eagle87 Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 Where do I start? I started to learn about the doors in the fall of 1980, right after Bonzo passed. In fact, Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman release their book that year and I received it for Christmas 1980. Having just turned 17 in August of that year, I was totally devastated by the news of John's passing. In addition to some serious substance abuse issues I had at that time, I was being overwhelmed with panic attack/anxiety attacks/flashbacks---I did't know what they were and during Christmas of '80, my dad and step-mom had me admitted to an "adolesecent" center for troubled youths...While I was in their for 2-3 weeks, I devoured "NO One Here Gets Out Alive", the doors first real biography. I was hooked...my life, my attitude changed overnight. And not necesarily for the better. Hell, if Jim Morrison did 250 hits of pure LSD in one year, why couldn't I? Well, he was the Lizard King and I wasn't. I became a doors fan with a vengeance after that winter. I have followed them in great detail over the years, never surpassing my love for LZ, but right up there with them. The reason for that? Well, the bands were light years apart as far as the type of music they created. I always have my "exalted three" Jimi, lz, and the doors...never in competition with each other simply because they were so disimmlar...love them all.... But back to the original question. Favorite disc/album? Probably would have to go with their 1967 debut, if not just for "Light My Fire", which was really groundbreaking at the time. Musically, this song is incredible, with the jazzy solo's and the such...all culminating in the most unbelievable freaking sound-gasm I had heard (up to that point)...not many other have come close to this orgiastic explosion of 'music, sweet music'....(to quote Jimi). Fave Doors songs: too many to list, though I definately like the more "obscure" songs, not "the hits", as it were. For example, I'd much rather hear "My Eyes Have Seen You" than a more recognizable one such as, "Love me two time". I'll try to keep this brief: You're lost little girl, Twentieth Century Fox, Crystal Ship, Love Street, End of the night, Moonlight Drive, Strange Days (really love this one!), wintertime love, summer's almost gone, spanish caravan, yes the river knows, tell all the people, shaman's blues, ezy ride (sp?), do it, wild child, wishfull sinful, soft parade, waiting for the sun, you make me real, Peace Frog/Blue Sunday, indian summer, the changeling (awesome!), been down so long, the cars hiss by my window, l.a. woman, l' america (sp?), hyacynth house (the "demo" version on the '97 box set is freaking awesome!), whoops, forgot "Queen of the Highway". And yes, the "jazz" version on the same box set (imho) is better than version on the Morrison Hotel lp. Yeah, I almost forgot the JL Hooker cover (as mentioned above) of "Crawling Kingsnake". And of 'course, "Riders..." This was all from memory, so I may have missed a few. I loved his "crooner songs", all though they were certainly never marketed as such. He had an assload of charisma, though he was obviously a very flawed individual. I learned a lot from them and their music. In the early eighties, my good friend (whom I met in the adolescent "center") became mega-doors fans (whatever that is! ). He began to acquire a bunch of doors boots on lp---almost all of which I recorded by putting my cassete recorder in front of the speakers as the album played! This is how I recorded many lp's in the late 70's and early eighties (pre-82, anyway)! Some were really crappy sound, but one, probably my fave (boot) is the two sets from Stockholm, Sweden Sept. 20th (?) 1968. Sound near pristine, albeit in mono. You get to hear a version of "Love Street" live...in fact, at the beginning of the song, Jim has to give them a loud "shush" so they can hear it....also during one of the sets they preface "Alabamba Song" with the (early, I think) sixties song by bobby darin, "Mack the Knife" unbelievably good! I also have purchased all (but one) the live shows they have released on "Bright Midnight Records", which I think is a frickin' AWESOME endeavor! LZ take heed: I can only imagine all the reels and reels of shows that Jimmy probablly has in his possesion...throw us a bone James Patrick! Finally I'll finish with a few items: The one they released pre-x-mas, I believe was "live in Boston 1970". DO NOT BUY THIS SHOW. JIM MORRISON WAS DRUNK ON HIS ASS FOR BOTH SETS THEY PERFORMED THAT NIGHT. AND IT SHOWS!! Three remaining doors tryed to make it through the show, and they did. I had even more respect for them after hearing these shows. It gave me much perspective on what they had to endure...Dont buy it unless you want to keep it with the tempe, arizona lz performance....as some of the worst concerts by some of the best artists ever... Finally, "An American Prayer" is simply stunning, imho. They have a (relatively) new version of it with a few bonus tracks which are very poigiant (sp?), such as, "Bird of Prey" and a couple others... Finally (really, I swear this time!), I and my "teen rehab buddy" and his wife got tickets to see Ray Manzerak and poet Michael McClure perform at a StLouis area basement bar sometime early nineties. All three of us, uh, "riding the snake", so to speak! And this in the basement bar of a University City establishment that probaly held no more than a hundred people-max. Ray played electric piano while MM recited some of his poems -all night. I remebered he did one as a tribute to Jim called, "In memorium". They were both less than 10-12 feet away from me and my friends -the whole time! If you recall, Michael McClure was one the poets