Photo courtesy of The 21st Century Doors The 21st Century Doors will perform in Tucson on Saturday.

Many guitarists dream of having an author write a book about the time they spent in a specific band. They dream their guitar skills will someday be the focus of a major motion picture directed by a famous Hollywood director. They fantasize about their songs being fixtures on classic rock radio stations 30 years after their band's demise. And they daydream about their band reuniting in 30 years and still being able to sell out amphitheaters nationwide.

Robby Krieger, 57, original guitarist for the rock band The Doors, however, did not have to dream. Countless books have been and continue to be written about The Doors. Oliver Stone directed the hit 1991 movie "The Doors." Classic rock still embraces the band's mix of blues and poetry in heavy rotation. And now, half of the original band has re-formed to tour America, playing full venues wherever they go.

However, there are some who think they are just selling out. The Doors drummer John Densmore has refused to play with the group and has filed lawsuits to keep Krieger and keyboardist Ray Manzarek from touring under the name "The Doors."

Until the lawsuit is settled, the band can be witnessed touring under the name "The Doors of the 21st Century," "21st Century Doors," and their original name, "The Doors."

"For a while I thought it was his ears, because he had that tinnitus, you know?" Krieger said of Densmore's unwillingness to reform the band as completely as possible.

Low Down Saturday 8 p.m. AVA Amphitheater 5655 W. Valencia tickets $25 ÷ $ 50 ticketmaster.com

Densmore has claimed in the past to suffer from tinnitus, an ear condition that can produce ringing in the ears without an exterior stimulus.

"But now that's better, I think. Maybe he's afraid it'll come back, I don't know. I wish he would play with us," Krieger said.

The final member of the original The Doors' lineup was legendary frontman Jim Morrison. The mythic music figure and The Doors' lyricist famously died of a heart attack while in Paris on July 3, 1971. He was just 27. In current place of Morrison is Ian Astbury of the Î80s rock group The Cult. In for Densmore on the current tour is a rotating cast of drummers.

Asked if Morrison would approve of The Doors' reunification, Krieger retorted: "He was always very positive about anything we wanted to do and I think he would love the idea. I'd like to see what he thought of Ian, you know? But, I'm sure he'd love the idea of us going out and playing again."

The idea of reforming one of rock's most revered names 30 years past their prime seemed the last thing on Krieger's mind when The Doors first formed in the early Î60s. Back in those days, Krieger was just another unknown guitarist in an unheard-of band trying to scrape by.

"When the first album came out, I was thinking, ÎAhh, man, nobody's ever going to hear this great album,'" Krieger said.

"Because we didn't really have a hit single until ÎLight My Fire.' You know we had to cut the middle part of it out and all that (to fit on radio formats), and luckily·if that hadn't happened I think nobody would've ever heard of The Doors."

He added that the Old Pueblo, of all places, was instrumental in igniting the fire of The Doors' gradual burn into the mainstream.

"In fact, you know, The Doors almost kind of broke out of Tucson, mainly because (of) my cousin Marty," he said. "He used to call the radio stations down there every hour and try to get them to play The Doors. That was back in the Î60s."

Despite all the time, publicity and rumors, the one thing that has kept The Doors a household name is the same thing that brought them together in the first place.

"Who knew that The Doors would come back like this, you know?" Krieger said. "It's quite amazing. And if you ask why it happened, it might have been somebody who wrote a book or this guy who did a movie, but I think it was just the music that people kept liking it."