Jim Morrison’s Ghosts, Phantoms, and Doppelgangers from Detroit
Mike “Chizzy” Chisholm’s Vision Quest of Life, Love, and Spiritual Perfection through Rock ’n’ Roll with the Detroit Doors
In the pages of The Ghosts of Jim Morrison, the Phantom of Detroit, and the Fates of Rock ’n’ Roll, this writer explored the parallel career trajectories of the forgotten Detroit musical mysteries of Sixto “Sugar Man” Rodriquez and Arthur “The Phantom” Pendragon. While both were very much alive — with wives, children, and post-career day jobs — both were cursed with premature, outlandish death theories: Sugar Man Rodriquez, the “Bob Dylan of Detroit,” disgusted with his non-career, committed a bizarre on-stage suicide-by-fire; Arthur “The Phantom” Pendragon bottomed-out as the result of his non-career and died in a (ludicrous) drug deal (connected to organized crime figures, no less) gone wrong (that was not worth the time exploring or mentioning in the book).
Of course, both unfounded rumors were music fans’ wish-fulfillment histories cut-n-pasted onto the file servers of the World Wide Web until it became their “fact.” Why? Because we love our rock stars to burn out in a fabulous blaze of glory cloaked in mystery — not dying a careless, lonely, drug-induced death in the bathroom of their Memphis, Tennessee, home or on the floor of a Paris nightclub restroom, or in a depression-induced pool of blood in a room over a garage in Seattle, Washington.
The careers of these reluctant, Detroit musical doppelgangers shared another analogous career trajectory: an unknown, successfully posthumous fame as unwitting victims of the overseas record-pirating industry. While the Sugar Man found an Elvis-like fame in South America, the Phantom cultivated an unknown, rabid fan base enamored with Jim Morrison throughout Europe that spread into Euro-Asia, Russia, and the Pacific Rim countries (and resulted in Pendragon’s music pirate-marketed as Phantom: The Lost Album).
Forty years later, Malik Bendjelloul, a Stockholm, Sweden, documentary filmmaker, upon hearing the legend of Sugar Man Rodriquez for the first time in a Cape Town, South Africa, record shop, set out to find the mysterious “Bob Dylan of Detroit.” The end result of Bendjelloul’s exhaustive search: Detroit’s “Bob Dylan,” alive and well, triumphantly returned to the stage in 1998 with a series of South African concerts and, unlike most forgotten musicians, found a second career resurgence.
Around the time Bendjelloul embarked on his cinematic quest to find the Sugar Man, this writer began a parallel (print journalism) journey to bequeath the “Jim Morrison of Detroit” his rightful credit denied him some forty years ago.
As this writer twisted and turned through the Dante-designed corridors of the Phantom’s professional divine comedy, with a goal to unveil the shadows of doubt that cloaked the phantasmal rosters of Arthur Pendragon’s bands Walpurgis and Pendragon, one of the musicians confirmed as a member of Pendragon was guitarist Joe Memmer.
Born in Detroit, Joe Memmer formed the Free with Dave Gilbert. The Free issued a 1968 psych-single, “Lost Soul Blue b/w What Makes You,” on the local Marquee label. Achieving regional sales and airplay on CKLW/Windsor and WKNR/Detroit, Atco/Atlantic picked up the record for national distribution, issuing the record twice in 1968 and 1969.
Upon the demise of the Free, Memmer and Gilbert formed Shadow, which signed a recording contract with Robert Stigwood (later of RSO Records), and recorded an unreleased album for Atlantic. Upon the demise of Shadow, Dave Gilbert joined ex-Mitch Ryder members in the Rockets; Joe Memmer went onto stints in Alice Cooper, Salem Witchcraft, Bob Seger, and Dick Wagner of the Frost — and came to work with Jim Morrison’s reluctant doppelganger during the late-seventies to early-eighties existence of Detroit’s then-famed Doors tribute band (which also rocked sets of original material): Pendragon.
As result of this writer’s journalistic acquaintance with Joe Memmer, Mike “Chizzy” Chisholm tripped (more like pushed into it by this writer, sorry Chiz) and tangled in the pricks and briars of the Phantom’s forty-plus years of twisted career overgrowth.
