Who was REALLY behind the downfall of Jim Morrison? Sunset Strip and “WORST Influence on His Life”

[Music] 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 who was really behind the downfall of Jim Morrison imagine a shy bookish Jim Morrison with so much talent and a promising future ahead an incredible mind asking thought-provoking questions of himself and the world around him he is on a burning path exploding like a supernova but as his star is burning bright he quickly begins to deteriorate it doesn't take much for one person to ruin it for everyone they say and there are lots of theories when it comes to Jim Morrison we will hear theories from a few who knew Jim best and we will hear from the man himself let's journey through Jim Morrison's life to understand his struggles his gifts his time with other iconic bands on the Sunset Strip his tormented relationships and his methods for coping then we will step through his last 24 hours before Jim's tragic early death and you can decide for yourself who you think was really behind the downfall of the one and only Jim Morrison I go out on a stage and I howl for people in me they see exactly what they want to see some say the Lizard King whatever that means or some black clad leather demon whatever that means but really I think of myself as a sensitive intelligent human being but with the soul of a clown that always forces me to blow it at the most crucial moment I'm a fake hero a joke the gods played on me Jim Morrison he is often described as an anti-authoritarian but in one of Jim Morrison's incredible insights he States once you make peace with authority you become the authority so this begs the question did Jim Morrison have a problem with authority or did Authority have a problem with Jim Morrison Jim Morrison The Reckless sensitive menacing intellectual Bohemian whose electrifying live performances would make even carox de Mora's jaw drop one of the most visited locations in Paris is not French but American Jim Morrison's grave site his wild Antics are well known and he is often referred to as an unlucky member of the 27 Club but of all of the musicians in this tragic urban legend Jim is the one most profoundly cemented in the Public's Consciousness we recognize in Morrison something we desire to Express within ourselves an untamed Jim Morrison who questions the need to be enslaved by status and conformity Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne Florida to a military family his father was a Naval aviator who Rose to the rank of Admiral George Morrison was the commander during the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident that helped ignite the Vietnam War if someone would have told George that one of his children would grow up to be a counterculture icon going on to write songs such as peace frog and the Unknown Soldier he would have never believed them Jim lived a nomadic Life as a child moving from state to state Florida Virginia New Mexico California and so on by age 16 Jim Morrison had already moved schools nine times whenever his strict military father got reassigned so did the family imagine Jim going into a new school a new teacher with new kids in the third grade the sixth grade the ninth grade and on and on knowing how welcoming kids always are to newcomers you can just feel the dread and anxiety Jim felt with each new move on the first day at his new school learning a new system and schedule to follow each time you can imagine Jim seeing and over hearing a group of kids who grew up together and had a strong bond laughing and teasing each other with familiarity while Jim sat an outcast probably wishing he could have that type of lifelong Bond over time it probably led to Jim not caring what others thought of him because he would not have been able to stay long anyway so Jim turned to books for companionship he was an Avid Reader he read everything and then he also wrote he would write in a he had a book and he would this was in high school he would learn a new word and then he'd write a whole story around it so his vocabulary was incredible while Jim dealt with a mostly absent father away working in the military who was quite strict on his children went home and then not being able to form a bond for long enough with anyone other than his family he developed something rare his identity was not molded by a community he belonged to Jim developed an ability to create himself into whoever he wanted to be he became more attached to his favorite writers such as William Blake Albert Camu Jack kowak Alan Ginsburg as well as the characters from their stories in an excerpt from a Jim Morrison biography no one gets out of here alive Morrison's senior year English teacher later said Jim read as much and probably more than any student in class but everything he read was so offbeat I had another teacher who was going to the Library of Congress check to see if the books Jim was reporting on actually existed I suspected he was making them up as they were English books on 16th and 17th century demonology I'd never heard of them but they existed and I'm convinced from the paper he wrote that he read them and the Library of Congress would have