"Actor: John Densmore"

• When You're Strange | DVD | (30/08/2010) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A look at the late '60s and early '70s rock band The Doors including rare exclusive footage.

• The Doors - Special Edition | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Doors is Oliver Stone's epic, typically portentous homage to the band that soundtracked his youth. As is generally the case with Stone's films, its scope is impressively wide. He places The Doors at the eye of a 1960s cultural and political maelstrom through which passes Andy Warhol, Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy among others. But the details and dialogue often jar badly: the scenes in which various gilded youths imbibe the young Jim Morrison's early efforts at lyrics as if they were anything beyond dreadful sophomoric doggerel are a particular strain on the credulity. The film's central conceit--that Morrison's body was somehow inhabited at an early age by the spirit of a Navajo medicine man--makes the deranged conspiracies of JFK seem plausible by comparison. The Doors is redeemed by Stone's ability with ambitious set-pieces (the concert scenes are terrific) and a tremendous performance from Val Kilmer, who plays Jim Morrison as a pompous, self-regarding oaf who treats bandmates, friends and women appallingly. While this may well have been the case it is debatable whether Stone intended to show his hero in such an unflattering light: the closing scenes in Pere Lachaise cemetery, which linger over the graves of Wilde, Molière and Flaubert before arriving at Morrison's witlessly vandalised plot, certainly suggest a belief on Stone's part that the author of the ridiculous "American Prayer" has earned a place in the literary pantheon. This film fails to make a convincing case for that but, like Morrison's own work, is a compelling, cautionary illustration of what a supremely ordinary singer and songwriter is allowed to get away with if he looks good in leather trousers. On the DVD: The Doors Special Edition has the benefit of a bewildering array of special features, though many are less impressive than their billing: the "Behind the Scenes" documentary is eight minutes of apparently random footage of the film being made, and the making-of documentary isn't much more illuminating. The interviews with the cast are also on the desultory side. There is a conventional scene selector and another that allows the viewer to choose from the songs that appear in the soundtrack. There are also several sound options and subtitles. Most useful of all is the illuminating and engaging running commentary by Oliver Stone. --Andrew Mueller

• Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 - Message To Love | DVD | (07/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Thirty years ago half a million flower children set sail for the Isle Of Wight in search of peace love and understanding. They also witnessed one of the greatest ever rock festivals with legendary live performances from well known greats of the era. This DVD tells the story of the great event from backstage banter to the terrific live performances. Featuring performances by: The Doors - 'When The Music's Over' The Who - 'Young Man Blues' Jimi Hendrix - 'Machine Gun' Joni

• Love - Love Story | DVD | (17/09/2012) from £10.99   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A feature length documentary telling the story of Los Angeles band Love and their singer Arthur Lee. The film premiered at the 50th London Film Festival and features interviews with band members Arthur Lee (sadly his last ever interviews) Johnny Echols Bryan Maclean Alban Snoopy Pfisterer Michael Stuart John Fleckenstein and Robert Rozelle as well as Elektra Records head Jac Holzman producer Bruce Botnick The Doors' John Densmore and arranger David Angel. Other interviews include Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream) Mani (The Stone Roses/Primal Scream) John Head (Shack) Ken Livingstone and MPs Stephen Pound & Peter Bradley who passed an Early Day Motion in Parliament to proclaim the band's 1968 masterpiece Forever Changes The greatest album of all time. The film also includes rarely seen television performances from the band from 1966 & 1970 and rare & unseen archive photographs.

• When You're Strange | Blu Ray | (30/08/2010) from £13.48   |  Saving you £9.51 (41.40%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A look at the late '60s and early '70s rock band The Doors including rare exclusive footage.

• The Doors Live At The Hollywood Bowl | DVD | (04/09/2000) from £10.78   |  Saving you £9.21 (85.44%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Watching The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl is a sobering experience, for the viewer must confront the painful truth that popular music, to judge by its increasingly infantile and banal state, will never see their like again. Either that, or admit The Doors were an irrelevant footnote in the history of pop--an idle thought that a few minutes of this extraordinary concert will dispel. Fortunately for posterity, this July 5, 1968 performance was captured by four cameras and recorded in 16-track audio, and has now been digitally remixed for DVD. The result is a crisp picture and generally excellent stereo sound that is far better than most archive footage of this band. On stage Jim Morrison has the aura of an intense performance artist, whose dark, smoky voice forms only a part of his complex persona; guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboard player Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore complement Morrison's free-associative outpourings with improvisational jazz-inspired interjections. They make music like no other band before or since: who else could segue effortlessly from Kurt Weill's "Alabama Song" to Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man"? And just when they're in danger of becoming too pretentious, Morrison bursts any lurking self-importance with a wry smile, a jokey aside or even a belch. But the seriousness remains, at least implicitly, throughout as Morrison's edgy lyrics--from "When the Music's Over" to "The Unknown Soldier" and "The End"--constantly hint at disturbing social undercurrents outside the concert arena. Is it fanciful to imagine that in the minds of his audience the ghosts of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement are hovering just out of view? Such thoughts are what make The Doors so unique: their music invites questions, positively dares the audience to ask them; that's why they remain so endlessly fascinating well over three decades later. And that's why this concert performance will find a home with any and every fan of the band. "The time to hesitate is through". --Mark Walker

• The Doors Dance on Fire | DVD | (22/05/2017) from £6.25   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An All - Live Video Collection Of Live & Televised Performances, Promotional Clips & Rare Behind-The-Scenes Footage. Break On Through The Original Elektra Records Promo Clip People Are Strange Performances From The Ed Sullivan Show And Murray The K In New York Light My Fire Performance From The Ed Sullivan Show Wild Child Filmed At The Elektra Recording Session L.A. Woman A New Film Directed By Ray Manzarek The Unknown Soldier The Original Elektra Promo Clip, Banned Since 1968 Roadhouse Blues Filmed During The 1968 American Tour Texas Radio And The Big Beat/ Love Me Two Times Live Performance From Danish Television Touch Me Performance From The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Horse Latitudes/Moonlight Drive Performance From The Jonathan Winters Show The End Live Performance From The 1968 Hollywood Bowl Concert Crystal Ship Performance From American Bandstand Adagio Adagio Composed By Tommasso Albiononi / Arranged By Paul Harris And The Doors Riders On The Storm.

• The Doors The Soft Parade | DVD | (22/05/2017) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  This Historic Music Video Features As Its Centrepiece The Doors' Last Televised Appearance, Aired On Pbs In 1969 In The Wake If The Notorious Miami Concert Which Resulted Not Only In Jim Morrison'S Arrest, But The Cancellation Of The Entire Tour. Public Television Provided The Only Alternative For The Doors To Present Themselves In An Uncensored Environment, And The Result Is An Arresting Display Of A Mature Band At The Peak Of Its Musical Powers. Additional Material Is Drawn From The Doors' Private Archives, Including Footage From The Riotous 1968 Tour Of America And The Never-Before-Seen Interviews. On And Offstage, Spirits Up And Guards Down, Here Is A True And Fascination Portrait Of Jim Morrison And The Doors As Artists, Musicians, Performers And People.

• The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl | DVD | (22/05/2017) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Watching The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl is a sobering experience, for the viewer must confront the painful truth that popular music, to judge by its increasingly infantile and banal state, will never see their like again. Either that, or admit The Doors were an irrelevant footnote in the history of pop--an idle thought that a few minutes of this extraordinary concert will dispel. Fortunately for posterity, this July 5, 1968 performance was captured by four cameras and recorded in 16-track audio, and has now been digitally remixed for DVD. The result is a crisp picture and generally excellent stereo sound that is far better than most archive footage of this band. On stage Jim Morrison has the aura of an intense performance artist, whose dark, smoky voice forms only a part of his complex persona; guitarist Robby Krieger, keyboard player Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore complement Morrison's free-associative outpourings with improvisational jazz-inspired interjections. They make music like no other band before or since: who else could segue effortlessly from Kurt Weill's "Alabama Song" to Willie Dixon's "Back Door Man"? And just when they're in danger of becoming too pretentious, Morrison bursts any lurking self-importance with a wry smile, a jokey aside or even a belch. But the seriousness remains, at least implicitly, throughout as Morrison's edgy lyrics--from "When the Music's Over" to "The Unknown Soldier" and "The End"--constantly hint at disturbing social undercurrents outside the concert arena. Is it fanciful to imagine that in the minds of his audience the ghosts of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement are hovering just out of view? Such thoughts are what make The Doors so unique: their music invites questions, positively dares the audience to ask them; that's why they remain so endlessly fascinating well over three decades later. And that's why this concert performance will find a home with any and every fan of the band. "The time to hesitate is through". --Mark Walker

• The Doors - Live In Europe 1968 | DVD | (06/12/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  For Doors completists only, this shapeless gathering of rare film clips of the band performing in Europe is hampered by the same old, frustrating problems with attempting to convey, through lousy camera work, the band's power as a live act. The packaging tells us the Doors swept through London, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Amsterdam during a 1968 tour documented here, but there is no way to appreciate that save for a random clip or two of Jim Morrison milling about outside concert venues, talking with fans. Otherwise, we see the same sort of obfuscating on-stage close-ups of Morrison you can see in any footage of a Doors gig, stumbling around, crooning and reciting poetry to minimalist accompaniment by Ray Manzarek on keyboards, John Densmore on drums and Robby Krieger on guitar. Unless one can see, in the mind's eye, what the band is up to from the point of view of a kid in the 30th row, there is no way to really get the hypnotic, Dionysian effect for which the Doors were justifiably famous. Thus, for anyone who can imagine such a thing, or take it on faith, there is good reason to enjoy performances of "Spanish Caravan", "Five to One" and two versions of "Light My Fire". There is even a relic of pre-MTV, pop promotion: a silly-looking performance of "Hello, I Love You" shot before a baffled crowd on a London street. --Tom KeoghSong list: 1. Light My Fire 2. Love Me Two Times 3. Back Door Man 4. Spanish Caravan 5. Hello, I Love You 6. When the Music's Over 7. Unknown Soldier 8. Light My Fire (II) 9. Five to One 10. Alabama Song

• The Doors - Storytellers | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  On this exclusive VH1 Storytellers compilation some of rock's biggest names come together to pay tribute to The Doors - the band that would forever change music in the 1960s. Jim Morrison's poetic and controversial lyrics combined with the band's dark hypnotic sound continue to influence artists and fans from all walks of music. This DVD is a mere sampling of The Doors' monumental impact on the rock world. Tracklisting: L.A. Woman (Excerpt) - Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction Love Me Two Times - Pat Monahan from Train Whiskey Bar - Ian Astbury from The Cult The End - Travis Meeks from Days of the New Break On Through - Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots Five To One - Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots Light My Fire - Scott Stapp from Creed Roadhouse Blues - Scott Stapp from Creed Bonus Tracks: Wild Child - Ian Astbury from The Cult Riders On The Storm - Scott Stapp from Creed.