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BAM Magazine
The California Music Magazine
"Always Free"
- Special Issue Devoted To The Doors
Issue No. 107
July 3 1981
By Blair Jackson
NEWSREELS
On July 3, 1971 – exactly ten years ago – Jim Morrison died peacefully of “natural” causes in the Paris apartment he and his wife Pamela had shared since March of that year. A few days later he was buried, with no fanfare, at Pere-Lachaise Cemetary, final resting place of such notables as Oscar Wilde, Honore de Balzac, Edith Piaf, and Frederic Chopin. But as any rock fan knows, the story of Jim Morrison and The Doors did not end in Paris. The past few years, there has been a renaissance of interest in The Doors, spurred mainly, it seems, by the rediscovery of the group by new wave bands. In The Doors, today’s younger musicians see an honesty of vision and musical approach worthy of emulation. In Jim Morrison, they see a charismatic figure who blended wild showmanship with artistic integrity. The Doors sound was raw, stripped down, menacing, at a time when most bands were writing and singing about peace, love and flowers.
The irony of the new interest in The Doors is that the band was frequently ridiculed by the press in the two years before Morrison’s death, and throughout most of the 70’s, it appeared that The Doors would be remembered only as an insignificant flash from the 1960s.
While rock historians were busy minimizing The Doors’ impact, however, Doors records were selling – very quietly – in larger and larger numbers. By 1978, combined sales of the albums in The Doors catalogue were selling “gold” – more than 500,000 copies a year. And in the late ‘70s another phenomenon took place: bands started borrowing stylistic elements of The Doors music. Patti Smith acknowledges that Jim Morrison was a hero to her. The Stranglers’ first couple of albums clearly derived much of their power from the inspiration of The Doors. The list goes on. The group X recorded a frenetic version of “Soul Kitchen” on their exceptional debut album last year, which was produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Bands playing only Doors songs have sprung up on both coasts. Late in ’78, Elektra released an album of Jim Morrison reading his poetry backed by new music from the remaining three Doors – Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore – called An American Prayer, the disc sold over 300,000 copies, despite the fact that it received virtually no radio play.
But the entire Doors catalog has probably gotten more airplay in the last two years than during their peak in the late ‘60s. The Jerry Hopkins-Danny Sugerman biography of Jim Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive, had been a national paperback best seller for months. And an upcoming TV special about Morrison and The Doors will doubtless win new Doors converts. There are even whispers of a new live album being released, though there is no firm commitment yet.
Over the years, The Doors have meant more to me than any group except The Beatles. The first rock concert I attended was The Doors’ triumphant show at Madison Square Garden in New York in January of 1969. By that time, thought, I’d worn out copies of The Doors’ first three albums, listening to them hour after hour in my basement hang-out. I only saw The Doors on one other occasion, but I was much a fan of the group the day Jim Morrison died as the day I first heard “Break On Through” on the radio. Today, The Doors’ music means as much to me as it did when I was 14.
This issue is a bit of a personal indulgence, I suppose. I put it together because I wantd to remember The Doors one more time, and because I wanted to commemorate the anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death. This issue is for old fans who remember – and young ones who will discover – the magic of The Doors.
END.
See more magazine interviews and covers
BAM MAGAZINE - Special Issue Devoted To The Doors
The California Music Magazine
"Always Free"
- Special Issue Devoted To The Doors
Issue No. 107
July 3 1981
By Blair Jackson
NEWSREELS
On July 3, 1971 – exactly ten years ago – Jim Morrison died peacefully of “natural” causes in the Paris apartment he and his wife Pamela had shared since March of that year. A few days later he was buried, with no fanfare, at Pere-Lachaise Cemetary, final resting place of such notables as Oscar Wilde, Honore de Balzac, Edith Piaf, and Frederic Chopin. But as any rock fan knows, the story of Jim Morrison and The Doors did not end in Paris. The past few years, there has been a renaissance of interest in The Doors, spurred mainly, it seems, by the rediscovery of the group by new wave bands. In The Doors, today’s younger musicians see an honesty of vision and musical approach worthy of emulation. In Jim Morrison, they see a charismatic figure who blended wild showmanship with artistic integrity. The Doors sound was raw, stripped down, menacing, at a time when most bands were writing and singing about peace, love and flowers.
The irony of the new interest in The Doors is that the band was frequently ridiculed by the press in the two years before Morrison’s death, and throughout most of the 70’s, it appeared that The Doors would be remembered only as an insignificant flash from the 1960s.
While rock historians were busy minimizing The Doors’ impact, however, Doors records were selling – very quietly – in larger and larger numbers. By 1978, combined sales of the albums in The Doors catalogue were selling “gold” – more than 500,000 copies a year. And in the late ‘70s another phenomenon took place: bands started borrowing stylistic elements of The Doors music. Patti Smith acknowledges that Jim Morrison was a hero to her. The Stranglers’ first couple of albums clearly derived much of their power from the inspiration of The Doors. The list goes on. The group X recorded a frenetic version of “Soul Kitchen” on their exceptional debut album last year, which was produced by Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Bands playing only Doors songs have sprung up on both coasts. Late in ’78, Elektra released an album of Jim Morrison reading his poetry backed by new music from the remaining three Doors – Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore – called An American Prayer, the disc sold over 300,000 copies, despite the fact that it received virtually no radio play.
But the entire Doors catalog has probably gotten more airplay in the last two years than during their peak in the late ‘60s. The Jerry Hopkins-Danny Sugerman biography of Jim Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive, had been a national paperback best seller for months. And an upcoming TV special about Morrison and The Doors will doubtless win new Doors converts. There are even whispers of a new live album being released, though there is no firm commitment yet.
Over the years, The Doors have meant more to me than any group except The Beatles. The first rock concert I attended was The Doors’ triumphant show at Madison Square Garden in New York in January of 1969. By that time, thought, I’d worn out copies of The Doors’ first three albums, listening to them hour after hour in my basement hang-out. I only saw The Doors on one other occasion, but I was much a fan of the group the day Jim Morrison died as the day I first heard “Break On Through” on the radio. Today, The Doors’ music means as much to me as it did when I was 14.
This issue is a bit of a personal indulgence, I suppose. I put it together because I wantd to remember The Doors one more time, and because I wanted to commemorate the anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death. This issue is for old fans who remember – and young ones who will discover – the magic of The Doors.
END.
See more magazine interviews and covers
BAM MAGAZINE - Special Issue Devoted To The Doors