Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Apr 4, 2011 9:26:02 GMT
Miami News
October 11 1969
Herb Kelly
Jim Morrison is closing the door on his career with the Doors. He says he’s going out on his own “to write and star in his own movie.” Ever since his obscene performance at Dinner Key Auditorium The Doors have encountered trouble finding suitable bookings.
Jim was telling people in 1969 that he was done with The Doors. We can only guess at what persuaded him to carry on.
Manzarek's wheedling voice like an annoying sprite sitting on Jim's shoulder telling him that he could not leave the rest in the lurch, that they needed him, that he had a contract with Elektra, give it six more months.
We can indeed only guess but we can make an intelligent guess as to who would have been the one to talk Jim round.
They knew that without him they were toast.
Manzarek was not going to let Jim Morrison spoil his dreams of empire.
Morrison was a man who was truly burnt out with the 60s by this time.
You can hear it in the vocals of the BMR concerts from 1969 and 1970.
You can read the mans own words in interviews from that time.
He wanted out. But he could not escape The Doors as too many people depended on him.
We can only imagine the pressure that was put onto his young shoulders.
He must have gone through a hell in 1970.
He once said 'hey man give the singer some' but none of us ever did.
From the crowd to the record buying public to Elektra down to the guys who worked for the band.
Jim Morrison had responsibilities and you can bet Ray Manzarek was there to remind him of them.
40 years later we can see it was a miracle that The Doors made Morrison Hotel and LA Woman.
We sit in the comfort of our own homes reading the sensation that was Jim Morrison and we hear the weasel words of people like Manzarek in interview after interview.
We are spoon fed Dionysus, Shaman and Jimbo decade after decade but do we ever think what Jim Morrison was going through?
I never did for 30 years.
Now I am older and wiser and can see things from his perspective and have got to admit that is the only perspective for me now.
I don't believe Krieger, Densmore and Manzarek anymore. These people tell lies because they have a gravy train to keep on track.
It's called 'Jim Morrison meal ticket'.
And they ride it mercilessly.
Jim wanted out in 1968. Manzarek said give it six more months.
He tried to get out by instigating Miami.
He failed. He gave it another six month and another.
The pressure must have been palpable to this young man who had lived on a rooftop and dreamt of music and art and drama and poetry.
He danced with Euterpe Spirit of Music and dreamed of glorious rock concerts that would change music forever.
He came down from his rooftop solitude and found fellow travellers on his journey into the infinite.
But his dreams were shattered in 1968 by the treachery of those same fellow travellers.
People who he had believed in. Who he had entrusted with his dream and for more than two years had begun to realise that dream. Not in the adulation of the mob or the achievement of Gold Albums and hordes of fans filling concert halls but in the fusion of art and drama and cinema and poetry. Art which was unique for its day and still today is unequalled in its originality.
We can only suppose what affect this had on the man.
He was already afflicted with a drink problem and had overcome his own shyness and uncertainty about his own abilities to become a legendary figure.
His realisation that his own self-image was killing his chances of fulfilling his dream must have been devastating for the budding poet.
He had created a Monster dressed in black leather.
By the time he had realised his mistake it was too late. He was indeed trapped in a prison of his own device.
He asked for help from his band mates and they cravenly cold-shouldered his pleas.
The band was at its peak and everybody was excited about the future.
Except the singer.
He needed a break but was never given one.
His poetic dreams did not fit in with the expectations of the audience, the band or the record company.
His rooftop imaginings too naïve for the reality of what was expected of a rock band.
So he had no choice but to carry on and sink deeper and deeper into the pit of addiction to alcohol and try desperately to escape this house of detention that was called The Doors.
In the end he managed to break free but by then it was too late for him.
Even 40 years later he can find no peace.
The insane ramblings of his friend the keyboard player bring him nothing but grief, even in death. Regarded by so many now as a pretentious drunken oaf who dreamed he was a poet when all he really was in reality was another pretty boy rock singer dressed in black leather.
He tried to sing his own song but was forced to sing somebody else’s.
And how did we the fans reward the man who desperately tried to give us something different?
Well we just screamed out for Light My Fire as those who went before us did.
I was guilty of that and I am sure most of you were.
He once sat on the stage and asked ‘What do you want from me?’
The answer was everything we can get.
In death we still don’t give him the renown he sought.
To us he is Jimbo the Lizard King.
But he did not want to be the Lizard King. He wanted to be an artist and we fans did our bit then to deny him that. And even to this day Doors fans still seem to dwell within the lies of NOHGOA, The Doors themselves, the Stone movie and DiCillo's When You're Srange.
2011 is the 40th anniversary of the Poets death.
What will YOU remember of Jim Morrison?
Will you remember the Man or the Monster?
Of course I am not naive enough to think there was not a Monster inside of him but that Monster has been done to death this last 40 years until Jim Morrison's flaws and defects have been laid bare for all to gawk at.
But as always there was another side to the man. One that does not sell books or fill movie theaters. He wasn't always drunk.
Ray Manzarek was not present at everything Jim Morrison did.
There is enough information out there to show a different side to Jim Morrison.
But of course Miami and New Haven and crazy Jim are more fun to read about. The media does not want to know about writing and poetry and attempts to bring art to The Doors.
Just read all the mags that will soon be celebrating 40 years of insane Jim that will soon be at a news stand near you.
Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Desnmore and the rest will always be available to tell THAT story
But frankly I have done my share of remembering the Monster, so this July I will endeavour to remember the Man.
'Give the singer some' he asked one time at a concert.
Perhaps this once we really should try to do just that.
