Why Jim Would Have Returned To The Doors

[othercircles]

I heard the lost paris tapes. He was still writing songs. yes... SONGS not just poetry. The stuff he did with those street musicians SUCKED. Those guys sucked.. they couldnt play.. and you could sense Jim's frustration with them. And they were frustrated with him.

Only the doors could toleratre Jim. And only the doors could totally understand Jim and know help him create great music.

Also.. think about how many bassists they had. Noone except Doug Lubahn could deal with him for more then one album before they bailed.

Given all this I don't see morrison making music with anyone else. The poetry album...... yea.. that coulda worked.. with sessions musicians and orchestras who had limited contact with Jim. But never for pop/rock music. He needed the doors for that.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

We will never know for sure as Jim never made it home but The Doors did not think he was coming back to the band, Jac Holzman did not think he was coming back to the band and his last concert made it unlikely The Doors would have played live again.
He was reported by John to have said he was looking forward to making another album with them but given the circumstances of the conversation it was unlikely he was going to say anything else.
His voice was going and his looks had gone.
Jim's interest in The Doors was such that Jac Holzman thought that LA Woman would be thier last album. (Follow The Music P356)
His dissillusionment with rock music was plain for all to see on the bootlegs and even surfaces in the BMR release Live & Dangerous.
Who knows if he had been given a years break he might have rediscovered his old self and made an album even better than The Doors or LA Woman. On the other hand he might have turned to Hollywood and become a director or screenwriter. He might have taken Pam's advice and looked to poetry. He was writing a lot of poetry as we know, many sources also say he was writing a screenplay in Paris and may or may not have been writing his personal account of the Miami trial which would have been fascinating.
He had many options open to him and my personal feeling is The Doors were low down on any list he had in his head.

We are not really sure where exactly that drunken session with a couple of so called street musicians is from. Some argue its from LA before he went to Paris others its In Paris just before he died.

[ensenada]

perhaps wen he spoke to JD about another album he meant it, but perhaps it was just something to say to JD and the doors not to completely shut the door on that career. the shape of the doors at the time was not good regarding the band members attitude to wards Jim's behaviour etc so perhaps they wouldn't have even wanted him. but perhaps the doors would have done an album without Jim and realised it just wasn't the same without him and begged him to come back.
perhaps Jim never intended on going back but pursuing some of the activities Alex mentioned instead.

who knows the maybe Jim would have sorted himself out..cdut down the booze, lost the weight and got his health back..stranger things have happened. although it certainly never looked like that could have happened.

didn't Jim's asthma flare up again at the end, not helped by all the smoking and falling of the balcony. it would have taken a lot of work and will power to get back to some healthy normality.

[othercircles]

Yea I believe he intended to do more doors records. But he didnt say when did he? I think he'd have taken several years off. Done his poetry album. Made a movie or two.

At that point there wasnt much the doors hadnt done that they intended to do so there was no reason to keep up the same pace any more. Especially since the contract ran out. They probably woulda started their own lable and had a record every 2 or 3 years like zeppelin did post-atlantic.

[ensenada]

well at the end of the day, Jim certainly needed a break from all that touring and expectations from record companies. he must have loved it in paris. free from that stress, no expectations, he wasnt forced to be creative. he was creative in his own terms there i guess.
but he still drank...and he still drove him self into the grave. perhaps he was passed the point of no return and welcomed it. or perhaps he was just unable to stand back and see what he was doing to himself. i have no idea how alcoholics do this shit, its a shame pam was off her head on heroine, otherwise perhaps she could have helped him outa the shit.

[othercircles]

Yea the best thing he could have done for himself was dump that stupid spoiled whore. Then things might have improved.

[ensenada]

i gotta say i agree with those sentiments dude!...

[gizmo]

i guess he would like to preform witht the doors again but after a few years.
when he regained strength to his body and voice.
like he said to pam : you'll never know when it's your last gig so thats why i give all i got every gig. and he did , thats why most of the shows (certainly played in a short period) didn't became better . that's what happens when you run out of energy and ideas to shock or amuse the audience. if he would be alive (or came back from paris annyway) he would be a (sort of) new jim (or old jim)
a holliday without the daily pressure is the best remedy to stop using drugs and booze coz you don't have the urge for a good preformance.
it's all a mather of time.
(and fantasy coz we know what happened)

[darkstar]

We had a similar discussion on this subject this past week posted on Morrison Highway and here was my reply:

The question: Did Jim Morrison leave/quit The Doors when he moved to Paris in March 1971?

From what I have read Jim's decision to leave the band began in the early Spring of 1968. As that is the time period in which he indicated he no longer wanted to be in The Doors to his band mates. I believe there were several factors that weighed heavy on his mind and for the next 3 years prior to his departure to Paris and it is that length of time that is included in my research.

Here’s the time line I have put together. I went through a few books and if find any other sources I’ll add them at a later date. The time line starts in late Spring 1968 because that’s where the friction between the band members seems to start in the book sources that I have.

I included some additional information other than dates in hopes of expanding the research into a broader picture. In other words, instead of just using examples of what happened in 1971, after Jim left for Paris I started in the late Spring 1968.

Of course its up to each individual person to come to their own conclusions.

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TIME LINE

Jim: “We’re a partnership, artistically and financially. We share equally. In the beginning, a lot of it was to keep the unit together. We have a very different vision of reality, different points to make.” (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 75)

MAY 1968: The Doors finished their 3rd album, “Waiting For The Sun.” This was a very difficult album to put together due to the fact that the majority of the lyrics and music was pieced together. Jim had hoped “Celebration of the Lizard” would have taken up one side of the album which in the final result only a small segment, “Not To Touch The Earth’ actually made it to vinyl. Jim was disappointed that COTL did not live up to his expectations. The band had been touring for most of 1967 and the spring of 1968 and the music and lyrics suffered the consequences when it came time to record ‘Waiting For The Sun.”

Jim Morrison: “I think most rock musicians and singers really do enjoy what they are doing,” he said. “It’d be physically unnerving to do it just for the bread. What screws it up is the surrounding bullshit that’s laid on them by the press, the gossip columnists and fan magazines…..All of a sudden everyone is laying all this extraneous bullshit on his trip. So he starts to doubt his motivation. There’s always the adulators – they just jangle the sensibilities. So you feel a little sense of shame and frustration about what you are doing. It’s too bad. It’s really too bad. (Break On Through p.252)

‘Although he had made very few concessions to commerciality, the public perceived The Doors as Jim Morrison and he was blamed the most for the shift toward Top 40. Morrison began seeing himself as a misunderstood poet living with the confines of the rock medium. More and more young kids were attending the shows now, and most of them couldn’t understand or appreciate his lyrics. They saw him only as a sex symbol and just wanted to hear the hits from the radio. The more he realized the words were being overlooked, the more frustrated he became. Jim Morrison wanted to be taken seriously as a poet more than anything else. He had always been interested in film and writing, and had taken on his duties with The Doors truly believing he couldn’t sing a note. Inside, Morrison wanted to be part of the artistic elite – recognized as a writer, a poet, a true artist.’ (Break On Through p. 252-253)

Jim: “It’s all done tongue and cheek – I don’t think too many people realize that. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously. It’s supposed to be ironic.” (1968 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 90)

Robbie: “With Jim, it was like the band, and the Voice of God up front, and everybody seemed to be overshadowed by that voice.” (1980 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 76)

JUNE 1968 Jim Morrison spoke with Ray Manzarek concerning his discontent in continuing to be a rock star. In short order, Jim wanted out of the band. Ray asked Jim to give the band another 6 months. Jim reluctantly went back to being the lead singer of The Doors.

