Ray Manzarek on the death of Jim Morrison

[Music] on July 3rd 1971 Jim Morrison died in Paris under what can only be called mysterious circumstances we don't know what what happened to Jim in Paris and I don't think we're ever gonna know what happened at Jim in Paris and the last time I saw Jim was in the recording studio when we were doing finishing up the album la woman and that's actually the last time Jim Morrison was in a recording studio the last time he ever sang to my knowledge on planet earth certainly the last time you were saying with the doors but the last recording session the last time Jim Morrison ever saying what the doors was that haunted little whisper voice of riders on the storm on the LA a woman album and after he did that he said I'm going to Paris I said whoa what a good idea man I thought it was an excellent idea he said you guys he said we're close to being finished here we've got most of the mix is done we only got a couple more songs to mix everything sounds great why don't you guys just go ahead and finish up and that was kind of unusual too cuz Jim would always be around he wouldn't he wouldn't leave I mean you know he wouldn't be there for all the mixing but he'd certainly come in to listen to the final mixes the final takes and the final mix and to hear the final album so for Jim to actually leave before he heard the entire finished album was very unusual I should have realized something was up at that time but he said go ahead and finish it up you know you get two or three songs everything sounds great man I'm leaving tomorrow for Paris am's already over there's a little apartment and got it all set up she left a couple of weeks before me and I'm gonna join her over there in Paris we said well that's interesting Paris huh how long you gonna be over there you know I don't know a couple of months six months I don't know maybe maybe even a year who knows man I don't know and I said you know that's a good idea dude because we had finished our electric contract we had done delivered the requisite amount of recordings to Elektra Records our contract was concluded and we were now a free and clear band to re-sign with electro if we wanted to sign with another record company to do whatever we wanted or do nothing you know to take a long break and just think about man-god existence and life and we had a little bit of money in the bank from the record sales so we were free to do anything we wanted so Jim was going to go to Paris and I said that's a great idea I actually get away from your drinking buddies get away from the bad companions and the hangers-on that were always glomming on to Jim and taking him to the bar and Jim was always paying and he would Wine and Dine these sort of near duel friends of his quote/unquote friends and they were just sucking up his energy and sucking his vital essence and keeping him away from being a poet he would sit in the bar and talk all this energy away you know he wouldn't he wouldn't be home writing I mean what he should have been doing was writing instead of talking it out and staggering in way past the midnight hour far too late and Pam was always mad at him because he was always running around and getting drunk with his friends and so Pam and Jim had a stormy relationship and I think to make things up with her he was going to go to Paris with her why they had picked Paris I have no idea they could they should have gone to London it would have been a lot better and but they went to Paris for some reason or another but I thought that's great Paris is great because that's the City of Light the city of artists an American in Paris Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Henry Miller and man that's just get get away from all of this LA stuff and this whole rock and roll thing and become a poet again become the guy that I knew back in Venice a guy that I knew in film school at UCLA the write or the artist the good guide a good human being the funny human being the intelligent sensitive energized young man that I knew back in Venice and I thought this is gonna be great go to Paris and do it man start to write again start to become an artist just be an artist again don't be a rock star be an artist and off he went and he said I'll see you brother and I said okay man you know just stay in touch and we'll talk to you in a while he went off to Paris and you know we didn't hear anything from Jim one way or the other for about a month and a half two months record had come out la woman was doing great people say the door sir back the critics of the doors are back with their intensity and power once again and critics loved it and the sales were doing very nicely and lubber Madley was a hit single so yet a hit single on an album that had some great long songs riders on the storm an LA woman in like that and Jim called John Densmore and asked John how the record is doing and John said oh man it's doing great you know it's racing up the charts and people love it then Jim said I it's terrific man he said man as soon as I get back we got to go on the road I want to play those songs live you know I mean we never got to play those songs live John said to him exactly man boy I'd love to play la woman and riders on the storm we could take a bass player with us and Jim said yeah why don't we take that guy that played with us at Jerry Scheff guy man we'll take him on the road with us and John said yeah that's a great it will take him maybe we'll take the guitar player maybe nod maybe we'll get some other guitar player at least take the bass player along and Morrison said boy I can't wait to play those songs soon as I get back man let's book a little tour what do you say and John said okay man when you coming back and Jim said I don't know