Post by darkstar2 on Aug 1, 2008 0:00:51 GMT
Autographer Collector - The Lizard King - Jim Morrison
by Bill Miller
"By his own account, Jim Morrison originally wanted to be a film
maker and got into music by accident. He never got to make a
commercial film, but his music made him one of the biggest rock stars
of the 60s and 70s.
James Douglas Morrison was born in Florida to Naval Officer Steve
Morrison and his wife Clara. Like all military kids, Jim was forced
to move constantly throughout his childhood. Some say that his lack
of roots led to his unique complexities.
Whatever the case, Morrison has remained an enigma, even though his
life was thoroughly explored in the Oliver Stone film The Doors
several years ago. The film, in typical Stone style, further
complicated our picture of an already complex life. It was the life
of a man filled with demons, which ultimately led to his destruction.
Morrison and band members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John
Densmore formed their band in 1965. Morrison and Manzarek knew each
other as classmates at the UCLA Graduate School of Film, where they
met at a beach outing earlier that year. Morrison recited one of the
poems he had written to Manzarek, who suggested that the two
collaborate on compositions. Krieger and Densmore, formerly members
of the LA band The Psychedelic Rangers, joined the group at
Manzarek's invitation. Morrison promptly christened the band The
Doors.
The Doors recorded their first demo tape in 1966 and were signed to a
recording contract that same year. Their 1967 debut album, "The
Doors," produced several hits, including the definitive Light My Fire
which, along with the album, hit number one on the charts. Waiting
for the Sun in 1968 introduced Morrison's alter ego, The Lizard King,
in a poem he wrote inside the record jacket called The Celebration of
the Lizard King. His Lizard King persona earned Morrison considerable
notoriety, including his infamous arrest for obscenity at a 1967
concert in New Haven, Conn. and the sensational 1969 Miami incident,
in which he simulated masturbation. The latter kept him in and out of
court for the next year.
The charges eventually were dropped, but concert promoters feared
similar antics, which resulted in fewer concert bookings for The
Doors. Morrison didn't seem to mind; he had mixed feelings about his
own celebrity anyway.
It was during this time that Morrison began to devote more time to
private pursuits. He enjoyed writing poetry and working on films. He
self-published several of his poetic works in small editions for his
friends and associates. Morrison published The Lords and The New
Creatures in the spring of 1969. He was involved not only in writing
the poetry, but also in the actual mechanical production. He
carefully oversaw the design and production at Western Lithographers,
which printed the books. As illustrated here, The Lords was produced
on loose leaf sheets and housed in a blue box fastened by a string
tie, which was embossed with the title and Morrison's full name. The
galleys featured many corrections and changes — all in Morrison's
hand. The New Creatures was produced as a traditional book. The 48-
page book featured a hard cover, again embossed in gold. Morrison had
a dummy produced to show him how the finished work would appear. It
is on the dummy that Morrison hand-wrote the title and corrected his
name from Jim Morrison to James Douglas Morrison. He also wrote the
dedication "To Pamela" in each book. "Pamela" was Morrison's
girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who was with him to the end. Galleys and
corresponding copies for The Lords and The New Creatures — which
Morrison issued in editions of 100 each — sold for $8,000 at auction
four years ago.
Morrison's writings are sometimes deep and introspective, and at
other times short and cryptic, reflecting his mood at that moment. A
draft of a letter he wrote to Creem Magazine writer Dave Marsh was
sold at auction in 1992 for nearly $9,000. The singer's distinctive
scrawl fills five pages. In the letter he makes the confession, "I
came here originally to make films and got into music by accident. A
fortunate accident for me... ." The letter is one of only a handful
to ever come to market and certainly the most important. In it he
talks about an upcoming album, a film he is working on, mentions the
Miami trial and even scrawls a doodle on the final page. The draft is
unsigned but is worth probably $12,000 to $14,000 today.
Handwritten Morrison manuscripts were originally sold to two Los
Angeles dealers by the band's confidant and aid Danny Sugarman six
years ago. Among the manuscripts they acquired were Crawling King
Snake (A composition by John Lee Hooker copied in Morrison's hand),
Been Down So Long, L'America, LA Woman and several others from what
would become Morrison's final album, LA Woman. The manuscripts,
originally acquired in the $1,500 to $3,000 range, were distributed
among a variety of dealers, who resold them to collectors. They
rarely show up on the market since the majority are believed to be in
the collections of serious Morrison aficionados. Hyacinth House — the
last lyric auctioned several years ago — brought over $14,000. Each
lyric is written on yellow legal paper and has Morrison's
notation "JM Doors" at the top above the respective title.