‘Sometime in the summer of 1968 it began to dawn on him (Morrison), through the haze, that he was a rock star and, worse, that he was likely to remain one. Despite his sense of humor, no one took Morrison as seriously as Morrison took himself. Now, as the tongue in cheek Lizard King, he was forced to realize that he would never be so much Baudelaire and Rimbaud as he was Bozo Dionysus. As if grasping at a last way out of the ever expanding parody he was becoming of himself, Morrison decided to burst his own bubble. He saw the only way out and he took it. He walked into The Doors office and suddenly announced he was quitting the group. “It’s not what I want to do anymore,” he said. It was once, but it’s not anymore.”’ (Break On Through p. 252-53)

‘Amid the opened mouthed stares that greeted this remark, only Ray Manzarek was able to rise to the occasion. He talked to Jim, weighing the various possibilities and the ramifications of such a decision. In the end, Ray asked for and got six more months. But although Jim could reason out the logistics of a decision and make the right choice, he could not always live up to the commitment. There was something about Jim Morrison that always wound up doing exactly what he wanted to do whether it was the right choice or not.’ (Break On Through p. 253)

Rich Linnell: “At the beginning, for me being late ’66, early ’67 Jim always seemed to be little bit apart from the band. As time went on, Jim became more and more distant from the band. He would arrive differently, he’d come by himself, he’d leave earlier or later. Jim would have his little group in the dressing room and the three guys would have theirs. Robby, as recently as a few years ago would say, ‘yeah for along time it was the three of us against Jim. And then when we didn’t have Jim anymore, then we fought amongst ourselves.’” (A Feast Of Friends p. 82)

Vince Treanor: (Equipment Manager) “He (Jim) had no intention of quitting the band, That was all a myth, you know, just talk. He was scaring the group. What he was saying was ‘Does somebody love me? That’s all it was. He wasn’t stupid. Because the minute you take away a forum from a guy like Jim, he becomes a nonentity. What the hell was Morrison gonna do without The Doors? When a guy needs a stage to speak from is he going to quit the stage? And what would he do for money? How would he pay for his drinking, his parties, all those plane tickets, and those bashes in Palm Springs? The boy wasn’t stupid.”

[darkstar]

MID – JUNE 1968, The Doors have a band meeting to discuss the up and coming show at the Hollywood Bowl touted in the press to be “The Biggest Rock Event Of The Year.”

Vince Treanor remembers: “Everybody was called into a big meeting……all The Doors, myself, Bill Siddons, and Kathy Lisciandro (Frank’s wife who was now The Doors secretary). Ray had worked out an elaborate production idea for the show – having the band wear Kabuki masks and Oriental theatrical costumes with special lighting and dances…..a whole theatrical production. It was very interesting with all this incredible shit going on before, during and after the performance. But the other guys felt that it just wasn’t The Doors. Jim didn’t say much of anything. He didn’t give a damn what they did. He didn’t care if they had fire hoses onstage at that point. “Just give me my microphone and do whatever you want to do.” Jim was pretty straightforward about what he wanted to do. “Let’s just get up there and do it. None of the bullshit.”
Jim had given his word that he would give the band another 6 months, but inside he already had his mind made up to shed the sex symbol image forever. In addition, it was getting harder for Morrison to communicate with the rest of the band.

Although the audience expected to see Jim Morrison, the wild man, Jim the Shaman, Jim the Lizard King perform at the Hollywood Bowl on July 5, what they got was a lead singer who ingested acid prior to going to stage. Jim was subdued and rather humorous during this performance. Jim was up for the theatrics and pulled it off on que during the “Unknown Solider” but his heart surely wasn’t in this performance. The Jim Morrison that the audience had come to rely on for their amusement was absent on this night.

The Doors traveled to the East Coast of the States as part of their ’68 tour. In September they headed to the U.K. securing a memorable performance at London’s Roundhouse which was filmed by Granada TV. Jim Morrison ingested a huge amount of drugs on the streets of Amsterdam and was unable to go on stage. While Jim was carried off to the hospital, Ray stepped in to sing the lyrics. Robby professed that the audience should have been refunded their money, but the show went on as scheduled without Jim.

SEPTEMBER 21 1968: The Doors with exception of Jim and Pam, return to Los Angeles after finishing their last gig in Stockholm, Sweden. Jim and Pam remain in London at the Belgravia Hotel through October 20 1968. (Doors On The Road p. 133)

OCTOBER 2 or 3, 1968 while Jim Morrison is in London, the other band members are approached by Buick with a lucrative offer for the use of “Light My Fire” as an underscore to a commercial. After efforts to contact Jim fail, they agree to the proposal. (The Doors On The Road p. 134)

‘While Jim and Pam were gone, another incident happened that drove a wedge between Morrison and the rest of the group/ An ad agency offered the band considerable money to use “Light My Fire” in a Buick commercial.

Bill Siddons: “Jim had decided to disappear. Which for me, was the first time he disappeared. For four days no one had any idea where he was and suddenly Buick was offering close to a hundred thousand dollars to use, “Light My Fire.” Since Robby was the actual writer of the song, I felt he should make the decision. For some reason it was a high pressure, ‘You gotta give an answer now’ situation, so together we all decided, ‘Well, what the hell…..why not? You, know, we were all practically teenagers. I mean, Ray was the old guy at twenty-five. And Jim came back in a couple of days and just freaked out. He thought it was the tackiest thing in the world to do with The Doors’ music. Subsequently, I figured out that he was absolutely right. Jim knew what The Doors were doing and for what they meant to people, it was the wrong thing to do. Obviously it didn’t destroy their career, but it created a real anger in him (Jim) and the other three Doors. He felt betrayed by them because of it. And no one did it to betray him. We didn’t know what to do and it was free money being dangled in front of us.”

Columbus Courson (Pamela Courson’s Father): “Jim was mad as hell. He called Ray and said, ‘Hell, this song will be classic. We sell it in a damned ad, that’ll be the end of it, nobody’ll ever give it anything.’ He was just furious, and he hung up on him. And Pam said, ‘Jim, he’s your best friend;’ and Jim was sort of violent….and she said, “Well, what are you going to do? He said, ‘Don’t worry, they’re not gonna let their little goldfish swim away.’”

Rich Linnell: “One of the few times I saw Jim angry was when he found out about, “Come on Buick Light My Fire.” Out of control. He felt betrayed. His partners had betrayed him, they had sold out to corporate America without asking him. I was there when he told them, “How could you do this to me? This my band too. How could you make that decision without me? One of them said, “Well man, you didn’t tell us where you were going, and the offer would have expired.” “So What?” He just didn’t get it. Whether he was gone for a day or a month, it didn’t matter, but you don’t sell out to the establishment. Postpone it or cancel but don’t give my soul away. That was the end of the dream. That was the end of that era of Jim’s relationship with the other members of the band; from them on it was business. That was the day Jim said, “I don’t have partners anymore, I have associates.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 83)

Cheri Siddons: He was an artist. And I think the angriest he ever was happened when The Doors decided to let Buick use “Light My Fire.” I just remember this real unhappiness. I think if he ever was going to yell, he would have yelled that day. He didn’t yell, but to me it was almost like a light switched off. That was like the last straw somehow. I’m not sure if he really liked Robby, Ray and John after that. I think he could sense they had different purposes; they were more into the money and the business and would sacrifice some of the art for that. Jim as not willing to sacrifice the art for anything. (A Feast Of Friends p. 126)

Jim: “I’m the square of the western hemisphere. Whenever somebody’d say something groovy, it’d blow my mind. Now, I’m learning, I hate people. I don’t need them. If I had an axe, I’d kill everyone…….except my friends.” (1968 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 89)

Ray Manzarek recalls the Buick Commerical fiasco in his auto-biography, Light My Fire published in 1997:

“So to be asked to use a rock song over a commerical for a new, sharp little machine was at once lucrative and subversive. We could get "Light My Fire" played again on national television. We could get rock and roll on a medium that had very little to do with rock
music. We could make a few inroads in the changeover of consiousness. Or so I thought. Back then. Back when I was a naif.