Mike “Chizzy” Chisholm, with the six-string slinger of Joe Memmer by his side, fronts the Great Lakes Region’s premiere Doors tribute band (and in this writer’s opinion, the best in the United States), the Detroit Doors. This fact is not up for debate: Mike Chisholm is the best Morrison acolythist in the business today — not an easy feat to achieve when Doorsphiles consider the vocal theatrics of Richard Bowen, Cliff Morrison, and Jimmy Fallon (yes, the one from Saturday Night Live).
Richard Bowen, while unknown to most music lovers, first brought Morrison’s singing voice — prior to Val Kilmer’s portrayal in Oliver Stone’s The Doors — to the big screen in the low-budget rock ’n’ roll conspiracy tale, Down on Us (Beyond the Doors), as lip-synced by actor Brad Wolf.
Cliff Morrison, in a career-analogous path to Jimi Hendrix’s “son,” Billy Yeager (and to a lesser extent, Frank Marino of Mahogany Rush and his Hendrix-medium myths), evoked his “dad’s” memory with two, late-nineties albums: Know Peaking and Color of People, fronting the Lizard Son Band.
Then, in 2012, an ex-Saturday Night Live cast member, as the new host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, transformed into “Jim Morrison” with a chilling, on the nose recreation of the Doors’ September 17, 1967, appearance on CBS Television’s The Ed Sullivan Show.
There is only one other vocalist who did it better than Richard Bowen, Cliff Morrison, and Jimmy Fallon — although not as a gimmick-ridden, cash-grabbing media hype as some audiophiles accuse — and that was Arthur Pendragon. Until today.
Forty seven years after the death of the Doors’ iconic frontman, the spiritual essence of Jim Morrison reigns eternal in the heart and soul of a musician who lives like a rock star 24 hours a day; he has beautiful wife, a farm complete with a riding lawn mower (he mows his own yard!), restores salivate-inducing classic cars (bone-stock, baby!), and he fronts a heralded rock band that transports fans to the glory days of their youth. Unlike most of the social-media posturing musicians of today, possessed by greed and fame as their end game, Mike Chisholm’s end game runs from the Kurt Vonnegut playbook, who said:
“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
In the end, Chizzy goes for the soul growth — not just his own, but of others; that’s the “enormous reward” an artist seeks with the masses: for the music to transcend the spirit. It’s that pure moment when one strikes the perfect note, when one strums a faultless chord; when the vocal chords align with the diaphragm — and the tribe resonates harmonious. For out on the starless perimeters, that is where once finds peace — immaculate.
Mike Chisholm is not a ghost, a phantom or a doppelganger. This rocker is the real deal: simply a nice guy with no pretensions. Just like the Phantom (a humility experienced by this writer who knew him) who came before Chizzy, so many years ago.
In this writer’s career chronicle regarding the Phantom, the Fates of Rock ’n’ Roll are spoken of as an evil entity. The truth is: Fate is a kind mistress, one who connects you with the right people, at the right time, and at the right place — so everyone’s soul achieves luminosity. It was the Lizard King’s goal; it’s this writer’s goal — it’s Chizzy’s goal. Fate blessed this writer’s life with the life of Arthur Pendragon — then blessed us both with the friendship of Mike “Chizzy” Chisholm. The “Fates” just keep on giving, if you let them. As the great rock ’n’ roll scholar, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, opined: “Everything works if you let it /if you let it in your heart.”
After a much too-long hiatus in rehearsals, Mike Chisholm, Joe Memmer and the boys are back, sanctifying Michigan’s concert stages with the soul of one of rock ’n’ roll’s most revered, spiritually insightful musicians — Jim Morrison. Sadly, unlike Sugar Man Rodriquez, Arthur Pendragon is no longer with us to experience his newfound career recurrence in 2018. So Mike Chisholm’s vision quest — and Art’s old friend and bandmate, Joe Memmer — is to bring Arthur’s music to the masses for the first time in 44 years.
This writer sat down with Chizzy on a Sunday afternoon (cell phones be damned), after his giving a rousing gig the night before, to discuss the next phase in the mystical existence of the Detroit Doors as they honor not only Jim Morrison — but Arthur Pendragon.
In a September 2012 Bay City Entertainment (MLive.com) interview, you mentioned the Detroit Doors got its start in 1990 with your reconditioning of a 1979 Corvette — where you were inspired to design a Jim Morrison mural on the hood.
