Two fourths of the Doors — guitarist Robby Krieger and the estate the late-Ray Manzarek — have sold their complete rights in the band to Primary Wave Music, according to Rolling Stone. The deal does not include the interests of fellow surviving member, drummer John Densmore, nor the estate of Jim Morrison.
Robby Krieger, who wrote such legendary Doors tunes as “Light My Fire,” “Love Me Two Times,” “Touch Me,” “Love Her Madly,” and “Light My Fire,” said in a statement, “After 58 years, and the most magical of times, I’ve decided to sell my share of the Doors to Primary Wave. This will enable me to help the many charities I’ve been involved with, and some new ones too. I know Primary Wave cares about music, art, and about helping legacies go to even bigger levels. Our longtime Doors manager Jeff Jampol will still be protecting our legacy in partnership with Primary Wave, so I’m comfortable and happy with the future of the Doors.”
Not long before his 2013 death, the late, great Ray Manzarek said the anger and mood of the Doors' generation was something that was very easy for the band to tap into: “We were angry at the way the world was going in 1967, '68, '69. There was a war in Vietnam, and, y'know, that had to be stopped, and we were going to clean up the environment, and do all those good things that hippies were trying to do, and everyone was angry, man. So, y'know, we tried to make the music as hard and as powerful and as exciting as possible, and when you've got Jim Morrison as your lead singer, well, y'know, that's a, that's an extra plus, so . . . that's what it was all about.”
IN OTHER CATOLOGUE SALES NEWS
Warner Music Group has acquired the “recorded-music rights and income streams” from the Yes catalogue. Variety reported “The full acquisition includes 12 studio albums, as well as live recordings and compilations; terms of the deal were not disclosed.”
Included in the deal are such seminal Yes albums as Fragile, Close To The Edge, and 90125, including the FM standards “Roundabout,” “I've Seen All Good People,” “Long Distance Runaround,” and “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” among many others. (Variety)