The Doors part 3
Jim Morrison
So much has been written about Jim that there’s little I can add save for my own opinions/slant. He was a lot of things: rock star, reluctant sex symbol, poet, southern gentleman, a voracious reader, a pretty intelligent and rebellious guy who questioned everything and tested everyone… but the big one that eclipsed all of these was alcoholic.
Jim was a severe alcoholic, and it ended up dominating his life and most certainly heavily contributed to his death at 27.
He didn’t start out that way – when he was recruited by Ray on that beach, he was more or less a weed smoking / LSD-taking hippie living on a rooftop, always reading a book, and writing poetry/songs. And he would likely have been happy if that was his life – Jim was a true “take it as it comes” guy. Even at their peak, he cared little for success / making more money, often carrying nothing more than a driver’s license with him, relying on friends and the Doors business end to handle his tabs / debts.
But as success came, and with it the public’s increasing focus on his good looks, he started to rebel against that. Rebelling was his thing – he rebelled against his family in Florida (his father was a domineering Navy admiral), even telling reporters they were dead. He rebelled against any authority (got arrested on stage once for berating a cop – this is one part of the movie that’s pretty accurate), and, after initially embracing it with the leather suits and such, he even rebelled against being a sex symbol.
And he started to drink. A lot. Jim was not a good drunk either – from all reports, he was one of those guys who became impossible to be with unless you were as drunk as him. He could be mean, cruel, and eventually get so drunk that he’d sloppily pass out after maybe pissing himself. That type of drunk.
In the beginning he was a prolific frontman – everyone wanted to see Jim’s antics and hear what he had to say. But as the alcohol creeped into it a Doors show became 50/50 thing. If he was just buzzed and “on” it could be epic. If he got hammered, it was a trainwreck. He’d berate the audience, start songs and end them without warning, etc. The other three Doors were getting fed up.
His appearance also changed markedly. The clean-shaven, sleek leather-clad icon became bloated and bearded guy who was drunk more often than not.
But he always loved the music, and had a heck of a voice for the type of music they did. This is evident by their last two albums. Even with Jim seemingly a shell of himself, the bluesy Morrison Hotel (Jim would have been a fine old Bluesman), and LA Women are fantastic albums, with many considering the latter their best (it’s right there with the first one for me).
After LA Woman was recorded, he took off to Paris with Pam, his main girl who was with him the entire time (despite there being many other women). He wanted to take a break: just be anonymous, write poetry, etc. But he continued drinking, and there are some reports of heroin (which Pam liked). By most accounts Jim was never into that, but we’ll never really know the truth.
Jim died in Paris on July 3, 1971. Heart attack in the bathtub was the report, but it’s real sketchy as to what really happened, and there are very conflicting reports. And thanks to Ray, the “did he fake his death” became a thing. He was buried there, and his gravesite remains a tourist destination even today.
I tend to believe the heart attack thing myself. He squeezed an immense amount of living into those 5 years of Doors success, and it caught up to him. But it was a good ride, and they are one of my favorite bands.