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sparkplug54

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Posts posted by sparkplug54

  1. Laurie_ 11-21-05 08:35 PM - Post#172464 thought that "Can't You See" is depresing. Lyrically, it's a blues type construction. The singer is sad, but he's moving on. "Gonna catch a frieght train...Till that train runs out of track" Get away from it all. Start a new life. He's not suicidal, or any such. He's coping.

    BTW, a few years after the Marshall Tucker Band had their hit, Waylon Jennings took his recording to success on the country charts. A good song has legs, and this one does.

  2. You may have missed this story when it ran in October of 05, but I think it's relevant here. I assume the whole story can still be found at this URL:

    If not, an email to sparkplug54@copper.net will get you a copy.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/la-et-doors5oct05,1,5477422.story

    From the Los Angeles Times

    COLUMN ONE

    Ex-Door Lighting Their Ire

    Drummer John Densmore refuses to let the group's songs be used in TV ads, much

    to the chagrin of his former bandmates.

    By Geoff Boucher

    Times Staff Writer

    October 5, 2005

    Bob Dylan is singing "The Times They Are A-Changin' " in a television ad for

    healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente these days, and who could argue? With Led

    Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, the Rolling Stones strutting in an Ameriquest

    Mortgage ad and Paul McCartney warbling for Fidelity Investments, it's clear

    that the old counterculture heroes of classic rock are now firmly entrenched as

    the house band of corporate America.

    That only makes the case of John Densmore all the more intriguing.

    Once, back when rock 'n' roll still seemed dangerous, Densmore was the drummer

    for the Doors, the band with dark hits such as "Light My Fire" and "People Are

    Strange." That band more or less went into the grave with lead singer Jim

    Morrison in 1971, but, like all top classic-rock franchises, it now has the

    chance to exploit a lucrative afterlife in television commercials. Offers keep

    coming in, such as the $15 million dangled by Cadillac last year to lease the

    song "Break On Through (to the Other Side)" to hawk its luxury SUVs.

    To the surprise of the corporation and the chagrin of his former bandmates,

    Densmore vetoed the idea. He said he did the same when Apple Computer called

    with a $4-million offer, and every time "some deodorant company wants to use

    'Light My Fire.' "

    The reason? Prepare to get a lump in your throat — or to roll your eyes.

    "People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this

    music," Densmore said. "I've had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to

    this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because

    of this music…. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and

    magic. That's not for rent."

    That not only sets the Doors apart from the long, long list of classic rock acts

    that have had their songs licensed for major U.S. commercial campaigns, it also

    has added considerably to Densmore's estrangement from former bandmates Ray

    Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, a trio that last set eyes on one another in the Los

    Angeles County Superior Courthouse last year.

    "Everyone wanted him to do it," said John Branca, an attorney who worked on the

    Cadillac proposal. "I told him that, really, people don't frown on this anymore.

    It's considered a branding exercise for the music. He told me he just couldn't

    sell a song to a company that was polluting the world.

    "I shook my head," Branca said, "but, hey, you have to respect that. How many of

    your principles would you reconsider when people start talking millions of

    dollars?"

    Densmore relented once. Back in the 1970s, he agreed to let "Riders on the

    Storm" be used to sell Pirelli Tires in a TV spot in England. When he saw it he

    was sick. "I gave every cent to charity. Jim's ghost was in my ear, and I felt

    terrible. If I needed proof that it was the wrong thing to do, I got it."

    Since then, the animus between the drummer and Manzarek and Krieger has

    intensified, including a bitter dispute over naming rights.

    In August, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Alarcon ruled that

    Manzarek and Krieger could no longer tour together as the "Doors of the 21st

    Century."...

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