Jim Morrison

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James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (Melbourne, Florida, December 8, 1943-Paris, France, July 3, 1971) was an American singer-songwriter and poet, famous for being the lead singer of the famous rock band > The Doors. Due to his songs, personality and performances, he is considered by critics and fans as one of the most representative and influential singers in the history of rock, and, due to the dramatic circumstances that surround his life and death, in the latter part of the 20th century, he was one of the icons of rebellion in popular culture, representing the generation gap and youth counterculture.

He was also well known for improvising passages of spoken word poetry while the band performed live. Morrison was ranked at number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and number 22 on the "50 Greatest Rock Singers". i>" of Classic Rock magazine. Ray Manzarek said that Morrison "embodied the rebellion of the hippie counterculture". Morrison is sometimes referred to by other nicknames, such as The Lizard King (The Lizard King).

In later life, Morrison developed a dependency on alcohol. He died at the age of 27 in Paris; it is alleged that he may have died of a heroin overdose, but as no autopsy was performed, the exact cause of his death is disputed.Morrison's grave is in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in eastern Paris.

Biography

The birth of the rock and roll It coincided with my adolescence, my entrance into consciousness. It was a real connection at the time and then. Although I could not afford to fantasize rationally to make that bond myself. I guess all that time I was unconsciously gathering information and listening. So when it finally happened, my subconscious had prepared everything.
Jim Morrison, in a 1969 interview for the magazine Rolling Stone

Early Years

Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, on December 8, 1943. His parents were George Stephen Morrison, an American soldier (admiral of the first nuclear ship) of Scottish and English descent, and Clara Virginia Clarke, of Irish origin. He had two siblings: Anne and Andy Morrison.

Since he was a child, and due to his father's profession, his family moved to various cities in the United States, for which he lived in various military bases (at the age of fourteen he had already had seven homes).

It is believed that this type of life without attachment to places or people deeply affected their way of being. He wrote poetry, painted something and read voraciously. From a very young age he was fascinated by literature and poetry.

Youth

Morrison, 19, was arrested in Tallahassee after making a joke while drunk in a football game.

He studied at Florida State University and later film at UCLA in Los Angeles, being part of the same generation as the famous filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who, years later, would use the theme The End as his introductory soundtrack for Apocalypse Now, a film set in the Vietnam War.

He decided to focus on what he always considered his true vocation: poetry. With that intention, she moved to Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California, living on the roof of a building or in the houses of some women.

This was a time of discovery for Jim Morrison. On the one hand, the approach to the psychedelic drugs that so fascinated him, such as peyote, marijuana and LSD (reportedly his favorite), courtesy of authors such as Baudelaire and Aldous Huxley, and on the other, the birth of the hippie culture that flourished everywhere and of which he lived surrounded. Despite his innumerable lovers, he was always by Pamela Courson's side, who forgave him for her infidelities. Jim Morrison said of her that he was her soul mate, her cosmic love. His vision of his world was somewhat removed from fundamental hippie issues, such as the approach to the spirit through meditation, vegetarianism or astrology. He read complex texts for the majority. One of his professors told his biographers that he used to go to the Library of Congress to check if some of the books he claimed to have read existed.

The Doors

With the intention of spreading his poetry, Morrison showed a couple of works that could be set to music. Ray Manzarek asked me to sing one for him and, timidly, on the sand in Venice, he sang the first verses of "Moonlight Drive." Listening to him, Manzarek was surprised by his talent and asked him to form a rock band, which Jim accepted "to win a million dollars", as they would comment when they were already famous. After several changes in the members of the group, they ended up forming The Doors: Ray Manzarek on keyboards, Robby Krieger on guitar and John Densmore on drums (the latter two coming from The Psychedelic Rangers group), in addition to Jim's voice. Morrison.

Promotional photo of The Doors in late 1966.

The name they chose comes from the title of the essay The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley, on mescaline, inspired in turn by the quote by William Blake that says: «If the doors of perception were purified, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite» («If the doors of perception were cleaned every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite»).