been the only source Jim's military father explained in an interview that he took Jim to tour Navy ships and showed him around but Jim had no interest in joining the Navy when Jim graduated from high school in 1961 he asked his parents for the complete works of Nicha as a graduation present a testament to his bookishness from the outside the Morrison family may be viewed as a picture of the American family dream but on the inside a storm is brewing inside of Jim Morrison one can see that Jim's natural tendency would be to develop his inner life as his outer world was too unstable Jim Morrison's entire life pattern can be understood in the context of escapism as a child he begins to escape loneliness with his books then later in his teenage years he begins to escape with alcohol then at age 19 Jim is arrested for the first time for being drunk at a Florida state seals football game was it the loneliness of not belonging in or was it kowak wild stories of characters like Dean mariatti that began to influence Morrison's non-conformity I just thought he would be a beat Nick and be poor all his life I even spent one whole night crying about it worrying that he was no one was going to ever realize his talent because I knew he wouldn't compromise and become a plumber or I knew he wasn't going to just do anything we see Jim begin to pull away from his family to go on his own path after making the dean list his freshman year at Florida State Morrison decided to transfer to UCLA to study film because film was a relatively new academic discipline there were no established authorities something that greatly appealed to the free-spirited Jim Morrison there are no experts so theoretically any student knows almost as much as any Professor he explained about his interest in film while studying film Jim is also writing poetry during this period the Vietnam war is ramping up and the draft is ongoing Jim begins to lose interest in film and prefers writing but knows that if he drops out of school he will be drafted so he stays Jim Morrison graduates from UCLA in 1965 only because in his own words I didn't want to go into the army and I didn't want to work and that's the damn truth after Jim graduated he is living a Bohemian lifestyle and living in Venice Beach when he comes across his film school friend Ry manzer at the beach they begin chatting and Jim tells him about some songs he has been writing and Ray convinced a reluctant Jim Morrison to share with him and at first he was very shy like oh I don't have that much of a voice and I'm like who cares man Bob Dylan doesn't have a voice and he's like the biggest thing going right now Ray continues he closed his eyes and he started to Bob to himself and started singing Moonlight Drive and he said do you like it they formed the doors with some of Ray's other friends Jim on vocals Ray Maneri on organ Robbie ker on guitar and John Densmore on drums as ker puts it the first time we played together we thought we were as good as the stones as good as anybody on the scene we could at least see that there was a lot of potential there the freethinkers that Jim is gravitating to like the writers he has been immersed in may have been the key ingredient to the new sound that the doors created a Crockpot of different influences and ideas thrown together to create something special they became Fearless in their improvisation approach to their music Jim's father tells him to get a job and that he should not waste his time on being in a rock group as he did not have a talent for singing the doors begin to perform gigs on the Sunset Strip a shy Jim Morrison who does not think he is a good singer often keeps his back to the audience during performances initially Jim could not play any instruments so he had to think of a melody in his head while writing the lyrics to the songs denmore remembered when they put together songs like the Crystal Ship for their debut album saying Jim couldn't play one chord on any instrument so he would think of a Melody he would would hear in his head the lyric before you slip into unconsciousness I'd like to have another kiss Robbie and Ray would work out the chords I would say it's a Walt whatever it is and work it out that way while Jim is writing brilliant songs he is also developing the Insidious habit of hallucinogenic drugs and drinking daily to the point of drunkenness more escapism from the glaring eyes of the audience Ray describes Jim as sensitive and intelligent the songs Jim is writing and their unique sound set the doors apart from other bands they are playing with and they begin to create a following on the Sunset Strip Ray recalls the band playing at London Fog a few doors down from the whiskey there were seven people total in the club he says with a laugh but Jesse the bartender kept telling us to play no one will come in if you don't he'd say we used to play four sets a night which is when we began experimenting with the song structure that was where we cut our performing teeth record executive John Hartman recalls there was a string of nightclubs on the Sunset Strip from cresant Heights to dhini maybe 25 clubs with live bands every night and there was a whole movement