It wasn’t in the “thought process,” but in the “subconscious,” I guess, to put Jim Morrison on it. I am a graphic artist by trade and no photograph was used; it came out of my mind. Something told me to just do it. A presence entered me and guided my soul and my mind. The same thing happens when I am on stage: I have a “friend” with me on my shoulder. The Corvette mural was a premonition out of my control.
And shortly after the Corvette epiphany, you started singing impromptu Morrison songs at friend’s parties and everyone reacted in the positive. And people tell you that your speaking voice evokes Jim as well.
Well, that started with Scott “Screaming” Randall of WRIF radio in Detroit. As you said, I started to sing Jim’s music at parties. I felt his spirit move me to do it. Scott was very supportive of my abilities. He coaxed me onto the stage during WRIF’s Friend’s Fest and the crowd couldn’t have been more receptive. That impromptu gig was the birth of the Detroit Doors. The other musicians onstage that day felt something, as did I. We started rehearsing in earnest.
Our first gig was at Ghetto Rags in 2010. We practiced for a full year before playing out live, eight hours a day, once a week. It was hard work. I had to learn how Jim pronounced words; his dialect. He doesn’t say or sing words quite like other people. I had to study not only his life, but that voice; that amazing voice that goes right through you to the very depths of your soul.
The Detroit Doors isn’t about the money. When you are given a talent and a gift, as I have been blessed, you have to share it to enrich others. That’s my goal in life.
As for the complements I receive for my speaking voice: I accept those complements as I do in regards to my singing: with respect. I love the back pats from the fans. When they stop you in the parking lot after a gig and say, “I never got a chance to see the Doors, but I did tonight,” the high you get from that can’t be beat. It can’t be matched.
The Detroit Doors are a tribute band. As a tribute band, do you sneak in the occasional liberty and compose rearrangements of the songs, or do you honor the original arrangements?
We do the music exactly as you hear it on the radio; the studio recordings. And with songs like “Gloria,” which the Doors never recorded as a studio cut, we go back to the live recordings and recreate those; same with the Doors’ take on Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.” We’ve also begun incorporating medleys into the sets, such as “5 to 1” and “Back Door Man,” which is something the Doors began doing on larger shows with many bands, so they could get all their songs into the set.
But it’s not only about being exact with the music; the “look” is important as well. I know I don’t look exactly like Jim, but I do my very best, in conjunction with my voice, to evoke Jim’s soul on the stage and take people back . . . for them to believe Jim never left, which, in my mind, he never did. So to accomplish that goal, in addition to the billowy shirts and leather pants, I dye my blonde hair brown, like Jim’s. It’s funny, back in my days in Windsor, Ontario, where I was born, people used to tell me I looked like Peter Frampton, which won’t work with a Doors tribute band. I was bummed for a bit when I first dyed my air. Here I am, trying to evoke Jim’s spirit, and people are yelling out, “Hey, Howard. Howard! Howard Stern!” which was pretty funny.
In terms of your honoring Jim, I think you evoke Chris MacDonald and the honor he pays Elvis. True, he may not look exactly like “Elvis,” but you walk away a believer. That’s how I feel about you. You need to be in Vegas on the same stages as Chris.
Wow, thank you, R.D. Yeah, having my name mentioned in the same sentence as Chris is an honor. Hey, I’ll take Jim’s spirit anywhere, anytime, anyplace. I’d love to go “scale” and, for that brief moment, bring Jim Morrison back into their lives. Wow, Chris MacDonald. Thank you.
The Detroit Doors received a recent, enthusiastic plug on CBS Money Watch. How did you ended up on a national financial news channel?
Ha, ha, ha. We, the Detroit Doors, we were very into charity work at the time, as we always have been. We were signed with an agent at the time and he was an Internet guru. His knowledge of the web is insane. He put the band out on every single link he could find; anyone that would have our link, we were there. And because of our dedication to charity work, the sites were welcoming: one of the sites our agent posted on was CBS Money Watch and the people within the organization connected with what the Detroit Doors are all about.
In addition to CBS, we’ve been featured in The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The L.A Times. The response and support from all quarters, in print and Internet, has been amazing. I am truly blessed.
And speaking of the media acceptance, The Detroit Metro Times seem to love D2 as well. They recently chose the Detroit Doors as their “Top 5 Tribute Band Pick.” Other media plugs for your benefit shows stated the Detroit Doors bring back the era of the “actual Doors” and that it feels that Jim Morrison is alive and reborn.
Yes, they’ve been there since the beginning. This band is all about Detroit. That’s why we put “Detroit” in our name. Of course, as is life, there are the skeptics with their reasons “why” we shouldn’t have it in there; we should be named “this,” or be named “that.” But it is those skeptics that keep me going. Regardless of the naysayers in the crowd who obviously didn’t come to have a good time, the response from promoters has been spectacular. We believe in what we are doing and the promoters see that; they feel it, and respond in kind. This band will always honor Detroit. Always.
Unlike most bands that gig for money and perform at public concerts, corporate events and special engagements, the Detroit Doors commit their musicianship to non-profit organizations and fund-raising events. In fact, you just had a successful gig for the Benefit Weiss Child Advocacy Center, which held their 2nd Annual “No Excuse for Child Abuse,” Poker Run. It’s my understanding that $8,000 dollars was raised in four hours.
It was an extremely important gig with a cause I feel strongly about: I was abused as a child. During the set, something came over me, and I felt this need to tell the story of my own childhood. You see, the whole purpose of this band is to bless others with Jim’s spirit. So many other tribute bands will go do the gig and they’re done. Not me. I have to use this venue, my talent, as a conduit to help other people. It was necessary that I shared my experience that, hopefully, will spark the souls of others.
Let me tell you the most amazing part of the show. It was heartwarming to look up into the rafters of this beautifully set up venue and seeing this artwork of all these kid’s silhouettes hanging from the rafters — each with the name of a kid that the gig was helping. You see things like that and you just break down. You feel it. Jim felt it.
As you said, $8,000 dollars was raised and to be a part of that, knowing the help that money will give to kids who were just like me back then — it fills you up. It is what the Detroit Doors is all about. It’s why Jim lives inside me. It’s is important to him as it is to me. I told the folks at the Weiss Center that the Detroit Doors will be there every year, without fail.
As a big fan, I plug the D2s every chance I get. Everyone loves you — except for this one person.
Yeah. Again, I’ve heard the naysayers before. But to succeed, you must take the good with the bad; accept the negative with the positive. Sadly, there are some who are bittered by another’s success. It’s jealous and envy.
Getting back to my time as an abused child; my father was my worse critic, just like Jim’s dad. He never had a kind word; a son-of-bitch. I was always a bum, or “this and that.” I went to my mom’s funeral, even though I didn’t have to, considering the abuse. My dad was there. The first thing he said to me was that I needed to fix my teeth. Those were hard times, but I found the strength in it.
The same goes for tribute bands. It’s one thing to pay tribute to someone who is still around, such as Alice Cooper and Bob Seger, to put it into a Detroit perspective, but the Doors haven’t been around in over forty years. It’s a lot of hard work and an awesome responsibility to get it right, because, for many, this is the only way that they will see the Doors. I have job to do. I can’t let the negative people interfere with this band’s goals.
My friend, who I pitched you to, said to me: “They’re okay, but it’s not a true Doors recreation; they didn’t have a bass player. Ray Manzarek played bass lines on his keyboards.” This Doors-snob, as I like to call him, obviously isn’t aware that Elvis Presley’s future, long-time bassist, Jerry Scheff, and Doug Lubahn of Clear Light, recorded with the Doors — and both turned down offers to become full-time members.
That’s exactly right. Ray was brilliant with his lead work, but to keep the bottom end moving, bassists in the studio were necessary. Again, back to what I was saying about tribute bands for bands that aren’t around anymore vs. bands that are still with us. It is all about sounding exactly like the band you’re honoring, in this case the Doors, and Jerry Scheff and Doug Lubahn were an important part of the Doors’ sound.
I have to point out that this band isn’t about money. I am a graphic artist by trade and a painter, I recently sold several paintings for several thousand dollars. I donated the money to charity; I don’t need it because the Lord has truly blessed me. This band is about moving people and using the music to help others. So nitpicking over bass players, they’re totally missing the point.
And don’t forget: During the pre-and-post Morrison concerts of the Doors, renowned session bassists Jack Conrad, Willie Ruff, and Wolfgang Mertz held the down the rhythm.
This is true. Ray would play lead bass; the bassist on rhythm was always there, but off-stage keeping the bottom.