you know I'm having a pretty good time you know I mean I'll be I'll be here for a while yet and John said okay man well you know next time I talk to you yeah stay cool enjoy yourself and I was like in the middle early June that was early June and then by July 3rd that was hit man I got a phone call of telling me that Jim Morrison is dead a phone call from this guy that was our manager and he called and said I just got a phone call from Paris saying that Jim Morrison is dead and I said I get out of here I don't believe it man Jim Morrison Jim Morrison said Paul is dead there was a lot of everybody's dead that that type ball is dead because he was walking across the street on the Beatles album Abbey Road and he was walking out of step and he didn't have shoes on and in Italy if you don't have shoes on that means you're a corpse he had a suit but no shoes that's how they bury a corpse and see he's out of step with the other three guys that means he's dead you know people were starting to get a little death obsessed Manson had happened and you know they the whole thing was getting a little weird you know obviously the Kennedys were dead and Martin Luther King was dead so people are starting to think my god Vietnam the ghosts you know this planet was filled with ghosts of dead young soldiers and Vietnamese women and children Vietnamese soldiers they were hovering on the planet so a starting to get a little spooky on planet Earth so you know I said I I don't believe it Manas there's death rumors you know because Jim there was a funny story Jim and that we were at a party you know and and Jim was supposed to be at the party didn't come was a little late coming to the party somebody runs in and says Jim Morris has just been killed in an automobile accident but oh my god oh my god five minutes later Jim walks in the door we said Jim Jim I thought you were dead he said no no rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated you know always quoting somebody a Mark Twain quote and how you you know and then it was another time he had fallen out of a window and he was supposed to be dead so when I heard the story that Jim Morrison was dead I said have it's ridiculous madness there's more that there are no death stuff and this guy said no no this time I think it's serious I said well you know I'm certainly not going to Paris to check out some silly rumor you know and he said don't worry I've got a 12 o'clock flight this is like 8 o'clock in the morning so I got the twelve o'clock flight to Paris I'm going over there and okay fine well find out this time what do you mean I mean just I said him I said make sure just make sure this time will you three four days later I get a phone call this guy says to me we just buried Jim Morrison this is I kind of Friday or sad it was Friday I think maybe was Saturday I forget Friday or Saturday Monday it was either Monday or Tuesday morning we just buried Jim Morrison I said what so what are you talking about said yeah I said wait a minute this is like a rumor this is not a rumor there's not a silly little paranoid fantasy you mean he's dead yeah he's dead we put the coffin in the ground cemeteries called pere lachaise cemetery it's right in Paris beautiful old cemetery Edith Piaf is there and Isadora Duncan is there and Heloise and Abelard and you know Celine may be buried there for all I know Chopin is there and Moliere is there so there's a lot of artists are beautiful old I said care who's there man I don't wait a minute what happened I don't know I don't know what happened oh yeah I mean was he hit by a truck or something no no his heart stopped his heart stopped what are you talking about it I said how's he look how does he look and this guy said I don't know I never saw the body hold it what do you mean you didn't see the body it was a sealed coffin they buried a sealed coffin I said you mean you don't you you didn't say open let me see Jim Morris I want to see Jim Morrison dead you're telling me Jim Morrison is dead show me Jim Morrison dead as a manager of the band you say that's our lead singer that's Jim Morrison let me see Jim Morrison dead Jim Morrison was never seen dead that coffin was put in the ground covered over and that was it I said that's it that's all I know man I'm telling you what I know I was here I he's dead he's dead Pam was all broken up I'm telling you it was Pam was just crying and weeping and everything and you know I mean I I just couldn't bring myself to open the coffin I said oh god no we're waiting for Jim to come back you know we're working on some songs John and Robbie and I are getting together you know every Tuesday and Thursday a couple of hours in the afternoon putting some little beauties together work on some tunes a little of this a little that keeping the chops up were writing some songs I'd started writing some stuff John was working on some songs himself and we're taking this opportunity to do some woodshedding as they call it and work on some tunes and waiting for Jim to come back and all of a sudden assuming of course that Jim's coming back all of a sudden Jim Morris and it's not only is he not coming back Jim Morrison is dead Jim Morrison will never be seen again your buddy your pal your friend your brother your soul mate the guy Dionysus I played Apollo to his Dionysus and Apollo and Dionysus I'm never gonna hug again are never gonna make love again on stage you're never gonna make art together you

Channel: Kontrol Bug

Views: 1,148,437

Rating: 4.8630428 out of 5

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Id: Cf68Y5G2Po8

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 03 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/marbul83]

Great video, thank you

[u/Scooter59]

Ray was the man 💘