Frank Lisciandro Criticizes Ray Manzarek

Being the "keeper of the truth" is a very hard job and one I would NOT want. Ray Manzarek is basically a nice guy but I think he must have a very bad memory. And sometimes he acts like he hates anyone that was a friend of Jim. Most of what he wrote in his book and what he says in interviews about me and Babe Hill are far from the truth. I won't call his statements lies; let's just say that his memory is dysfunctional. We all know that Ray stretches and changes reality to suit his own purposes. Let me state this accurately: Jim Morrison was a fantastic human being and an incredible creative artist, but not for the reasons Ray says. Jim's myth and legend do not need the manipulation of Ray or Danny Sugerman. Jim left us with poems and songs and films and writings that establish him as one of the 20th century's most creative inhabitants. Jim doesn't need Ray to pump him up into a steroid monster myth. Actually Ray is doing himself and the Doors damage by not citing Jim's real accomplishments. Ray should stop trying to make Jim the bad boy of rock, stop trying to show how he was the embodiment of Dionysis (com'on Ray, the Greek god metaphor was old 30 years ago), and stop trying to portray Jim as a petulant child. He should stop because it doesn't do the Doors any good in the long run. Jim's poems will endure long after anyone can remember Ray's stories. It would be far wiser for the Doors to cite Jim's accomplishments. Instead they want to sell the public an image of Jim (Jim the drunken troublemaker and black leather outlaw) that they think will sell records. This is very short sighted, and something that Jim would find distasteful.
Frank Lisciandro