Arizona Daily Sun from Flagstaff, Arizona • 26

Sec. A10 ARIZONA DAILY SUN, Flagstaff, Arizona, Saturday, December 28, 1991 SOUTHWEST FLAIR back at The late Jim Morrison, lead singer for the legendary Doors, brought Ray Manzarek and Michael McClure together. the Doors certainly incredibly influential in Doors music, Manzarek explained. You can hear that Indian beat, the tom-toms. The Doors loved Native American music, a lot of songs have the tom-toms in them, and (John) Dcnsmore, the drummer, was great at doing tomtoms.

Manzarek said he values the knowledge that indigenous Americans evolved over the centuries, and he said he believes that the key to the global future lies with better comprehension of indigenous realities and survival mechanisms. We all have to learn the mes-sages of the earliest Americans what were the ancient peoples talking about, what was the religious structure, what was their relationship to the soil, and once Euro-Americans, European Americans, Oriental Americans, once all of those other Americans realize what Native Americans are about, how the Old Ones related to the planet, to Mother Earth, then we are going to save the planet, Manzarek explained. Thats what we have to do. Thats going to be the religion of the 21st century. The religion of the 21st Century is going to be Europeans rediscovering Native American myths and truths.

Manzarek said that mainstream Americans must change their priorities to rediscover the truths that indigenous Americans have always known. Manzarek advocates for environmental stewardship and human rights through his music. McClure, an outspoken political poet, puts philosophy into action through involvement with United Nations environmental and human rights forums. He attended the First United Nations Environmental Conference in Stockholm in 1972, and will attend the 1992 Quincen-tennial United Nations Environmental Conference in Rio de Janicro. Both men agreed that it is time to end the destruction of the worlds indigenous peoples and resources, and time to initiate global healing on all levels.

Its artists and poets that are trying to save the planet. Its the indigenous peoples and the values of the indigenous world. Its the writers and the dancers and the singers and the shamans and the Dionysian impulse and the Great Mother. Mother Earth, we have to take care of Mother Earth, Manzarek stressed. We can all nurture, and we can all destroy, too.

Its a Millennial battle." Manzarek and McClures music Looking By CATHERINE ELSTON Sun Correspondent The Southwest exerts major influences on contemporary music and poetry, according to two of Americas most visionary performers. Ray Manzarek, known throughout the world as keyboardist for Californias legendary troubadors. The Doors, and Michael McClure, famed Beat poet, travel throughout the United States performing music and poetry to standing-room only audiences. Recently, they played in Arizona. Manzarek accompanies McClure on keyboards, as the poet recites his poems.

Critics refer to their gigs as recreations of the coffee-houses of the late 1950s and early 1960s, but there is more to the project. What we are doing is ancient, Manzarek explained. Michael reads his poetry. Ray plays the piano and its a poet and a musician. Its been going on since forever.

Manzarek and McClure met in 1968, at the third recording session of The Doors. They were introduced by Doors vocalist James Douglas Morrison. Morrison died in 1971, but Manzarek and McClure continued their friendship. The artists said that they are gratified by the overwhelming response from American audiences. While the release of Oliver Stones Hollywoodization of Morrisons life, The Doors, may have sparked some public interest, McClure and Manzarek said that there are other reasons for the resurgence in popularity for live poetic performances.

Poetry, spoken words, and music with poetry and public performance of poetry is definatcly starting to happen in clubs. Its happening in contemporary nightclub settings, in big and small cities, just the way it is supposed to be, Manzarek explained. The pair perform from Seattle to Scottsdale and Los Angeles to Greenwich Village and points in between, frequently accompanied by Beat activist Allen Ginsberg. I think there are a lot of young people who want to hear the intelligence that they heard in rock songs twenty years ago, McClure said. McClure was born in Kansas, grew up in Seattle and completed his last year of college at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

He settled in San Francisco where he achieved fame as a poet and writer during the Beat era. Native RAY MANZAREK American philosophies, music and religions contributed profoundly to his artistic development. I have Pueblo friends and I have been in various places in the world with them, in sweat lodges, (religious) I am very impressed by the structure of Pueblo language and the un-Westemess of not only their concepts of grammar but of the concepts of direction and sacred direction, McClure explained. It has been an influence on me most of my life, especially for the past 30 years, something paramount to my own vision. Manzarek stressed that Native American influences shaped both the music and philosophy of The Doors.

He said of all the tribes, Hopi philosophy had most influenced him. Certainly in Doors music youll hear, obviously, the Native American. The American Indian is incorporates beliefs and philosophies influenced by Native Americans, the Tao, the Buddha, the Beat era, and the American Romantics. The duoss video, Love Lion, is available in most record stores. The Love Lion CD is due for release in January, 1992.

Polygram records will release the CD of Manzareks 1974 album, The Golden Scarab, next year. McClures latest book, Rebel Lions was just released from New Directions press. A cross-country ride This is a must book for rail fans, and one that might well turn other readers into rail fans also. By Joy Stilley ZZZZZZZZZZ2? 3 3 el feetery-Mede Hwse Im' Complete selection of horse barns, stable systems and accessories. Free Estimates Will Build to Suit Hitchin Post Stables Boarders now being accepted featuring 60-foot enclosed exercise pen.

774-1719 MAKING TRACKS: An American Rail Odyssey. By Terry Pindell. Holt. 384 Pages. Paperback, $14.95.

All aboard, for a fascinating trip across America by train! Your guide is Terry Pindell, who spent most of a year traveling 30,000 miles along all 21 of Amtraks routes. In Making Tracks, he details these journeys, but the result is much more than a travelogue. As he recounts the various trips, he digresses to offer glimpses of history, local color, vivid descriptions of the terrain, conversations with fellow passengers, and even a little philosophy. A gregarious man, Pindell learns and reports the often-riveting stories of the people he meets in sleeping cars, coaches, dining cars, lounges and stations..