I approved the request posthaste. So did Robby and John. Jim was nowhere to be found. He was on one of his now more frequent disappearing trips. Probably off cavorting with Jimbo. Or perhaps locked in battle with Jimbo. Wrestling for control. Fighting for the destiny of the entity christened James Douglas Morrison.

When he finally did show up a few days later, the Buick commercial was a fait accompli. They needed a yes or no immediately. We said yes and signed paper. Jim freaked.

"You can't have signed without me!" he yelled.
"Well, we did," I said.
"Why, man? We do everything together. Why'd you do this without me?"
"Because you weren't here," said Robby.
"So what? Couldn't you have waited for me?"
"Who knew when you were coming back?" added John.
"They needed an answer right away," I said. "So we signed."
"It's not like it's typical Buick road hog or something." said
Robby. It's a cool little car."
"Gets real good mileage," said John.
"Four cylinders," I added. A sports car. Two-seater."
"Fuck You!" shouted Jim.

A silence filled the rehearsal room. Jim had never screamed like that before. He was enraged. And he looked wasted. He looked as if his nerve ends were frazzled. He looked as if he had been doing
things he shouldn't have. And he looked shattered. He was clearly not in control of himself...or his emotions. He stomped around the room, agitated, hyper, angered.

"Fuck You guys!" he said again. "I thought it was supposed to be all for one and one for all. I thought we were suppose to be brothers!"

"Jiiim. we are, man" I said in feeble response to his strange and terrible outburst. Nothing has changed."
"You weren't here," said Robby.
"Everything has fucking changed, Ray! Jim said. "Everything!"
"Why? I don't understand. Just because we signed a contract for a
fucking song...why has everything changed?" I asked him.

And then he came back with a line that really hurt me. Hurt John and Robby, too. Stabbed the Doors in their collective heart.

"Because I can't trust you anymore," he snarled.
"But it's good little car, man" protested John.

"It's fucking industry! It's corporate! It's the devil, you
asshole." Jim glared. "You guys just made a pact with the devil."
"The hell we did," said Robby.
"Oh yes you did, Robby. He seduced you with cute little gas efficient
cars. He shows you what you want and then he puts a little twist in
it. Makes you say yes to him when you know you shouldn't..." He
paced the room, manic. "But you go along with it because the deal's
just too good. It tastes too good." And then he looked at me, "It's
too much money, isn't it Ray?"
"Fuck You, Jim." I was getting pissed too.

Another knife in the heart. Was this actually Jim saying these things? Did he really believe what he was saying?

"Well, I'm not in it for the fucking lifestyle, man." I snarled back. "I just wanna make music. And if we can make some money at it...that's cool with me."

"Lots of money," Jim sarcastically said under his breath.
"What'd you say?"
"You heard me."
He was really pushing it.
Robby jumped into the fray. "Why weren't you here, man? A big decision had to be made and you weren't here, again!"
"Where do you go all the time" asked John.
"Wherever I want!" Jim shot back. "And it's none of your fucking business. You understand?"

John turned away from Jim's penetrating glare. Unable to confront him. Unable to say what was really on his mind. Hell, none of us could confront him. None of us had the psychic strength to call him on the carpet and read the riot act to him. It was probably just what he needed. Maybe even what he wanted.

"No one tells me what to do, John. You got that?"
I jumped in. "Nobody’s telling you what to do, man. We just want to know how come you're never around when you're needed. Where the fuck were you?"
"We called everywhere," added Robby.
"You weren't home, you weren't at the Alta Cienga," I said. "We called Barneys, the Palms, the Garden District...you weren't at the Whisky, Mario hadn't seen you in a couple of weeks." "Even Babe
didn't know where you were," said Robby.

NOTE: (All sources up to this point said Jim and Pamela were in England and had just returned to thet States to find the song had been sold to commercial. i don't understand where Ray comes up with places Jim could have been in L.A.)

Jim eruoted again. "Hey! This isn't about where I go." Then pointing an accusatory finger. "This is about you guys signing a contract without me." A silence filled the room again. Jim had broken out in a sweat. I felt cold and clammy. The evil green thing began wrapping
its tentacles around my stomach, probing for weakness. I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all.

I felt bad, hurt, misunderstood. Here I was trying to hold the whole damn thing together. Trying to be the adult. Jim had abandoned ship.

He was over the top, gone. The Ray and Jim show from Venice do longer existed. I was the oldest. I had to try and maintain the dream, hoping he would snap out of this phase he was in. Hoping that it was a phase. An aberration, a momentary aberration. Hoping that
he would come to his senses and we could resume our grail qust together. The four of us. The Doors. Brothers in the void. Supporting and nurturing one another. Hell, keeping one another alive! And we had so much more work to do. More music and poetry. Theater - Jim and I had talked of a multimedia theater project with
actors and dancers and rear-screen projections and recitations and Doors' music - the "Magic Theater" of Hermann Hesse. Films, directed by me, starring Jim, music by Robby Krieger and John Densmore. And
finally politics. The takeover of America by the lovers! He had to snap out of it. He had to come back to his old self. His real self.

"Well, it's too late," said Robby.
Jim wheeled on him. "Oh, yeah? We'll see about that. I'm gonna smash a fucking Buick to dust on stage." He was perspiring more profusely now. "It's gonna be part of my new act. 'Smash a Buick to Smithereens.' We'll see how they like that. And then I'm gonna get Abe to sue their asses. For big bucks, Ray. For a lot more than their shitty little contract. Then let's see if they still want to use a Doors song to sell a sports car."

He was pacing and sweating and clearly out of control. He stormed out of the rehearsal room and rushed up to the offices, barged into Siddons room and told Bill to get our new, young hotshot lawyer -

Abe Sommers - on the phone. When he did, Jim got on the line and hollered at Abe to do whatever he could to stop the contract.[/color]"Threaten' them with a lawsuit," he shouted into the phone. "Tell
them I'm gonna smash a Buick with a sledgehammer onstage! Tell them anything! But stop the fucking contract!"

And in three days, Buick backed out. They simply decided they didn't want to go with a rock ad campaign after all. Nothing against the Doors or their music, you understand. They simply shifted demographic focus. It was done, finished. And Jim grinned from ear to ear. He had exercised his will against the corporate
establishment and he was a contented man. He made them back down. Hell, he made them back all the way out. It felt good. And he wanted more.

And that was called...Miami. (Ray Manzarek from his book ‘Light My Fire’ Pages 305-309

(NOTE: In 2005 Ray Manzarek testified before a Los Angeles Superior Court, under oath, when questioned about the Buick Commercial incident, he claimed the reason Jim didn’t want ‘Light My Fire’ to be used for a commercial was because Jim’s dad drove a Buick. – Another interesting point is the fact that Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger counter-sued John Densmore and Jim Morrison’s Estate on the grounds that John and Jim’s Estate would not allow Doors music to be sold for commercial use. Ray and Robby claim that they were loosing millions of dollars because John and Estate would not authorize the use of Doors music for commercial purposes.)

