Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend

by Stephen Davis

As the lead singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison’s searing poetic vision and voracious appetite for sexual, spiritual, and psychedelic experience inflamed the spirit and psyche of a generation. Since his mysterious death in 1971, millions more fans from a new generation have embraced his legacy, as layers of myth have gathered to enshroud the life, career, and true character of the man who was James Douglas Morrison.

In Jim Morrison, critically acclaimed journalist Stephen Davis, author of Hammer of the Gods, unmasks Morrison’s constructed personas of the Lizard King and Mr. Mojo Risin’ to reveal a man of fierce intelligence whose own destructive tendencies both fueled his creative ambitions and brought about his downfall. Gathered from dozens of original interviews and investigations of Morrison’s personal journals, Davis has assembled a vivid portrait of a misunderstood genius, tracing the arc of Morrison’s life from his troubled youth to his international stardom, when his drug and alcohol binges, tumultuous sexual affairs, and fractious personal relationships reached a frenzied peak. For the first time, Davis is able to reconstruct Morrison’s last days in Paris to solve one of the greatest mysteries in music history in a shocking final chapter.

Compelling and harrowing, intimate and revelatory, Jim Morrison is the definitive biography of the rock idol in snakeskin and leather who defined the 1960s.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Memoir

Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Stephen Davis is is a rock journalist and biographer, having written numerous bestsellers on rock bands, including the smash hit Hammer of the Gods. He lives in Boston.

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[TheNeverendingTBR]

"ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴜɴᴋɴᴏᴡɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɪɴ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴏᴏʀꜱ."

I've been a Doors fan since my teen years and I've read numerous books on both the Doors and Jim Morrison, this one is my favourite of the bunch and possibly my favourite biography book that I've read so far.

It's a riveting read and gives a great insight to the man and the band.

It's also put together and written really well.

It's split into three parts.

Jimmy: His childhood, school days etc.

Jim Morrison: His time with The Doors.

James Douglas Morrison: His final days in Paris and his untimely death at 27.

Highly recommend to fans of the Doors.

[Nat K]

Poet, charismatic, artist & wordsmith.
Intellectual, shaman & lizard king.

Loose cannon, risk taker, drunk.

Jimmy, Jim, James.

Jim Morrison was definitely one of a kind. A muse to a generation, still idolised decades after his sad & untimely demise in Paris, 1971.

Stephen Davis’ book explores the life of the man behind the myth. The face of the Doors and iconic poster boy of the 60s.

This is a damn decent read. It deftly captures the tone of the 60s, a time of tumultuous change and upheaval, with Doors music playing in the background as the defining soundtrack.

Whether you’re a fan or not, a rabid obsessive, or discovering Jim Morrison for the first time, just open this book and immerse yourself in another era and mindset.

”Jim was a wild guy. He lived life on the edge all the time. Jim had a burning fire inside of him. He was testing life all of the time.”
Robby Krieger (Doors guitarist)

[Clark Hallman]

Jim Morrison, Life, Death, Legend, by Stephen Davis, is without a doubt the most researched and most informative one of the six books I have read about Jim Morrison. Although it does not solve all the mysteries about his life and death, it presents a very detailed and believable description of a young man, who really just wanted to be a poet, but simply could not deal with the stress and pressures caused by his revolutionary rock star image. It includes details of extreme and self-destructive behaviors and suggests that Morrison may have had serious mental/emotional disorders and possibly medical conditions. It also reveals the many destructive relationships with “friends” and sycophants who failed to help him, even though they had to know he desperately needed help. This book also provided information about most Doors concerts, which helped me determine that the Doors concert I attended at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh took place on the weekend of September 19-21, 1969. The description of that concert states: “In Pittsburgh, the kids got so excited by “Light My Fire” that the cops stopped the show. Bill Siddons came onstage and said that the band would do another song if everyone got back into their seats (p350)” The police actually lined up across the front of the stage to prevent fans from reaching it. My recollection of the concert was that the police and others, presumably including Siddons, tried to restore order, but the crowd did not settle down until Morrison himself told us that the cops would not let the concert continue unless the crowd got under control. He asked us to let the band continue playing, and it was amazing that the crowd did as he asked. It was truly an amazing experience, although Morrison certainly did not give one of his best performances. Other books about Jim Morrison that I have read:
-- No One Here Gets Out Alive, by Jerry Hopkins and Daniel Sugerman (1980) – some refer to this book as “Nothing Here but Lots of Lies”
-- Riders on the Storm, by John Densmore (1990)
-- Break on Through, by James Riordan & Jerry Prochnicky (1991)
-- Rimbaud and Jim Morrison, by Wallace Fowlie (1994). – partially read
-- Light My Fire: My Life With The Doors, by Ray Manzarek (1998).

