Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison (8 December 1943 – 3 July 1971) was an iconic American singer, songwriter, writer, film director, and poet. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the popular American rock band The Doors, and is considered to be one of the most charismatic and influential frontmen in the history of rock music. He was also an author of several poetry books, a documentary, short film, and three early music videos ("The Unknown Soldier", "Moonlight Drive", and "People are Strange"). Morrison died in Paris at the age of 27.

Biography

Early years

Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, to Admiral George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clarke Morrison. Morrison had a sister, Anne Robin Morrison, who was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a brother, Andrew Lee Morrison, who was born 1948 in Los Altos, California. Jim Morrison was of Scottish and Irish ethnic heritage.

In 1947, Morrison purportedly witnessed a car accident in the desert, where a family of Native Americans was injured and possibly killed. He referred to this incident in a spoken-word performance on the song "Dawn's Highway" from the album, An American Prayer. There are also links in other songs such as Peace Frog, Riders on the Storm and Ghost Song, themselves linked by the same spoken line from "Dawn's Highway":

"Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding

Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind."

Morrison believed the incident to be the most formative event in his life and made repeated references to it in the imagery in his songs, poems, and interviews.

With his father in the Navy, Morrison's family moved often. He spent part of his childhood in San Diego, California. In 1958, Morrison attended Alameda High School in Alameda, California (near Oakland). However, he graduated from George Washington High School (now George Washington Middle School) in Alexandria, Virginia in June 1961.

Morrison went to live with his paternal grandparents in Clearwater, Florida, where he attended classes at St. Petersburg Junior College. In 1962, he transferred to Florida State University where he appeared in a school recruitment film.[2]

In January 1964, Morrison moved to Los Angeles, California. He completed his undergraduate degree in UCLA's film school, the Theater Arts department of the College of Fine Arts in 1965. Jim made two films while attending UCLA. "First Love", the first of the two films, was released to the public when it appeared in a documentary about the film called "Obscura".

The Doors

In 1965, after graduating from UCLA, Morrison led a Bohemian lifestyle in nearby Venice Beach. Photographer Joel Brodsky took a series of black-and-white photos of Morrison. Known as "The Young Lion" photo session, the pictures included the shot that was later featured on the Best of the Doors LP cover.

Morrison and fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek were the founding members of The Doors. Shortly thereafter, drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger joined. Krieger auditioned at Densmore's recommendation, and was then added to the lineup.

While it is widely believed that the Doors took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception (a reference to the 'unlocking' of 'doors' to perception through psychedelic drug use), Huxley's own title was a quote from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in which Blake wrote that "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."

In June 1966, at the famed Whisky-A-Go-Go, The Doors were the opening act for the Northern Irish group Them, whose leader was Van Morrison. According to Ray Manzarek, in his book, Light My Fire, "Jim was transfixed by Van. He studied his every move. He put the eye on him and he absorbed....The last night... saw us all in a monster jam session...Jim Morrison and Van Morrison onstage at the same time! And singing 'Gloria.'"

Although Morrison is known as the lyricist for the group, Krieger also made significant lyrical contributions, writing or co-writing some of the group's biggest hits, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Love Her Madly" and "Touch Me." Decades before music videos became commonplace, Morrison and The Doors produced a promotional film for "Break On Through," which was to be their first single release. The video featured the four members of the group playing the song on a darkened set with alternating views and close-ups of the performers while Morrison lip-synced the lyrics. Morrison and The Doors continued to make music videos, including "The Unknown Soldier", "Moonlight Drive", "Light my Fire", and "People Are Strange".

The Doors achieved national recognition after signing with Elektra Records in 1967. The single "Light My Fire" eventually reached number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.[6] Later, The Doors appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, a popular Sunday night variety series that had introduced The Beatles and a young, wriggling Elvis Presley to the nation. Ed Sullivan requested two songs from The Doors for the show, People are Strange, and Light My Fire. The censors insisted that they change the lyrics of "Light My Fire" from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get much better." This was reportedly due to what could be perceived as a reference to drugs in the original lyric. During the rehersal, Jim changed the lyrics, to appear to be in compliance with host Ed Sullivan, Morrison then proceeded to sing the song with the original lyrics anyway, on live TV. He later said that he had simply forgotten to make the change. This infuriated Sullivan so much that he refused to shake their hands after their performance. They were never invited back. The Producer of the show screamed at the TV sets as Morrison sung the lyric, that The Doors would never do the Ed Sullivan show ever again. Jim came back to that comment by stating "Hey, we just did the Ed Sullivan show."

