Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison was born on December 8, 1943 in Melbourne, Florida, to Clara Virginia (Clarke) and George Stephen Morrison, a U.S. Naval Officer who fought in World War II. Jim eventually became so estranged from his parents that he would later claim that they were dead. Not much is known about his early years, although he claimed in interviews that he began writing poetry in sixth grade and filled his notebooks with writings through high school. Jim moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, where he enrolled himself in the film program at UCLA. He read books constantly and told friends that he planned to model his life based on the hedonistic French poet Arthur Rimbaud. In 1965, after Jim graduated from UCLA, he drifted into the hippie scene at Venice Beach, taking drugs (LSD was his favorite), sleeping under the boardwalk, and writing poems. One day at the beach, Jim ran into Ray Manzarek, a former classmate from UCLA who was a keyboardist in a struggling rock band. When Jim showed Ray some of his poems, he insisted to Jim that they should put together a band for him to sing his poems. Ray and Jim recruited Robbie Krieger as a guitarist and John Densmore at the drummer and began calling themselves The Doors. By 1966, the group was playing in Sunset Strip nightclubs. After moving to more respectable clubs, the group became known for its charismatic stage personality and its hypnotic music, which was highlighted by Ray's eerie keyboard sounds and Robbie's jazzy guitar music. With some misgivings, Elektra Records president Jac Holzman signed them for a recording contract. In January 1967, the first album "The Doors" was released and immediately received universal acclaim. With Jim being the chief lyricist and his songs for the album ranging from "The Crystal Ship" to "Break on Through" to the 11-minute "The End". The song "Light My Fire" became the group's first hit single and projected them to number one on the top music charts. Jim gained a reputation for erratic public behavior. On December 9, 1967, Jim was arrested onstage during a concert in New Haven, Connecticut for attempting to incite a riot by telling the crowd that a policeman had sprayed him and journalist Patricia Kennealy with mace backstage before the concert. In 1968, the group made the top charts again with their album "Waiting for the Sun" in June which contained the number-one hit "Hello, I Love You". But things came to a head on March 1, 1969 during a concert in Miami, Florida where Jim was arrested afterwards for exposing himself to the audience and using profanity. As a result of Jim's legal troubles, the group lost their bookings for the next several months. Recorded before the Miami incident, their album "The Soft Parade" (1969) kept them in the top charts. The group followed up with their next album "Morrison Hotel" (1970) and "Absolutely Live" (1970), neither of which sold well. In August 1970, Jim was brought to trial for the Miami incident where he was acquitted of charges of lewd and lascivious behavior, but found guilty of indecent exposure and profanity, and was sentenced to eight months in prison. But he remained free on bail while the verdict was being appealed. The group made a comeback with their album "L.A. Woman" (1971) which featured Jim's top hits "Riders of the Storm" and "Love Her Madly". When the last of his appeals was denied and the possibility of jail hanging over him, as well as his fast stressful lifestyle, Jim decided that he was through being a rock star, and in March 1971, he and Pamela moved to Paris, France where he intended to continue his literary ambitions. On July 3, 1971, Jim Morrison was found dead in his bathtub in his apartment in Paris at age 27. The local police listed the cause of death as heart failure, although most assume that his heart failure was alcohol, even drug related. News of his death was withheld for nearly a week, which fueled rumors that he faked his death. Three years later, on April 25, 1974, Pamela Courson died in Paris from a heroin overdose. Coincidentally, she was also 27 years old when she died.