Doors & Led Zep Seattle Pop Festival July 1969

[darkstar]

From: This Day In Led Zeppelin History. The Month of July 1969:

On this day in 1969, Led Zeppelin saved the scene at the Seattle Pop Festival after a surprising display from the Doors.

Many of the 40,000 audience members had showed up to the Gold Creek Park in Woodinville, Wash., exclusively to see the Doors. Lead singer Jim Morrison had been a sex symbol in previous years. Young girls were still flocking to Doors shows to see him. But now, the celebrity was bearded and unrecognizable, suffering from an indifference to music and expressing his hatred of overexposure. His energy was directed not to performing but to ridiculing the audience.

Of the few songs the Doors performed was the hit song, "Light my Fire." Although the song was older and had been sworn off by Morrison in interviews earlier that year, it was still an audience favorite and remained in the set list. Morrison performed it without conviction.

The set opened, ironically, with "When the Music's Over" but concluded, appropriately, with "The End." In the meantime, Morrison provoked the audience to respond unfavorably. Everything from crushed cups to curses was hurled at him from the people who'd been his fans, and Morrison only continued to antagonize them.

After the Doors left the stage, it was up to Led Zeppelin to save the evening with a performance that would make everyone forget the preceding act. According to reports, Led Zeppelin succeeded in doing that.

********************************************


Robert Plant, who watched from the audience with his wife Maureen during the Doors' set, tried to get inside Morrison's head. Plant diagnosed his fellow singer with problems. "It seemed like he was screwed up," Plant said.

"He was giving the impression he was into really deep things like Skip Spence of Moby Grape. You can get into a trip of your own that you don't really realize what's going on in the outside world. Morrison went on stage and said, 'F— you all,' which didn't do anything except make a few girls scream.

"Then he hung on the side of the stage and nearly toppled into the audience and did all those things that I suppose were originally sexual things, but as he got fatter and dirtier and more screwed up, they became more bizarre. So it was really sickening to watch. My wife and I were there watching and we couldn't believe it."

On July 18, the Doors had just released an album, The Soft Parade. The album contained the hit song, "Touch Me," a sexual anthem recorded in the same vein as Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." When Morrison was at his best, the frontman who was accused of indecent exposure after an incident at a Miami show that March could still be the sex symbol his audience expected him to be. Some of his best moments, many including Page and Plant agree, are on the Doors' studio albums.
Plant admitted that the Doors performed well in the studio. "I respected the Doors' albums," he said. "What Morrison was doing on record was good. The track 'Cancel My Subscription' was great. He was just miles above anyone's head.

"It seemed that he realized that the Doors were on the way down. He went on stage with that opinion and immediately started saying all those strange things which nobody could get into. There were one or two people there crying, 'You're God, you're king,' and I was thinking, 'Why?'"

********************************************

Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had some similar thoughts about Morrison's performance. Page said: "I was surprised after hearing a lot of advance publicity in England about how sexy Jim M. was. How virile and whatever. I was surprised to see how static he was live on stage. I admire his writing ability and when he gets it together in the studio, but on stage he's not really for me.

"[Plant and Morrison] are completely different. If you want to relate Robert to a sexual image – and a lot of people are doing that – he's all those things one would associate with it. He's good looking, he's got the virile image, he moves well onstage, he looks right, and he sings well. As far as I could see, the Morrison thing is just an embarrassment towards the audience. He would actually insult them and swear at them. And his sexual thing is more of an introvert thing, it isn't so extroverted as Robert's."

members.aol.com/lzhistory/jul.html

[jym]

Those opinions are convenient for Zeppelin, aren't they?

[darkstar]

Good Point, Jim. There was a discussion on another Doors board about The Doors and Led Zep performing together on the same stage. Alex, thankfully dispensed with the speculation setting the record straight. As we know The Doors and Zeppelin only shared the same billing. I came across this commentary and thought it would add to the discussion.

I found the commentary of Plant & Page interesting because once again we are reminded that Jim Morrison was trying desperately to shed the "rock star" image. Jim wanted out of the band in 1968 but Manzarek said, "Give it another six months." Another six months we saw the fall out in Miami. The Seattle show although not as controversal, was in alot of ways similar to Miami.

Within the context of the comments is the observation of the medias personafication of Jims' "sex symbol" image, the very image that Morrison at this time in 1969, was trying desperately to distance himself from. From all accounts it would seem Jim Morrison didn't want to be a "rock star" anymore.