By the release of their second album, Strange Days, The Doors had become one of the most popular rock bands in the United States. Their blend of blues and rock tinged with psychedelia included a number of original songs and distinctive cover versions, such as the memorable rendition of "Alabama Song", from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's operetta, "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny". The band also performed a number of extended concept works, including the songs "The End", "When The Music's Over", and "Celebration of the Lizard".

In 1968, The Doors released their third studio LP, Waiting for the Sun. Their fourth LP, The Soft Parade, was released in 1969. It was the first album where the individual band members were given credit on the inner-sleeve for the songs they had written.

After this, Morrison started to show up for recording sessions inebriated (he can be heard hiccuping on the song "Five To One"). He was also frequently late for live performances. As a result, the band would play instrumental music or force Ray Manzarek to take on the singing duties.

By 1969, the formerly svelte singer began to change his appearance. He gained weight, grew a beard, and began dressing more casually - abandoning the leather pants and concho belts for regular slacks, jeans and T-shirts.

During a 1969 concert at The Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Morrison attempted to spark a riot in the audience. He failed, but a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Dade County Police department three days later for indecent exposure. Consequently, many of The Doors' scheduled concerts were canceled. In the years following the incident, Morrison has been exonerated. In 2007 Florida Governor Charlie Crist suggested the possibility of a posthumous pardon for Morrison.

Following The Soft Parade, The Doors released the Morrison Hotel LP. After a lengthy break, the group reconvened in October 1970 to record their last LP with Morrison, L.A. Woman. Shortly after the recording sessions for the album began, producer Paul A. Rothchild -- who had overseen all their previous recordings -- left the project. Engineer Bruce Botnick took over as producer.

Solo: poetry and film

Morrison began writing in adolescence. In college, he studied the related fields of theater, film and cinematography.

He self-published two volumes of his poetry in 1969, The Lords / Notes on Vision and The New Creatures. Both works were dedicated to "Pamela Susan" (Courson). The Lords consists primarily of brief descriptions of places, people, events and Morrison's thoughts on cinema. The New Creatures verses are more poetic in structure, feel and appearance. These two books were later combined into a single volume titled The Lords and The New Creatures. These were the only writings published during Morrison's lifetime.

Morrison befriended Beat Poet Michael McClure. McClure wrote the Afterword for Danny Sugerman's biography of Morrison. McClure and Morrison reportedly collaborated on a number of unmade film projects, including a film version of McClure's infamous play The Beard in which Morrison would have played the role of Billy The Kid.

After his death, two volumes of poetry were published. The contents of the books were selected and arranged by Morrison's friend, photographer Frank Lisciandro, and girlfriend Pamela Courson's parents, who owned the rights to his poetry. The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison Volume 1 is titled Wilderness, and, upon its release in 1988, became an instant New York Times best seller. Volume 2, The American Night, released in [[1990], was also a success.

Morrison recorded his own poetry in a professional sound studio on two separate occasions. The first was in March 1969 in Los Angeles and the second was on December 8, 1970, his 27th birthday. The latter recording session was attended by personal friends of Morrison and included a variety of sketch pieces. Some of the segments from the 1969 session were issued on the bootleg album The Lost Paris Tapes and were later used as part of the Doors' An American Prayer album, released in 1978. The album reached number 54 on the music charts. The poetry recorded from the December 1970 session remains unreleased to this day and is in the possession of the Courson family.

Morrison's best-known but seldom seen cinematic endeavor is HWY: An American Pastoral, a project he started in 1969. Morrison financed the venture and formed his own production company in order to maintain complete control of the project. Paul Ferrara, Frank Lisciandro and Babe Hill assisted with the project. Morrison played the main character, a hitchhiker turned killer/car thief. This same or very similar character is alluded to in Riders On The Storm. Morrison asked his friend, composer/pianist Fred Myrow, to select the eclectic soundtrack for the film.[12][13] The film shows the influence of other producer-directors of independent art films, such as Andy Warhol, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Jean-Luc Godard.

A 2004 biography of Morrison says that Warhol asked Morrison to star with Nico in Warhol's I, a Man (1967) but was talked out of it by the management of The Doors. Morrison then asked his drinking buddy Tom Baker to play the lead role in the Warhol film.

Personal life

Morrison's family

Morrison's early life was a nomadic existence typical of military families.[14] Jerry Hopkins recorded Morrison's brother Andy explaining that his parents had determined never to use corporal punishment on their children, and instead instilled discipline and levied punishment by the military tradition known as "dressing down." This consisted of yelling at and berating the children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their failings. Andy said that although he could never keep from crying, his brother learned never to shed a tear.