We recently got some feedback, negative, of course, regarding Joe Memmer. During our live shows, Joe switches guitars three or four times, with each guitar set up for a particular tone or sound. So, as with your friend’s comment that we are not accurately portraying the Doors, we’ve had a few people tell us that Robby Kreiger only played a Gibson SG. On stage, that may be true, but in the studio, Robby used Fender Stratocasters as well, to achieve the full sonic spectrum of the albums.
Jim was also unique in his approach in the studio to get the sound he wanted. He would tape four microphones together and turn a four-track into an eight-track. I don’t think people realize how meticulous, planned, and rehearsed the Doors were before they hit the studios. They were four brilliant musicians and brought in great bass players to round out their sound. And the Detroit Doors pay respect to the Doors’ approach with an identical attention to detail. Having Joe in the band, regardless of the guitar in his hand, is a blessing. I am truly blessed that he is not only my bandmate, but a close friend.
Speaking of live gigs: D2 recently did one of the well-received Classic Rock Saturday gigs for Detroit’s 94.7 FM WCSX at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica. That’s a huge gig.
Oh, wow. It was amazing. Amazing. We had this huge, incredible stage all to ourselves out in centerfield and played to 4,500 fans screaming and cheering during each and for each and every song. They believed Jim Morrison was on that stage; you could see it and feel it. And when you, as a musician, feels that vibe, it feeds back into the music.
Funny story: The seventh inning hits and the skies opened up. And no, we weren’t doing “Riders on the Storm.” So the players, they started using the field tarps as slip-and-slides, having a ball in the rain. And here we are on stage looking at these players having a blast. Between that, and seeing yourself on the jumbotrons, it was an incredible show.
The staff at Jimmy John’s Field and, as always, WCSX was amazing to us. It’s a real honor to be involved with WCSX radio and their events.
Back in March of this year, D2 went through a major shakeup when your long-time bassist and keyboardist left the group for another Doors tribute band based out of Los Angeles, who crept into the Great Lakes area. That’s kind of underhanded; another Doors band coming into your market and siphoning off your fan base. That must have been stressful times for you, after the career strides D2 made.
Wow. Yeah. It hurt. It really hurt. I reached out to that band to achieve a camaraderie, since we both do the same thing and have the same goals — or so I thought. Nothing. I always embrace other bands and musicians; support them. There’s no competing. I was rebuffed. So, when the L.A band came to town, they got a gig that we tried to get for three years — and the venue passed us over; the hometown band with a proven track record and solid reputation with promoters and such, for this L.A band.
So, I wasn’t taking that lying down. I am a fighter. I booked a show six miles away and took all the Detroit Doors fans with me. The L.A band — and the venue — were not happy, to put it politely.
So they came back to town a second time, the L.A band, and did it to us again. And if that wasn’t enough, this time, they took our keyboardist, which is why we disappeared from the scene for a while, but we are back and better than before. So, we won in the end.
It’s like in Windsor, where I was born. This is what the band is all about. We played a benefit for a drug rehab clinic for 600 people and raised $4,000 dollars. All 600 were dancing at the same time. The point: We crossed the border into Canada, not to pillage and steal, but support and love.
You recently added keyboardist Robert John Manzetti from the Woodstock-era tribute band, the equally amazing Magic Bus, and the Billboard-charting blues band, the Rusty Wright Band who, apparently, has Ricky Metlocke of Blackfoot as a fan.
Bobby is amazing. See how something negative becomes positive? He does the “thunder and lightning” sound for “Riders on the Storm” on the keyboard — live. Our old keyboardist used pre-recorded CDs to achieve the effect. Same goes for the Tack Piano sound on “L.A Woman,” you know, it has those little tacks on the felt hammers and has that “honky-tonk” vibe; Bobby plays that live without a pre-recorded assist. And on “Alabama Song” he nails the Calliope-circus sound of the marxophone. He is fantastic on stage and it was a major coup to get him. Most importantly: Bobby is on board with the charity initiative of the band. He wants to have fun on stage and not have it be a “job,” as is the case with some tribute bands. Magic Bus is one of those bands true to the spirit and has fun on that stage; an amazing band.
So, Robert John Manzetti is on keyboards. Who’s the new bass player and what heritage does he bring the D2s?
