I was also a big Doors fan in college, but hadn't listened to them in ages. When we were in Petrified National Forest a few years ago, we were driving through the landscape just before sunset and saw a large rainstorm sweeping across the horizon. Ray said "can you put on Riders in the Storm?" so we queued it up, and man did that song hit absolutely perfect in that moment. This was a great writeup and now I'm gonna revisit more of their songs.
We had that first Doors album. They made a real impression on me as a kid, and I was heartbroken when Jim Morrison died. I never saw the Stone movie, so I never saw him as a buffoon, just another performer gone too soon, like Janis and Jimi. As I was reading this, I thought about another performer, Gordon Lightfoot, whose alcohol abuse profoundly affected his behavior and nearly destroyed his legacy before he got sober (some cringeworthy interactions with audiences--he was a mean drunk). We still tend to not see addiction as a disease rather than a character flaw.
I’m glad you brought up Gordon Lightfoot. For the simple reason I love to think of his music. What an stunning songwriter, but yes, he went through the darkness of addiction too, but managed to enter recovery. Addiction really is a terrible disease
I was also a big Doors fan in college, but hadn't listened to them in ages. When we were in Petrified National Forest a few years ago, we were driving through the landscape just before sunset and saw a large rainstorm sweeping across the horizon. Ray said "can you put on Riders in the Storm?" so we queued it up, and man did that song hit absolutely perfect in that moment. This was a great writeup and now I'm gonna revisit more of their songs.
We had that first Doors album. They made a real impression on me as a kid, and I was heartbroken when Jim Morrison died. I never saw the Stone movie, so I never saw him as a buffoon, just another performer gone too soon, like Janis and Jimi. As I was reading this, I thought about another performer, Gordon Lightfoot, whose alcohol abuse profoundly affected his behavior and nearly destroyed his legacy before he got sober (some cringeworthy interactions with audiences--he was a mean drunk). We still tend to not see addiction as a disease rather than a character flaw.
I’m glad you brought up Gordon Lightfoot. For the simple reason I love to think of his music. What an stunning songwriter, but yes, he went through the darkness of addiction too, but managed to enter recovery. Addiction really is a terrible disease