Biographers record that during his youth, Morrison was a dutiful and respectful son who excelled at school and greatly enjoyed swimming and other outdoor activities. His parents hoped he would follow in his father's military footsteps and, for quite some time, Morrison was happy to emulate his father, intending to study at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

In adolescence, however, Morrison discovered drinking and embarked on a lifelong pattern of alcoholism and substance abuse. He was often disruptive in class and became a discipline problem. For a few years, Jim lived with his grandparents. He would purposely go out late and come home drunk, much to his grandparents' disapproval. Neither of his grandparents drank alcohol, so he would leave empty wine bottles and beer cans in the garbage. He would often come home late and make a lot of noise solely to aggravate them.

Once Morrison graduated from UCLA, he broke off most of his family contact. By the time Morrison's music ascended the top of the charts in 1967, he had not been in communication with his family for more than a year and falsely claimed that his parents and siblings were dead (or claiming, as it has been widely misreported, that he was an only child). This misinformation was published as part of the materials distributed with the first Doors album.

In a letter to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission District Office, October 2, 1970, Morrison's father acknowledged the breakdown in family communications, the result of an argument over his assessment of his son's musical talents. He said he could not blame his son for being reluctant to initiate contact. He also stressed that he thought Jim was 'fundamentally a respectable citizen' and that he was proud of his son's progress.

Women in his life

Morrison met his long-term companion, Pamela Courson, well before he gained any fame or fortune, and she encouraged him to develop his poetry. At times, Courson used Morrison's name, with his apparent consent. After Courson's death in 1974, the probate court in California decided that she and Morrison had what qualified as a common law marriage (see below, under "Estate Controversy").

Courson and Morrison's relationship was a stormy one, however, with frequent loud arguments, and periods of separation followed by tearful reunions. Doors biographer Danny Sugerman surmised that part of their difficulties may have stemmed from a conflict between their respective commitments to an open relationship and the consequences of living in such a relationship.

In 1970, Morrison participated in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony with rock critic and Science fiction/fantasy author Patricia Kennealy. Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister,[18] the couple signed a document declaring themselves wedded; however, none of the necessary paperwork for a legal marriage was filed with the state. Kennealy discussed her experiences with Morrison in her autobiography Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison, and in an interview reported in the book Rock Wives.

Morrison also regularly slept with fans and had numerous short flings with women who were celebrities in their own right, including one with Nico from The Velvet Underground, a one night stand with singer Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, an on again off again relationship with 16 Magazine's editor in chief Gloria Stavers, and an alleged alcohol-fueled encounter with Janis Joplin that left Joplin in tears. Judy Huddleston also recalls her relationship with Morrison in Living and Dying with Jim Morrison. At the time of his death, there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the putative paternity claimants, and the only person making a public claim to being Morrison's son was shown to be a fraud.

Death

Morrison moved to Paris in March 1971, taking up residence in an apartment at 17 rue Beautreillis. Once in Paris, Morrison gained a great deal of weight and shaved off his beard.[20] By all accounts Morrison became very depressed while in Paris, and was planning to return to the US. However, he admired the city's architecture and would go for long walks through the city.

It was in Paris that Morrison made his last studio recording, with two American street musicians — a session dismissed by Manzarek as "drunken gibberish." Regardless, the session included an intriguing version of a song-in-progress, "Orange County Suite," which can be heard on the bootleg Lost Paris Tapes.

He died on July 3, 1971, at age 27, and, in one account of his death, was found in the rue Beautreillis apartment bathtub by Courson. Pursuant to French law, no autopsy was performed because the medical examiner claimed to have found no evidence of foul play. The absence of an official autopsy has left many questions regarding Morrison's cause of death.

In Wonderland Avenue, Danny Sugerman discussed his encounter with Courson after she returned to the United States. According to his account, Courson stated that Morrison had died of a heroin overdose. Courson said that Morrison inhaled the substance because he thought it was cocaine. Sugerman added that Courson had given numerous contradictory versions of Morrison's death, at times saying that she had killed Jim, or that his death was her fault. The majority of fans seem to have accepted the mistaken heroin overdose account. Courson herself died of a heroin overdose three years later. Like Morrison, she was 27 years old at the time of her death.

