish Suite 1. (There is no such work in classical music called a "Partido"!)
8. He called "The End" Robby's "Andalusian goat song". Yeah, I always picture a goat in the Spanish Andalusian Mountains when I listen to that song.
9. He says in The Lost Paris Tape (Paris) that Jim "launched into an astounding version of Orange County Suite". Sadly, the most amateur, unprofessional poet or musician wouldn't be caught associating themselves with a recording (if you want to call it that) like this. There is no semblance of poetry or music on this embarrassing piece of short sleepy, childlike tape. The most interesting moment on this tape is when Morrison comments on the beautiful Cuban cigar he has and tells his buddy that he doesn't have to bite the tip off.
10. He says that Jim and Pam saw the movie "Pursued" on the night of July 2. Later in the book he writes that Pam said the movie they saw was "Death Valley". He makes no reference to the contradiction.
I made these observations after a few days of reading this book. Too bad Mr. Davis didn't pay attention to these subtleties after devoting part of his life writing it. The more I read in this book the less credence I gave to it. I wonder if Stephen Davis even knows what song featured the words "I'm the lizard king. I can do anything!"? I highly doubt it. I think I remember his book "Hammer of the Gods" also came under heavy scrutiny when it was released. This is a good starter kit to get familiar with Morrison. When you're finished with this get the other books and start connecting the dots.
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Compelling, Well-Written Narrative History, July 26, 2004
I am neither a Doors scholar nor have I read extensively in the literature devoted to the band's rise to prominence in the late nineteen-sixties and its subsequent demise. I did see the Doors perform once or twice. And I have screened Oliver Stone's film which, in my opinion, raised more questions about the iconic Jim Morrison than it answered. So, for the record, I came to Stephen Davis's sprawling biography of Morrison without a lot of prior knowledge and without expectations for a fresh take on its subject of inquiry. That said, I found Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend to be a cogent, well-written narrative history that kept me involved from first page to last. I was impressed not only with Davis's effective characterization of Morrison and The Doors, but with his panoramic evocation of the turbulent sixties which for me was the emotional highlight of this book. I am unable to comment on the accuracy of Davis's reporting but I can state unequivocally that by the time I finished reading I felt I had come to know Jim Morrison viscerally and to understand how his background, and the times he lived through, had shaped both his personality and his destiny. Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend reads like a novel and is hugely informative. For those who came of age during the late sixties, it will provide a nostalgically jarring recreation of a time categorically unlike any other before or after.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing Original, April 26, 2005
Only a NON-Doors fan, with no previous knowledge of the band, could give this book 5 stars.
I am a long time Doors fan. I've read numerous books on the Doors over the years. I give this book one star because there is nothing new or original here. I've read it all before in other books. It's apparent the author did no new research of his own, and simply borrowed from other books on the Doors. Davis doesn't hesitate to repeat the same old incorrect history or fabricated stories on the Doors either.
Don't waste your money on this one. Unless you've been living under a rock and never read any other Doors book in your life.
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