Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Sept 22, 2007 9:29:58 GMT
Just another Dark Witness In The City Of Night!
The Ancient Rocker Mike Jahn talks to Scorpywag
In late 1970 early 1971 I was browsing through the racks of my local HMV shop when I happened to see among the extremely small selection of rock books the shop had something that immediately caught my attention. A book on The Doors.
With a gaudy purple cover and proclaiming Jim Morrison & The Doors I snapped it up and guarded it as I walked to the till it as if dozens of fellow shoppers were desperate to get their hands on it.
In fact Teesside was the exact opposite of a hot-bed of Doors activity and I knew not one person who even liked The Doors let alone claimed to be a fan.
All that would begin to change on July 3rd 1971 but at that moment all I cared about was I had a book about my favourite band.
Thirty odd years later I consider it still to be one of the best books written about The Doors. Capturing superbly a moment in time as the band make their debut on the stage of New York's Fillmore East.
The only book that gives a feel for the tension of a Doors concert it is one of the most sought after Doors books and Scorpywag was delighted when its author Mike Jahn agreed to chat with us.
Thanks For doing this interview with us Mike, could you please introduce yourself to the Doors4Scorpywag readers?.
I'm Mike Jahn.
I was the first rock critic of the New York Times and, for that matter, about the third guy anyplace who called himself a rock critic.
Preceding me were Paul Williams and Richard Goldstein. All three of us were involved with the Doors in one way or another.
I'm mentioned by name in Jim's obituary in Rolling Stone.
In it, Ben Fong-Torres wrote that Mike Jahn "preceded him [Jim] as the lizard king with his book on the Doors."
I have no idea what Ben meant by that. I asked him a few years ago and he said that he wrote the obit in a all-nighter in LA and has no idea what he meant.
I've been involved in any number of such all-nighters and understand perfectly.
I don't even like lizards. I grew up by the ocean on Long Island and spent 30 years in NYC. Ask me about clams and subways. I'm not religious (spiritual, very) and think I know what Jim was talking about. I just don't see how I fit into any of that. I suppose that Ben was talking about the passion with which I threw myself into writing my Doors book. I really got into it.
My book was "Jim Morrison and the Doors: An Unauthorized Book."
It was published in 1969 and was the first book written about the Doors.
I currently have a syndicated column, "the Ancient Rocker," that appears in a number of American newspapers.
What Drove you to write a book about Jim Morrison and The Doors?.
The Doors hit me right away. The second I heard them. They're absolutely unique and instantly recognizable (forgive me for not stopping to correct my spelling and grammar, please; I'm on a roll). they will never be reproduced.
No one will ever reproduced the Doors. No one will ever reproduce the Beatles. There is no one else you can say that about in the history of rock and roll.
They were very different from anything out there. I recently read in Mojo, the Brit music mag that everyone in America should read, that "the Doors scared the hell out of the hippies." This is true. The San Francisco psychedelic crowd had no idea what was going on with the Doors, with all that dark and brooding shit that had something to do with a mixture of hope, desperation, sex, death, and redemption. Watch the opening of Apocalypse Now and you will see.
Did you have any conversations with anyone in the "Doors Family" such as Bill Siddons etc while writing your book?.
Yeah, I talked to Bill. Also, Billy James.
And I met the guys, you know that.
The original deal was that they would cooperate with me in writing the book. That was the agreement I had with Bill.
So I spent half my $2000 advance going to LA for two weeks (I stopped off in San Francisco to catch the Who at the Fillmore). I stayed at the Chateau Marmont, which now is yuppified, I hear, but there was the Chelsea Hotel west, the place when non-rich bands stayed when they were in LA.
It was where Belushi flamed out. So I get to LA and suddenly the Doors want the other half of my advance. I was unable to convince them that it was ridiculous for the Doors to want half of Mike Jahn's money. I think I made $10,000 in 1968. Siddons seemed embarrassed.
It was my impression that Ray was the one who wanted my money.
So their participation went only as far as letting me meet then at Sunset Sound and watching while they laid down some rhythm tracks, as I recall.