of people that went there every night and walked up and down Sunset hundreds and hundreds of people soon the doors leave London Fog and begin their run as the house band at the whiskey aogo opening for every group to play there from May to August 1966 they typically performed two sets per night opening for bands such as Buffalo Springfield love and the turtles throughout June 1966 the doors opened for Van Morrison's band them on the final night Jim Morrison joined them on stage to perform Gloria and during the 20-minute version the two Morrison men reportedly exchanged verses back and forth Van Morrison made a big impression on Jim Morrison especially his livestage Persona Jim often imitated Van's stage Presence by doing similar movements such as squatting down and singing to the crowd in Brian hinton's book Celtic Crossroads the art of Van Morrison he describes the influence Jim Morrison learned quickly from his near namesake stagecraft his apparent recklessness his air of subdued Menace the way he would improvise poetry to a rockbeat even his habit of crouching down by the bass drum during instrumental breaks another band they are often on the lineup with is love love has a record deal with Electra records and suggests that their producer Jack holsman come see the doors perform the first time Jim is too drunk and holsman passes love suggests another time that they come to check them out one more time Jack describes the moment he gave the doors another chance with Jim at Peak Performance Morrison was burning a comet streaking brightly across the sky he soon signed the doors to elector records we're the house band at the whiskey aogo and I'm sitting upstairs looking out the window the doors drummer John Densmore told the Los Angeles Times it's like a Tuesday night and it's complete gridlock and thousands of hippies on the street and I said w wow we're taking over Jim was often drunk or on acid during their s falling off the stage but his mesmerizing presence captivated everyone one night however Morrison debuted his now Infamous edle freestyle over an instrumental version of the end which culminated with the phrase mother I want to all killer a woke Before Dawn he put his boots on he took a face from the ancient gallery and he He Walked on down the hallway baby came to a Jo looked [Music] inside father yes son I want to kill you mother I want [Music] you it was too much for the good old Catholic Chicago boys who ran the whiskey the doors were fired at the end of the week Jim later explained what happened in a 19 1967 interview with the Cleveland plane dealer one Sunday night at Whiskey Agogo we were the second band something clicked I realized what the whole song was about what it had been leading up to it was powerful it just happened they fired us the next day [Music] name just 3 days later the doors begin to record their first album within only 6 days Jack describes Morrison Jim was sensitive and he could easily be hurt although he had absolutely no ability to realize when he was hurting others he did say a couple times that he thought that the audience deserved a spectacle they had paid all that money and they they came to such a huge Arena by the time he was famous that he needed to be a showman later on his mother sends the door's debut album to Jim's sister and she begins to realize that this is her brother Jim on the cover when asked about his family Jim states that his parents are deceased and he is an only child while the doors were playing on the Sunset Strip at London Fog a 22-year-old Jim Morrison met 19-year-old Pamela Corson who was an art student at Los Angeles City College from the start it was a tormented relationship filled with arguments and infidelity from both sides their knock him down drag them out tumultuous fights always ended with them back together Pam was described as very headstrong and Jim was not to be controlled by Pam just like he couldn't be controlled by his father or teachers but Jim's love for Pam is described as authentic by several people who knew the couple Jim even paid for Pam to start her own Boutique which she named Themis the name of the Greek goddess of divine order fairness natural law and custom one of Pam's friends and Marie recalls the boutique I remember Jim wanting peacock feathers on the ceiling and Pamela wanting them on the walls they both could not compromise so they had them on both the walls and ceiling it's the first thing you noticed when you walked in I think it was a genius idea there were also many mirrors and curtains on the doorways in different colors Pamela also had small colorful stuffed animals around horses unicorns monkeys all over the shop you turned a corner out popped a unicorn the shop became very exclusive simply because it had irregular opening hours but was still frequented with highflying clientele such as Miles Davis and Sharon Tate mirandy babbits and other contemporary recalls what it is is somehow life gets restricted to what can be seen rather than what can be touched or experienced physically I don't know whether it's a natural uh civilized human uh fear of uh involvement because you know TCH touch can lead to a lot of touch physical involvement