Considering the value of Hyacinth House, it is not unreasonable to
assume that the value of the manuscript of the album's title song, LA
Woman, would be worth in excess of $20,000.
The last known letter written by Jim Morrison.
The last known letter written by Morrison, penned exactly one month
to the day before his death, was written from Paris to his lawyer,
Max Fink. Written on a postcard the letter, although brief, is poetic
in itself. "Dear Max — it's a beautiful spring here in the 'City of
Love.' Just returned from Spain, Morocco & Corsica — Napoleon's
birthplace. Take a vacation! The women are great & the food is
gorgeous. Say hi to all. Jim." The Lizard King reportedly died of
heart failure in Paris one month later.
Morrison signatures are not uncommon and show up regularly for sale.
A nice ink example on an album page or card routinely sells for
between $700 and $800. Photos go for a minimum of $1,200 and up.
Signatures of all four Doors on an album sheet bring $1,000 and up
and photos $1,500. A number of checks endorsed by Morrison entered
the market three years ago, selling for $400 each. Today the typical
asking price is $800. Few examples of signed documents have come to
the market, but a signed copy of Morrison's Miami bail bond had an
asking price of $20,000 a couple years back.
Morrison signatures are typically a run-on "JMorrison" as shown in
the examples here. The signature does not vary much, nor does his
distinctive handwriting in letters or lyrics. Other than "Cheers,"
dedications on autographs to fans are the exception rather than the
rule with Morrison. When compared to the other superstar of the time,
Jimi Hendrix, Morrison's autograph material is far rarer and, as a
result, more valuable. This is especially true for manuscripts, where
Hendrix material outnumbers Morrison's by more than ten to one.
Morrison's writings and autographs are nearly as intriguing as the
man himself. And that should keep collectors interested in him for
years to come."
About the author: Bill Miller is the CEO of Odyssey Group, Inc. He
can be reached at 510-A So. Corona Mall, Corona, CA 91719.
www.odysseygroup.com/acm396/morrisn2.htm
by Bill Miller
"By his own account, Jim Morrison originally wanted to be a film
maker and got into music by accident. He never got to make a
commercial film, but his music made him one of the biggest rock stars
of the 60s and 70s.
James Douglas Morrison was born in Florida to Naval Officer Steve
Morrison and his wife Clara. Like all military kids, Jim was forced
to move constantly throughout his childhood. Some say that his lack
of roots led to his unique complexities.
Whatever the case, Morrison has remained an enigma, even though his
life was thoroughly explored in the Oliver Stone film The Doors
several years ago. The film, in typical Stone style, further
complicated our picture of an already complex life. It was the life
of a man filled with demons, which ultimately led to his destruction.
Morrison and band members Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John
Densmore formed their band in 1965. Morrison and Manzarek knew each
other as classmates at the UCLA Graduate School of Film, where they
met at a beach outing earlier that year. Morrison recited one of the
poems he had written to Manzarek, who suggested that the two
collaborate on compositions. Krieger and Densmore, formerly members
of the LA band The Psychedelic Rangers, joined the group at
Manzarek's invitation. Morrison promptly christened the band The
Doors.
The Doors recorded their first demo tape in 1966 and were signed to a
recording contract that same year. Their 1967 debut album, "The
Doors," produced several hits, including the definitive Light My Fire
which, along with the album, hit number one on the charts. Waiting
for the Sun in 1968 introduced Morrison's alter ego, The Lizard King,
in a poem he wrote inside the record jacket called The Celebration of
the Lizard King. His Lizard King persona earned Morrison considerable
notoriety, including his infamous arrest for obscenity at a 1967
concert in New Haven, Conn. and the sensational 1969 Miami incident,
in which he simulated masturbation. The latter kept him in and out of
court for the next year.
The charges eventually were dropped, but concert promoters feared
similar antics, which resulted in fewer concert bookings for The
Doors. Morrison didn't seem to mind; he had mixed feelings about his
own celebrity anyway.