Jim looked up to before he was ever even in the doors... What a sotry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonefreelee Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 (edited) What a sotry... sorry so long winded! someone burnt me some real classics, history-wise, anyway. I have live in Amsterdam '68 - with Ray singing all the vocals 'cause Jim was in the local hospital! I also have their 2nd from last concert ever, Dallas '70. This is where they previewed "L.A Woman" and "Love Her Madly"...maybe even "the changeling". I cant remember 'cause I think i've listened to this one once! It sounds like the taper was in the upper level, nosebleed section or something. You can hear the music and vocals but it sounds like they are playing a block away! And it sounds like Jim is, um, tipsy. (GASP!) Oh well. I have quite a few '68 shows and beyond most are horrible sound quality. I hear the "perception" recordings have been really cleaned up. Dont have that yet...I have probably bought every doors (lz and Jimi) album/cassete/cd at least 15 tjimes over in the last 30 years! Edited April 19, 2008 by stonefreelee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderguy Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Are the records made after Morrison's death worth tracking down and getting? I think Manzarek sang lead on them??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle87 Posted April 19, 2008 Author Share Posted April 19, 2008 Last year I heard about an special album for the 40 year of The Doors. some one has it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadScreamingGallery Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Well, I couldn't find any one, so this is first (I think). Me: Roadhouse Blues - Song Eagle, I finally watched the vid - it's a great one! The last 15-20 seconds are priceless! Where do I start? I started to learn about the doors in the fall of 1980, right after Bonzo passed. [...] If you recall, Michael McClure was one the poets Jim looked up to before he was ever even in the doors... Thanks for sharing that story, Stonefreelee. On our first trip to Paris, when I was just out of college, one of the first places that my husband and I visited was Père Lachaise to see Jim Morrison's grave site - it was a shrine and there were fans from all over the world sitting nearby smoking pot and weed and drinking beer and wine. In the decades since, we returned to Paris several times but never visited the grave again so I don't know if it looks the same or if it is still a mecca for Jim's fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Those last 15 sec. are priceless, typical Jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragster Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 Some farout stories up here.....thanx for the reads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadScreamingGallery Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 (edited) Those last 15 sec. are priceless, typical Jimbo Watching that clip made me realize that The Doors' concerts and Morrison's antics were a kind of template for my Zep concert behavior. I was too young to have attended any Doors concerts but I made up for that during the Zep years. Edited to add: I made an error when I typed my earlier post about visiting Jim's grave - I meant to write "pot and hash" - good hash was cheap and easily available in Europe back then. Edited April 22, 2008 by MadScreamingGallery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle87 Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 People said: "... we want Doors, we want Doors..." Damn right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadScreamingGallery Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Some early Jim Morrison information: A few years ago, an archivist at Florida State University discovered a "lost" film that Jim made when he was a student there: http://www.floridamemory.com/photographicc...ideo.cfm?vid=22 This interview includes a mug shot of Jim, taken when he was a college student: http://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/morrison.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyedye Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Anybody catch The Doors on Classic Albums on VH1 Classic tonight? It's a repeat, but still a must see for any Doors fan. I am sure it will re-air again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geralds Game Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 (edited) God I wish I could have seen The Doors. My favorite has to be "The End." Where did they bury Morrison, was it in France? <edit> Ahhh Paris. Thank's Edited April 23, 2008 by Geralds Game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle87 Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 Anybody catch The Doors on Classic Albums on VH1 Classic tonight? It's a repeat, but still a must see for any Doors fan. I am sure it will re-air again. I hope because I never saw it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 We were having dinner at a nightclub grill last night, and this jackass DJ put on "Riders of the Storm" mixed with that Blondie "man from mars who eats guitars" song. I don't know if this was his invention or something that is commercially available - but either way, there should be strict laws to protect against this sort of indecency??