Jim Morrison

• Born: December 8, 1943
• Birthplace: Melbourne, Florida
• Died: July 3, 1971
• Place of death: Paris, France

American rock singer and songwriter

An enigma during his brief life, and a cult figure since his death, Morrison was a paradigm of the modern rock star. Lead vocalist and main lyricist for the popular counterculture group the Doors, he was alternately aloof and charismatic, given to excess between bouts of creativity.

Member of The Doors

The Life

James Douglas Morrison was born December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida. He was the first of three children of George Stephen Morrison—a World War II veteran and one of the Navy’s youngest admirals—and Clara Clarke Morrison. A sensitive, inquisitive child with a high IQ, Jim began reading and writing at an early age.

Like most military families, the Morrisons moved often. Jim adapted well to unfamiliar surroundings and excelled in schools in Virginia, Texas, New Mexico, and California. An event that greatly affected him and provided the catalyst for both the morbidity and the aboriginal shamanism that permeated his written work occurred in 1947 when, while driving through the New Mexico desert, the family passed a truckload of Indians involved in a bloody highway accident.

As he reached adolescence, Jim rebelled against the strict household discipline his father imposed. In his early teens he acquired a taste for alcohol and drugs, a habit he would maintain for the rest of his life. By the time Jim graduated in 1961 from high school in Alexandria, Virginia, he had broken with his family and lived with his grandparents in Florida, where he attended St. Petersburg Junior College. The following year he transferred to Florida State University to study theater and philosophy. In 1964 he transferred to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) film school, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1965.

Living a homeless, gypsy existence near Venice Beach, Morrison immersed himself in the counterculture and stepped up his ingestion of drugs, particularly LSD, which inspired a flood of written work. He encountered fellow UCLA student Ray Manzarek, a keyboardist with a struggling group who, impressed with Morrison’s poetry and presence, suggested they form a band. They recruited guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore from the Psychedelic Rangers. In 1965-1966 the fledgling band worked clubs on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, borrowing its name from Aldous Huxley’s book The Doors of Perception (1954), inspired by a quotation from British poet William Blake.

With a handsome, brooding, leather-clad lead singer and music that was an eclectic amalgam of rock, blues, jazz, and psychedelic, the Doors were an immediate sensation. By 1967 they had signed with Elektra Records, and a hit single, “Light My Fire,” propelled the band to an appearance on television’s The Ed Sullivan Show. Between 1967 and 1971 they released six studio albums that yielded a string of chart-toppers, plus live-performance and compilation albums.

Meanwhile, Morrison’s personal life disintegrated. Heavily involved in drugs and alcohol, he gained weight, grew a beard, and was named in numerous paternity suits, the result of indiscriminate liaisons with groupies. Morrison, engaged in a common-law marriage with girlfriend Pamela Courson, also wedded rock writer Patricia Kennealy in a Celtic ceremony. An outspoken opponent of authority and the war in Vietnam, Morrison became a target for law-enforcement agencies. He was arrested multiple times for drunkenness, profanity, disorderly conduct, and indecent exposure.

Morrison gave up stardom and fled to Paris, France, to compose poetry. He died there on July 3, 1971, a death shrouded in mystery. Though the official cause was recorded as a heart attack, there was no autopsy, and rumors abounded that he perished from a drug overdose, was murdered, or faked his own death and is still alive. His gravesite in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris remains a popular rock shrine.

The Music

From their formation in the volatile 1960’s, the Doors proved popular along the Sunset Strip, especially at the Whiskey A Go Go. They became known for dark, cryptic lyrics, set to melodies that wedded antiestablishment rock sensibilities, free-form jazz, drug-inspired improvisation, blues angst, and pop music. Compositions were true collaborative efforts: Morrison or Krieger usually introduced his lyrics to the group and sketched out rough melodies, Manzarek offered ideas for instrumentation and harmony, and Densmore provided rhythmic and tempo suggestions.

Despite the synergistic talents of other band members—Manzarek is widely recognized for solidifying the composition of much of the music, and Krieger wrote lyrics for such major hits as “Light My Fire,” “Touch Me,” and “Love Me Two Times”—Morrison, as sex symbol, front man, and underground rock poet, was always the center of attention. Outspoken and manic, the well-read Morrison wrote lyrics inspired by a multitude of sources, from nihilist German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to Decadent French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and from Beat writers such as Jack Kerouac to experimentalists such as James Joyce. A private person when not performing, Morrison before a crowd became an unconstrained showman. His behavior, abetted by whatever substance he had ingested, became increasingly unpredictable at live shows and recording sessions. As part of Morrison’s early act, he would fall off the stage into the audience, driving female fans wild. At other times, he would turn his back on the crowd, stop songs midstream to give antiauthoritarian tirades, flop around as though in the throes of an epileptic fit, or pretend to expose himself. Morrison’s natural baritone would range from a husky growl to a whispered croon to an incoherent mumble to a tortured shriek.

After Morrison’s death, the surviving members of the Doors continued to perform for a time, with Krieger and Manzarek handling the vocals on tours and on two additional albums: Other Voices and Full Circle. Neither album sold particularly well; the band broke up early in 1973.