It was during this time that Morrison began to devote more time to
private pursuits. He enjoyed writing poetry and working on films. He
self-published several of his poetic works in small editions for his
friends and associates. Morrison published The Lords and The New
Creatures in the spring of 1969. He was involved not only in writing
the poetry, but also in the actual mechanical production. He
carefully oversaw the design and production at Western Lithographers,
which printed the books. As illustrated here, The Lords was produced
on loose leaf sheets and housed in a blue box fastened by a string
tie, which was embossed with the title and Morrison's full name. The
galleys featured many corrections and changes — all in Morrison's
hand. The New Creatures was produced as a traditional book. The 48-
page book featured a hard cover, again embossed in gold. Morrison had
a dummy produced to show him how the finished work would appear. It
is on the dummy that Morrison hand-wrote the title and corrected his
name from Jim Morrison to James Douglas Morrison. He also wrote the
dedication "To Pamela" in each book. "Pamela" was Morrison's
girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who was with him to the end. Galleys and
corresponding copies for The Lords and The New Creatures — which
Morrison issued in editions of 100 each — sold for $8,000 at auction
four years ago.
Morrison's writings are sometimes deep and introspective, and at
other times short and cryptic, reflecting his mood at that moment. A
draft of a letter he wrote to Creem Magazine writer Dave Marsh was
sold at auction in 1992 for nearly $9,000. The singer's distinctive
scrawl fills five pages. In the letter he makes the confession, "I
came here originally to make films and got into music by accident. A
fortunate accident for me... ." The letter is one of only a handful
to ever come to market and certainly the most important. In it he
talks about an upcoming album, a film he is working on, mentions the
Miami trial and even scrawls a doodle on the final page. The draft is
unsigned but is worth probably $12,000 to $14,000 today.
Handwritten Morrison manuscripts were originally sold to two Los
Angeles dealers by the band's confidant and aid Danny Sugarman six
years ago. Among the manuscripts they acquired were Crawling King
Snake (A composition by John Lee Hooker copied in Morrison's hand),
Been Down So Long, L'America, LA Woman and several others from what
would become Morrison's final album, LA Woman. The manuscripts,
originally acquired in the $1,500 to $3,000 range, were distributed
among a variety of dealers, who resold them to collectors. They
rarely show up on the market since the majority are believed to be in
the collections of serious Morrison aficionados. Hyacinth House — the
last lyric auctioned several years ago — brought over $14,000. Each
lyric is written on yellow legal paper and has Morrison's
notation "JM Doors" at the top above the respective title.
Considering the value of Hyacinth House, it is not unreasonable to
assume that the value of the manuscript of the album's title song, LA
Woman, would be worth in excess of $20,000.
The last known letter written by Jim Morrison.
The last known letter written by Morrison, penned exactly one month
to the day before his death, was written from Paris to his lawyer,
Max Fink. Written on a postcard the letter, although brief, is poetic
in itself. "Dear Max — it's a beautiful spring here in the 'City of
Love.' Just returned from Spain, Morocco & Corsica — Napoleon's
birthplace. Take a vacation! The women are great & the food is
gorgeous. Say hi to all. Jim." The Lizard King reportedly died of
heart failure in Paris one month later.
Morrison signatures are not uncommon and show up regularly for sale.
A nice ink example on an album page or card routinely sells for
between $700 and $800. Photos go for a minimum of $1,200 and up.
Signatures of all four Doors on an album sheet bring $1,000 and up
and photos $1,500. A number of checks endorsed by Morrison entered
the market three years ago, selling for $400 each. Today the typical
asking price is $800. Few examples of signed documents have come to
the market, but a signed copy of Morrison's Miami bail bond had an
asking price of $20,000 a couple years back.
Morrison signatures are typically a run-on "JMorrison" as shown in
the examples here. The signature does not vary much, nor does his
distinctive handwriting in letters or lyrics. Other than "Cheers,"
dedications on autographs to fans are the exception rather than the
rule with Morrison. When compared to the other superstar of the time,
Jimi Hendrix, Morrison's autograph material is far rarer and, as a
result, more valuable. This is especially true for manuscripts, where
Hendrix material outnumbers Morrison's by more than ten to one.
Morrison's writings and autographs are nearly as intriguing as the
man himself. And that should keep collectors interested in him for
years to come."
About the author: Bill Miller is the CEO of Odyssey Group, Inc. He
can be reached at 510-A So. Corona Mall, Corona, CA 91719.
www.odysseygroup.com/acm396/morrisn2.htm