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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Aug 11, 2011 8:50:18 GMT
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Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jul 1, 2024 14:57:09 GMT
![https://i.postimg.cc/50S6mkWx/m3.jpg](https://i.postimg.cc/50S6mkWx/m3.jpg) ![https://i.postimg.cc/T1k1zLPF/m5.jpg](https://i.postimg.cc/T1k1zLPF/m5.jpg) "Jim was a very impatient guy. He would get bored. He would get drunk and blow the whole session."
Once again we only hear the voice of the living as the dead don't have opinions. Jim must have been very patient to be able to sit in places like Room #32 and work on his poetry so the question has to be asked why did Morrison get drunk? He did not blow the sessions on the first two albums although there were times when he failed to turn up for his vocal parts such as when Ray had to cover for WTMO. But his drunkenness and studio disruption all seems to stem from the loss of COTL and the WFTS sessions and TSP sessions. These sessions had two important factors that would make Morrison ambivalent towards them. First his poetry ideas were rejected by the band and production team as unworkable and second the insane obsession Paul Rothchild had to record the perfect album. These factors alone without the addition of the band selling out Morrison to Buick are enough to say 'hold on a minute there fellas but there is another side to this story'. But of course that side is never talked about and the blame heaped upon Morrison. It is a fact that Jim did some silly things and could be a pain in the ass when he felt in the mood to be. But it's not all black and white with clearly defined heroes and villains. The Doors and the record company and the production team played a part too in all of this but they have the advantage over the dead guy as they got past 1971 and could tell their tale.
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zaval80
Door Slightly Ajar
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Posts: 86
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Post by zaval80 on Jul 1, 2024 22:23:04 GMT
I tried to get as much insight in this "drunk" thingy as I could, and somehow it seems the roots are in the second half of 1967. Very probably, some major mishap with Pam. This mishap made him the dweller in "Room #32" and somehow this is tied with his "Lizard King" persona. The earliest documented case of "Room #32" is Dec 1967 as reported by Judy Huddleston; it's important that it pre-dates COTL/3rd LP recording sessions.
(As to the nature of mishap with Pam I have no idea, but even from ADAD it looks their love life wasn't happy - he tied her up, and there's the Bobby Klein story of him setting fire to that wardrobe with Pam - it's NOT Oliver's fabrication. In Kubernik's book there's a mention of a Doors-affiliated person telling the schoolgirl fans that Jim pushed Pam down the stairs of their "Love Street" home, and the date is Sept 1967. Obviously, I can't pay much attention to Jim supposedly telling Linda Ashcroft that Pam was doing tricks for heroin, and that's the meaning behind "handful of dimes" in FTO - could be just Linda's bull.)
Then the 3rd LP sessions are documented in recent book by Vince Treanor and some other sources. It looks there was one session on Jan 15th (Spanish Caravan; described by Didion) and then only on Feb 19-20th (COTL). It looks like COTL wasn't ready before the last moment - not only musically, but also lyrically. And it's not like Jim spent his days and nights frantically shaping COTL into form. He had two (!) arrests in this period within a week - in Las Vegas and on Feb 7th which looks like the source of "Easy Ride" story. It does not look like he intended to excel in drinking in this period, though; from Treanor's book one could surmise the peak of his drinking in TTG was after Feb 20 and before March 3rd (John quit on Feb 28th).
So one could say it was due to COTL having been rejected, but it's not like he was intent on shaping COTL into form in its due time either. What else, then? I suspect it has to do with Sal and Ash. Probably he was into sabotaging his work because of not wanting to deal with them. Treanor says John and Robby invited Bill Siddons to stay with them over the New Year holiday in Colorado. So the plans to get rid of Sal and Ash were taking place before 1968. It could be Paul Rothchild (and Jac) called bluff on this Morrison's maneuver - "if you are not into getting your work ready, we still have an album to do".
On the overall, IMO it was a combination of factors. Pam trouble - success going to his head and the "Lizard King" persona emerging - his sex mania with girls in "Room #32" - Sal and Ash - probably something else, I wouldn't take Lynn Veres out of this consideration either, but it's unlikely we'll hear more of her story than Robby deemed to share with us. There's a mention of Universal making a solid offer to the band in Feb 1968 as well. Maybe with all these things he did not feel like having to deal with them all.
One thing I did not mention - he was withdrawing from communication with his band mates. They weren't the ones to satisfy his vision of a "band of pirates" marauding on their trail across America. He got something like that in the company of "Freddy" and Ron Alan, Feb 1968 it seems, and then with Babe and Paul and Frank (it looks like Paul had more life of his own). Babe's documented appearance is Feb 10th 1968 - he was just the driver on that car ride, so it took some time for their friendship to develop.
So there was a heavy mix of various things that sometimes prevented him from doing his work the best. At least he was prolific re: writing in that period. The 2021 book in its pricey guise shows he wrote profusely. Only by TSP he had something of a block, perhaps. It's not like he was totally bereft of songs by then, it's just, not everything was gladly accepted by his bandmates and Paul. Buick thing happened some time around the Smothers Brothers show.
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