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Shortly after the Buick Commercial incident, The Association of Concert Halls had decided that a Special Rider should be attached to all performance contracts involving The Group:

Bill Siddons: “This group of men sent out a letter saying that The Doors were troublemakers and that, if in the judgment of the Hall Manager, the content of the performances was immoral, indecent or illegal, the show would be ended immediately. So the promoters had to do a lot of pushing and fighting to get us into the halls. They had to give a personal guarantee that if anything happens, they, the promoters, would be solely responsible for it.”

Also at this time the band’s accountants advised them that they were also in a crisis situation over ‘Feast of Friends,’ the title they had decided to call their documentary. Some thirty thousand dollars had already been spent on the project, but there was still a great deal of editing to do and none of the planned fictional sequences had been filmed. While Morrison was satisfied with the progress, the other Doors were worried that the film was turning into another white elephant along the lines of “Celebration of the Lizard.”

Jim: “I’m interested in film because, to me, it’ the closet approximation in art that we have to the actual flow of consciousness.” (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p.85)

Frank Lisciandro: “Robby John, and Ray pulled the plug because the accountant had a bottom-line mentality about it. We were in the middle of the editing process. Paul (Ferrara) and I went to see Jim, who was staying at one of his infamous small motels somewhere. We said, ‘What’s going on? We’re in the middle of this project, we’ve got most of it filmed, what are we gonna do? He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just keep working. I’ll take care if it.”

Ray: “At school, at UCLA, I was always interested in film, as it seemed to combine my interests in drama, visual arts, music – and the profit motive!” (1972 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 85)

A compromise was reached. Plans for additional filming were dropped and Ferrara and Lisciandro agreed to work without salary. The Doors put up the four thousand still needed to complete the editing and lab work.

Jim Morrison: “In conception, it was a very small crew following us around for three or four months in a lot of concerts, culminating in the Hollywood Bowl. Then the group went to Europe on a short tour and while we were there, Frank and Paul, the editor and photographer, starting hacking it together. We returned, we looked through the rough cut and showed it to people. No one liked it very much and a lot of people were ready to abandon the project. I was almost of that opinion, too. Frank and Paul wanted a chance, so we let them.
(Break On Through p. 271-272)


OCTOBER 1968, Eye Magazine requested an interview with Jim Morrison and Jim compromised and offered to write a “rap” instead. Here is an excerpt of Jim’s rap.

He sought exposure and lived the horror of trying to
Assemble a myth before a billion dull dry ruthless eyes.

Ask anyone what sense he would preserve above all others. Most would say sight, forfeiting a million eyes in a body for two in the skull. Blind, we could live and possibly discover wisdom. Without touch, we would turn into hunks of wood.

Mates are first chosen by visual. Not odor, rhythm, skin. It is an error to believe that the eye can caress a woman. Is a woman constructed out of light or of skin? Her image is never real in the eye, it is engraved on the ends of the fingers.
(Break On Through P. 273-274)

NOVEMBER 1968 The Doors toured the Southwest of the United States and then to the mid-west. On December 15, 1968 The Doors performed on the Smothers Brothers Show.

On DECEMBER 14 1968, The Doors performed at the L.A. Forum a concert which created an atmosphere of discontent among the audience in attendance due to Jims’ will of shedding his so-called Lizard King image. The Doors debut a few songs from what will become their 4th album, “The Soft Parade.’ To accompany the band, a brass section has been added which shares a portion of the stage.

‘Ray Manzarek, ever the artistic soul, had gotten the others to agree to have the evening opened by a traditional Japanese koto player.

Vince Trenor: “The guy was into traditional Japanese art music, poetic music. The stuff he played was young if it was two thousand years old and this was in front of 18 thousand teenage kids. Well, they damn near had a riot, they booed they guy so bad. I felt horrible for him. It was just so irreverent and terribly rude and the guy could not help but realize what was going on, but he was a traditionalist and therefore he had to finish the performance. And he went through to the bitter end.” (Break On Through p. 277)

After performing 5 songs ‘the crowd becomes impatient and begins intensifying their cries of “Light My Fire,” and even “Do something!” This is not a bad night for The Doors, but a significant portion of the music is so new it will not appear on an album for 6 months, and much of it is rather quiet compared to previous Doors shows.

Jerry Lee Lewis didn’t fare much better, playing mostly country songs to an audience who repeatedly let him know what they thought of country by booing their hearts out. Sweetwater, a local rock group, followed and did the wisest thing possible – shortened their set in front of the wild crowd and got offstage as quickly as they could. (Break On Through p. 277)

The incessant clamoring for ‘Light My Fire’ makes the audience seem harshly unsympathetic to anything else the band want to introduce. The attitude of these ever-increasing ‘top 40’ fanatics who demand nothing but the hits will contribute significantly to the band’s disgust with the way rock and roll is – or isn’t – developing. The Doors have observed a change in the audience as their music became more popular. Their apprehensions will peak with a few months when they record the spontaneous ‘Rock Is Dead’ session and Jim Morrison accosts the audience at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium.’

Next comes the piece everyone has been calling for, and it is a showstopper. This version of ‘Light My Fire’ is terrific, as evidenced by the audience breaking into spontaneous applause.

After the conclusion of ‘Light My Fire,’ there is a long pause before Morrison sits down cross-legged on the stage and begins to ask the audience what they really want. Although he seems relaxed, there is a mocking and confrontational tone in his voice as he suggests the band could play music all night long, but what the audience really wants is ‘something different, something more.” He then leads the band into their ‘Celebration of the Lizard,’ incorporating lyrics that are quite different from the version finally released on the live album. The audience reaction is mixed. Some seemed interested in the piece, others bored. A few aggravated patrons even bark out some obscenities during the first portion of the song.

As tonight’s rendition of ‘Celebration of the Lizard’ draws to a conclusion each of the band members leaves the stage individually. First, John Densmore inconspicuously strolls off, then Robby Krieger unplugs his guitar and follows. Finally Ray Manzarek leaves with Morrison alone onstage as he quietly recites the final poetic verses of the composition and then solemnly walks off the stage.

The effect is transcendent. As opposed to the usual thunderous applause exhibited at the end of the show, the somewhat stunned audience of over 18,000 send out a brief ripple of quiet acknowledgement, and then stare mutely before leaving the venue in near silence. (The Doors On The Road p. 143).

After the Forum show was over, Morrison said it had been “great fun,” but the party backstage felt like a funeral. Afterward, Jim went out to the Forum parking lot and played kick the can with his brother, Andy and Pamela.

A monster arrived
In the mirror
To mock the room
& it’s fool alone

(Break On Through p. 281)

In an interview after the L.A. Forum show Morrison said: “I don’t know what will happen. I’d guess we’ll carry on like this for a while then, to get our vitality back, maybe we’ll have to get out of the whole business….maybe go to an island by ourselves and start creating again. I might put some of it in a song……but the trouble is, the outcome wasn’t clear-cut enough for that.” (1969-The Doors In Their Own Words P. 63)

Moving ahead to 1969, The Doors performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City. ‘Morrison began the concert similarly to the way he had begun the Forum show – mellow, subdued, no howls or writhing. He was self-assured, even smiling, and some say he never sounded more melodic. He didn’t engage in strenuous theatrics, but still displayed why he was rock’s most exciting performer.

[darkstar]

Both The Doors’s strengths and weaknesses were apparent at the Garden. There were moments of brilliance when Morrison appeared in full command and others where it was apparent that he was weary of the rock life-style. At one moment he pointed to one side of the arena and said, “You are life,” and then pointed to the other side and said, “You are death.” “I straddle the fence and my balls hurt.”