That was the time that I shook Jim's hand and he collapsed onto the floor, writhing in fake pain and wailing "oh man, you broke my hand" while Ray looked down on him such as to say,
"very nice, Jim. Get up." I told this story in the book, and it's reproduced on my site, along with the lizard king shit and MY obituary of Jim.
And a lot of my opinions about missed opportunities.
What was the Response to your book from Doors fans when it first came out?
I never heard from anyone. Not a soul. The book came out and disappeared. Remember that we're talking about things that happened way early, before the third album even came out. As a matter of fact, it's been 35 years and I can't recall a single soul writing to say that they liked it, hated it, call me an asshole, or whatever. I get asked if I know about copies being available.
(they're aren't too many around. I have one. My son, a rock marketing guy, has one.) also, in the late 60s the attitude toward rock stars was way different than it is now. There was very little going crazy over meeting rock stars.
I'm not talking about girls and the Beatles, now.
In NYC and LA, at least, Hendrix would walk into the room and you'd say hi and he'd say hi back and no one fainted. I remember seeing him dozing on a park bench once, and no one went up and woke him up.
Oh, it's Jimi taking a nap.
In 1969 The Infamous Miami Concert took place, what were your thoughts on what went on and what do you think now of what Jim said at Miami?.
You know, I'm going to say something that will make you hate me. I didn't pay much attention to the Doors after Jim died.
Actually, writing that book in a blind white fury wiped me out.
By the end of 1968 I was fried on the subject of the Doors. In fact, 1968 fried me generally, as anyone who was a teenager or older that year would understand fully. It was the year that hell burned down.
I finished the Doors book around August, had several major personal upheavals in September, and went to work for the New York Times in October, and after that my life took a different direction.
I went from living the counterculture to writing about it. Very different thing.
I went from being kinda freaky myself to being the leading icon of "the pig press," as the politicos called it at the time.
So when I was done with the Doors, I was DONE. Especially after Jim died, I didn't want to hear anymore.
I remember sitting around Max's Kansas City with a couple of other writers right after Jimi and Janis died and someone asked me who's next. "Morrison,"
I said, and the guy told me, "never. That's too obvious."
When it happened, I thought, you asshole, Morrison.
You could have produced such great art and made so many people happy and you blew it by acting like a frat boy who didn't know how to hold his booze.
You know, there are many great blues and jazz musicians out there who managed to combine major art with major substance abuse and live.
One guy ... no names, now ... I went to see him backstage at Steve Paul's Scene in 1969. He was drinking Jack Daniels and shooting heroin, and asked me to hold the spoon while he put on the tourniquet (don't know how to spell that). To me, that's the legal definition of not giving a shit ... when you ask the guy from the New York Times, who is there to review your performance, to help you do smack. I did it, of course, being a gentleman.
The point of the story is that this guy is still alive, still out there, and still producing great music that makes his many fans happy,. It could have been the same with Morrison. He was stupid. He was selfish. It seems to me that his demons weren't all that demonic that he had to sacrifice himself to them.
So I was furious and didn't want to have anything more to do with the Doors.
I listened to their albums, at least up to the point of "The Soft Parade," then tuned out entirely. I never read any of the other books about him.
I didn't go to see the movie.
I considered Oliver Stone a fraud to begin with, having seen what he did with JFK. After getting the JFK thing so wrong, there was no way he could do justice to Jim. That was a along answer to y our question, but it stands in for some of the questions coming up. Regarding Miami, Jim was arrested for doing something that practically occurs on network TV these days. Same way that Lenny Bruce was persecuted into the grave for doing stuff that's pretty tame nowadays.
The cops were ridiculous in Miami. But it was, what? 1969? That's what you expected from cops. Cops were the enemies of kids. Period.
Straight To The Point on this one, Would you like to give your complete Honest Thoughts On Jim Morrison The Man?.