leads to all the you know the real basic existential moments in life sex death love you know they have really nothing to do with with seeing experiencing secondhand you have to get in there and actually do it and I there just seems to be some kind of natural civilized inclination to avoid contact with the nitty-gritty of Life reportedly Pam was urging Jim to leave the doors to pursue a serious career as a poet Jim self-published three limited edition volumes of his poetry the Lords notes on Vision 1969 the new creatures 1969 and an American Prayer 1970 Jim and Pam were drinking heavily and Pam was also doing heroin during this time according to the door's first photographer Bobby kleene who lived next door to Jim and Pam in Laurel Canyon claimed Pam came over one night and said Jim tried to kill her for sleeping with a phony Prince heroin dealer she hit him and then locked herself in the closet and he tried to set it on fire in return He said Jim hated heroin and was probably trying to scare her straight Ry has denied this occurred according to door's Road manager Vince trer he believes Pam is a heroin addict a junkie and the worst influence on Jim's life he said that her heroin use led to Jim's stress and heavy drinking the doors released their hugely successful self-titled debut album in January 1967 they had a breakout hit with Light My Fire which is mostly written by creger after Morrison suggested they all help write when they needed more material for the album he suggest that they write about something Universal that will be relative 40 years from now they appear on The Ed Sullivan Show to perform Light My Fire and people are strange the show sensors insist that they must change the lyrics from girl we couldn't get much higher to girl we couldn't get much better they reluctantly agree however Jim defiantly sings the original lyrics which leads their remaining shows to be [Music] cancelled they follow up with Strange Days in September the same year featuring people are strange which Jim wrote with his bandmates watching the sun come up in Laurel Canyon the door's sound seemed to be the perfect companion with the Psychedelic times of 1967 at a performance in New Haven Connecticut Jim is caught in the shower with a girl by a police officer who did not recognize him Jim is ordered to leave by the police officer but Jim refuses and tells the officer eat me the officer maces Jim later in the delayed show Jim tells the audience what happened in an obscenity filled tyde he is arrested for obscenity and indecency but the charges are later dropped in July 1968 they released their third album waiting for the sun featuring hello I love you and love Street Pam is the inspiration behind love Street based on their Laurel Canyon apartment and neighborhood the Unknown Soldier expressed the anti-war sentiment of the time Morrison's increasing alcohol consumption also caused tension and difficulties while in the studio and at one point drummer John Densmore walked out of a session frustrated at his behavior Alice Cooper was around during the recording sessions and he was reportedly worried about Morrison's health during the recording of 5 to1 Morrison was in an intense state of intoxication to a degree that the Studio's assistants needed to support him to complete his vocal Parts the doors perform at the Hollywood Bowl that July Jim spends time with Mick Jagger during this period and they discuss dancing in front of large crowds the Soft Parade of 1969 features touch me with Jim's iconic sound effects Jim begins to put on weight and gone of the leather pants during this time Mor is also struggling with anxiety and feels like he is on the brink of a nervous breakdown he considers quitting the doors but is persuaded by Ry to finish recording the Soft Parade first it was like pulling teeth to get Jim into it sound engineer Bruce botnik recalled it was bizarre the hardest I ever worked as a producer hey how about about 50 or 60 you people come up here and love my ass come on yeah during a concert on March 1st 1969 in Miami Morrison is drunk and first removed his shirt and then said he was going to take off his pants he begins screaming and other obscenities Ry worried he would remove his pants instruct his Ro Vince trainer to stop him let people tell you what you're going to do Vince reports that he runs over to Jim and Loops his fingers through his pants belt buckles and pulls his pants up so high that he was surprised Jim's voice did not go up an octave he says it was simply impossible for Jim to have exposed himself and that it never happened let people push you around how long do you think it's going to last how long you let it go on although caught up in the moment many people in the audience did remove their clothes and were completely naked 3 Days Later warrants for his arrest were issued by the Dade County public safety department for indecent exposure among other accusations maybe you like it maybe you like being pushed around how do you love it we have taken out two warrants for Jim Morrison one of them is for indecent exposure the others for the use of obscene languages during his performance at dinner Key Saturday night I