Its obvious that Plant and Page admired The Doors and the brilliant lyrics of Jim Morrison it is unfortunate that they witnessed this 1969 Doors performance. Had they saw a show from 1967 or 1968 their opinions would most likely be different.

The Encore website includes a recollection of The Doors performance at the '69 Seattle Pop Festival. "Something has happened to the Doors. Ray Manzarek knows it, several thousand people who attended the Seattle Pop Festival know, and probably so does Jim Morrison."
The Doors at the Seattle Pop Festival, 1969
www.encorecomm.com/story4.htm

Are the opinions convenient for Zeppelin? I don't know. I find it sad that Plant and Page had to witness this performance of The Doors along with several thousand other people. I speculate that Plant and Page had the same expectations that the audience had due to the prior press coverage of The Doors live performances. On this date in 1969 those "expectations" were shattered.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

I have read a whole lot about Zeppelin over the last 30 odd years (I am a massive Zepp fan and my ex wife was a Zepp nut) and was aware that they had blown The Doors off stage once in the early 70s but did not find out much about it till a lot later.....
Its a shame that the band did not see the Doors a year earlier as they would have understood better but Zeppelin can only comment on what they saw an they saw a truly awful Doors show.
Its difficult to compare Jim and Planty as they are totally different entities on stage....Bob was all manic energy and leaping around whilst Jim was more quiet menace and extreme dramatic tension........Bob was a master of using the whole stage whilst Jim was a master of the dramatic silence...they are chalk and cheese really.
If you ask me what is the best live band I have ever seen I will tell you Led Zeppelin and considering I have seen a helluva lot of amazing shows that high praise from me!
Would it be different if I had seen the Doors at the Roundhouse? Who knows as I neve saw that......but I do know that the IOW would not have changed my view.
I think the comments by Page and Plant are fair and I have read a lot of similar comments they made about Jim and The Doors...contrary to what some people sell I have not seen either Jim criticise Zepp or Zepp slag the Doors off....they even covered LMF and BOT during their careers........
Jim was burned out due to his dissillusionment in 1969 and his drinking and pressure of the trial hardly helped........its hard to find good Doors shows in the last year of their touring life whereas Zeppelin loved that kind of lifde and its hard to find a bad show from them (and I have heard over a hundred Zepp shows on bootleg in my time).............
who was the best live band......Zepp showed they had the longevity but The Doors in 1966/67/68 were a unique live experience.....would have been something to see the pair share a bill at thier respective peaks.....
One thing Zeppelin do have that the Doors don't is a decent outlook towards their fans.....and a bloody good website.....I have the Zepp version of On The Road ...The Concert File (both printed by Omnibus) and the info it contains is staggering....because zepp took a major interest in it whereas Shaw struggled to find the stuff on his own with a half assed contribution from the Doors which left fans wondering waht could have been if only a proper effort was made by the band to assist shaw.............

.....the legendary/infamous red Snapper/Mud shark incident occured with Zepp Vanilla Fudge and a groupie the next day after that show at the Edgewater Inn Seattle.......who knows what would ahve transpired if Morrison had been there as well!

[darkstar]

I agree Alex. I've seen a lot of concerts over the years but the two Led Zep shows I saw were the best concerts I have ever seen. Both shows were magic. I heard tracks from Physical Graffiti live prior to the album being released in '75. It was awesome.

Like you said, had you caught a Doors show who knows, maybe The Doors would have been the best on your list. But you, like me never saw the Doors. I can only surmise what they were like by listening to the live shows I have collected. The Matrix shows in '67 are my fav Doors shows. It's hard to forumate a comparison to listening to the Doors and seeing them live but thats all I have to base an opinion on.

I wanted to see The Doors and begged for the older kids to take me to the Alexandria Skating Rink in 1967. "Your too young to see Jim Morrison." I used to skate there all the time in fact I still have my skates that were bought from there in 1967. It still makes me sad, that no one would take me to that show. Once the word was out I couldn't even sneak there.

I swore it wouldn't happen again, I wasn't going to miss a concert I wanted to see. I cut school and hitchhiked to ticketmaster in a snow storm to get Zep tkts for the '75 show. I froze my ass off but the show was well worth it.

I belong to a couple Zep forums myself, although I don't have the Zep book you have. If you would be so kind as to look in your Zep concert book for shows, February 10, 1975 and May 25 1977 and PM me with the result I would be most grateful.