The reign at the top of the rock world is always a brief one. The Doors were riding out their momentum and they knew it. Even at the Garden the kids could somehow sense that the kingdom was crumbling. The missile that powered The Doors was burning out and the kids were wailing at the wake. As Sander commented: “But it’s been over for The Doors for a long time now. Once they were fiery, arrogant renegade emperors of the rock scene and once they deserved it. They’ve made an unforgettable mark in the business, they remained unique in their prime…..But they know and you know and I know that it’s a charade at this point. The Doors should rest in peace, not do an overlong encore………………” (Break On Through pgs. 283-285)

The inner turmoil driving Jim Morrison began to peak in early 1969. The tremendous frustration he was feeling toward his art became more and more dominating until it dictated many of his actions. The release he had always felt before being onstage was becoming one of increasing anger towards the audience. In concert now he would often shout obscenities at girls in the audience. Backstage, he sometimes demanded oral sex from groupies no matter who else was present. The fans had given him the platform from which he thought he would be able to do so much and now he believed they were making a mockery of it. As the cumulative effects of years of drinking began to take hold, Morrison couldn’t see that it was he who had made himself a clown. It was his drinking and his refusal to take responsibility for what The Doors had become that prevented things from turning around. It was he who embraced the sex symbol role and now it was he who was rebelling against it.

But this private war with his image was destroying not only any remaining joys he had left in performing with The Doors, it was destroying the group itself as well. Tensions within the band were increasing. Morrison’s reliability was making it more and more difficult for all of them. The world they thought they were going to change was refusing to change.

For Ray, Robby and John it was becoming easier to be jaded. After ‘Hello I Love You’ and the third album the rock press kept saying they were in it for the money. The Doors once believed that records could serve the same purpose printed manifestos had in the past, but amidst the teenybopper screams for ‘Light My Fire’ such thoughts seemed vain and pompous. The Doors were suffering under the strain of creativity as well. The first two albums had been works of great art and depth as well as commercial successes, but the third album had not been all they had hoped it would be. Now, Morrison’s productivity was decreasing rapidly and they viewed recording the rest of the new album with mixed emotions.

When these sober moments came, Morrison retreated into his poetry. It became the light at the end of the tunnel. And the more his hopes for rock declined the more important the poetry became. More than a hope he saw it as his salvation, his sanctuary . Unfortunately, it was a salvation laced with more frustration. As a poet, Morrison could hope for nothing akin to the respect and adoration he was used to as a rock star. The best that could be hoped for was small time sales. In art he tended to define it by public acceptance. Thus it was not enough that he felt he was a good poet.

If people stopped seeing him as a sex symbol, perhaps they would pay attention to the words again. Of course, the real way out of Morrisons’ dilemma was to stop conforming to his publicized image. To control his drinking and stop turning concerts into freak shows. Consciously or subconsciously he began to look for a way to break through his prison of his own devise. But what would he do? How does one comment on the redirect art through art itself? The answer to these questions came from the Avant-garde Living Theatre. (Break On Through pages 285-289)

Kathy Lisciandro “It seemed to me that he was always distant with them. I never saw him be rude or nasty or yell at them. In fact I never heard Jim raise his voice, except when he was singing or on stage. He always seemed to deal with the other three in a very….he wanted to get it over with in a very businesslike way, as quickly as possible, and at a distance. That seemed to be the way he handled The Doors. Even in social situations when, for one reason or another, we were all together at a party or a dinner or whatever, he never really seemed to socialize with them in a personal kind of way.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 125)

Cheri Siddons: “As far as being on stage, he always wanted to be introduced as The Doors, not Jim Morrison and The Doors. That seemed to be very important to him. But I can see them standing here and him standing there, almost like it was an invisible line. I felt that the three of them were a unit and we wasn’t part of that unit.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 126)

Kathy Lisciandro: I think there was always a sense of antagonism. They were never sure what Jim was going to do. Whether he was going to show up for a gig on time; and if he did show up whether he was going to be drunk. And that made them totally insecure about where their next paycheck was coming from. I think it came down a lot to business……” (A Feast Of Friends p. 126)

Cheri Siddons: “Responsibility also. I mean they had a responsibility to perform and they didn’t now what condition he would arrive in. He usually did arrive, but it was quite often late, at the last second. Most of us were going, ‘Oh, God, where is he, is he coming?’ and I think sometimes they’d get on stage and they’d be angry and they’d have to get through that anger in performance. I began to see a split as time went on.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 126)

Kathy Lisciandro: “Over the years, because it became such a bug business, their attitude about it changed. Jim always wanted it to be the small club, new material, that sense of maybe making a difference in some form or another with his words, and with a real personal relationship between the band members and him, and him and the band with the audience. As you perform in larger and larger venues you lose that sense of intimacy, not only with the audience but with your own material. Jim constantly fought that. The other three guys just went along with it because they saw more business. Money didn’t matter to Jim the way it mattered to the others.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 126)

Leon Barnard: “I think there was tension between the three group members and Jim because of his bad-boy image or his antics. There wasn’t a lot of love focused among them like there might have been in the early days. There was something about them that he resented. They came together and made music for a few hours but it wasn’t a place that any of them were fond of being after it was over. It’s lets do it together and then I’m going to go over here with my buddies and you’re going to go over to where you’re going. And sometimes on stage you could see that kind of adversity taking place, a kind of anger that developed that……that Jim provoked from time to time. He liked teasing them.” (A Feast Of Friends 139-140)


FEBRUARY 24, 25, 27 & 28, 1969 Jim attends the Living Theatre series of shows all week at UCLA
(The Doors On The Road p. 146-147)

Following the evenings performance of the Living Theatre’s production of “Frankenstein” of February 25 1969, , Jim heads back to Sunset Sound Studios. After a break for dinner the band resumes a spontaneous session. A combination of blues licks and an impromptu performance covering the history of rock n’ roll. From listening to this a piece of this session which was recorded and released on the CD called, “Rock Is Dead,” you can clearly come to the conclusion that Jim is somewhat inebriated. Jim Morrison discontentment with his the image of Rock Star is evident in the lyrics he improvises. “The Death Of Rock Is The Death Of Me,” Jim says in a sad tone of voice. “I don’t want to hear about no revolution……..” The recording of this evening is reminiscent of the performance that Jim gives the evening of March 1 1969. It would seem as if this session was a rehearsal for a show scheduled just 4 days away.

Jim: “The initial flash is over. This thing they used to call rock n’ roll, it got decadent. The energy is gone. There is no longer a belief. The English sparked a revival, it went very far, it was articulate – and then it became self-conscious, which I think is the death of any movement.” (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p.80 )

What made the living theatre special to Morrison was its efforts to tap into the audience’s subconscious mind. All of these shows had an impact on Morrison but the performance that most affected him was Paradise Now. The Living Theatre provided the missing piece in Morrison’s revolt against the leather Frankenstein he had created. It inspired him and he spent that night discussing and incorporating what he’d seen into his own show. In fact he would use several of its confrontive techniques for promoting audience awareness the very next night – on stage of the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. (Break On Through p. 291)

MIAMI, MARCH 1 1969:

Jim: “At Miami, I tried to reduce the myth to absurdity, thereby wiping it out. It just got too much for me to stomach, so I put an end to it one glorious night. I told the audience that they were a bunch of idiots to be members of a crowd, and what were they doing there anyway? Not to listen to some songs by a bunch of good musicians, but for something else……..so why not admit it and do something about it.?” (1969 – The Doors In Their Own Words P. 62)

Jim: “I don’t know what will happen. I’d guess we’ll carry on like this for a while then, to get our vitality back, maybe we’ll have to get out of the whole business….maybe go to an island by ourselves and start creating again. I might put some of it in a song……but the trouble is, the outcome wasn’t clear-cut enough for that.” (1969-The Doors In Their Own Words P. 63)

Following the Miami concert The Doors headed off to the Caribbean on a pre-scheduled vacation. During this hiatus from touring, Miami officials banded together to prepare warrants and the newspapers started filling with precarious accusations in regards to the Doors concert in Miami.