think uh that nudity is it's really a cyclical phenomenon I think it it it comes it gets very liberal and extreme then it goes back reacts the other way and it just seems to be a cycle entertainment in other words you feel that the same uh the same liberalism performed in the the theater acting should be also generated in in music well in the realm of Art and theater I I do think that uh there should be complete freedom for the artist and performer uh I'm not personally that um convinced that uh nudity is always you know a necessary part of uh you know a play film but uh the artist should feel free to use it if he feels major backlash ensued and concerts were cancelled for fear of more arrests and being sued some radio stations refused to play the door's music nevertheless the band gradually regained momentum and eventually begin playing concerts throughout the rest of the year including the Toronto rock and roll Revival they play alongside John Lennon among others who later said supposedly the doors were top of the bill a trial begins and lasts for 16 days on September 20th 1970 Jim Morrison is convicted of indecent exposure by a six-person jury and sentenced to 6 months in prison however he remained free on a $50,000 Bond during this period the FBI Hoover letters reveal that Jim Morrison is on their watch list and they have a list of all his arrests and claim he exposed himself and only sang One song an entire concert Jim describes the experience to the LA Free Press I wasted a lot of time and energy with the Miami trial about a year and a half but I guess it was a valuable experience because before the trial I had a very unrealistic school boy attitude about the American Judicial System my eyes have been opened up a bit if I hadn't had unlimited funds to continue fighting my case I'd be in jail right now for 3 years it's just if you have money you generally don't go to jail although his father was not supportive of Jim's career choice when Jim is convicted in Florida his father writes to the Flor Florida probation and parole commission district office dated October 2nd 1970 Admiral Morrison acknowledged the breakdown in family Communications as the result of an argument over his assessment of his son's musical talents he said he could not blame his son for being reluctant to initiate contact and that he was proud of him their next album is Morrison Hotel in 1970 with the Rowdy and bluy Roadhouse Blues on Peace Frog Morrison's chronic use of blood in the streets is perhaps addressing the Civic unrest then gripping the nation Queen of the highway is said to be about Pam in an excerpt from biography no one here Gets Out Alive it was during the Morrison Hotel sessions that Jim and Pam have a violent argument after she drank his bottle of liquor so he could not drink it with engineer Bruce botnik recalling so here were the two of them completely out of their minds and crying he started shaking her violently I think he was putting me on she was crying out of control telling him he shouldn't drink anymore and that's why she drank it and I'm cleaning up and I said hey man it's pretty late he looked up stopped shaking her said yeah right hugged her and they walked out arm in- arm he'd always give you a funny look afterward to see your reaction they are finishing LA Woman and are in the studio with little mixing left to do when Jim Morrison announces to the band that he is leaving to go to Paris Pam is already there in an apartment and Jim is going to meet her over there the next day while Ray thinks this is a good idea for Jim to get away from the Rock and Roll Lifestyle is dragging him down at the moment he also notes that it is unusual for Jim not to be there until the very end of the album as he always had in the past the album LA Woman is released April 1971 while Jim is in Paris the bluesy album features Love Her Madly Riders on the Storm and the title track LA Woman the album is well received by fans and critics alike I'm glad that laom was our last album it really captured what we were all about the first record did too but LA Woman woman is more loose it's live it sounds almost like a rehearsal it's pure doors Robbie ker sometime in early June Jim called John Densmore and asked about the record sales and said he was looking forward to going on the road and Performing the songs live when he got back to town that is the last time anyone in the band will ever speak to him July 2nd 1971 11:00 a.m. a friend from film school who also lives in Paris drops by and suggests they go out for lunch Jim began his afternoon hanging out with and drinking with his friend photographer Alan ronee According to Jim Morrison Life Death Legend ronee noticed the former door singer looked shaky that day and was having intermittent bouts of body shaking hiccups as they walked around Paris for 3 hours but Jim insists he is okay at his apartment on the way up the stairs Jim stops and is out of breath later they go out again for dinner and Alan leaves to meet up with someone else Jim meets up with Pam and goes to an old classic movie that Ron had suggested called called pursued with Robert Mitchum later at home Jim snorts heroin with Pam then they watch