"......the Edgewater Inn Seattle.......who knows what would have transpired if Morrison had been there as well!" No Shit! The Red Snapper of Seattle. Ha Ha Ha!

[jym]

What I meant was (I had some insomnia last night & lost my train of thought actually) was that rock groups (& critics) find it easy to dismiss The Doors & I think a lot of it stems from jealousy of the group, or that they find it easy to dismiss The Doors in favor of their group. Am I making sense yet?

[darkstar]

I understand what you were originally trying to convey thats why I recognized that you made a good point.

In this scenerio concerning The Doors & Led Zeppelin at the Seattle Pop Festival I felt inclined to post some information that supported my reason for posting the commentary from the Led Zep board to here.

I don't see any comparison between The Doors and Led Zeppelin other than the fact that both groups included a few blues standards in their sets.

I have seen Manzarek play keyboards live as a solo and I have seen John Paul Jones play keyboards live. In my opinion, John Paul Jones is by far way ahead of Ray Manzarek as a musician. I don't care for Ray Manzarek as a person, but I admire and praise his contributions to the legacy of the original Doors. As a whole The Doors are my favorite band but then again I have a huge admiration for Led Zeppelin and their accomplishments.

You do have a valid point......"......rock groups (& critics) find it easy to dismiss The Doors & I think a lot of it stems from jealousy of the group, or that they find it easy to dismiss The Doors in favor of their group." It's been said many, many times The Doors performances could be the greatest thing you ever saw or the worst time you ever had in your life. It just depended on what night you saw them.

In my opinion it would seem both critics and other rock groups based alot of their opinions on the "depends on which night you saw them" theory.

The Doors 1970 show in Seattle was horrible too. Poor Seattle they never got to see a good Doors show.

I have noticed that the BMR releases favor the 1970 shows which were more subdued compared to those in 1967 or 1968. Do you think there is a reason behind releasing the 1970 shows over the earlier performances?

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

the 70 shows were recorded as a soundboard so they will release them first but they will eventually release some old shows and maybe have one we cannot even guess at!

I agree about The Doors and the critics but it was not just rock critics...fans too dismissed the Doors all the time....I noticed that all the Floyd-purple-yes- tull -elp mates I had were always dismissive of the Doors when I was a kid......Jim said it himself in intrerviews...something just rubbed people up the wrong way about The Doors....thats their greatest strength for me....they did not conform to what people expected of a rock band....it was not you had to be particularly smart to get them as I hung out with a lot of really bright people who were into rock in a big way and i was the only one I knew who liked The Doors....it was that you had to 'see' a little better than the rest to enjoy the Doors...I have never been great at explaining it but it was the way they were the antithisis of the rest that made me really get into them in such a big way..........I am a fan of hundreds of rock artists but nobody is quite like the Doors............Zeppelin occupy the pinicale of a niche of rock bands that ploughed a similar furrow in the 70s but The Doors were in a bracket that was hard to classify and they were on thier own there!!
Thats what lites my fire about them...their uniqueness.....that for me is the nub of the argument between those who champion Rays tribute band and those who don't...........how can you resurect something that was unique........

[jym]

I think that's some of the attraction to The Doors even in rock fans they're (pardon the pun) a cult favorite.

I haven't heard too many bootlegs of other groups but even Miami seems better than any Van Halen live show I've heard.

[darkstar2]

It's been a while since I visited the topic of The Doors & Zep on the same stage. Nice discussion we were having here.

Jym was the last to post, 2 years ago so heres my reply.


I saw Van Halen twice but never with Sammy Hagar, only David Lee Roth. The last Van Halen concert I went to I almost ended up in jail (I was trying to sell 2 extra tkts and got in a car with the wrong people - light in the eyes - everyone out of the car....you know the tale). After finally getting in the auditorium I copped some acid and can't remember that much of the closing moments of the show. I can report that I saw 5 David Lee Roths at one time. I've always enjoyed Van Halen and I consider Eddie Van Halen an accomplished musician thats come up with decent licks in his time.

[darkstar2]

Just to add to the thread heres the interview that a reporter got from Jim Morrison after the Seattle show with Zeppelin. Gram Parsons was in the car too.

(This interview can also be found in the Morrison Interviews Section)

The New Times Journal Newspaper
Portland, Oregon
September 7, 1970
"Jimbo; a Lizard? a Snake?" by Ed Leimbacher

Well, it's been a year
since I last saw Morrison (at Grafmyre's Seattle Pop
Festival - everything fits, you see), time enough to
digest and assimilate that irritatiing encounter. So
here it is, set down in print for the first
time.

