Grammy Awards: Doors guitarist Robby Krieger says Grammy-winning documentary on band finally 'got it right'

Robby Krieger is still a little bitter about Oliver Stone’s 1991 biopic on his band, the Doors.

But the guitarist was more than enthusiastic about “When You’re Strange,” the 2009 documentary about the Los Angeles group, which was awarded top long-form music video at the Grammy Awards on Sunday afternoon during the pre-telecast show, a film which the 65-year-old Krieger said finally “got it right." Especially in terms of the band's oft-mythologized lead singer, Jim Morrison.

“I think [the film] lends some realism to how people view Jim,” Krieger said, who was also nominated for his solo disc “Singularity." “There have been Oliver Stone movies, and books that really give the wrong idea of Jim. This film really gives a look at who he is.”

The documentary about the life of the band was written and directed by Tom DiCillo and, for the first time, pulls material from Morrison’s experimental film, “HWY: An American Pastoral.”

Krieger said the band's surviving members wanted to “keep away from the making of the film” and trusted DiCillo’s vision.

“There was a lot of stuff that I had seen before,” he said. “But there were outtakes and things I hadn’t seen.”

Krieger said the band is readying a 40th anniversary of “L.A. Woman.”

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

Photo: Guitarist Robby Krieger accepts music video award from the pre-telecast ceremony at Staples Center on Feb. 13, 2011. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

 

Comments

[adam]

hi robby,

long time fan, 1st time poster

erm i alreday own la woman

can we get a full on hd version of hwy please?

c'mon after decalio's film we know u got the distribution rights ;)

[Jen]

Great. A 40th anniversary of their worst song. LA Woman and Riders on the Storm sucked. Over-produced -- Strings? Pu-leeze. How bout Love Street or Love Me Two Times?

[Christina]

@ Jen: What the hell?? The Doors were a great rock band! L.A. Woman & Riders on the Storm received critical acclaim by the critics & their fans. And the Doors music still holds up today. Maybe you should stick to listening to Justin Bieber or Willow Smith.

[alex patton]

Krieger must be senile or else too greedy to see how bad DiCillos film really is.
Full of innacuracies, speculations and misrepresentations and even the odd bit of totally made up stuff to impress the kids.
badly edited and a banal narration from Depp but the worst crime is the utterly abysmal narrative DiCillo wrote.
Simply a regurgitaion of the Stone script with a new slant on Morrison which portrays him as a fame junkie.
I been a Doors fan for over 40 years and saw this drivel at it's London premiere and can honestly say I have not seen or read a worse interpretaion of The Doors in all my days.

[Little Timmy]

wow! that Geoff Kempin guy on the right must be happy, he's so cool.

[Lenny Mussavia]

I read the guy's comment who ranted about how "bad" When Your Strange" was and decided to check the film out for myself. I figured for a guy to go off like that against the film it must be unwatchable.

Boy, was I wrong. A few minutes after it started I had to keep reminding myself how "bad" the film was supposed to be. To my great annoyance I found myself getting totally caught up in it. And by the time it was over I was speechless.

I found the film to be awesome! It is intelligent, beautifully edited, keenly observed, personal, emotional and deeply commited to what makes The Doors one of the greatest bands in the world. It presents them like I've never seen them before; you feel like you are right there with them because the guy only uses real footage from that period. In every frame it is the real Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore.

The Doorsare given some great music time where they play long sections of many, many Doors songs; and not just the 'classics'. And Johnny Dep's narration is spellbinding. He is absolutely perfect for the film.

My suggestion to anyone even slightly interested in this film is to rent it immediately. It is a Classic itself. This Grammy win was well deserved.

[Alton Greenberg]

Great comments, Lenny! Your remark about "being right there with them" is incredibly apt. I felt the electricity, the heat and the fire of the Doors all throughout "When You're Strange." I agree that the film was edited beautifully and that it was intelligent, personal and emotional. The never-before-seen footage was nothing short of revelatory and the live footage was positively kinetic. DiCillo let the band do the talking and their ascent and decline was punctuated by using their performances--both on stage and in the studio--as the narrative. I loved the film and thought that Depp was excellent, the footage pure gold and the subtext--death of the '60s, freewheeling hedonism and political unrest--handled with finesse and grace. One of the best movies about music ever made.

[lenny]

hey Alton, thanks for your comment. It's cool to see someone else out there dug this film. I've watched it twice now and each time I see new things that just blow me away. The whole sequence where they cut the Vietnam footage to Riders On The Storm!! The thing plays like a gorgeous acid trip about to go bad. So cool.
And the footage of Morrison! I felt like he was a living spirit wandering through the whole movie. Never seen anything like it. I seen so much crappy stuff about him. This is the first time I've seen him as something real--real flesh and blood. The stuff of him laughing and goofing around like a little kid!
Mixed in with the stuff of him struggling with the alcohol addiction.
It makes his loss all the more heartbreaking.
I'm telling everyone I know about this flick.