home movies of their vacations 3:30 a.m. Pam wakes up on the couch to find Jim struggling to breathe she wants to call a doctor but says he refused Pam goes to bed while Jim goes to take a bath 4:00 a.m. Pam wakes up to Jim throwing up blood and she asks again about getting a doctor but he resists 6:00 a.m. Pam wakes up and finds Jim unconscious in the bathtub she calls Alan Ron and asked him to call an ambulance because of her lack of French two firemen arrived to find Jim's head is back and the water is pink from blood they noticed the water was warm but when they pulled him out they realized he was dead time of death estimated at 5:00 a.m. July 3rd 1971 the death certificate lists heart failure as cause of death Pam States Jim's last words are Pam are you there the band members begin to receive calls about Jim's death but are hesitant to believe it as Jim's death rumors were a common occurrence Jim himself is obsessed with his own death according to his bandmates so they send their manager to Paris to investigate the manager calls the following day to inform them that they had just buried Jim Morrison he had not seen the body and there was no autopsy but he believed it was Jim they buried because Pam was hysterical I get a phone call this guy says to me we just buried Jim Morrison wait a minute what happened uh I don't know I don't know what happened I mean was he hit by a truck or something uh no no no his heart stopped his heart stop what are you talking about I said how does he look how does he look and this guy said I don't know I never saw the body I said hold it what do you mean you didn't see the body it was a sealed coffin they buried a sealed coffin and I said you mean you don't you've you didn't say open let me see Jim Morrison 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 he said that's all I know man I'm telling you what I know I was here he's dead he's dead Pam was all broken up I'm telling you Pam was just crying and weeping and everything and you know I mean I I just couldn't bring myself to open the coffin and I said oh God Morrison's death came two years to the day after the death of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and approximately 9 months after the deaths of Jimmy Hendrick and Janice Joplin all of these popular musicians died at the age of 27 leading to the emergence of the 27 Club urban legend it took me a long long time and to get over it and um it was hard partly because of all the speculation that maybe he wasn't dead de deep in your heart you thought oh well he would have done something like that um it's possible maybe he did just want to get away and have a new life and it'll turn up later so even though I pretty much believed he was dead it it left a little opening Morrison's obsession with n's themes of depravity and hopelessness leads John denmore to claim n killed Jim Morrison in his 1990 autobiography Riders on the Storm she was a junkie uh in fact was a cause of a lot of stress and fighting and arguing with Jim and a lot of his drinking she was probably the worst influence on his life on July 3rd 1971 Jim Morrison died in Paris um under what can only be called mysterious circumstances we don't know what uh what happened to Jim and Paris and um I don't think we're ever going to know what happened at Jim in Paris Jim listed Pam as the sole beneficiary of his estate she receives what is in Jim's bank account at the time which is over $400,000 the equivalent to $3 million today but she was also the beneficiary of his 25% stake in the doors when Pam dies of a heroin overdose just three years later in Los Angeles at the age of 27 it is her parents who become the beneficiaries to Jim's estate including his image and his 25% share of the doors's royalties Jim's Family Su Pam's family and they settle out of court in 1979 however not thinking that the doors would a second wave of fans they allow Pam's family to keep the rights to Jim's image which is one of the most iconic images sold on t-shirts mugs and anything else they can fitted on today Jim Morrison's image makes millions of dollars a year off licensing many different types of merchandise in addition the door's net worth is estimated to be worth over $40 million Jim had met Pam's parents just a few times before his untimely death Rolling Stone readers pick placed Jim Morrison in fifth place of the magazine's best lead singers of all time so who do you think was behind Jim's downfall do you agree with any of those closest to Jim or do you think Jim is a victim of his own doing leave your opinion and comments below your support keeps this channel going thank you for watching this video and 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Channel: Freewheeling

Views: 274,544

Keywords: jim morrison, the doors, Who was REALLY behind the downfall of Jim Morrison? Sunset Strip and “WORST Influence on His Life”, freewheeling, van morrison, them, the turtles, love, buffalo springfield, sunset strip, 1960s, 1970s, sixties, seventies, paris, los angeles, venice beach, laurel canyon, music, rock n roll, whiskey a go go

Id: 08FbTc4tqoQ

Length: 33min 14sec (1994 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 03 2024