Sunday was the third big day of the festival and The
Doors were the headlining act. For the next several
hours, surrounded by reporters and sycophants John
Densmore and Ray Manzarek wandered around backstage. As
for himself, Jim Morrison was nowhere to be
seen.....

But one of Grafmyre's press agents knew where Jim was
holed up, and I badgered that p.r. dude so much that he
finally led me over to a flashy black limo, a Caddy,
parked off to one side backstage. Sure enough, hidden
inside behind curtains, sunglasses, and a beard was the
Lizard King. My chances of getting inside to talk,
however, were obviously minuscule-except that, as it
turned out, the car had actually been rented by Gram
Parsons of the Flying Buritto Brothers. He was there too,
and he invited me in.

A great coup! My big moment...Oh, I had brillant questions all worked
out-non-interview-type questions aimed at Morrison's supposed
literate mind, rather than at his sex life and eating habits.
The only problem was, as I soon discovered, Morrison
was playing Rock's Bad Boy again-that day: mumbling,
introspective, he seemed stoned or drunk. Instead of grabbing a
quick snazzy interview, all I could do at first was
mumble back, nervously waiting for Jim's Muse, or a
lesser miracle, to strike.

Meanwhile we set off driving all over the Woodinville area,
searching for a grocery store that was open and selling liquor. A
powerful thirst had gripped the inhabitants of that
air-conditioned dream (including your fearless reporter);
besides, both Morrison and Mike Clark of the Burriots -
his broken leg rammed out straight in a thigh-high
cast were anxious to find some big ugly cigars.


We did find a suitable store after a time, then
continued our leisurely tour of the East Side, weaving
through a red-brown haze of wine fumes and stogie smoke.

I finally got Morrison going on the interview
too, but it proved to be as much of a rout as I'd
feared. He didn't trust me to write down his words,
instead insisted we utilize the tape recorder I was
carrying.

JIM: (singing) Well, I used to be a big
old cigar-smokin', wine drinkin' swinger a-runnin'
around town. Then all of a sudden I met my
fall-down...(talking again) Erase that...

JIM: Eject this citizen, eject him from the moon module. That's a
declamation. Someone eject this man, eject this man from the
limousine. I am not grooving, like my nerve ends are not
sensitized to his wave-length. So he must be unfortunately
ejected. Eject the man. No one's gonna eject the man,
huh?.....somewhere in between, and those are the hardest ones to fit
in. And I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about,
don't you? I mean there've been times in your life when
you couldn't quite fit in...You got to go through
chaos to get to the Christian life...(with Gram Parsons
now adding a white gospel background) You must
remember this - your time is comin', your time IS COMIN',
the time when you will be a full-flegded individual,
and that goes for every livin' last one of you. And
don't forget the people who made it possible; don't
forget, don't forget all the farmers out there, growin'
them potatoes so you can have french fries when you go
to the A & W Root Beer stand. Don't forget any of
it, because it's all part of the whole
thing...

ED: Tell us please why a well-known poet once said
that poets themselves are "the unacknowledged
legislators of the universe."

JIM" Well, the penis of a poet out does the prick of a
policitican.

ED: How does that compare with the well know
appendages of rock musicians?

JIM: I once knew a Mexican rock drummer with six toes, and if that
wasn't an extra appendage, you tell me what it looked
like.

ED: Did this encounter with the Mexican with six toes
take place in Juarez or Tijuana?

JIM: You know, there's a place about 20 or 30 miles south of Juarez
called "Boys Town." I've never been there, but I heard
all about it. The beer only costs a dime, the girls
are upstairs - it's like the Old West all over again.
As soon as this fantasic festival is over, I'm gonna
initiate a proposition to rent a biplane and get a bunch
of boys down there to old Boys' Town. Can you dig
that? Get every thing you want, everything you
need...everything you ever dreamed about, man...

ED: (signing off) Ladies and gentleman, I've spent the last
hour and half riding around in the back of a limousine
with Gram Parsons and Mike Clark of The Flying Birrito
Brothers and as you might have guessed, from the brief
words we've had Jim Morrison of the Doors. We've taped
about 75 times as much as you've heard, all of which
was either unprintable or erasable, eminently
erasable. These gentleman have had it and so have I. Good
Night.