I think I answered that. He could have done more. As my wise friend David Walley, author of the definitive book on Frank Zappa and the wonderful "Teenage Nervous Breakdown," a sharp analysis of the 60s and beyond, says, Morrison shoulda come of age in New York, not LA. In New York he would 1. learn to drink and 2. be surrounded by thousands of other artists who would slap him around when he started taking himself too seriously. The first time he uttered "I am the lizard king," six guys woulda said, "how about THIS lizard king." Jim would learn to get a handle on himself and would still be around, still creating great art. David has a personal connection with Morrison, and he's right on the mark. In LA Jim was one of the few poets and came to take himself way too seriously. He needed the company of his peers and never got it.
What are your views on Jim's poetry?.
Fantastic imagery. Very broad images. Good use of feeling and color. Grab a hold of a copy of "Ulysses" one day and read parts of it aloud. Slowly and ALOUD, to yourself, savouring the way the words sound. Same thing with Morrison.
There have been lots of books about Jim been written since yours, what ones do you say give a true reflection of Jim?.
Didn't read any. Like I said, I had it.
When did you first hear of Jim's death and what was your first reaction?.
I expected it by the time it happened. I cried when Jimi died, because I knew him and liked him and he seemed like such a happy guy and I didn't think he would kill himself. With Jim, anyone could see it coming. Shoulda come of age in NYC, like I said. He'd still be with us.
Looking Back Now. What do you think Jim tried to achieve by leaving the States to live in Paris?.
Get away from the cops. Like I said, if you weren't a draft age kid with long hair in the late 60s you have no idea. I'm not especially fond of Ray Manzarek, you know, but he had a point when he told Rolling Stone, I think it was, that "we can't let the fascists joke about the Sixties and the counter culture." Too much was at stake. My generation ... Jim's generation, we were about the same age ... stopped a war, but we took casualties. He fled to avoid being another one. I can understand that.
think of all the stories that surround his death, what one do you believe to be the truth?.
I erased part of that question. Sorry. I suppose that the most recent speculation about Jim's death, in the 2004 book by someone or other, is correct. It sounds about right.
Again, he flew LA and went to Paris, where he fell in with another set of people who coddled his self-destructive tendencies. He really needed someone to tell him to get the fuck off it. He didn't need another waitress to bring heroin.
What is your take on The Poetry Album "An American Prayer", do you think it has an important place in the poetry world?.
Sorry. Haven't read it. Same explanation as before.
What do you make of the Pilgrimages to Jim's Grave In Paris, France?.
It's probably therapeutic for the people who do it. I would probably go see the grave were I in Paris, but I wouldn't fly to Paris for that reason alone. I'm already experienced with flying long trips to go see Doors.
What are your views on the other members of the doors-Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore?.
Manzarek is wooden. Plays like a wooden soldier. Good riff-monger, though. Krieger is one of those instantly recognizable guitarists. You turn on the radio and you can tell in half a second if it's Krieger. He's vastly underrated.
John is a great drummer and a nice guy. Went out of his way to say hello at Woodstock, even though the Doors and I weren't exactly talking at the time.
I like what John is doing with his life ... TribalJazz and benefits ... a lot more than what the other two are doing.
What did you think of Ray And John's books telling of the times they spent with Jim and The Doors?.
Didn't read 'em. Sorry again.
The Doors Of the 21st Century- Your Thoughts?.
Yeah, well I wouldn't spend $150 to go see a British punker sing eight or nine Doors songs, but I'm still broke.
If I had the money and he were still alive, I'd go see Jim again.
What did you think of"No One Here Gets Out Alive"By Jerry Hopkins And Danny Sugerman when it came out?.
Sorry again. Sorry about Danny Sugarman. Didn't know him, but sorry. Same thing as George Harrison. No one should smoke.
With This Interview at it's end, would you like to give a statement to Doors fans on Issues that you feel Need setting Straight about Jim/The Doors?
No one is so big that he can't be told when he's fucking up.
Rock needs a lifeguard service where someone goes, "yo, asshole, outta the pool! There's a whole bunch of people who really like having you around.":
Thanks for your time Mike for doing this Interview.
Thanks for the opportunity. Enjoyed it.