Eva Gardonyl: “One day he was telling us how frightened he was in Jamaica and Pamela sat up sort of indignant saying how come I’ve never known about these things before and he just smiled you know and he said, “Well I don’t talk about everything all the time.” He told us they took him down there, down to apparently a palazzo, a mansion, and there were black servants and everything and he said that he was very much afraid of these black people at that point because they looked so foreign and alien to him and everything. And apparently the rest of the group got into other households. They just left him alone. And he would call Robby and I, don’t know, John, to come and like fetch him and those guys didn’t want anything to d with him. They were pissed off, they were mad from what happened in Miami and everything so they really isolated him. He said he had the worst time on that island. Riddled with fear and disappointment and loneliness and everything……” (Feast Of Friends page 155-156)

Upon The Doors return to Los Angeles they became aware of the impact that their Miami show had upon the officials in Florida.

March 5 1969 Warrants are issued by the Dade County Sheriffs Office for Jim’s arrest.

The multitude of cancellations of Doors performances has a profound effect on the entire music industry. Auditorium directors, fearful of any repeat of the Miami situation, now insist on stricter regulations for all rock performances. Promoters are threatened with liabilities that had previously been considered unsuitable repercussions of the Miami show will gradually fade into the background. (The Doors On The Road p. 154

Ron Allen: “The Miami deal shook him up. I remember we talked about that a few times and that bugged him because they wanted to put him in jail, they wanted to make an example of him and put him away, and take away his freedom……You could take away anything you wanted from Jim Morrison, but don’t mess with his freedom. He was very concerned about that situation, it freaked him out, and I saw a change after that.” (A Feast Of Friends p. 97)

In early MARCH 1969 Jim Morrison records an hour’s worth of poetry at Elektra Sound Recorders with engineer Bill Haeny. This was a solo project of Morrison’s and the Doors were not involved nor did were they a part of the studio contract.


Jim: “I’ve had a good time these past few years. I’ve met a lot of interesting people and seen things that I probably wouldn’t have seen in 20 years of ordinary living. I can’t say I regret it but, if I had to do it all over again, I think I’d have gone for the quiet, artist-plodding-away-in-his-own-garden trip…….or maybe a corporation executive. I kinda like the image. Big office. Secretary.” (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 90)

NOTE: (In Ray Manzareks’ auto-biography, Light My Fire his book comes to an end just 28 pages after the Miami concert. You get to page 334 and the book has reached the Miami fiasco where the fallout of the event is briefly described in 12 pages. This would be March 1969. The next chapter is the Epiloge comprised of 7 pages which re-introduces the Jimbo character, (in case one has not forgotten) and then the book ends.)

Also in March 1969 Feast Of Friends, the Doors documentary was completed and Jim Morrison embarked with Frank Lisciandro, Paul Ferrara and Babe Hill to the desert to start filming “HWY.” On April 28 The Doors appear in the PBS Studios in New York for the taping of The Critique show. Throughout the month of May-mid June, Jim appears at several poetry readings and midnight film screenings for Feast Of Friends.

On June 20 1969, Jim and Frank Lisciandro go to Atlanta for a Film Festival where Feast Of Friends receives an award on June 21. Traveling by car from Georgia to New Orleans, Jim and Frank make a stop at The Roach where Jim gets on stage with White Clover a local New Orleans band. Feast Of Friends is making its rounds at select theatres and even makes it to a Detention Center in Vancouver, Canada on July 4 1969. The Doors 4th album, The Soft Parade is released on July 10 1969. This album is the first Doors record that indicates the writing credits between Morrison and Krieger. On November 24, 1969 Jim appears in Federal Court in Phoenix, AZ to stand trial for charges occurring on a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix. A trial date is set for Feb 17 1970.

[darkstar]

In January 1970 the Doors start performing on a regular basis again in-between Jim’s court appearances in Phoenix and Miami. Jim’s book The Lords and New Creatures is released on April 7 1970. On Feb 1 1970 Morrison Hotel is released. Jim and Leon Barnard visit Paris arriving at the Georges V Hotel on June 27 1970. Jim records more of his poetry at the Village Recorders in West Los Angeles on Dec 8 1970. The Doors final performance with Jim Morrison is at the Warehouse in New Orleans, December 12 1970. (The Doors On The Road pgs. 181-213)


Jim: I’d like to start a magazine, newspaper thing in LA sometime. The trouble is, I’ll only do it if I could finance it myself, so that I wouldn’t need to advertise. You know, like those little one-issue magazines and manifestos, the Dadaists and surrealists used to put out.” (1970 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 94)

In mid-December 1970 the Doors start rehearsing for what would be their final studio album, LA Woman.


LA WOMAN SESSIONS 1970

Eva Gardonyl: “When coming home from recording and everything he would be fill of momentary complaints and bitching and excitement or whatever. He would bring it all home and share it……………..yeah. And about those three other musicians I never heard anything but complaining from him. He was frustrated with members of his group. He was bitching and moaning about them a lot and hardly can wait when he’s gonna be on his own. That’s all, well, but of course it was tainted with some major arguments and everything……in recording studios for eight, ten, twelve hours so, that’s what I would hear about. You know by this time he wasn’t on good terms with any of them and he was deeply disappointed with all of them. (A Feast Of Friends p. 149)


Babe Hill: “Pam thought everybody was taking advantage of Jim and riding on his coattails and we hit if off, as if me and Jim didn’t have that kind of relationship. That was her whole thing about being against the other Doors, and the office and everything else. It didn’t have to do with that they weren’t making any money, it was just that they were wasting his creativity. I figure she had a very supportive influence on his poetry and never missed a chance to rag on him when he went off track. And when he went fucking around she was always on his ass to get back on the track of his poetry. (A Feast Of Friends p. 169)

In early 1971 The Doors almost make a final appearance at the Whisky. The idea of performing at the Whisky A Go Go comes up during the last days before Jim’s departure to Paris.

Elmer Valentine: “When they started getting big and doing concerts, Morrison was unhappy that he couldn’t come back to the club. He missed working out their material, the way, “Light My Fire” was done, with the audience like a barometer. Well, they were going to do it, just before he went to Europe. Jim tried to get the fellows to do it, and for one reason or another, it couldn’t happen. Then the night they were going to do it, Jim didn’t show up. Of all people.” (RS Interview with Jim Morrison Ben Fong-Torres 1971)

Jim Morrison: “A few years ago I wanted to live performances. I was trying to get everyone to do a free surprise spots at the Whisky, but no one wanted to. Now everyone wants to and I totally lost interest. Although I know its a lot of fun. I just don’t have the desire to get up and sing right now.” (Bob Courish Interview with Jim Morrison 1970)

NOTE: I have the Bob Courish 1970 interview on cassette tapes and althought it isn't the greatest of quality it is interesting in its own right. Bob meets Jim at The Doors office and Bob immediately turns the tape recorder on as they walk to the Garden District and then on to a bar, (to which the name is not mentioned. At one point in the interview you hear David Cassidy from the Partridge Family singing "I Think I Love You" on the jukebox.) Jim is suppose to do this interview and then get back to the Doors Office where LA Woman is being worked on. Instead you hear Jim say after few hours, hey I'm supposed to be back at the office recording but he continues talking. Jim doesn't go into great deal about his days with The Doors instead the interview is focused on Miami, Human Interests, World View, his poetry, films.....Jim seems to stear the interviewer away from talking about The Doors.)