[Estelle]

I have mixed feelings about this one.
As a biography, it does its job right retracing the life of Jim Morrison in great details and it was especially interesting to learn about his childhood and relationship (or lack of) with his family as well as his very last days in Paris.

That said, it's a very long book and because it was writen in such a chronologically linear way, it often felt repetitive. But I guess it is to be expected when you want a thorough history of the man and of the band.

My real issue with the book is how... dead it felt. There was no excitment, no passion in the way it was written. Very often I wondered if the author was a fan of the band at all or had a true appreciation for the music and the lyrics.
I wanted someone to tell me the story of Jim Morrison, but what I got instead is something that felt closer to an encyclopedia.

My point is: if you're not already a fan of Jim Morrison or of The Doors, don't read this book because it won't make you understand nor like the man or the music.
Listen to their albums instead or watch some live videos of the band.

[Chiara]

Finché esisteranno, gli uomini potranno ricordare le parole e le combinazioni delle parole. Nient'altro può sopravvivere a un olocausto, solo la poesia e le canzoni. Finché esisteranno gli esseri umani, canzoni e poesia potranno continuare a vivere.

[Jim Cherry]

The program for this evening is not new, you’ve seen this entertainment through and through.
-Jim Morrison.

Stephen Davis is the author of the acclaimed Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods, so it was probably a no-brainer for someone to think he would write the definitive biography of Doors singer Jim Morrison. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Jim Morrison is a derivative biography relying on the interviews and research of previous biographies. It was the Morrison biography No One Here Gets Out Alive that got me excited about The Doors. However, this book provokes no such excitement about The Doors. At times, it doesn’t even seem as if Davis gave The Doors catalog a thorough listening as he claims that on Roadhouse Blues Lonnie Brooks played guitar and that you can hear Morrison yell “do it Lonnie, do it!” when it’s clearly “do it Robby, do it!” Referring to Doors guitarist Robby Krieger. When Davis does seem to show up for the writing of this biography, it’s to claim Jim Morrison was a closeted homosexual based on the evidence that he hung out with some famous homosexual poets. This, at best, seems ridiculous. I bought this book when it first came out. After reading it, I gave the book to a cute girl neither of which I saw again. It’s unfortunate about the girl.\

[Sladjana]

