The Super 70s - Jim Morrison

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker born on December 8, 1943. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of “The Doors.” He was also the author of two volumes poetry, self-published in 1969, “The Lords / Notes on Vision” and “The New Creatures” (one of my personal favorites), as well as the director of a documentary and short film – “HWY: An American Pastoral” (1969) and “A Feast of Friends” (1970). Although Morrison was known for his baritone vocals, many fans, scholars, and journalists have discussed his theatrical stage persona, his self-destructiveness, and his work as a poet. He was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

“The Doors” took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley's “The Doors of Perception,” and Huxley's own title was a quotation from William Blake's “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” Blake wrote, "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."



In June 1966, Morrison and “The Doors” were the opening act at the Whisky a Go Go, a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, during the last week of the residency of Van Morrison's band “Them.” Van's influence on Morrison’s developing stage performance was very evident and he learned quickly from his namesake's stagecraft - his apparent recklessness, his air of subdued menace, the way he would improvise poetry to a rock beat, even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks.

“The Doors” achieved national recognition when they signed with Elektra Records in 1967. The single "Light My Fire" reached number one on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. Just as “The Beatles” had done earlier, “The Doors” appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Sullivan requested two songs from “The Doors,” “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 finer …” This was reportedly done because the censors thought the original lyrics referred to drugs. Giving assurances of compliance to Sullivan, Morrison – ever the rebel - then proceeded to sing the song with the original lyrics anyway. He later claimed he had simply forgotten to make the change, but Sullivan was so mad, he refused to shake Morrison’s hand and “The Doors” were never invited back to the show.

Morrison met his long-term companion, Pamela Courson many years before he gained any fame or fortune, and she was the main influence for Morrison writing poetry. At times, Courson used the surname "Morrison" - with his consent - and after Courson's death in 1974 the probate court in California decided she and Morrison qualified as “common law marriage partners.”

In March 1971, Morrison and Courson flew to Paris and took up residence in a rented apartment, and went for long walks through the city to admire the city's architecture. It was in Paris where Morrison produced his last studio recording with two American street musicians. This session was dismissed by Ray Manzarek - co-founder and keyboardist of “The Doors” - as "drunken gibberish". The session included a version of a song-in-progress, "Orange County Suite", which can be heard on the bootleg, “The Lost Paris Tapes.”

Morrison died on July 3, 1971, 39 years ago this month. The official report of his death stated he was found in his Paris 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.


One of my favorite quotes from a poem out of “The New Creatures:”

Resident Mockery Give Us An Hour For Magic

“… You've seen your birth, your
life and death; you might recall
all of the rest — (did you
have a good world when you
died?) — enough to base
a movie on?”