If Jim Morrison were alive, he'd turn 60 in December. His band, The Doors, will be playing in August at Summer Sonic; or, actually, keyboardist Ray Manzarek (64) and guitarist Robbie Krieger (57) will. The other surviving member, drummer John Densmore, has sued the pair for using the name without his permission, though Manzarek claims Densmore was invited to play and declined. Then, ex-Police drummer Stewart Copeland was hired and replaced, so he's suing too. And then there's the families of Jim Morrison and his wife, suing for "misappropriation" of Morrison's poetry, spoken and sung by The Cult's Ian Astbury.
The Doors 21st Century (the official name of the project) is more or less a cover band, but there are other artists from the '60s and '70s playing the festivals this summer who are more or less the real things.
The oldest is John Mayall, who will turn 70 later this year. Even in the '60s he was an elder, imparting wisdom about Chicago blues to the parade of musicians who received his tutelage and then gave birth to the instrumental sound of British rock -- Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, John McVie, etc. Mayall has kept his Bluesbreakers a viable touring band for four decades and will be playing two sets at Fuji Rock, where his sons Jason (who works for the promoter, Smash) and Gaz (leader of The Trojans and the festival's official bad boy) are annual fixtures.
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