The Doors Summer's Gone Paperback – March 14, 2018

In 1967, The Doors lit up the music world like Macy’s 4th of July celebrations. Harvey Kubernik chronicles the spectrum of The Doors experience through esoteric and usual sources, through revealing interviews with Ray, Robby, John, engineer and 6th Door, Bruce Botnick, Jac Holzman (father figure) and the rest of the inner circle, as well as photographers, artists, poets, fellow musicians and theatrical performers. One of my favorites is between Kubernik and Tony Funches who were acquainted in college in 1969. This is not so much an interview as an enlightening conversation between the two. It reflects the warmth and willingness on Funches’ part to deeply explore Kubernik’s questions, in a reunion through destiny decades later to explore the heights and depths of being Morrison's buddy and bodyguard.For me, however, the difference in this book, as matched against all the other books on The Doors, is that this collection also includes and belongs to the fans. I love the fans and the glorious memories they share. Three stand out.(1) The Guess Who’s Burton Cummings’ memorable first night in Los Angeles, careening with “drinking Jim” from the Strip over the hills to the Valley and Burton’s long walk back from Ventura Boulevard to his hotel in Hollywood, as Jim and two accompanying girls disappeared down a Valley road.(2) The bitter sweet regret of Australian David N. Pepperell, record store owner in Melbourne, at never getting to see The Doors play live coupled with the joy of experiencing the band through various media.(3) Marina Muhlfriedel’s painteresque ditching school and shopping for Doors albums, then experiencing the Hollywood Bowl and seeing “the dart of Jim’s eyes, a momentary flaring of his hands. I feel his impatience, his not quite fitting the confines of his skin.” Fabulous words that capture Jim at the Bowl as sharply as a camera and leave her floating “all the way down Sunset Boulevard, buzzed on adrenaline.”I wish my buzz with this journey could be 100%, but as with any overview, so much depends on the memories of those reporting the incidents to the editor and/or interviewer. Sometimes memory fails.Normally, ‘fact getting king of interviews,” the Los Angeles Times’ Kirk Silsbee, gets things 100% right. This time he relied on sources that sadly served him ill in “Thee Experience.” There were a few discrepancies, but I will pick one. It was not waitress, Jaki Read, who first saw the telex in Elektra’s office on July 5th reporting Morrison's death on July 3,1971 in Paris. It was the late Sally Stevens who actually worked at Elektra. Morrison had black-balled her job search in the record business for a full year, after she almost dashed a tray into his nose during the incident at Thee Experience. Later, Paul Rothchild found her a home and career at Elektra Records. Stevens documented the episode in an online blog, before she died.Kurt Ingham’s visit with Jim Morrison and me to The Phone Booth, after shooting pictures for my Circus Magazine interview with Morrison, placed two brilliant wits against each other that afternoon. They hit it off so well, that I became the invisible third person at the table, as the two tossed Italian words at each other like whirling pizzas. I still have the paper on which I scribbled their epic battle. It was a priceless afternoon, so very, very long ago!Other than my two “just the facts” quibblettes, this celebration of The Doors is a golden explosion of words that leaves me craving more. This is not necessarily a “turn the page” book. Its glory is that you can pick any page at random and savor the experience as written and collected by journalist/writer, Harvey Kubernik. Start with fan, Marina Mulfriedel. She’s wonderful and will put you in the mood for more!

This is very good. It's a bit flawed in format and editing maybe though. Other than that it is perfection. It was fun,

If anyone can be considered an expert of the Sunset Strip of the 60’s and rock and roll on Sunset Strip in the 60’s it’s Harvey Kubernik, with a whole oeuvre Canyon of Dreams, Turn Up the Radio, A Perfect Haze, Hollywood Shack Job: Rock Music in Film and on Your Screen, and at last The Doors: Summer’s Gone.Summer’s Gone is a compilation of interviews that spans The Doors’ career and provides some interesting perspective. The interview with Guy Webster is a testament to how young rock and roll was at the time, Webster reveals he shot The Doors first album cover in a studio in his parent’s garage. Kubernik’s interview with Ray Manzarek is also somewhat of a revelation in that he gets Manzarek to break away from some of his stock answers that you can see time and again in interviews, but because of a long-standing relationship with Manzarek (Manzarek wrote the introduction to Laurel Canyon: Canyon of Dreams) and the other members of The Doors gets a very candid interview. He also interviews John Densmore and Robby Krieger, again to satisfying results. One thing that is learned from all three interviews is that George Harrison did visit The Doors while they were recording The Soft Parade, and each has a slightly different version of how Light My Fire became a 2:52 single. Another stand-out interview for me was with Randall Jahnson who wrote the original screenplay for what became the Oliver Stone movie The Doors.I consider myself well read on The Doors’ career and I was surprised by some of the facts and stories from those there and if you’re a Doors fan you’ll find this interesting and not the usual fare.

It's like the author just had tons of great annecdotes but was clueless about how to assemble them into a meanginful book. A lost opportunity for something more.

A very interesting book about The Doors, unlike the others it's full of insight and information and interviews throughout the band's history. A worthwhile compendium to have in your collection!