JIM MORRISON/LIFE,DEATH,LEGEND-STEPHEN DAVIS
✒️"Baby,you never know when you're doing your last set."
🎙Knjiga zbog koje sam pauzirala sve ostale
🎙Prvo o autoru-Stiven Dejvis je novinar i istoričar,pisao je za  Rolling Stone, The New York Times, the Boston Globe i mnoge druge časopise,a delimični popis knjiga koje je napisao možete videti na slici 2.
🎙Ovo je verovatno najbolja biografija Džima Morisona(verovatno,jer ih nisam sve pročitala) i najbolje delo te vrste koje sam ja pročitala.
🎙Dejvis veoma detaljno piše o Džimovom životu od 0 do 27.godine. Uočljiv je ogroman istraživački rad,mnogo izvora koji su svi savršeno uklopljeni u sam tekst. Otprilike to ide -datum,mesto,događaj,onda Ray:izjava povodom toga,naziv časopisa-pa citat,izjave tehničara,dečko iz publike:Morison je namerno pevao piskavo,kao Beti Bup(dečko je danas poznat pod imenom Igi Pop😁)
🎙Pored samog Morisona,knjiga se bavi i ratom u Vijetnamu,političkom situacijom u Americi,studentskim protestima u Parizu 1968.,istorijom rock muzike,ostalim članovoma "kluba 27". Tu su i dva eksplozivna susreta između Džima i Dženis Džoplin. Prvi je bukvalno eksplozivan obzirom da mu je razbila bocu South Comforta o glavu🥃😄
🎙Autor navodi i cenzurisane delove FBI fajla iz istrage koju je Niksonova vlada vodila protiv Morisona.
🎙Nešto fotografija,ne mnogo ali prikazuju sve "faze" Džima Morisona
🎙Pošto je Morison pre svega bio pesnik,svako poglavlje počinje citatom Kitsa,ili Remboa ili,naravno,Džima Morisona.
🎙Autor se trudi da nam pruži jednu široku sliku lika i dela najkontroverznijeg rokera ikada,pa vidimo Džima i kad pijan maltretira sve oko sebe,ali i kad čita poeziju,razgovara s fanovima,pomaže finansijski i na svaki mogući način prijateljima i potpunim strancima,kao što su ulični svirači u Parizu.
🎙Iako veoma dokumentovana i s puno podataka,biografija se čita kao roman. Imamo gradnju lika od utisaka iz ranog detinjstva,čestih selidbi i menjanja škola,druženja u studentskim danima,uspona do seks simbola i simbola protesta pa sve do njegovih poslednjih dana u Parizu. Toliko vešto gradi priču da bukvalno možemo da vidimo sve to,i doživimo. Sa suzama na kraju.
🎙Ogromna preporuka❤️❤️❤️

[Dave Thompson]

I will readily admit I've been a disciple of Jim Morrison since I was in middle school, so I can call myself both an expert and an admitted fan boy. I've read all of Morrison's work (in fact, I own first editions of much of his poetry). I've also read all of the biographies, from "No One Here Gets Out Alive" through the various faked death theories, and now this latest tome. In fact, I read "Life, Death, Legend" twice.

I think Davis tries a little too hard at times to be objective, as if the only way to prove his objectivity is to be excessively critical of Morrison. Nonetheless, I found his approach refreshing. He made me realize that others may have been too kind, and that Morrison's obsessive, quasi-sociopathic personality had to be hard to take at times - perhaps even MOST times.

If you try to bend Morrison into some boy next door, it's futile. We don't want that, anyway. He's the Lizard King, for god's sake.

For all of his drunken, debauched, slurred, stumbling behavior, Davis is the first I've read who shows Morrison's narcissistic, antisocial behavior actually threatening to eclipse his genius. Bandmates couldn't count on him to show up in the studio or at a gig. When he did show, he might put on the performance for the ages. Then again, he might puke on your shoes. Or proposition your wife. Or your Mom.

Morrison's myth lies in his pain and his clarity, and Davis delves into them like no Morrison biographer I've read.

It's slow in spots and misses some important details, but the honesty in the way Morrison's personality is dissected makes this perhaps the seminal bio of the reincarnation of Alexander the Great. (I had to throw that in).

[Brit Corm]

There are significantly better books out there on The Doors and Jim Morrison. It almost seemed as though the author had an unhealthy obsession with Jim's sexuality. He seemed to fetishize Jim and it made me really uncomfortable the further I read. I did not actually finish this book. He was also really sexist in the way that he wrote about women, especially in comparison to how he wrote about men. To be clear, I am not conservative in my attitudes towards sex. That's not the issue I took. This author was just really inappropriate in how he talks about women, and the language he chooses to use. Not to mention his creepy obsession with Jim. This book was not worth finishing and the author has some issues... do not recommend at all.

[J.P.]

If you've read other Morrison/Doors bios, you've heard most of this info before. Davis doesn't really break any new ground here, biographically. But then again, Morrison's been dead for 37 years, so how much new info could there be?

