My reply is not in response to anyone elses posting. My reply is my input to the topic.
I believe when Jim escaped LA and went to Paris it was for two reasons, the first being to get away from the image he had helped to create and second to distance himself from a possible prison term.
It's been said by some that Jim slowed down on his drinking when he went Paris......I find that hard to believe. I think reality hit him in the face and he had to except the fact that he was alcoholic. All the chemicals in mass quanities had gone through his body at one time or another which may have caused his immune system to partially shut down. Your liver can only filter out so much shit before it starts failing. Like Grace Slick pointed out in the documentary, "The Doors In Europe." Jim probably had ingested a similar quanity of drugs prior to the night of July 2 and nothing had happen previously, but on July 2 the roulette wheel spun around and said not this time. And Jim died like so many other addicts had done before.
As for Jim using heroin.....in his state of mind he was looking to kill thought and this drug was faster and accessible at the time. I'm under the impression Jim was also looking beyond alcohol to quell his addiction to alcohol. Opates such as heroin is a step up from his usual routine and had the ability to knock you out instantly with little consumption compared to alcohol.
Sometimes it's a good reminder to remember Jim was only 27 years old. I can scarely remember what my state of mind was at 27 years old....I had an addiction I remember that, but as far as wanting to stop.......it would take four more years for me to change my lifestyle and no one could talk me out of what I was doing to myself.
People who are not famous experience some of the same self induced challenges in life as celebrities the only difference being that the celebrities end up in the gossip columns and other folks end up in regular newspapers, but even if your rich or poor its equal terms when it comes to an obituary.
I know from experience that an addict will not except help from anyone until the addict wants to confront his addiction and ask for help. Without the addicts cooperation in wanting to help themselves any outside interference would not be fruitful. Considering Jim's stature at the time I don't think anyone could have stopped him from doing what he wanted to do.
Alex I agree with your sentiments pointing out Jim wanting to leave the band in the summer of 1968 after reportedly saying he was having a nervous breakdown. We know how this scenario turned out Ray talked Jim into giving the band another 6 months.....another 6 months paved the way for the fiasco that was Miami. After Miami the band did fall apart from what it once was with band members generally staying away from each other with the exception of the few gigs and contractual obligations to the record company.
Prior to leaving LA Jim did forefill his obligation to the other members of the band and ended his contract with Elektra and in a sense it would seem he felt some kind of relief from the music business. Of course a jail sentence was hanging over his head but he chose to leave the States anyway.
John Densmore speculated in his May 4 1999 statement " I begged Ray for us to get off the road for years, until finally he agreed in New Orleans. Maybe, just maybe, if he'd listened to me, and stopped pushing for MORE, Jim might still be alive." I'm sure John ment well by this quote but it's difficult to say had Jim left the band in 1968 how his life would have turned out. He certainly could not have made a living selling poetry books but then again in 1968 he still had a chance to get his looks back and maybe gain some respect in the motion picture business.
Jim's dead, how did he die? From self indulgance doesn't matter from what substance. The self indulgance came with the lifestyle he chose to live. And let me point out, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore did not live the lifestyle Jim Morrison did. They witnessed it yes, but they didn't live it. Manzarek and Krieger both admit that they stayed straight to balance out Jim addictions........(now of course Ray has a different story conjured up in his mind of what went on) By their own admission of staying straight what did that do for Jim's welfare? Not a damn thing. They still urged him on to perform which Jim no longer had the heart to do, but with the help of alcohol and drugs he got by this obligation. It seemed as long as the money was rolling in and the obligations forefilled Jim's welfare wasn't a concern.
Just by reading Manzarek's book LMF you'll see that the chapter titled, "Miami" begins on page 310.....you only have 42 pages until the end of the book. What happened to Manzarek's recollections from Miami - March 1969 to Paris, France 1971? What kind of relationship did Jim's self appointed best friend and himself have at this period in time? Was it Manzarek's intentions of helping Jim out after the Miami fisaco and if so why didn't Manzarek include his good intentions in his biography?....oh yes, how incorrect of me....Manzarek claims he's working on Volume 2 so hopefully the answer will be in there.
I'm of the opinion based on the information I have read Jim died in the bathtub because he was put there in an attempt to revive him from an overdose and instead he died.
I don't believe anyone could have stopped Jim from doing what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it......only when Jim decided he wanted help from his addictions would he have made an attempt to change his lifestyle. Even if Jim wanted to change his lifestyle theres still the question of what damage had been done that could or would have sent him to an early grave no matter what kind of intervention was available.