After playing many concerts in Los Angeles venues, they landed a contract to play at the bar known as Whiskey a Go Go. Night after night they played their most popular songs, among which was a long song composed based on improvisations called "The End". Morrison added or subtracted verses from her at will, depending on his mood. One day, after consuming large amounts of alcohol, marijuana and LSD, he had to be dragged to the bar by his coworkers and somehow managed to make him sing. Arriving at the performance of "The End", as he always did, he began to improvise over the music, but that moment would end up being part of not only the legend of The Doors but the rock imaginary in general. Morrison composed live a brief and original version of the tragedy Oedipus the King , by Sophocles, in which Oedipus, by chance, ends up killing his father and marrying Jocasta, the mother of he.

Father? (Father?)
Yes, are they? (Yes, son?)
I want to kill you... (I want to kill you.)
Mother?
I want to... fuck you!

In the version recorded for their first album, this last phrase will be replaced by a scream from Morrison. In any case, for the owner of the premises, that was too much and he threw them out while, according to what it is said, the entire public screamed with emotion. Paul A. Rothchild, producer and then owner of the record company Elektra Records, was there that night and followed the group to the back door, where he expressed his admiration and suggested they make a record as soon as possible.

Jim Morrison singing in 1967.

In 1967 the group released their first album, called simply The Doors. It was with the single "Light My Fire", written entirely by Robbie Krieger, with which the group remained at the top of popularity in Billboard magazine for several weeks during the famous Summer of Love in 1967.

It is worth noting the marked change that Morrison experienced until he became the star of the group The Doors. During his childhood and adolescence he had many personality problems, which made him a very insecure person.

His greatest influence, as a singer and in terms of the stage environment, was Elvis Presley, whom he never met or saw in concert but whose repertoire he knew practically, especially what was produced on the Sun Records label, as Mystery Train, which he performed many times at his live concerts. The biggest obstacle for her to join the group was that she suffered from stage fright. In the first concerts he even sang with his back to the audience.

The impact that drugs had on him was such that he became an expert on the subject, becoming interested in shamanism, given its close relationship with peyote.

His provocative attitude on stage, disturbing public order, caused his concerts to be banned in several cities in the United States.

Los Angeles motel room where Jim Morrison lived between 1968 and 1970, currently covered with graffiti from his fans.

The Doors gained national recognition after signing with Elektra Records in 1967. The single "Light My Fire" spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between July and August 1967. This was something very different from The Doors' previous experiences, opening shows for Simon and Garfunkel and playing high schools in Connecticut. The Doors later performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular Sunday night television show where The Beatles and Elvis Presley also performed in the United States. Ed Sullivan requested two Doors songs for the show: "People Are Strange" and "Light My Fire". Sullivan insisted on his censorship for The Doors to change the choruses of the song "Light My Fire", from "Girl we couldn't get much higher" to "Girl we couldn't get much better" ("Girl, we couldn't be more stoned" by "Girl, we couldn't be better") for viewers. This was understood and perceived as a drug-related reference in the original choruses.

Jim Morrison in Copenhagen in September 1968.

The recording sessions for the third album in April were very tense as a result of Morrison's increasing dependence on alcohol. Nearing the height of their popularity, The Doors played a series of outdoor events, leading to frenzied confrontations between fans and police, particularly at the Chicago Coliseum on May 10.

The band began to vary their material from their third LP, Waiting for the Sun, tired of their original repertoire, and began to write new works. This became his first #1 LP, and the single "Hello, I Love You" was his second, and last, US #1 single. The album also includes the song "The Unknown Soldier", for which they directed another video clip, and "Not to Touch the Earth", taken from their legendary concept piece, Celebration of the Lizard, although they were unable to record a satisfactory version of the entire piece for the LP. This piece of music was released years later on a greatest hits compilation, and on his album Absolutely Live.

Incident in New Haven

On December 9, 1967, The Doors gave an infamous concert at the New Haven Arena in New Haven, Connecticut, which ended abruptly when Morrison was detained by local police. Morrison thus became the first rock artist to be arrested on stage during a concert.

Morrison was having a sexual encounter with a girl backstage in a bathroom shower stall before the start of the concert, when a police officer ran into them. Not realizing that he was the lead singer of the band about to perform, the official told Morrison and the girl to get out, to which Morrison replied, "Eat it."

The cop pulled out a pepper spray and warned the singer, "Last chance to get the hell out of here, this place is for The Doors only," to which Jim replied, "I'm The Doors." The girl ran and Morrison was attacked, but Manzarek recounts in his book that both Jim and the girl were gassed, and that the concert was delayed for an hour while Jim recovered. The cop finally apologized to Jim and said, "I thought you were just a boy," to which Jim sarcastically replied, "Just a boy? Hey?".