Jim Wants To Quit The Band
Jim Morrison Closing The Door On His Career
October 11 1969
Herb Kelly
Jim Morrison is closing the door on his career with the Doors. He says he’s going out on his own “to write and star in his own movie.” Ever since his obscene performance at Dinner Key Auditorium The Doors have encountered trouble finding suitable bookings.
Jim was telling people in 1969 that he was done with The Doors. We can only guess at what persuaded him to carry on.
Manzarek's wheedling voice like an annoying sprite sitting on Jim's shoulder telling him that he could not leave the rest in the lurch, that they needed him, that he had a contract with Elektra, give it six more months.
We can indeed only guess but we can make an intelligent guess as to who would have been the one to talk Jim round.
They knew that without him they were toast.
Manzarek was not going to let Jim Morrison spoil his dreams of empire.
Morrison was a man who was truly burnt out with the 60s by this time.
You can hear it in the vocals of the BMR concerts from 1969 and 1970.
You can read the mans own words in interviews from that time.
He wanted out. But he could not escape The Doors as too many people depended on him.
We can only imagine the pressure that was put onto his young shoulders.
He must have gone through a hell in 1970.
He once said 'hey man give the singer some' but none of us ever did.
From the crowd to the record buying public to Elektra down to the guys who worked for the band.
Jim Morrison had responsibilities and you can bet Ray Manzarek was there to remind him of them.
40 years later we can see it was a miracle that The Doors made Morrison Hotel and LA Woman.
We sit in the comfort of our own homes reading the sensation that was Jim Morrison and we hear the weasel words of people like Manzarek in interview after interview.
We are spoon fed Dionysus, Shaman and Jimbo decade after decade but do we ever think what Jim Morrison was going through?
I never did for 30 years.
Now I am older and wiser and can see things from his perspective and have got to admit that is the only perspective for me now.
I don't believe Krieger, Densmore and Manzarek anymore. These people tell lies because they have a gravy train to keep on track.
It's called 'Jim Morrison meal ticket'.
And they ride it mercilessly.
Jim wanted out in 1968. Manzarek said give it six more months.
He tried to get out by instigating Miami.
He failed. He gave it another six month and another.
The pressure must have been palpable to this young man who had lived on a rooftop and dreamt of music and art and drama and poetry.
He danced with Euterpe Spirit of Music and dreamed of glorious rock concerts that would change music forever.
He came down from his rooftop solitude and found fellow travellers on his journey into the infinite.
But his dreams were shattered in 1968 by the treachery of those same fellow travellers.
People who he had believed in. Who he had entrusted with his dream and for more than two years had begun to realise that dream. Not in the adulation of the mob or the achievement of Gold Albums and hordes of fans filling concert halls but in the fusion of art and drama and cinema and poetry. Art which was unique for its day and still today is unequalled in its originality.
We can only suppose what affect this had on the man.
He was already afflicted with a drink problem and had overcome his own shyness and uncertainty about his own abilities to become a legendary figure.
His realisation that his own self-image was killing his chances of fulfilling his dream must have been devastating for the budding poet.
He had created a Monster dressed in black leather.
By the time he had realised his mistake it was too late. He was indeed trapped in a prison of his own device.
He asked for help from his band mates and they cravenly cold-shouldered his pleas.
The band was at its peak and everybody was excited about the future.
Except the singer.
He needed a break but was never given one.
His poetic dreams did not fit in with the expectations of the audience, the band or the record company.
His rooftop imaginings too naïve for the reality of what was expected of a rock band.
So he had no choice but to carry on and sink deeper and deeper into the pit of addiction to alcohol and try desperately to escape this house of detention that was called The Doors.
In the end he managed to break free but by then it was too late for him.
Even 40 years later he can find no peace.
The insane ramblings of his friend the keyboard player bring him nothing but grief, even in death. Regarded by so many now as a pretentious drunken oaf who dreamed he was a poet when all he really was in reality was another pretty boy rock singer dressed in black leather.
He tried to sing his own song but was forced to sing somebody else’s.
And how did we the fans reward the man who desperately tried to give us something different?
Well we just screamed out for Light My Fire as those who went before us did.
I was guilty of that and I am sure most of you were.
He once sat on the stage and asked ‘What do you want from me?’
The answer was everything we can get.
In death we still don’t give him the renown he sought.
To us he is Jimbo the Lizard King.
But he did not want to be the Lizard King. He wanted to be an artist and we fans did our bit then to deny him that. And even to this day Doors fans still seem to dwell within the lies of NOHGOA, The Doors themselves, the Stone movie and DiCillo's When You're Srange.
2011 is the 40th anniversary of the Poets death.
What will YOU remember of Jim Morrison?
Will you remember the Man or the Monster?
Of course I am not naive enough to think there was not a Monster inside of him but that Monster has been done to death this last 40 years until Jim Morrison's flaws and defects have been laid bare for all to gawk at.
But as always there was another side to the man. One that does not sell books or fill movie theaters. He wasn't always drunk.
Ray Manzarek was not present at everything Jim Morrison did.
There is enough information out there to show a different side to Jim Morrison.
But of course Miami and New Haven and crazy Jim are more fun to read about. The media does not want to know about writing and poetry and attempts to bring art to The Doors.
Just read all the mags that will soon be celebrating 40 years of insane Jim that will soon be at a news stand near you.
Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, John Desnmore and the rest will always be available to tell THAT story
But frankly I have done my share of remembering the Monster, so this July I will endeavour to remember the Man.
'Give the singer some' he asked one time at a concert.
Perhaps this once we really should try to do just that.
Jim Wants To Quit The Band
Jim Morrison Closing The Door On His Career
Cheers.