The most interesting section of the book for me: the post-Miami, Paris time. Davis evidently had greater access to Morrison's notebooks and papers than did previous biographers. He gives an insightful look into Morrison's work habits as a writer that I found fascinating. Davis also spends more time analyzing Morrison's poetry than other biographers did---treating JM as an actual poet, not merely as a rock star who dabbled in writing.

I also liked the even-handed portrayal of not only Morrison, but of the other major figures in his life. No saints or devils here; only very human people, with all their flaws and attributes.

Davis' treatment of Morrison's still---for some---mysterious death is also handled well and in detail. It's obvious that our pal Jimbo died (and yes, it's clear by now that he is truly dead) of some form of self-abuse. Whether it was booze, cocaine, heroin or mixing the aforementioned three with prescription drugs remains unclear. The details behind Morrison's botched burial were somewhat surprising, given the glowing account of JM's burial in NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE. Outside of consulting a psychic medium, Davis has delivered as thorough an account of these events as one can expect.

So I'd say Stephen Davis has done a damn fine job of delivering some new insights from very well-covered ground. If you've never read a book about Morrison before, start with this one. If you've read them all, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed.

[Beatriz Miller]

O Stephen Davis soube como explorar o homem através do mito.
Um livro muito intimista por trás do ícone do The Doors. Um poeta incompreendido.
Um belo trabalho, muito bem descrito, e não há dúvidas que é a reconstrução mais realista do Jim, onde o próprio autor não poupas de meias palavras sobre a vida conturbada do lizard king. É a segunda biografia que leio esse ano que me surpreende de formas diferentes. E é a primeira que leio sobre o Morrison. Merece muito mais que 5 estrelas.

[Adrienne]

What a book! This was a fun but heavy read. Even though The Doors were way ahead of my time; I have always found Jim Morrison to be an interesting and fascinating person.
Stephen Davis gives a compelling narrative from beginning to end. It’s obvious Davis did his research with how much information and detail he gives the reader. I love how Davis develops both sides of Jim’s personality- the sensitive poet/intellectual thinker & the wild child side of him. It’s quite apparent why Jim was the way he was. It gave me a new appreciation for Jim Morrison. He was a man of true talent. An incredible poet. An absolute legend.
If you’re a fan of The Doors or just love music from that period, this is a must read. You learn the meanings behind some of the greatest songs ever written which I found absolutely fascinating. He was gone too soon but I’m glad he left us with such treasures to enjoy for the rest of time. No other songwriter will ever come close to his caliber. He’s legendary.

*If you’re a fan of music during this period, I highly recommend searching -Laurel Canyon Legends on Spotify. It’s a treat of a playlist!

[Katt]

Bardzo dobra biografia. Co nie zmienia faktu że ja nadal nie rozumiem Jimiego Morrisona… I chyba należy pogodzić się z tym że oboje jesteśmy z dwóch totalnie różnych planet 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Paul Gleason]

Davis' biography of Morrison tries to be many things. It succeeds in some cases and fails in others.

The book functions well as an attempt to see Morrison in the historical and cultural milieu in which he lived and produced his work. In this regard, it's a terrific reference book for readers interested in approaching Morrison from a historicist perspective.

But there's a problem inherent to Davis' method. First, it sets up an impossible task. Let's face it: it's impossible to touch on all the historical occurrences and cultural influences that surrounded Morrison. Second, Davis, in creating such brief historical and cultural summaries, provides at times superficial accounts and, I'm sorry to report, gets many facts wrong. Morrison, for example, never read Nietzsche's The Romantic Anxiety. He read Praz's The Romantic Agony. Davis also oversimplifies everything he says about Morrison's literary influences and doesn't mention many of them.

Another major problem is that Davis writes with zero excitement. He just gives the facts, and, in a way, this is good, especially if you want a flawed encyclopedia of Morrison's work.

But the book does succeed in treating Morrison as what he was: one of the smartest and most important popular artists of the second half of the twentieth century. Even though Davis gets many of his facts wrong, he proves that Morrison was a well read, highly intelligent, and visionary poet, who knew just what he was doing. This means that, unlike what many too cool music critics today would suggest, The Doors, along with The Beach Boys and The Velvet Underground, were the most important band to come out of America in the 1960s.