Halfway through the first set of issues, Morrison made a speech to the audience, describing what had happened. Jim was recounting what he was doing with a girl backstage. «I will tell you something that happened to me an hour ago. I was having fun with a girl, when one of those pigs dressed in blue arrived, mocking the policeman who had assaulted him. "That pig sprayed me in the eye," Jim said as the audience stirred, and he continued to recount what had been done to him as he taunted the cops by saying, "Yeah! those pigs dressed in blue, with his hat,” to which the policemen in front of the stage turned one by one to look at Jim. The concert ended when Morrison was dragged offstage by police, taken to a local police station, photographed and booked on charges of inciting a riot, indecency and public obscenity. The charges against Morrison, as well as those against three journalists also detained in the incident (Mike Zwerin, Yvonne Chabrier and Tim Page) were dropped several weeks later for lack of evidence.

The Soft Parade

After a month of outrageous performances at the Singer Bowl in New York, The Doors went on their first tour outside the United States, a mini tour of Europe. The band held a press conference at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and played at the Roundhouse theatre.

The results of the trip were televised on the British network Granada Television, in a show called The Doors Are Open, released several years later on video. The band played a few more shows in Europe, including a show in Amsterdam without Jim Morrison, after he had a breakdown from drug use. Morrison returned to London on September 20 and stayed there for a month.

The group played nine more shows in the United States, and set to work on their fourth LP. 1969 will be a difficult year for The Doors, but it begins with a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in New York on January 24 and a hit single, "Touch Me" (released December 1968), which reached No. #3 in the United States.

That month Morrison attended a theater production that changed the course of his life, and that of the group. At the Bovard Auditorium The Living Theater at the University of Southern California, he takes the stage with a show that invited people to drop their inhibitions and break through to freedom. This sparked Morrison's quest for freedom, leading to an impromptu session the following afternoon, February 25, the legendary "Rock is Dead" session, on sale on the 1997 Box set, leading to one of the most controversial accounts of Morrison's life.

Miami incident

The incident occurred on March 1, 1969, at Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Florida. The 6,900-seat auditorium had been overbooked to double the hall's capacity, and the fans were sweltering and without air conditioning. From the moment the band walked across the stage, Morrison began yelling into the microphone:

Now listen to me, I'm not talking about no revolution, I'm not talking about not manifesting."
I'm talking about having a good time, I'm talking about having a good time this summer. All of you come to L.A., get out of here, we're gonna lie down in the sand and bury our fingers in the ocean, and we're gonna have a good time. Are you ready, ready, ready, ready, ready, ready, ready, ready?
Now listen to me! I used to think this whole thing was a big joke. I used to think it was something to laugh at. Then these last night I met some people who were doing something they were trying to change the world! I want to join that trip! I want to change the world. Change it. I did... change it.

After a few minutes Morrison changed his tone:

Now listen to me, I'm not talking about no revolution, I'm not talking about not manifesting. I'm talking about having fun! I want to see everyone standing and dancing! I want to see them dancing on the street this summer! I want to see them have fun. I want to see them run around. I want to see them painting the city. I want to see them making noise. I want to see them scream. I want to see fun. I want to see your fun!!!

The recording draws to a close with the following words:

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO! Do it! Do it! Do it!

The incident remains inconclusive. Morrison said: "I spent a lot of time on the Miami trial. Almost a year and a half. But I suppose it was a valuable experience because before the trial I had a childish and unrealistic view of the American judicial system. My eyes have opened a little."

Although the Miami incident damaged the gang's reputation, Morrison was somewhat reassured by its results. He then said: "I think it was just feeding the image that was being created around me... and I put an end to that in one glorious afternoon."

Although Morrison received much of the attention, including his image on record sleeves, he was adamant that all band members should receive equal recognition. Before a concert at which the entertainer announced the group as "Jim Morrison and The Doors", Morrison refused to appear until the group was announced again as "The Doors".

While Morrison never felt close to his family, he was extremely protective of his gang members. He reportedly once told Ray Manzarek that he never felt comfortable in a social situation unless this or another band member was with him. He somehow saw The Doors as his replacement family.