LOS ANGELES TO PARIS 1971

Babe Hill: PARIS – “Just a change, get away from everything here.He seemed like he was trying to divorce himself from everything in a kinda sober, final way. And I was going, ‘Hey, that’s great man. All the luck.’ He was concentrating more and more and more on his poetry and his publishing and that’s all he wanted to do was get away from here and get it all behind him. Towards the end he was starting to take a longer view of things. He knew that whole phenomenon of The Doors was over. He was burnt out, certainly, on concerts, and on records, being in the studio all that stuff. (A Feast Of Friends p. 173-174)

John Haney: “After L.A. Woman was completed, Jim quit the band. Everybody in the band will tell you that before Jim left for Paris, he said he didn’t really mean it and that he was planning on coming back and rejoining The Doors. Once Jim quit The Doors he never once mentioned to me that he had any intentions of rejoining the band. His focus was on his poetry. That’s what he went to Paris for. After our initial recordings of his poetry he realized he needed to organize his thoughts. It was important to him that the world perceived him as a poet. That’s why he signed a contract with Elektra Records to make a poetry album with no participation from the Doors.” (Break On Through p. 440)

Bill Siddons: “I was in the meeting in which Jim announced that he was moving to Paris and had no intention of continuing anything or not continuing anything. There was never a question of Jim Morrison was, from the day L.A. Woman was finished, done with The Doors as an obligation. He finished recording all the albums under the contract, there were no plans to tour and in fact, while Jim was in Paris, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore rehearsed with different singers too because they knew Jim might never come back. He never said, “I quit. The band is over, forget you, it’ll never happen again……….he also never said, “I’ll be back in three months.” “He just said, “I don’t know who I am, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I wanna do, I’m gone……don’t count on me, good-bye.” (Break On Through p. 441)

But while in Paris, Morrison spoke of rock music as if he had definitely finished with it, “I’m twenty-seven years old. That is too old to be a rock singer. It doesn’t make sense anymore. I’m so sick of everything. People keep thinking of me as a rock ‘n roll star and I don’t want anything to do with it. I can’t stand it anymore.” (No source is indicated as to whom Jim told this too. Break On Through p. 447-448)

Bill Siddons” “He went off to Paris to concentrate on his writing. He was working on two different screenplays as far as I know, he was working on his poetry. But he went off to stop pursuing the rock n’ roll dream because he’d achieved it and didn’t like it. And he said, “What am I but a writer.’” (Break On Through p. 449)

Ray: “The important thing was always the music, and there were so many things fighting against it that we decided to lay low, quit for a while. Jim was fed up with everything, and just wanted to go away and write, so by the time he went to Paris effectively, The Doors were not talking in group terms anymore. We were all kinda tired of being Doors.” (1980 – The Doors In Their Own Words P. 67)

John: “We came over to London to find a vocalist and, as we started jamming, we realized more than ever, that when you have a good professional singer, who can do with his voice what someone else can do with their instrument, how much more fluid everything is…..but that led to writing problems. Everyone, myself included, was writing songs, and all of Ray’s were real personal, so it finally got to the point where it was obvious that he was the only one who could sing them, because they’re very philosophical, cosmic, whatever, so how could another singer relate to material that was so personal? So, when we first came over, we were still together – sort of up but when we realized how very different our musical directions were heading, Ray split back home……(1977 – The Doors In Their Own Words P. 67)

Ray: “We were in England, looking for a new singer, new bass player, a second guitar player, whatever – something to give some new life to change The Doors……but it just got boring. We’d been together too long. Without Jim, The Doors just were not The Doors anymore. It wasn’t the same band…….So we went to England to see if we could change things, but we really didn’t find anybody. A couple of guys we worked with were good, but I thought it was time to put The Doors to bed, so I said to John and Robbie ‘Listen you guys, let’s just pass on this and end it.’ And we did.” (1978 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 68)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prior to Jim’s departure to Paris, the band gathered together in their attorney’s office with an agreement for Jim to sign. The agreement stated that by signing this document Jim Morrison would not use the Doors name for recording, performing, etc., and/or purposes of his own choosing after he left the band for Paris.

Jim: “To me, politics is nothing more than the search of certain individuals for private power. They can cloak it in any ideological, romantic or philosophical terms they want, but it’s essentially a private search for power.” (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 79)

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It is noteworthy that when the written agreement dated January 1, 1966 was prepared and signed in early 1971, the band had already completed all the concert tours and personal appearances that the band would ever do during Jim Morrison’s lifetime and the band was also just finishing the sixth and final studio album. (Defendants Opposition Document May 28 2004 – Henry L Self, III, Def. Attorney)

It is my understanding that the October 1 1971 document stayed in effect, (pursuant to what it says in the Proposed Statement) until April 18 2003 because it had never been terminated. In addition to the retro 1966-1971 Agreement on March 8 1971 all four Doors signed an Administration Agreement "in anticipation of Morrison leaving the United States." This agreement "authorized their business manager Greene an exclusive authority to enter into licensing agreements for music of the Doors. However, to avoid what had happened in 1969 with regard to the Buick incident, Greene was empowered to sign agreements for television and radio commercials ONLY after receiving the written approval of all four partners" (page 11 item #10 of Proposed Statement of Decision May 24 2005). It is not indicated that Greene ever got permission for any commerciall use of The Doors music.

An Amendment to the 1966-1971 Partnership Agreement was made March 11, 1971. The amendment included an Page 11 Item #11 of the Proposed Statement Of Decision May 24 2005 "sets forth a specific provision prohibiting the use of the name, The Doors, by any partner upon termination of the partnership for any reason other than the death of a partner. The amendment was prompted by a concern that after L.A. Woman was delivered to Elektra, Morrison might leave the band and form another band in Europe using the name 'The Doors.' Manzarek testified that he signed the one-page amendment when it was prepared but did not read it and did not understand its purpose. Somer testified that he recalled some concern about the band splintering, and that the amendment, as well as all of the band's agreements, were explained to the band members before they signed." The court found Mr. "Somers' testimony to be credible and accepts it as true." (Proposed Statement Of Decision May 24 2005 By Judge Gregory Alarcon, Los Angeles Superior Court)

Jim: People seek tyrants. They worship and support them. They co-operate with restrictions and rules, and they become enchanted with the violence involved in their brief, token rebellion. The LA cops are idealists, almost fanatical in believing the rightfulness of their cause. They have a whole philosophy behind their tyranny. (1969 The Doors In Their Own Words p. 90)

[othercircles]

For starters I dont trust the credibility of half those people. For seconds.. Jim was drunk and out of his mind half the time. He didnt know what the hell he wanted. I wouldn't say for sure he was going to come back any time soon.. but these things all take the biased attitude like Jim was just too good for them or something.

And that agreement wasnt just to stop Jim... while that may have been the intent at the time... it also was to prevent them from using the name without him either.... thats why we had this big trial last year.

So I don't wanna hear this bologna about them rehearsing with another singer while Jim was still alive. Their own contract would have stopped it.. but Jim dying changed things.