The Doors brought Burroughs, Artaud, Rimbaud, Kerouac, Mailer, Warhol, Nietzsche, etc. to the people and made them digestible. They also introduced shamanism, the occult, and dark introspection into American pop music. But most of all, they pioneered the idea of experimental music in the mainstream. Jazz, folk, blues, hard rock, noise rock, cabaret, theater, and poetry come together in their complex musical structures.

Davis doesn't go into depth with any of this. But he writes about it in hints and starts.

In conclusion, I'd recommend this book as a good place for Morrison and Doors' newbies to start, and as a nice reference book to have on hand. But just remember that some of the facts are off and superficial and that the music, as always, is really where the truth lies.

[Sandi]

I tend to read more musician's biography's than most other types of biographies. The main reason being that some of these musicians were true poets. Mr. Mojo Risin (anagram for Jim Morrison) was definitely one of them.

Obsessive personality - check
Tortured soul - check
Substance abuse - check
Ability to use words that effect one deeply - check
Not all poets follow this list but the good ones usually do.

As for this book I have to say that this is what a biographer should do. Davis pulled no punches. He portrayed Jim in a very human way. His constant bouts of drinking that would lead him to miss shows and even wind up sleeping in the bushes. His heartfelt love for a woman that basically helped destroy him. His shyness that lead him to sing with his back to the audience unless he was was bolstered with alcohol. His true anguish at trying to portray what he wanted you to know. His seeming indifference at times to the band itself which infuriated and saddened the other members.

This book showed Jim in his stages of good, bad and ugly but it never judged. It also never bored. While all the facts were there it was told in a way that kept you devouring each page only to stop and look up some of the information on the internet to learn even more. All in all it made me see why The Doors music has aged better than a lot from this time period and also why I file any book I own by Jim under poetry.

[Jasmine Rodriguez]

Oh my goodness, yes. This was such an in depth biography of the Lizard King. I could not get enough of this book. I put off reading the last section because I didn't want him to end. Jimmy Morrison had a beautiful mind and a tragic life to match. Such a shame he never made it past 27.

[Donna]

This is my first book on The Doors. I thought it quite comprehensive and appreciated the chronologic format and the bit of surrounding history of the time. Kind of gritty and raw at times. I found myself getting sad and depressed. I forgot how much was going on in the world. Not sure if things changed that much.

I did note that the musicians of that time were generous with each other and told others to make sure they see other bands, etc. Certainly isn’t done these days.

The way this book was presented makes me wonder how and why Robbie, Ray and John stayed and put up with Jim. At the end of the book, Ray was quoted that there was good times and Jim was fun. I’ll have to read Ray’s and John’s books too. There is so much mystery and cover up surrounding the end days. I sure am happy I caught a concert with Manzarek & Krieger, it was a surreal experience! At least the music survives.

[OCNY]

Awaited over 6 months for this book to be published and was let down almost immediately. Almost all but 2 pictures have been published before and the story itself has already been covered by previous bios. Still, it's an ok read for the uninitiated, but for those who have read other Morrison bios, there is nothing new covered here--except maybe that the surviving Doors were not the best friends with Morrison that they now make themselves out to be. One glaring error was the author has Morrison arriving in Paris in June '71 when in fact he had been living there since March. Would've loved new info from post-Miami to July '71 and would've loved to have seen rare photos from that time.

[Paul]

I'm not the biggest The Doors fan. I like them okay and fully support anyone who want to put a dollar in the jukebox to put on one of their songs, but I don't own any of their albums, I can't even remember listening to one all the way through until I read this book. Just the same, I enjoyed learning about Jim Morrison's life--for about 200 pages. The story repeats itself over and over: short bursts of creativity mixed up with a lot of alcohol, drugs and sex. And the author does nothing to improve the tale. There is little to no narrative flow to the story. I'm not even sure that the author is a fan of The Doors.

