"If
the doors of
perception
were
cleansed,
All
things would
appear
INFINITE"
William
Blake
US group
formed in 1965, by James Douglas Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger,
and John Densmore.
The Doors
opened their career with a gig at London Fog Club in LA, Jim doing
vocals, Ray on keyboards, Robby
on bass,
and John playing drums. Early warning of a subsequent tempestuous
career came when they were
banned
from Whiskey A Go-Go a well know rock club, for the performance of
"The End", a half- spoken, half -
improvised
free-form epic song of apocalyptic imagery in which a young man murders
his parents. A born
rebel,
Jim claimed his own parents were dead, and dropped one "S" from his surname,
when in fact his mother
and father
were very much alive.
Morrison's
sense of theatrics aided him in acting out the fantasies, visions and fears
of late 60's young
America,
from the innocuousness of flower power to the often frightening aspects
of psychedelia and the
self-destructiveness
of drug culture. A charismatic figure on-stage, Morrison exuded animal
sexuality with a mere
glance.
The Hippy generation felt Morrison's political and philosophical statements
were diluted by innate
commercialism.
Those in authority rated them anarchical heresies and when, on-stage, he
not only urged
violence
resistance to police repression but advocated blatant sexualism,
he soon ran into trouble. He was
arrested
for using obscene language in New Haven, Connecticut, in December 1967,
and for indecent exposure
onstage
in Miami in March 1969.
Four years
of over-indulgence in sex, drugs, drink, philosophising, soul-searching,
and rock and roll finally
were taking
their toll. An angry, depressed and world weary Morrison quit the
Doors to live in Paris and write poetry.
On July
3, 1971 Jim was found dead in his bath tub, according to offical
records cause of death was a heart attack.
He is buried
In Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris, which also houses remains of many of
France's most famous
artists,
musicians, statesmen, and legendary eccentrics.
(The
Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock.....Mike Clifford)
This
is me below at Jim's grave....Feburary 1995
and
the french police are not nice either!
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