He consistently turned down every opportunity to record a solo album that was offered to him.

Absolutely Live

In the last two years of his life, Jim Morrison cut back on his use of psychedelics and began drinking excessively, which soon affected his performance in the study. Apparently to escape the "Lizard King" image, which had dominated him, Morrison grew a full beard, forcing Elektra to use photos taken earlier in her career for the Absolutely Live cover, released in 1970.

The album features performances recorded on The Doors' 1970 tour, the 1969 concert at the Aquarius Theatre and includes a full version of "The Celebration of the Lizard".

The only public appearance during this time was on a PBS television special recorded in April, and broadcast the following month. The group played songs from the follow-up album, The Soft Parade, including a splendid version of the track of the same name.

Performances at Aquarius Theatre

The group continued their tour at the Chicago Auditorium Theater on June 14, and played two dates at The Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood on July 21 and 22, both later released on CD. They were a new type of Doors concert, where the emphasis was on the band and people having a good time.

The bearded Morrison wore baggier clothing and steered the band in a more bluesy direction, with songs like "Build Me A Woman," "I Will Never Be Untrue," and "Who Do You Love." His voice still did not lose its power, and the band could dazzle with their presentations of "When the Music's Over" and "Celebration of the Lizard."

Poetry and cinema

Morrison began writing seriously during his teens. At UCLA he studied fields related to theater, film, and cinematography. He self-published two separate volumes of his poetry in 1969, titled The Lords / Notes on the Vision and The New Creatures. The Gentlemen consists primarily of a brief description of places, people, events, and Morrison's thoughts on film. The New Creatures are verses that are more poetic in structure, feel, and appearance.

These two books were later combined into a single volume entitled The Lords and the New Creatures. These were the only works published in Morrison's lifetime. Morrison befriended Beat poet Michael McClure, who wrote the afterword to Danny Sugerman's biography of Morrison, Nobody Gets Out Here Alive. McClure and Morrison reportedly collaborated on several film projects that never came to fruition, including a film version of McClure's controversial play The Beard, in which Morrison reportedly played Billy the Kid.

After his death, two more volumes of Morrison's poetry were published. The content of the books was selected and organized by photographer Frank Lisciandro, a friend of Morrison's, and the parents of his girlfriend Pamela Courson, who owned the rights to Morrison's poetry.

The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison appeared in Wilderness Volume I, and, upon its release in 1988, became an instant New York Times bestseller. >. Volume II, The American Night, released in 1990, was also a success. Morrison recorded his own poetry in a professional sound studio on two separate occasions. The first was in March 1969 in Los Angeles, and the second on December 8, 1970.

This latest recording session, which was attended by personal friends of Morrison's, included a variety of sketch pieces. Some of the 1969 session segments were released on the bootleg album The Lost Paris Tapes and were later used as part of the album Doors An American Prayer, published in 1978.

The album reached number 54 on the music charts. Some poetry recorded at a session in December 1970 remains unpublished to this day and is in the possession of the Courson family. Better known, but rarely seen, is Morrison's film work, HWY: An American Pastoral, a project that began in 1969.

Morrison financed the film and formed his own production company in order to maintain complete control of the project. Paul Ferrara, Frank Lisciandro and Babe Colina collaborated on it. Morrison played the title character, a murderous hitchhiker and car thief. Morrison asked his friend, composer and pianist Fred Myrow, to select the score for the film.

Personal life

The Morrison Family

Morrison and his father on the USS bridge Bon Homme Richard January 1964.

Morrison's early life was a nomadic existence typical of military families. Jerry Hopkins interviewed Morrison's brother, Andy, who explained that their parents chose not to use physical punishment such as spanking their children. Instead, they instilled discipline and meted out punishment in the military tradition of yelling and berating children until they were reduced to tears and acknowledged their faults. Once Morrison graduated from UCLA, he broke all contact with his family. When Morrison's music rose to the top of the charts (in 1967) he had not been in communication with his family for over a year and was falsely claiming that his parents and siblings were dead (or, as he had been widely misinformed, that he was an only child).

