DOORS LAUNCH 40th ANNIVERSARY WITH GALA EVENT

The launch of a yearlong celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Doors is set for the Sunset Strip on Nov. 8.

The event will take place at the Whisky A Go Go, the nightclub where the band first gained notoriety, and feature a memorial reading of Jim Morrison’s poetry by Perry Farrell and others, the debut of a retrospective coffee table book and a preview of an upcoming boxed set of their music.

The various activities will take place between 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and are free and open to the public, with journalist Ben Fong-Torres, former Rolling Stone editor and co-author of the upcoming Hyperion book The Doors By The Doors, as MC.

The band’s Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore will be on hand to sign the book throughout the evening. Local classic rock station KLOS will broadcast live from the event with DJ Jim Ladd as host.

The surviving Doors will be honored by a plaque-unveiling ceremony at the Whisky A Go Go, which will be awarded a “Landmark Plaque” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to commemorate its contribution to rock history, the first venue to receive that designation.

Krieger will be at the Whisky A Go Go for a listening party previewing the Nov. 21 release of Perception from Rhino/Elektra Records, a 12-disc (6-CD/6-DVD) boxed set with all six of The Doors’ classic studio albums expanded and remastered for the first time ever on CD; the DVDs supplement the albums with a 5.1 Surround Sound mix, a brand-new “40th Anniversary” stereo remix by original Doors co-producer/mixer Bruce Botnick, rare and unreleased audio and video tracks, a photo gallery, lyrics and discography. Inside the Whisky, the celebration will continue with the digitally remastered Doors music in DTS 5.1 Surround Sound previewed for fans.

Next door to the Whisky A Go Go, at the Cat Club (former home of The London Fog, where The Doors debuted), Manzarek will host a mini-version of "Break on Through - The Lasting Legacy of The Doors," the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit that opens May 25, 2007 in Cleveland. The exhibit will examine the career and impact of The Doors through a display of one-of-a-kind artifacts, original manuscripts, rare concert posters, photographs and video. This is the first time the surviving members of The Doors, along with the Morrison and Courson families, have given their full blessing and cooperation to an event of this kind. Previous exhibits have headlined artists such as Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

Densmore will be at Book Soup (formerly the site of the Cinematheque 16 movie house where Morrison read poetry and performed Doors songs acoustically with Krieger) for a memorial tribute reading of Jim Morrison’s poetry by Farrell and others.

All three surviving Doors members will also be signing copies of The Doors By The Doors, set for release the previous day. The Doors By The Doors, the first authorized autobiography by the band, includes rare photos and exclusive interviews, co-authored by Fong-Torres. Book sale tables will also be at the Whisky and Cat Club, making it possible for purchasers to easily walk to the other locations to have all of the surviving Doors sign books.