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Watching that clip made me realize that The Doors' concerts and Morrison's antics were a kind of template for my Zep concert behavior. I was too young to have attended any Doors concerts but I made up for that during the Zep years. Edited to add: I made an error when I typed my earlier post about visiting Jim's grave - I meant to write "pot and hash" - good hash was cheap and easily available in Europe back then. Red , White and Black. Bring it on Lebanon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle87 Posted April 23, 2008 Author Share Posted April 23, 2008 We were having dinner at a nightclub grill last night, and this jackass DJ put on "Riders of the Storm" mixed with that Blondie "man from mars who eats guitars" song. I don't know if this was his invention or something that is commercially available - but either way, there should be strict laws to protect against this sort of indecency??? Agreed. I don't like that, at all. Thats songs are Clasics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marolyn Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 On our first trip to Paris, when I was just out of college, one of the first places that my husband and I visited was Père Lachaise to see Jim Morrison's grave site - it was a shrine and there were fans from all over the world sitting nearby smoking pot and weed and drinking beer and wine. In the decades since, we returned to Paris several times but never visited the grave again so I don't know if it looks the same or if it is still a mecca for Jim's fans. was there in february with a friend who wanted to drink a beer on morrison's grave for her 40th birthday...as you can see it's quite different. complete with security fence.... no shortage of crazy foreign fans though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gainsbarre Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 At first, my favourite Doors song was Alabama Song, then I realised they didn't write it, that it was a Kurt Weil/Bertolt Brecht song from 'Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny' (which happens to be a bloody strange show too). But still The Doors did a great arrangement of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadScreamingGallery Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Red , White and Black. Bring it on Lebanon Brown is nice too. was there in february with a friend who wanted to drink a beer on morrison's grave for her 40th birthday...as you can see it's quite different. complete with security fence.... no shortage of crazy foreign fans though... Great photos, Marolyn. Thanks for sharing them. It's interesting to see that they've put up a security fence but the fans still come to visit Jim's grave. Your photos also reminded me that people had painted "Jim" in small letters with an arrow on the other graves so people could find their way through the cemetery to Jim's grave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 They should have Jim's grave more isolated from other peoples graves. It seems highly disrespectful the things fans are doing there. Think of the people visiting their lost loved ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marolyn Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 (edited) They should have Jim's grave more isolated from other peoples graves. It seems highly disrespectful the things fans are doing there. Think of the people visiting their lost loved ones. you'll notice how clean it is now. there is no more graffiti, no trash, no alcohol. had to hide the liquor and do a quick jump over the fence for a photo op when the suits wandered off...all very civil Edited May 8, 2008 by marolyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirchzep27 Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 I had a thermo long sleeve doors shirt in the 7th grade i think...and in one of those grades i did the lyrics of -not to touch the earth in caligraphy, in an art class. My teacher applauded me on not seeing someone do the lyrics of stairway to heaven again. I love this band and even though the sound was limited in a way, isnt every band limited. They took their music as far as they could, just as every band, or artist does. Ofcourse they could've done more too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxie Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 I love the Doors. Can't really pick just one song as my fave though. I could say "The End", but that's typical, and somewhat parallel to saying "Stairway" is my fave Zep song. I have a huge plaque of Jim Morrison on my wall. I used to say that had I been of concert age in the late 60's/early 70's, the Doors would've been my band. But that was of course, before I discovered Zep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle87 Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 (edited) I had a thermo long sleeve doors shirt in the 7th grade i think...and in one of those grades i did the lyrics of -not to touch the earth in caligraphy, in an art class. My teacher applauded me on not seeing someone do the lyrics of stairway to heaven again. I love this band and even though the sound was limited in a way, isnt every band limited. They took their music as far as they could, just as every band, or artist does. Ofcourse they could've done more too. True. Some times I think about that. How many grate artist died? Jim Morrison, Jimmi Hendrix, Bonzo, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc.... Damn. All of them could've done more. If Zep do all that in 12 years, in 40 years? And the same question about Jimmi and Stevie Ray. That's makes me sad. But like you said: They took their music as far as they could, just as every band, or artist does Edited May 9, 2008 by eagle87 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotplant Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I saw Jim in 68, he was drunk as hell but eventually got it on. There's my 3 dollar ticket stub Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.