Well that would be Sean McCrystal. However, we have two bassists and Sean is our back up man. Our old bassist, Josh Valeve, was in six different bands at one point and he’s a premiere session bassist in Ontario. So, there are times when Josh is stretched to the limit and Sean steps in. Sean and Josh are seamless and the rhythm section never suffers.
And is Scott “Stix” Williams still on the skins?
Oh, yeah. He’s the last remaining, original Detroit Door with me. He was the best man at my recent wedding. He’s a real charity giver. He’s played in something like 13 or 14 symphonies and about 25 different bands in all genres — from rock to reggae; blues to country. Scott is also our song coordinator and is brilliant on how he arranges the set list based on the way I breathe — which is what the Doors did. He really looks out for my vocal health and for the band to give the best shows possible, every time. You can’t go roaring through “Back Door Man, “5 to1” and “L.A Woman” and “Love Me Two Times.” You have to throw “Crystal Ship” in there to save the voice. And we always open with “Roadhouse,” because, well, Scott says so.
Now an interesting twist to the D2 roster is guitarist Joe Memmer who, back in the 80s, played with Pendragon, a band that received a plug in a Rolling Stone 1980 Jim Morrison story as one of the country’s top Doors tribute outfits. How did you come to meet Joe?
I met Joe through Scott Williams, our drummer. Our previous guitarist, Eric Wolfe, a stellar guitarist in his own right, like Josh Valeve, our bassist, is in demand and has other gigs. We needed a guitarist and it turned out that Joe and Sean were friends.
Of course, R.D, you know that Joe was an original Pendragon member alongside Arthur [Pendragon], so Joe knows the Doors tunes like no other; he really tightened things and gave us an even sharper focus. Joe came aboard in 2013 and every time we play for nothing, to keep with the Detroit Doors’ mission statement to lend a helping hand where we can, he never says no.
I have to mention the commitment to authenticity with the Detroit Doors carries over into the Chizzy Band as well, which is an overall classic-rock band. We do weddings, corporate events, and so forth, and mirror the songs exactly as you hear them on the radio. We do Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Ace, David Bowie. And I do costume chances to fit the era of the songs. Recreation of the “era” is of the utmost to give the audience the best experience possible. So it’s not just Jim’s songs, but everyone’s songs that gets the respect they deserve and demand.
Of course, Joe’s roots are deep in the Detroit scene. He formed the Free and Shadow alongside Dave Gilbert of the Rockets.
Oh, sure. I know all the guys from the Rockets, (Jim) McCarthy, John Bee (Badanjek). In fact, the Chizzy Band does the Rockets’ “Desire” (No Ballads; 1980) and it always gets a huge response from the crowd because, well, Dave is Detroit rock ’n’ roll. Sadly, he never got the national recognition afforded to other Detroit artists that he so rightfully deserved. When my hair is natural blonde, and I sing “Desire,” I get a lot of complements from the audience that I remind them of Dave Gilbert, which is as important and heartwarming as any Jim complement, when you consider Dave’s iconic status in Detroit. Oh, by the way, one of Joe Memmer’s licks is in “Desire.” There is a lot of intertwining between Joe and the Rockets.
You’ve really come full circle, Chizzy. It was twenty-eight years ago when you restored your 1979 Corvette — and honored Jim Morrison with the restoration. Fate is an amazing, spiritual thing, isn’t it?
I agree. Music is a spiritual thing. I feel very luck that I have the talent and people enjoy what I do. Jim had his life cut too short. He wasn’t like the way Oliver Stone portrayed him. Jim wasn’t that “jerk” on screen; he was very non-judgmental. He didn’t deserve his father’s negativity and neither did I; only I got it worse. I know Jim. I have studied not only his voice, but his life.
It saddens me he’s gone. If I could trade places with Jim so he could sing his songs, I would. I can sing or do something else. Jim should still be here. His spirit knows that. You know, when I do live shows, as I walk to my car, people stop me in the parking lot and tell me that they have never seen the Doors . . . and now they have. That makes me want to give my best and reshape how the Doors were looked at; a band lost before it could be alive. And Joe agrees with me. We are on a mission.
“We hide ourselves in our music to reveal ourselves.”
“You live and you die and death does not end it.”
— James Douglas Morrison
Thanks to Detroit rock photographers Ira Paul and Michelle Walton, and videotographer Chris Songer, Jr. — all part of the extended Detroit Doors family — for the images.
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