Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo revealed in a new Yahoo interview that he has discussed Scott Weiland and Jim Morrison with The Doors’ surviving members.
Robert remembered seeing Weiland’s dark side early on. “There was something inside of him that he was always searching for. He was always searching for something that wasn’t really him. I don’t think he was generally happy with himself. He went through a lot of phases, as all of us do as musicians. That’s how we learn to eventually be ourselves, is learning from other people that come along in your life musically. Scott was very into John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot, and the Carpenters, stuff his Mom and Dad played. He developed ultimately into what he saw himself wanting to be.”
Dean said, “He was superhuman. Whatever he did, whether it was skiing, or tennis, or basketball, he excelled. He was really really talented in every sense of the word. His physicality, and his strength, things came very easy to him. I think it was the internal strife that added to who he became.”
Robert added, “I think when we went in to do Core, he really was getting in touch with that internal strife, which is a Catch-22, because it ultimately leads a singer to a key that unlocks a door to many different things. That makes people go, ‘Wow, that’s deep,’ but ultimately it leads to someone’s demise. It goes back to people like Jim Morrison, you know? I’ve talked with [the Doors’s] Robby [Krieger] and John [Densmore] about things like that, and it’s sad to see that someone ultimately goes to that place, somewhat not in control of the door they opened.”
