Talking to HuffPost Live about his new book The Doors: Unhinged, drummer John Densmore shed some light on multiple things, from his last talk with recently deceased Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, to a letter he received from famed rapper Jay Z.
Two weeks before Manzaerk’s death, Densmore had his last phone call with his old bandmate, saying in the interview, “I called Ray, I said, ‘Hey, I’ve been drumming for your health and praying for you.’”
Talking about Jay Z, Densmore said he was skeptical when the rapper wanted to sample the Doors’ “Five to One” for a song in 2001. “Hip-hop was just coming on, and I was like, ‘What is this stuff? There’s no melody.’”
Densmore went on to admit, “I was a curmudgeon.”
This prompted Jay Z to send the Doors drummer a note. “Jay Z wrote me a letter saying, ‘Hey, we’re fighting the authority just like you guys did back then,’”
Years later, apparently coming around to hip hop, John Densmore would quote Jay Z in his book, The Doors: Unhinged.
In case you’re curious, the song Jay Z (and producer Kanye West) made from the Doors’ “Five to One” is off of The Blueprint. You can listen to both “Five to One” and “Takeover” below.
The Doors:
Jay Z: