The Doors - Lost Interview Tapes Featuring Jim Morrison, Vol. 1 (CD)

All Music Guide

As interview subjects, the Doors had the potential of being as interesting and mysterious as their music. Conversely, when left bored or unchallenged, the band could mimic the ridiculous nature of their inquisition. The Lost Interview Tapes Featuring Jim Morrison, Vol. 1 is the first spoken word release by Bright Midnight Records -- the Doors-only subsidiary label in the Rhino Entertainment family. The single-disc volume is comprised of two interviews that reveal the divergence in the band's audience, and, in particular, allow Morrison to rise to the challenge of interpreting the chaos and inequities around him. From a 1970 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview comes nearly half an hour of one-on-one with Morrison and CBC journalist Tony Thompson. The dialogue includes less about the Doors -- with not a single reference to the Miami incident -- and more thoughts regarding Morrison's book of poetry and general point-of-view statements regarding the everyday social culture around h...im. Morrison was concurrently being written off in the omniscient pop media as a perpetually intoxicated pervert, likewise, making he and his fellow Doors unemployable as performers. During this conversation in May of 1970, Jim Morrison is rational, thought provoking, conversationally stimulating, and infinitely more psychedelic and sage-like than any dramatic portrayal or documentary has ever revealed. From the sublime to the ridiculous, as the 1967 University of New York at Oswego Interview sounds as if it is being conducted by starry-eyed junior college students writing for ~Tiger Beat. While the queries are not quite as inept as "what is your favorite color?," they are close. After what seems like an eternity of poorly conceived questions and the mispronunciation of Ray Manzarek's last name, during the final minutes of the interview the band members get their revenge as they purposefully mispronounce and berate the student DJs as they are asked to do station ID's and promotional announcements. - Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide Read more Less