The Doors.As professional recording artists, the Doors opened with a splash on the release of their best-selling self-titled first album. The Doors featured a mix of original songs and covers (including Howlin’ Wolf’s “Back Door Man” and the Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill “Alabama Song”). One notable original was “Break on Through (to the Other Side),” which the band promoted on film, the first of several early precursors to the music videos that today serve as typical marketing tools for singles and albums. Other cuts included “The End,” an eleven-minute musical drama presaging the extended jams that have become a staple, and “Light My Fire,” which rose to number one on American charts by the summer of 1967. Unusual for bands of the time or since, the Doors seldom employed a bass player for live shows (though they hired bassists for studio albums): Manzarek typically provided the bass lines left-handed on a Fender Rhodes keyboard and played melodic lines with his right hand on other keyboards.

Strange Days.A second album, released in 1967, the moody, atmospheric Strange Days, solidified the Doors’ reputation, producing a number of singles that charted well. Among these are “Strange Days,” “You’re Lost Little Girl,” “Love Me Two Times,” “People Are Strange,” and “When the Music’s Over.” Paradoxically, though Strange Days broadened the appeal of the band, it also cost the Doors the loyalty of early fans who believed the band had sold out their underground image for the sake of money and fame.

Waiting for the Sun.The Doors’ third album, Waiting for the Sun, went to number one on the charts and produced a top single, “Hello, I Love You.” More commercial and accessible than their first two albums, Waiting for the Sun nonetheless contained several politically charged tunes, such as the controversial antiwar anthem “The Unknown Soldier” and “Five to One,” which alludes to racism and the drug subculture.

The Soft Parade.An experiment that added horns and strings to the mix, The Soft Parade was also a commercial success, but it further alienated the Doors’ core fans for its blatant pop-music appeal. Written primarily by and largely credited to guitarist Krieger—previous albums had attributed lyrics only to “The Doors”—The Soft Parade yielded the standard “Touch Me,” but none of the songs hit the Top 40 charts. Except for vocals, Morrison contributed little to the album because he was inebriated during the recording and could not be relied upon to show up for sessions or perform as expected.

Morrison Hotel.With their bluesy fifth studio album, Morrison Hotel, the Doors returned to the sound that had made them famous. Morrison, struggling for sobriety, wrote most of the lyrics. The album yielded such standards as “Roadhouse Blues,” the acid-charged “Ship of Fools,” and the politically inspired “Peace Frog” and “Waiting for the Sun.” The album featured two noted guest artists: John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful played harmonica (as “G. Puglese”—he wanted to avoid the fallout from Morrison’s 1969 arrest and eventual conviction for obscenity and indecent exposure at a concert in Miami, Florida), and legendary blues guitarist Lonnie Mack played bass.

L.A. Woman.The final Doors studio album released during Morrison’s lifetime, L.A. Woman delivered on the blues emphasis hinted at in the previous album. In addition to the title tune, L.A. Woman produced such hit singles as “Love Her Madly” and “Riders on the Storm.”

Musical Legacy

The Morrison mystique—epitomized by “live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse”—and the Doors’ haunting sound continue to resonate with music lovers to this day. Their albums still sell well, and singles featuring their lead singer’s evocative voice appear on radio playlists worldwide. Interest in Morrison’s written work remains high, thanks to reprints of his self-published volumes of poetry, An American Prayer (1970) and The Lords and the New Creatures (1970), and the posthumous publication of such collections as Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume 1 (1988).

The Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. The group was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Their music, ironically for a group with a fierce counterculture stance, has also entered mainstream consciousness. Doors songs have been featured on television shows (such as The Simpsons), in numerous video games and commercials, and in many movies, including Apocalypse Now (1979), Forrest Gump (1994), The Lost Boys (1987), Girl, Interrupted (1999), and Jarhead (2005). The prototypical rock star, Morrison has served as the inspiration for dozens of antic lead singers, from Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant to Iggy Pop and Patti Smith.

Principal Recordings

albums (with the Doors): The Doors, 1967; Strange Days, 1967; Waiting for the Sun, 1968; The Soft Parade, 1969; Morrison Hotel, 1970; L. A. Woman, 1971.

Bibliography

Bangs, Lester. “Bozo Dionysus a Decade Later.” In Mainlines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader, edited by John Morthland. New York: Anchor, 2003. This collection of essays from the late rock critic delves into the lives of musical icons from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s and includes an examination of Morrison’s influence.

Butler, Patricia. Angels Dance and Angels Die: The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison. New York: Schirmer Books, 2001. Based on extensive interviews, police reports, and other documentation, this book dwells primarily upon the tortured relationship between Morrison and his common-law wife.

Davis, Stephen. Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend. New York: Gotham Books, 2005. A biography and psychological evaluation, this book traces Morrison’s life and influence from birth to death and beyond.

Manzarek, Ray. Light My Fire. New York: Berkley Trade, 1999. This is a memoir from Doors keyboardist Manzarek that chronicles the rise and fall of the band’s charismatic front man, Morrison.

Opsasnick, Mark. The Lizard King Was Here: The Life and Times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia. Philadelphia, Pa.: Xlibris, 2006. Self-published book focuses on Morrison’s formative years when he resided on the East Coast.

Sundling, Doug, and Danny Sugerman. Doors: Artistic Vision—Their Vision of America and Life Portrayed in Their Six Studio Albums. Collingdale, Pa.: Diane, 1996. Enhanced by photographs, this book concentrates on the music of Morrison and the Doors, as related by Sugerman, the band’s former manager.