This misinformation was published as part of the materials distributed with The Doors' debut album. George Morrison did not support his son's career choice in music. One day an acquaintance of his brought a record that he thought had Jim on the cover. The album was the self-titled debut album by The Doors. The young man played the record for the father and the Morrison family. After listening to the recording, Morrison's father wrote him a letter telling him to "give up any idea of singing or any connection to a music group due to what I consider to be a complete lack of talent in this direction". In a letter to the Florida District Probation Office dated October 2, 1970, Morrison's father acknowledged the failure of family communications as a result of a discussion about his assessment of his son's musical talent.. He said that he couldn't blame his son for being reluctant to initiate contact and that he was proud of him nonetheless.

Relationships

Morrison met his partner of many years, Pamela Courson (1946-1974), before he had fame and fortune, and she encouraged him to develop his poetry. At times, Courson used the last name "Morrison," with her apparent consent, or at least her lack of concern. Following Courson's overdose death on April 25, 1974, the California probate court decided that she and Morrison had what qualified as a common law marriage. Morrison and Courson's relationship was stormy, with frequent heated arguments and periods of separation. Biographer Danny Sugerman surmised that part of their difficulties may have stemmed from a conflict between their respective commitments to an open relationship and the consequences of living in such a relationship.

In 1970, Morrison participated in a pagan Celtic ceremony with rock critic and science fiction/fantasy writer Patricia Kennealy. Before witnesses, one of them a Presbyterian minister, the couple signed a document declaring themselves married, but none of the documents necessary for a legal marriage were filed with the state. Kennealy discusses her experiences with Morrison in her autobiography Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison and in an interview recorded in the book Rock Wives .

Morrison also allegedly had regular sex with "groupies" such as Josephine Karcz who wrote a novel about their night together, and numerous short flings with women connected to the music business or print media. These include Nico, the singer associated with The Velvet Underground, an on-off relationship with 16 Magazine's Gloria Stavers as well as an alleged alcohol-induced intimate encounter with Janis Joplin. David Crosby said many years later that Morrison had mistreated Joplin at a party at the home of television host John Davidson while Davidson was out of town. She allegedly attacked him with a bottle of liquor in front of witnesses, ending up doing so. their only meeting. At the time of his death there were at least three paternity actions pending against him, although no claims were made against his estate by any of the purported paternity claimants.

Death

Jim Morrison apartment in Le Marais, Paris, France.

On the morning of July 3, 1971, Pamela Courson found him dead in the bathtub of her apartment in the Le Marais neighborhood of Paris, France, where they lived together (although there are many other versions of his death, including the idea of a suicide and murder). He stated that he died of cardiac arrest, according to his death certificate.

There are people who question the official version, stating that the circumstances were somewhat strange. It is said that Jim's father took his son's body from the cemetery to take it to the United States, but sources at Père Lachaise, the famous cemetery where he was buried, say that no one can take a body without the administration knowing. Even the very fact of his death was questioned. Other versions state that he overdosed on heroin (which he was not fond of) in the toilets of the Parisian Rock & # 39; n & # 39; Roll Circus and was later transferred to his house.

There is no doubt that he had been a habitual user of various types of drugs (LSD, cannabis and peyote) and, it is said, he always defended the use of these psychoactive substances. However, it is not likely that he used heroin, mainly because he had a diagnosed needle phobia. In fact, when he surprised his girlfriend Pamela injecting herself, he went in search of the supplier, an acquaintance of both, to beat him up.

The tomb of Morrison in Père Lachaise with the inscription in Greek: ΚY: Τy Τy Τyr Δym Δymοn Εysyr ουrself', photographed in August 2008.

It is said that cocaine was also his favorite drug due to its "accelerator" effect. However, he mostly used the drugs proposed by the hippie community to achieve states of balance and peace, as well as plenty of alcohol.

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for The Doors, stated:

“If there is a guy capable of staging his own death—creating a ridiculous death certificate and paying a French doctor—put a hundred-fifty bag inside the coffin and disappear somewhere on this planet—Africa, who knows—that guy is Jim Morrison. He would be able to take all this to good port”.

Jim Morrison died at the age of 27 along with other famous musicians such as Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse (Club of 27). His epitaph is written in ancient Greek ( & # 34; ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ & # 34; ) which translates as & # 34; faithful to his own spirit & # 34; (or & # 34; according to his own demon & # 34;). His tomb has been vandalized on numerous occasions and a marble bust of the artist placed on the tombstone was even stolen.

