The Alameda Free Library will host a reading and Q&A with author Denise Sullivan to celebrate the release of her new book Shaman’s Blues: The Art & Influences Behind Jim Morrison & The Doors on Saturday, January 24th at 12:30 pm at the Main Library (1550 Oak St.).
Bay Area music journalist Denise Sullivan has been a statewide presence in arts criticism for over 20 years as an interviewer, reviewer and author of biographies of R.E.M. and the White Stripes, along with the acclaimed social/music history book, Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-Hop. Pop Matters says “Denise Sullivan represents the insider intellectual stamina of rock ‘n’ roll journalism without the pomp and pretense. She is the past and future of the form, rolled into one uncanny style.”
Sullivan’s new book takes an in-depth look at how the blues influenced the sound of the Doors. While Beat poetry, William Blake and Arthur Rimbaud swirled in Morrison’s mind, and the band laid down tracks that followed jazz, classical and Far East patterns, they more often than not landed at the center of the blues. Sullivan will also discuss Jim Morrison’s personal connections to the City of Alameda.