I think it was pretty smart of them really.. it's quite possible he could have just gotten other musicians and called it the doors.. and sadly most people wouldnt have cared and liked em just the same... however I think Jim just wanted to kick back and be lazy for awhile... and indulge in his "Avant Guard a clue" stuff. He was at a point in his career where people would have consumed any crap he put out. Now.. lets take Jim 10 years down the road say.....

It's 1981.. with the death of John Lennon, theres a beatle resurgence.. and everyone gets nostalgic... there starts to be a big 60's band resurgence... band after band from the 60's reuinites.. heres Jim.. having lost his entire fortune on Liquor, bad investments, moocher friends and failed projects. Here comes Elektra records with a big shit record deal for him to be heard again and make some money.. and a few million for a tour. Then you see how fast there'd have been a doors reuinion.

Throughout the 70's the doors had continued with a few different singers and decreased in popularity but still hung in there. But with Jim still alive... there was no legend to ruin the doors chances of being successful without him. They were able to pay him off to dissolve the contract. He needed the money.

But Jim died.. he died before he could fritter his money away.. he still had plenty of time to live off of his earnings.

One things for sure he'd have never played with another band for very long if he did go into music without the doors.... case in point.. how many bassists they had. Noone could tolerate Jim and stick it out with him longer then an album or two.

And all this stuff about Jim coming home complaining about the doors.... hey... you try working 10-12 hours and not be pissed at the people your working with... while your drinking on top of it.

[ensenada]

Holy shit Sara..thats some compiling for the time line you done...good stuff...i read the first part,. but have a lot of marking to do, so better read the rest later.
kudos for putting the time into getting that together though sara, thanks!

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

othercircles said:

For starters I dont trust the credibility of half those people. For seconds.. Jim was drunk and out of his mind half the time. He didnt know what the hell he wanted. I wouldn't say for sure he was going to come back any time soon.. but these things all take the biased attitude like Jim was just too good for them or something.

And that agreement wasnt just to stop Jim... while that may have been the intent at the time... it also was to prevent them from using the name without him either.... thats why we had this big trial last year.

So I don't wanna hear this bologna about them rehearsing with another singer while Jim was still alive. Their own contract would have stopped it.. but Jim dying changed things.

I think it was pretty smart of them really.. it's quite possible he could have just gotten other musicians and called it the doors.. and sadly most people wouldnt have cared and liked em just the same... however I think Jim just wanted to kick back and be lazy for awhile... and indulge in his "Avant Guard a clue" stuff. He was at a point in his career where people would have consumed any crap he put out. Now.. lets take Jim 10 years down the road say.....

It's 1981.. with the death of John Lennon, theres a beatle resurgence.. and everyone gets nostalgic... there starts to be a big 60's band resurgence... band after band from the 60's reuinites.. heres Jim.. having lost his entire fortune on Liquor, bad investments, moocher friends and failed projects. Here comes Elektra records with a big shit record deal for him to be heard again and make some money.. and a few million for a tour. Then you see how fast there'd have been a doors reuinion.

Throughout the 70's the doors had continued with a few different singers and decreased in popularity but still hung in there. But with Jim still alive... there was no legend to ruin the doors chances of being successful without him. They were able to pay him off to dissolve the contract. He needed the money.

But Jim died.. he died before he could fritter his money away.. he still had plenty of time to live off of his earnings.

One things for sure he'd have never played with another band for very long if he did go into music without the doors.... case in point.. how many bassists they had. Noone could tolerate Jim and stick it out with him longer then an album or two.

And all this stuff about Jim coming home complaining about the doors.... hey... you try working 10-12 hours and not be pissed at the people your working with... while your drinking on top of it.

Well I beg to differ as the amendment to thier agreement was designed solely to prevent Jim Morrison nicking The Doors name and moving them to Europe. Regardless of current events that was what the whole point of that shabby little document was for as the other 3 saw thier meal ticket drifting away from them. 30 years later its been proved right as not one of them (talented musicians all) has ever done a damn thing that was a success without The Doors name attached to it. Would Morrison have played with other musicians ....well he did on several occasions so its possible he would have been offered a better gig than playing with The Doors. Especially in England which was the hub of the rock music scene in the 70s so who knows what offeres he would have gotten from equally talented musicians over here.
It's well known that Jim had distanced himself with his bandmates and had nothing to do with working 10-12 hours with them....he no longer had any trust in them after they sold him out to Buick......also the band knew he had effectively left....Holzman knew it too....so auditioning singers was not only likely but sensible.....did Mike Stull rehearse with The Doors....God knows but nothing I have ever read about this leads me to believe that Morrison was coming back.....not even the phone call to John......as Rick said it was probably just something to say.
Sara documents a lot of 'evidence' to back up the opinion that Jim was no longer singing from the same hymn sheet as Ray, John & Robby........they had forgotten by 1969 what they had formed the band for in the first place.....Morrison may have been niave but he was always an artist....true he was also a piss artist and his girlfriend could spend his money faster than he could earn it but the idea that he would come running to Elektra when they offered a lucrative contract is to me not backed up by what we know about Morrison. Would he have made music again after 1971.......I for one would doubt it.....maybe a blues project but I have for many years been of the opinion he would have become part of Hollywood and then drifted toward an independent film movement....acting directing writing....who knows....first he would have had to conquer drinking.....but The Doors not in a million years........that is why I am always so scathing about those who argue that if he suddenly appeared he would be impressed by Ray's latest money making scheme......I doubt there would be that much that any of The ex-Doors could impress Morrison with this last 30 years.......Ray's Carmina Burana interpretation and poetry with McClure, Robby's jazz excursions and John's Tribaljazz would probably make him proud of them but not much else.....

[othercircles]

I'm not even talking about Jim using the doors name. I seriously doubt he would have tried that. He didn't hate the other 3 guys.. he hated the rock star gig.

Would Morrison have played with other musicians ....well he did on several occasions

Yea and it sucked. And thats just it "occasions". "Occasions" don't make a complete project to make something like an album or a tour.

[jym]

othercircles said:

For starters I dont trust the credibility of half those people.

Well, the first question arises is, which half? & of those witnesses Ray is a pretty major contributor to that, so is Ray in the half that's credible or not? The second is that nothing is brought to show a lack of creduality on anyone's part there.

I think Jim signed the thing because he didn't care what happened at that point. The other 3 were auditioning other singers at least informally by that point....

[strangenightvstone]

1981? Bob Marley died that year in Miami, probably murdered. Lennon had been murdered, Jim's best friend Bob "The Bear" Hite of Canned Heat died of a heart attack (over weight) in between sets at the Palamino Club in the San Fernando Valley.
This would have freaked Jim out if he had been around.
Maybe Jim would have been ready in 2004, but then on Dec. 8 , Jim's birthday, Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott was murdered on stage in Ohio at a night club. He was shot five times in the head by an ex- marine. Jim attracted crazy people, Dimebag's murder would have kept Jim off stage. The shooter then looked for Vinne Paul the drummer, Dimebags brother.

[TheWallsScreamedPoetry]

With the publication of the Cameron book we see that there was some real animosity between the band.
Jim attacked Ray in New York and was strangling the life out of him.
He pulled from the keyboard player before he did serious damage to Ray's vocal chords which may have prevented him speaking for the rest of his life

This is just one piece of the puzzle that when put together points to the fact that there would not have been a return to a four piece Morrison led Doors.


The Doors unhinged..Soft Parade cause & effect

Why did 'And The Doors' not trust Jim?

What if the doors had made a 7th album with Jim

40 Years On....should The Doors have carried on?

Jim gets sued by The Doors: when he is dead

[gizmo]

so jim used the saying don't shoot the pianoplayer, ray plays an organ