Marianne Faithfull revealed to the British magazine Mojo in August 2014 that Jean de Breteuil allegedly supplied high-purity heroin to Jim Morrison, thus being responsible for his death.

Artistic influences

Jim Morrison Memorial in Berlin, Germany.

His greatest influence, as a teenager and as a singer and in terms of the stage environment, was Elvis Presley, whom he never met or saw in concert, but who knew practically all of his repertoire, especially what Presley produced on the record company SUN, such as "Mystery Train", which he performed many times at his live concerts.

Another of his musical influences was Frank Sinatra, whose baritone voice he tried to imitate.

Another vital influence on Jim Morrison's life and literary work were the poets Wallace Stevens, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud.

Morrison later met and befriended Michael McClure, a well-known poet. McClure had enjoyed Morrison's lyrics, but was even more impressed by his poetry and encouraged him to further develop his craft.

Morrison was especially drawn to the myths and religions of Native American cultures. While he was still in school, his family moved to New Mexico, where he knows some of the places and artifacts important to the indigenous cultures of the American Southwest.

These interests appear to be the source of many references to creatures and places such as "ancient"lizards, snakes, deserts, and lakes. that appear in their songs and poetry. His interpretation of the practices of Native American shamans translated into parts of Morrison's musical routine, most notably his performance of the Ghost Dance, and a song on his later poetry album, Song Ghost.

Regarding the literary influence on Jim Morrison, certain writers stand out. Morrison was very close to the French rebel poets, such as Paul Verlaine or Arthur Rimbaud. The song "Wild Child", from his album The Soft Parade, is supposedly dedicated to the latter, due to a verse that ends the song: "Remember when we were in Africa?&# 3. 4; ("Do you remember when we were in Africa?"), which would mention Rimbaud's passage through this continent. Other French writers, such as Louis-Ferdinand Céline, left their mark on the singer. The song "End of the Night" would be linked to Céline's book Journey to the end of the night.

Legacy

Morrison was, and still is, one of the most popular and influential singer-songwriters in rock history. The Doors' catalog has become a staple source for classic rock radio. To this day Morrison is widely considered the epitome of a rock star: surly, sexy, outrageous, and mysterious. The leather pants that he liked to wear both on stage and off became stereotypical rock star clothing.

In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine placed Jim Morrison fifth on its list of the greatest singers of all time. The band Iggy & The Stooges said they formed after singer Iggy Pop was inspired by Morrison while he was attending a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of Iggy Pop's most popular songs, "The Passenger", is said to be based on one of Morrison's poems.

After Morrison's death, Iggy was considered a replacement for The Doors singer. The surviving Doors gave him some of Morrison's belongings and hired him as vocalist for a series of shows.

Wallace Fowlie, emeritus professor of French literature at Duke University, wrote about Rimbaud and Jim Morrison in the book The Rebel as Poet, A Memoir. Fowlie recounts his surprise at receiving a letter from a Morrison fan who, in 1968, thanked him for his latest translation of Arthur Rimbaud's verse into English. "I don't read French easily," he wrote, "...the book travels with me." Fowlie went on to lecture at numerous universities comparing the life, philosophy, and poetry of Morrison and Rimbaud.

Layne Staley, the late lead singer of Alice in Chains, Scott Weiland, the late lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, James LaBrie of Dream Theater, as well as Scott Stapp of Creed, all have claimed that Morrison was their greatest influence and inspiration.

Both Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver have covered "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors. Weiland also filled in for Morrison to perform "Break On Through (To The Other Side)" with the rest of the members of The Doors. Stapp filled in for Morrison on "Light My Fire," "Riders on the Storm," and "Roadhouse Blues" on the VH1 Storytellers show.

Jim Morrison Grafiti in Paris, France.

Creed performed his version of "Roadhouse Blues" with Robby Krieger for the 1999 Woodstock Festival. The book The Doors: Through the Remaining Doors quotes Morrison's close friend Frank Lisciandro as saying that many people took Morrison's comment that he was interested in rebellion, disorder, and chaos "to mean that he was an anarchist, revolutionary, or worse, a nihilist". Hardly anyone realized that Jim was reaffirming Rimbaud and the Surrealist poets. Whereas Jim's "Bird Of Prey" you can hear the entire song "Sunset" by Fatboy Slim.

