Upstate Films and Radio Woodstock present a celebration of the life of Jim Morrison, born 80 years ago, December 8th. Legendary Doors drummer, John Densmore (via Zoom) and veteran journalist Richard Goldstein will discuss the legacy of The Doors with WDST’s Greg Gattine, screening clips from Goldstein’s incredible 1969 interview with the Doors on his PBS show, “Critique”. The band, Feast of Friends, will perform a tribute to The Doors.
Copies of Densmore’s The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy on Trial and The Seekers, Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and other Artists) will be for sale in the lobby.
John Densmore is a drummer, author and member of The Doors. “The drum was the first f**king instrument,” declares John Densmore. “The reason people move and dance is that they’re trying to get back to that heartbeat. It’s the heart you hear in the womb that started the whole deal.” The rhythmic engine of The Doors, John Densmore is responsible for some of the most famous beats in rock & roll history and has been obsessed with the universal, ancient call of this heartbeat since his childhood in Southern California.
Richard Goldstein has been an integral voice in journalism for nearly 40 years, most amply at The Village Voice, where he was the arts editor and then the executive editor until 2004, when the paper purged him along with the rest of its progressive staff. While there, he coordinated the Voice’s well-known LGBT coverage as well as originating and editing its annual Queer Life issue. In his writing, he became a critic of male power and the cultural politics that girds it. He is the author of Homocons: Liberal Society and the Gay Right (Verso), and the winner of a GLAAD award as columnist of the year.
Richard’s writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, New York magazine, Harper’s, Artforum, The Guardian, The Advocate, Esquire, Vogue, and online on The Huffington Post, Salon, and Atlantic.com. His media experience includes appearances on CNN (Crossfire), MSNBC, Fox News (Hannity and The O’Reilly Factor) PBS, ABC (Nightline), NY1, and National Public Radio, where he wrote and delivered commentaries.
He is currently an adjunct professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York. And his memoir, Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the Sixties, has been published by Bloomsbury.
Feast of Friends plays homage to the music of The Doors with precision and accuracy, fusing elements of the bands’ studio sound with their epic improvisational live experience. Their shows have been described as “spooky in their accuracy”, “unbelievable”, and “powerful and electrifying.” Feast of Friends is not your typical parody act. No costumes. No look-alikes. Each memorable performance features the classic hits along with deeper cuts, most of which were never performed live by The Doors.
Co-presented with