In a July 2007 newspaper interview, a self described close friend of Morrison's, Sam Bernett, announced that Morrison actually died of a heroin overdose in the bathroom of the Rock 'n' Roll Circus nightclub, on the Left Bank in Paris. Bernett stated that Morrison had snorted heroin and was found with foam and blood coming out of his mouth with his head and arms hanging down by his legs, sitting on the toilet a la Elvis. Bernett says that a doctor, who was among the patrons at the club that night, determined that Morrison had died, but other patrons disagreed and insisted that he was still alive, only unconscious. Morrison was then allegedly moved back to the rue Beautreillis apartment and dumped in the bathtub by the same two drug-dealers from whom Morrison had purchased the heroin. Bernett says those who saw Morrison that night were sworn to secrecy, in order to prevent a scandal for the famous club, and some of the witnesses immediately left the country. Bernett has authored a book entitled The End: Jim Morrison, in which these claims are discussed in more detail. This is just the latest of many conspiracies surrounding the death of Morrison.

While there are many conspiracy theories concerning Morrison's death, the official version is widely accepted as the most likely.

Grave site

Morrison is buried in the famous Père Lachaise cemetery in eastern Paris. The grave was unmarked until French officials placed a shield over it, which was subsequently stolen in 1973 by a thief identifying himself only as "Ian The Gecko". In 1981, Croatian sculptor Mladen Mikulin placed a bust of Jim's head on top of the gravestone to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Jim's death. The bust remained until 1988, when it was stolen. After that, the new headstone with Morrison's name was erected. The Greek inscription on the square headstone reads in capital letters ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ. The inscription means "True to his own spirit". The literal meaning is "according to his own demon"; "demon" in Ancient Greek means "god". Which means he lived and died according to his own personal beliefs. It also implies a minor deity, attendant spirit, luck, fortune, "guiding star" and the like, with no negative or pejorative connotations. Various erroneous interpretations of the inscription have been proposed, including, "down with his own demons" (presumably in Hell), "burnt by his demons", "with the devil himself."

Estate controversy

In his will, made in Los Angeles County on February 12, 1969, Morrison (who describes himself as "an unmarried person") left his entire estate to Pamela Courson, also naming her co-executor with his attorney, Max Fink. She thus inherited everything upon Morrison’s death in 1971.

When Courson died herself in 1974, a battle ensued between Morrison’s parents and Courson’s parents over who had legal claim to what had been Morrison’s estate. Since Morrison left a will, the question was effectively moot. On his death, his property became Courson’s property; and on her death, her property passed to her next heirs at law, who were her parents. Morrison's parents did not accept this and contested the will under which Courson and now her parents had inherited their son’s property.

To bolster their positions, Courson’s parents presented a document they claimed she had acquired in Colorado, apparently an application for a declaration that she and Morrison had contracted a common law marriage under the laws of that state. The ability to contract a common-law marriage was abolished in California in 1896, but the state's conflict of laws rules provided for recognition of common-law marriages lawfully contracted in foreign jurisdictions - and Colorado was one of the eleven U.S. jurisdictions that still recognized common-law marriage. So, as long as a common-law marriage was lawfully contracted under Colorado law, it was recognised as a marriage under California law.

It is not known whether Courson acquired the application before or after Morrison’s death, or indeed whether it was she or her parents who acquired it. In either case, Morrison, who did not fill it out or sign it, may have never known about the document, and neither Morrison nor Courson appear to have ever been residents of Colorado. But those facts would not necessarily be relevant to the court’s deliberation on the validity of a common-law marriage, since the determination would be made according to Colorado law. Many of the jurisdictions which still permitted the common law contract of a marriage provide that either party may demand a declaration that a common law marriage was contracted between them, whether the other party (if living) agrees or not. The burden of proof is on the applicant, in any case, to prove that a marriage existed. What is ironic in this case is that both of the alleged applicants were dead, and it was their parents who were trying to prove or disprove that there had been a common-law marriage.

Whatever the circumstances of the unsigned document and the court case, and the controversy surrounding it, the California probate court decided that Courson and Morrison had a common-law marriage under the laws of Colorado. The effect of the court's ruling was to close probate of Morrison's and Courson's estates, and reinforce the Courson family's hold on the inheritance.

Artistic roots

As a naval family, the Morrisons relocated frequently. Consequently, Morrison's early education was routinely disrupted as he moved from school to school. Nonetheless, he proved to be an intelligent and capable student drawn to the study of literature, poetry, religion, philosophy, and psychology, among other fields.

Biographers have consistently pointed to a number of writers and philosophers who influenced Morrison's thinking and, perhaps, behavior. Richard Fariña's 1966 novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me is thought to have inspired the title of the blues song featured on the L.A. Woman album. While still in his teens, Morrison discovered the works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (after Morrison's death, Ray Manzarek opined that the nihilism of "Nietzsche killed Jim"). He was also drawn to the poetry of William Blake, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Beat Generation writers, such as Jack Kerouac, also had a strong influence on Morrison's outlook and manner of expression; Morrison was eager to experience the life described in Kerouac's On the Road. He was similarly drawn to the works of the French writer Céline. Céline's book, Voyage au Bout de la Nuit (Journey to the End of the Night) and Blake's Auguries of Innocence both echo through one of Morrison's early songs, "End of the Night." Eventually Morrison got to meet and befriend Michael McClure, a well known beat poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison's lyrics but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.