[Marcello]

Indubbiamente un lavoro approfondito, ma mi è sembrato che l'autore cercasse a tutti i costi il sensazionalismo, la voglia di descrivere Morrison come il personaggio che tutti si aspettano che fosse. Su alcuni episodi, avendo consultato le fonti cui Davis spesso ha attinto, posso inoltre affermare che ha aggiunto, inventando, cose a suo piacimento, giusto per rendere il tutto più appetibile a fini commerciali. Mi spiace che, essendo recente e molto diffuso, sia un libro che molti hanno letto per conoscere Jim Morrison, e magari si siano fermati qui. Ci sono opere migliori, anche se bisogna perdere un po' più di tempo per reperirle.

[Bradley]

Many mistakes here...too bad.

[Tobias Zaminer]

Tribute to Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

The un-arguably most chaotic, pathetic, and craziest frontman of any band to ever exist. The man who was the fourth member of the 27-Club. A man who died at the age of only 27, yet was an legend then, and still continues to be. There's no such thing as "the second Jim Morrison". The only man in history, carrying a band to the ultimate succes; not only by visionary songwriting, but more likely beeing the most charismatic singer of all times. 54 years after his sad passing, in Paris, in 1971, people still trying to figure out what made him one of the most renowned figures of Rock history. Was it just by being honest, even if sometimes it would've been better to stay quiet? The impact this man had on revolutionizing the sound of psychodelic music; as the same for poetry? Or was it just the amount of heavy drugs and liquor? I guess, if you never knew him in person, no one's gonna ever know. Some day, anyone who knew Jim won't be alive anymore too. And that day may come very soon. Time is an evil thing, and Jim unfortunately isn't here with us for a long time now. It is sad to think about , that if a person dies, over decades and decades that will pass, no one is gonna remember that person to ever be on this planet once. I'm not particularly talking about the many people who'll recognize him as a star all the time, even in the future, but more likely the ones who knew that specific person for years. A tragic tale of someone who changed the world, but has gone far too soon. More tragic to think about, that one day there's not a single person, carrying his spirit he left and gifted to them, beeing alive anymore.

[Anthony Paolucci]

Given the wealth of new information regarding his early family life, and his last days in Paris, right up until his death, I know I've just read the definitive Jim Morrison biography. A lot of the things I once believed to be true now seem like unreliable information. I also noticed the author took a very aggressive stance against anything Patricia Kennealy has ever said, which was surprising, since I had always considered her to be an authority on the subject. Since high school, I've always entertained the idea that Jim faked his death. He had a strong motive to do so, and it seemed completely possible. Of course, this is what I wanted to believe, as I'm sure would any fan, and Ray's novel, "The Poet," certainly helped to fuel this theory. However, given the thorough description of Jim's health in Paris, and how so many mysterious circumstances surrounding his death were rationally and factually explained, I no longer entertain this idea. This was hard to accept after closing the book, but it also gave a diehard fan like me closure.

[D. D.]

I liked this biography of Jim Morrison because it's not only about Jim Morrison but also gives beautifully the vibe of the era he lived in, the 60s who were so much talked about in the 90s.
It's not the best biography of Jim Morrison but it's definitely worth the time and effort to read it.
I'm really glad I've read it.

[Heather Petersen]

had a grand time reading about my idol even though he probs shouldn’t be my idol bc he was a bit fucked up but he wrote some great tunes😃

[Hunter Case]

An awesome read! This book does a great job of capturing the legacy of someone taken too soon.

[Bogdan Diaconescu]

I recommend this book to everyone who liked The Doors and is intrigued about how Jim Morrison became a legend.

[David Berlin]

4.5 stars
Stephen Davis is America’s pre-eminent rock journalist and biographer, having written numerous bestsellers on rock bands including Watch You Bleed and the smash hit Hammer of the Gods. In 2004 he published a book called, “Jim Morrison: Life Death Legend”.

The first biography on Jim was by Danny Sugerman, published in 1980. It cemented in the public mind the image of Jim Morrison as a poetic wild man, a rebel, an asshole, and a tragic American legend. The book ended stupidly, with the suggestion that Jim might have faked his death and might still be alive and in hiding. Some of Jim’s close friends still refer to the book as “Nothing here but lots of lies”.