Stuart Henderson from Falkirk Scotland. January 2005
The Ancient Rocker Mike Jahn talks to Scorpywag
In late 1970 early 1971 I was browsing through the racks of my local HMV shop when I happened to see among the extremely small selection of rock books the shop had something that immediately caught my attention. A book on The Doors.
With a gaudy purple cover and proclaiming Jim Morrison & The Doors I snapped it up and guarded it as I walked to the till it as if dozens of fellow shoppers were desperate to get their hands on it.
In fact Teesside was the exact opposite of a hot-bed of Doors activity and I knew not one person who even liked The Doors let alone claimed to be a fan.
All that would begin to change on July 3rd 1971 but at that moment all I cared about was I had a book about my favourite band.
Thirty odd years later I consider it still to be one of the best books written about The Doors. Capturing superbly a moment in time as the band make their debut on the stage of New York's Fillmore East.
The only book that gives a feel for the tension of a Doors concert it is one of the most sought after Doors books and Scorpywag was delighted when its author Mike Jahn agreed to chat with us.
Thanks For doing this interview with us Mike, could you please introduce yourself to the Doors4Scorpywag readers?.
I'm Mike Jahn.
I was the first rock critic of the New York Times and, for that matter, about the third guy anyplace who called himself a rock critic.
Preceding me were Paul Williams and Richard Goldstein. All three of us were involved with the Doors in one way or another.
I'm mentioned by name in Jim's obituary in Rolling Stone.
In it, Ben Fong-Torres wrote that Mike Jahn "preceded him [Jim] as the lizard king with his book on the Doors."
I have no idea what Ben meant by that. I asked him a few years ago and he said that he wrote the obit in a all-nighter in LA and has no idea what he meant.
I've been involved in any number of such all-nighters and understand perfectly.
I don't even like lizards. I grew up by the ocean on Long Island and spent 30 years in NYC. Ask me about clams and subways. I'm not religious (spiritual, very) and think I know what Jim was talking about. I just don't see how I fit into any of that. I suppose that Ben was talking about the passion with which I threw myself into writing my Doors book. I really got into it.
My book was "Jim Morrison and the Doors: An Unauthorized Book."
It was published in 1969 and was the first book written about the Doors.
I currently have a syndicated column, "the Ancient Rocker," that appears in a number of American newspapers.
What Drove you to write a book about Jim Morrison and The Doors?.
The Doors hit me right away. The second I heard them. They're absolutely unique and instantly recognizable (forgive me for not stopping to correct my spelling and grammar, please; I'm on a roll). they will never be reproduced.
No one will ever reproduced the Doors. No one will ever reproduce the Beatles. There is no one else you can say that about in the history of rock and roll.
They were very different from anything out there. I recently read in Mojo, the Brit music mag that everyone in America should read, that "the Doors scared the hell out of the hippies." This is true. The San Francisco psychedelic crowd had no idea what was going on with the Doors, with all that dark and brooding shit that had something to do with a mixture of hope, desperation, sex, death, and redemption. Watch the opening of Apocalypse Now and you will see.
Did you have any conversations with anyone in the "Doors Family" such as Bill Siddons etc while writing your book?.
Yeah, I talked to Bill. Also, Billy James.
And I met the guys, you know that.
The original deal was that they would cooperate with me in writing the book. That was the agreement I had with Bill.
So I spent half my $2000 advance going to LA for two weeks (I stopped off in San Francisco to catch the Who at the Fillmore). I stayed at the Chateau Marmont, which now is yuppified, I hear, but there was the Chelsea Hotel west, the place when non-rich bands stayed when they were in LA.
It was where Belushi flamed out. So I get to LA and suddenly the Doors want the other half of my advance. I was unable to convince them that it was ridiculous for the Doors to want half of Mike Jahn's money. I think I made $10,000 in 1968. Siddons seemed embarrassed.
It was my impression that Ray was the one who wanted my money.
So their participation went only as far as letting me meet then at Sunset Sound and watching while they laid down some rhythm tracks, as I recall.
