The Doors performed the absolute greatest rock song ever, Light My Fire, yet produced only a few other really good hit songs. Nonetheless, the fame of Light My Fire and the story of lead singer Jim Morrison have made The Doors one of the most listened to rock groups of all time. Even today, any good rock music station continues to play their music on a daily basis.
This book uses The Doors' music as a backdrop to describing the entire rock music scene during the late 60's and 70's. Of course, it focuses a lot on The Doors and details many of their individual live performances, all of which gave concert attendees much more that what they found on the CD's. But beyond its focus on The Doors, this books talks about a great many of the important songs of Rock Music's greatest era. Because the book approaches its subject through the music it describes, it is sometimes hard to follow and often only makes any sense when the reader is very familiar with the songs being described.
The annotations to the chapters are wonderful, much better than the regular run of the mill footnotes in that they elaborate on various references and make it easy to seek out the references yourself.
The detailed descriptions of individual Doors' concerts is amazing, drawn both from the author's real life experiences in attending the concerts, from archives of band members' many interviews, and from other sources, some contemporary to the concerts themselves and some not,
The book excited me about 70's music, music I largely ignored when I was living the 70's, It helped me understand some of what I missed and also helped me fill my music playlists with music I have quickly come to love and regret not enjoying earlier in my life.
( )

The Doors performed the absolute greatest rock song ever, Light My Fire, yet produced only a few other really good hit songs. Nonetheless, the fame of Light My Fire and the story of lead singer Jim Morrison have made The Doors one of the most listened to rock groups of all time. Even today, any good rock music station continues to play their music on a daily basis.
This book uses The Doors' music as a backdrop to describing the entire rock music scene during the late 60's and 70's. Of course, it focuses a lot on The Doors and details many of their individual live performances, all of which gave concert attendees much more that what they found on the CD's. But beyond its focus on The Doors, this books talks about a great many of the important songs of Rock Music's greatest era. Because the book approaches its subject through the music it describes, it is sometimes hard to follow and often only makes any sense when the reader is very familiar with the songs being described.
The annotations to the chapters are wonderful, much better than the regular run of the mill footnotes in that they elaborate on various references and make it easy to seek out the references yourself.
The detailed descriptions of individual Doors' concerts is amazing, drawn both from the author's real life experiences in attending the concerts, from archives of band members' many interviews, and from other sources, some contemporary to the concerts themselves and some not,
The book excited me about 70's music, music I largely ignored when I was living the 70's, It helped me understand some of what I missed and also helped me fill my music playlists with music I have quickly come to love and regret not enjoying earlier in my life.
( )

My (once) favorite band has many of its songs laid out on the dissection table. The result is meant to honor the band but does so in a very obtuse way. Obviously everyone understands music in their own way. I certainly do not understand The Doors in Mr. Marcus's way. There is hardly a clear line of prose in this book. I would almost get a glimmer of meaning and then, whoosh! off on another indecipherable tangent. ( )

With a cover of Joel Brodsky’s Elektra publicity photo of The Doors dressed in unexpectedly warm colors of the sun, Greil Marcus’ “The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years” is an unexpected look at selected songs of The Doors and pop culture.

Marcus’ book is a fans’ book, he says that it started at the Avalon Ballroom with his wife and seeing The Doors and on their way out, took handbills of the show and after a lifetime they still have them. Marcus, best known for music criticism and pop culture, is a Doors fan, but an objective one, he is well versed in all aspects of music and the artists but also the language of music and focuses his lens on The Doors.

Marcus’ “The Doors: A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years” is about twenty critical essays on Doors songs, his prose weaves in and out of the songs to where his thoughts take him, either in relation to the lyrics themselves or some aspect of pop culture. The chapter on “Twentieth Century Fox” is a take off point for an extended essay on 50’s-60’s pop culture and how The Doors fit in. In the essay on “L.A. Woman” he makes the case that it could be used as a soundtrack for Thomas Pynchon’s recent novel, “Inherent Vice,” and the song is a pop art map of the city. Marcus isn’t an easy ride through The Doors, you’ll find yourself agreeing with some of his conclusions, such as on “Take it as it Comes” “seemed to start in the middle of some greater song.” Or even disagreeing with his conclusions, such as Morrison’s tribute to Otis Redding, “poor Otis dead and gone/left me here to sing his song”, “…was beyond arrogant, it was beyond obnoxious, it was even beyond racism…” which always seemed a heartfelt tribute to Redding to me.

As you read you’ll find yourself wanting to listen to the songs to see for yourself whether Marcus’ critiques are apt or not. ( )