Morrison's vision of performance was colored by the works of 20th century French playwright Antonin Artaud (author of Theater and its Double) and by Julian Beck's Living Theater, which perhaps influenced some of Jim's confrontational behaviour onstage, such as in the Miami incident. But perhaps the most influential work was a rather obscure, 19th century work by Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Morrison began practicing MacKay's insights regarding influencing and manipulating crowds while still in college.

Other works relating to religion, mysticism, ancient myth and symbolism were of lasting interest, particularly Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. James Frazer's The Golden Bough also became a source of inspiration and is reflected in the title and lyrics of the song "Not to Touch the Earth."

He apparently borrowed some wording from the King James New Testament. Matthew 7:13-14: “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and... strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,” which speaks of death and the afterlife, one of his common themes. Their first hit single “Break On Through” includes the lines: “Gate is straight, deep and wide—break on through to the other side.” Though most of “Light My Fire” was written by Krieger, the second verse was written by Morrison and includes the line “...no time to wallow in the mire,” a wording that could have been borrowed either from 2 Peter 2:22, which reads: “The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire,” or from Socrates’ deathbed statement, as recorded in Plato’s “Phaedo”: “...They said that whoever arrives in the underworld uninitiated and unsanctified will wallow in the mire....” Furthermore Huxley wrote "wallowing in muck isnt the best way to cleanse oneself".

Morrison was particularly attracted to the myths and religions of Native American cultures. While he was still in school, his family moved to New Mexico where he got to see some of the places and artifacts important to the Southwest Indigenous cultures. These interests appear to be the source of many references to creatures and places, such as lizards, snakes, deserts and "ancient lakes" that appear in his songs and poetry. His interpretation of the practices of a Native American "shaman" were worked into some of Morrison's stage routine, notably in his interpretation of the Ghost Dance, and a song on his later poetry album, The Ghost Song. The songs My Wild Love and Wild Child were also inspired by Native American rhythm and ritual. The latter piece can also be interpreted to be about one of Morrison's literary influences, Arthur Rimbaud.

Influence

Morrison remains one of the most popular and influential singers/writers in rock history, as The Doors' catalog has become a staple of classic rock radio stations. To this day, he is widely regarded as the prototypical rock star: surly, sexy, scandalous and mysterious, the necessary criteria for all "rock gods" to follow. The leather pants he was fond of wearing both onstage and off have since become stereotyped as rock star apparel. He was likely the model for other highly charismatic rock front men of the same era, including Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant.

Morrison has influenced many,[28] including Iggy Pop, Glenn Danzig, Bruce Springsteen, Marilyn Manson, Patti Smith, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Billy Idol among others.

The legendary punk prototypes Iggy and the Stooges are said to have formed after lead singer Iggy Pop was inspired by Morrison while attending a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of his most popular songs, "The Passenger", is said to be based on one of Morrison's poems. After Morrison's death, Iggy was considered as a replacement for Morrison; the surviving Doors gave Iggy some of Morrison's belongings, and hired him as a vocalist for a series of shows.

Beat poet Michael McClure has written a poem, For Jim Morrison, in honor of their friendship. He recites this work at his poetry readings with some regularity, often to the accompaniment of Manzarek's keyboards.

On a more cerebral level, Wallace Fowlie, professor emeritus of French literature at Duke University and internationally recognized expert on the poet Arthur Rimbaud, wrote Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, subtitled "The Rebel as Poet – A Memoir." In this book, Fowlie recounts his surprise at receiving a fan letter from Morrison who, in 1968, thanked him for his latest translation of Rimbaud's verse into English. "I don't read French easily", he wrote, "...your book travels around with me." Fowlie went on to give lectures on numerous campuses comparing the lives, philosophies and poetry of Morrison and Rimbaud.

At the instigation of third baseman Robin Ventura, the 2000 pennant-winning New York Mets adopted Morrison's "L.A. Woman" as their theme song. The song was played regularly over the loudspeakers during games, with the crowd chanting the "Mojo Risin'" refrain.

In 2007 it was announced that a charity, Global Cool, focusing on eliminating global warming, was commissioning a song to be made out of a poem Morrison had written, entitled "Woman in the Window". It will be released on Satellite Party's debut album, Ultra Payloaded.

He also serves as the inspiration for WWE wrestler John Hennigan's "John Morrison" character.