That was the time that I shook Jim's hand and he collapsed onto the floor, writhing in fake pain and wailing "oh man, you broke my hand" while Ray looked down on him such as to say,
"very nice, Jim. Get up." I told this story in the book, and it's reproduced on my site, along with the lizard king shit and MY obituary of Jim.
And a lot of my opinions about missed opportunities.
What was the Response to your book from Doors fans when it first came out?
I never heard from anyone. Not a soul. The book came out and disappeared. Remember that we're talking about things that happened way early, before the third album even came out. As a matter of fact, it's been 35 years and I can't recall a single soul writing to say that they liked it, hated it, call me an asshole, or whatever. I get asked if I know about copies being available.
(they're aren't too many around. I have one. My son, a rock marketing guy, has one.) also, in the late 60s the attitude toward rock stars was way different than it is now. There was very little going crazy over meeting rock stars.
I'm not talking about girls and the Beatles, now.
In NYC and LA, at least, Hendrix would walk into the room and you'd say hi and he'd say hi back and no one fainted. I remember seeing him dozing on a park bench once, and no one went up and woke him up.
Oh, it's Jimi taking a nap.
In 1969 The Infamous Miami Concert took place, what were your thoughts on what went on and what do you think now of what Jim said at Miami?.
You know, I'm going to say something that will make you hate me. I didn't pay much attention to the Doors after Jim died.
Actually, writing that book in a blind white fury wiped me out.
By the end of 1968 I was fried on the subject of the Doors. In fact, 1968 fried me generally, as anyone who was a teenager or older that year would understand fully. It was the year that hell burned down.
I finished the Doors book around August, had several major personal upheavals in September, and went to work for the New York Times in October, and after that my life took a different direction.
I went from living the counterculture to writing about it. Very different thing.
I went from being kinda freaky myself to being the leading icon of "the pig press," as the politicos called it at the time.
So when I was done with the Doors, I was DONE. Especially after Jim died, I didn't want to hear anymore.
I remember sitting around Max's Kansas City with a couple of other writers right after Jimi and Janis died and someone asked me who's next. "Morrison,"
I said, and the guy told me, "never. That's too obvious."
When it happened, I thought, you asshole, Morrison.
You could have produced such great art and made so many people happy and you blew it by acting like a frat boy who didn't know how to hold his booze.
You know, there are many great blues and jazz musicians out there who managed to combine major art with major substance abuse and live.
One guy ... no names, now ... I went to see him backstage at Steve Paul's Scene in 1969. He was drinking Jack Daniels and shooting heroin, and asked me to hold the spoon while he put on the tourniquet (don't know how to spell that). To me, that's the legal definition of not giving a shit ... when you ask the guy from the New York Times, who is there to review your performance, to help you do smack. I did it, of course, being a gentleman.
The point of the story is that this guy is still alive, still out there, and still producing great music that makes his many fans happy,. It could have been the same with Morrison. He was stupid. He was selfish. It seems to me that his demons weren't all that demonic that he had to sacrifice himself to them.
So I was furious and didn't want to have anything more to do with the Doors.
I listened to their albums, at least up to the point of "The Soft Parade," then tuned out entirely. I never read any of the other books about him.
I didn't go to see the movie.
I considered Oliver Stone a fraud to begin with, having seen what he did with JFK. After getting the JFK thing so wrong, there was no way he could do justice to Jim. That was a along answer to y our question, but it stands in for some of the questions coming up. Regarding Miami, Jim was arrested for doing something that practically occurs on network TV these days. Same way that Lenny Bruce was persecuted into the grave for doing stuff that's pretty tame nowadays.
The cops were ridiculous in Miami. But it was, what? 1969? That's what you expected from cops. Cops were the enemies of kids. Period.
Straight To The Point on this one, Would you like to give your complete Honest Thoughts On Jim Morrison The Man?.
