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More About Jim:
Jim Morrison became known at the age of 23 as the lead vocalist and songwriter for The Doors. He was a singer, a poet, a rebel, and a visionary. He had a great interest in literature and filmmaking, and loved to read; The Doors' name was inspired by a William Blake quote Jim found in an Aldous Huxley book- "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it truly is, infinite." He was convinced that he was possessed by the spirit of a Native American medicine man, after the childhood trauma of witnessing a fatal car accident involving Native Americans. He later wrote this experience into lyrics: "Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding/Ghosts crowd the child's fragile eggshell mind." It was Jim's strange and exotic combination of the sublime and the wicked, a writer, shaman and rock singer, ancient and modern, that made him stand out- a prophet, the electric poet, whose words are timeless. The Doors reached the top of the US charts in 1967 with their second single "Light My Fire". The group followed with six more albums that included classic and legendary songs such as "Riders On The Storm" and "L.A. Woman". The Doors' live performances were famous for their singer's wild and outrageous behavior onstage and his ability to incite the audience… some shows ended in riots. In Miami in 1969, Jim Morrison allegedly exposed himself to the audience in a glorious, violent display of profanity. Much has been made of this incident. Bottom line, he was fined and sentenced to some jail time. Those who knew Jim say that he was volatile, explosive, and an ecstatic daredevil, dodging traffic, and balancing precariously along the edge of rooftops, as if tempting, daring fate. In 1971, fate caught up with the Lizard King and he died of an apparent heroin overdose in Paris, France. He left behind a legacy of song, poetry, screenplays and pure thought the likes of which has never been equaled. -Michele E. Fusco, 2004
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