Morrison's grave is featured in one of the rock band Bon Jovi's video clips. The Argentine rock band Divididos created a cover of the song "Light My Fire". Professional wrestler John Hennigan's character is named after John Morrison, inspired by Jim Morrison, and the name of his finishing move, "Moonlight Drive", was taken from a song by The Doors. The band Radiohead mentions Jim Morrison in their song "Anyone Can Play Guitar", stating, "I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be Jim Morrison."

Singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey mentions Jim Morrison in the song "Gods & Monsters", which refers to a libertine and wild lifestyle. In the song she sings: "No one will take my soul away / I'm living like Jim Morrison". In 2012, she covered the song "Roadhouse Blues", and stated that it is one of her biggest inspirations for her.

Alice Cooper in the liner notes for the album Killer said that the song "Desperado" is about Jim Morrison. U2's Bono's leather pants in "The Fly," a character on the Achtung Baby and subsequent Zoo TV Tour, are inspired by Jim Morrison. On their 2008 album The Hawk Is Howling, post-rock band Mogwai title the opening track "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead".

The song "The Irony of Dying on Your Birthday" by the band Senses Fail features the lines: "I wanna die like Jim Morrison / A f ***** g rockstar / I wanna die like God on the cover of Time / Just a blink and it's gone / So baby pour some fame in my glass".

In June 2013, an analysis of fossils uncovered those of a lizard, one of the largest ever known, that lived in Burma, and was given the scientific name Barbaturex morrisoni in honor of it. to Morrison. "It's a big lizard, and he was 'Lizard King,' so it just fits," said Jason Head, a paleontologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Discography

Annex:Discography of The Doors

Filmography

Screenwriter

2003: A festin d'amis.
2000: Love Her Madly.
1969: HWY: An American Pastoral.

Actor

1969: HWY: An American PastoralLike the hitchhiker.
1967: The O'Keefe Centre Presents: The Rock Scene - Like It Is.
1965: InductionLike an extra.

Producer

1970: Feast of Friends.
1969: HWY: An American Pastoral.

As a character

Val Kilmer gave life to the singer in the film about The Doors directed by Oliver Stone in 1991. He has also appeared as a character in:

2009: Lives and Deaths of the Poetsplayed by Lou Zammichieli.
2008: Girl Nui (TV program, episode 2.4), played by Carlos Areces.
2003: My Dinner with Jimi, played by Bret Roberts.
2000: Isn't she great (She's unique.), played by James Villemaire.
2000: The Linda McCartney Story, played by Aaron Grain.
1997: Dark Skies (TV, episode: "The Last Wave"), played by Brent David Fraser.
1993: Wayne's World 2 (Let me go!), played by Michael A. Nickles.
1992: The Ben Stiller Show (TV program, episode: "With Sarah Jessica Parker"), played by Dana Gould.
1992: Death Becomes Her (Death feels so good), played by Dave Brock.
1991: The Doorsplayed by Val Kilmer and Sean Stone.
1984: Down on Us, played by Bryan Wolf.

Documentaries

The following documentaries feature Morrison:

When You're Strange (2009)
The Doors: No One Here Gets Out Alive (2009)
Final 24: Jim Morrison (2007)
The Soft Parade, a Retrospective (1991)
The Doors: Dance on Fire (1985)
The Doors: A Tribute to Jim Morrison (1981)
Feast of Friends (1969)
Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1968)
Live in Europe (1968)
The Doors Are Open (1968)

Books in Spanish

The book American PrayerJim Morrison.

SongsBasics, col. Spiral n.o 80, 1988, includes the English and Spanish lyrics of the songs written by Morrison of the seven official albums of The Doors, in addition to the poems

An American prayer (An American Prayer1970),

The eye (The Eye, 1968)

Oda to Los Angeles (Ode to L.A.1969).

Translation and prologue by Alberto Manzano

PoemsBasics, col. Spiral No123, 1988, includes, in bilingual version,

The new creatures. Notes on vision (The New Creatures. Notes on Vision, 1968)

The lords (The Lords1969).

Translation by Alberto Manzano

Desert. Poems IIBasics, col. Spiral n.o 163, 1993, includes, in bilingual version,

Poems 1966-1971,

Far Arden,

Dry water

The tapes of the village. Poems recorded on 7 December 1970.