I think I answered that. He could have done more. As my wise friend David Walley, author of the definitive book on Frank Zappa and the wonderful "Teenage Nervous Breakdown," a sharp analysis of the 60s and beyond, says, Morrison shoulda come of age in New York, not LA. In New York he would 1. learn to drink and 2. be surrounded by thousands of other artists who would slap him around when he started taking himself too seriously. The first time he uttered "I am the lizard king," six guys woulda said, "how about THIS lizard king." Jim would learn to get a handle on himself and would still be around, still creating great art. David has a personal connection with Morrison, and he's right on the mark. In LA Jim was one of the few poets and came to take himself way too seriously. He needed the company of his peers and never got it.
What are your views on Jim's poetry?.
Fantastic imagery. Very broad images. Good use of feeling and color. Grab a hold of a copy of "Ulysses" one day and read parts of it aloud. Slowly and ALOUD, to yourself, savouring the way the words sound. Same thing with Morrison.
There have been lots of books about Jim been written since yours, what ones do you say give a true reflection of Jim?.
Didn't read any. Like I said, I had it.
When did you first hear of Jim's death and what was your first reaction?.
I expected it by the time it happened. I cried when Jimi died, because I knew him and liked him and he seemed like such a happy guy and I didn't think he would kill himself. With Jim, anyone could see it coming. Shoulda come of age in NYC, like I said. He'd still be with us.
Looking Back Now. What do you think Jim tried to achieve by leaving the States to live in Paris?.
Get away from the cops. Like I said, if you weren't a draft age kid with long hair in the late 60s you have no idea. I'm not especially fond of Ray Manzarek, you know, but he had a point when he told Rolling Stone, I think it was, that "we can't let the fascists joke about the Sixties and the counter culture." Too much was at stake. My generation ... Jim's generation, we were about the same age ... stopped a war, but we took casualties. He fled to avoid being another one. I can understand that.
think of all the stories that surround his death, what one do you believe to be the truth?.
I erased part of that question. Sorry. I suppose that the most recent speculation about Jim's death, in the 2004 book by someone or other, is correct. It sounds about right.
Again, he flew LA and went to Paris, where he fell in with another set of people who coddled his self-destructive tendencies. He really needed someone to tell him to get the fuck off it. He didn't need another waitress to bring heroin.
What is your take on The Poetry Album "An American Prayer", do you think it has an important place in the poetry world?.
Sorry. Haven't read it. Same explanation as before.
What do you make of the Pilgrimages to Jim's Grave In Paris, France?.
It's probably therapeutic for the people who do it. I would probably go see the grave were I in Paris, but I wouldn't fly to Paris for that reason alone. I'm already experienced with flying long trips to go see Doors.
What are your views on the other members of the doors-Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore?.
Manzarek is wooden. Plays like a wooden soldier. Good riff-monger, though. Krieger is one of those instantly recognizable guitarists. You turn on the radio and you can tell in half a second if it's Krieger. He's vastly underrated.
John is a great drummer and a nice guy. Went out of his way to say hello at Woodstock, even though the Doors and I weren't exactly talking at the time.
I like what John is doing with his life ... TribalJazz and benefits ... a lot more than what the other two are doing.
What did you think of Ray And John's books telling of the times they spent with Jim and The Doors?.
Didn't read 'em. Sorry again.
The Doors Of the 21st Century- Your Thoughts?.
Yeah, well I wouldn't spend $150 to go see a British punker sing eight or nine Doors songs, but I'm still broke.
If I had the money and he were still alive, I'd go see Jim again.
What did you think of"No One Here Gets Out Alive"By Jerry Hopkins And Danny Sugerman when it came out?.
Sorry again. Sorry about Danny Sugarman. Didn't know him, but sorry. Same thing as George Harrison. No one should smoke.
With This Interview at it's end, would you like to give a statement to Doors fans on Issues that you feel Need setting Straight about Jim/The Doors?
No one is so big that he can't be told when he's fucking up.
Rock needs a lifeguard service where someone goes, "yo, asshole, outta the pool! There's a whole bunch of people who really like having you around.":
Thanks for your time Mike for doing this Interview.
Thanks for the opportunity. Enjoyed it.
Stuart Henderson from Falkirk Scotland. January 2005