Davis’s highly detailed biography chronicles Jim's early life all the way to his legendary status years after his death. So many different interviews, journals, and recordings were consulted in writing this book, and the research shines through it.

Davis unmasks Morrison’s constructed personas of the Lizard King and Mr. Mojo Risin’ to reveal a man of fierce intelligence whose own destructive tendencies both fueled his creative ambitions and brought about his downfall. Gathered from dozens of original interviews and investigations of Morrison’s personal journals, Davis has assembled a vivid portrait of a misunderstood genius, tracing the arc of Morrison’s life from his troubled youth to his international stardom, when his drug and alcohol binges, tumultuous sexual affairs, and fractious personal relationships were out of control.

This book provides a wonderfully detailed and fascinating insight into the various aspects of Jim Morrison, both the man and the legend: thoughtful, reflective intellectual with a passion for film and poetry; handsome, leather-clad rock god and wild frontman; and obnoxious, abusive, out-of-control drunk who will seemingly stop at nothing short of total self-destruction.

The book gives us a whole look, starting from Jim’s strict father who wanted his son to Join the Navy but instead his rebellious son joins a film School in UCLA, never talks to his parents again, and graduates from being an amateur film maker to being the lead singer of one of the greatest bands in rock history.

After UCLA’s film school, Jim spent several months living on a rooftop in Venice Beach, dropping acid daily, exploring shamanism, and feverishly writing in notebooks. Many of these writings formed the basis for some of The Doors most famous songs.

With alcohol and LSD, Jim cultivated bravado and used his intelligence to make statements about choices, and about freedom, through his poetry and music performances. We see Morrison very much in tune with contemporary developments in music, poetry, art and cinema, showing that he was not some isolated genius, but part of an interweb of action and reaction that accompanied the Cold War and its discontents.

Jim reconnects with fellow student Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach on the summer of 1965 and they form the band, “The Doors” as demonstrated in Oliver Stone’s controversial film. Like the Danny Sugerman book, Oliver Stone’s version got a lot of criticism of being over the top and not historically accurate. This is a review of the Stephen Davis book, but I’m sure the “Door’s movie” influenced Davis. I look at Stone’s movie not as definitive truth about Jim, but more as Impressionistic, capturing very well the stories, myths, moods, and feelings of those times.

I love how Davis develops the two sides of Jim's personality: the sensitive poet and student; the shamanistic freedom-fighter; the romantic and the troubadour. The other side being the hitchhiker, the rebel, the drunk, the chauvinist, the redneck and potential murderer. It becomes evident Jim Morrison suffered from neglect as a kid. His father wasn't nurturing, and it hinted that Jim might have molested, which would explain why he stopped talking to his parents, and the excessive drinking.

In early 1968 Jim took residence in Room 32 in the Alta Cienga Motel, at the intersection of Santa Monica and North La Cienga. The motel was Jim’s home for the next 3 years. Nearby were Jim’s favorite bars, The Palms, Barney’s beanery, and the topless Photo booth. Jim never bought a house, and seemed to love fast cars, and apparently drunk driving, and totaling the vehicles. Other than the cars, he was not materialistic.

Morrison loved shocking people, saying or doing the opposite of what others might have expected. He seemed to take a sick delight in being the provocateur. He was intentionally enigmatic. He was vulgar and disgusting much of the time, and many of these accounts are described in detail, but it only seemed to happen when he was wasted, which was quite often.

I know people hated him, and maybe I would if I met him, too, but he was such a dynamic figure. He really led the rock star’s existence and one where he was true to his own self and lived how he wanted to live. Jim embodied the danger of rock & roll. There was no Mommy and Daddy. Nobody seemed to know what kind of mental state Jim would be in before each show, or if he would even show up. Davis writes multiple times on how Jim mesmerized his audience with his cadence, poetry, stage antics and the screams.

Jim also repeatedly comes off as more than a mean, volatile drunk and selfish rock star. There's a person there who wasn't always mean and could be generous and caring. Maybe the excessive drugs, drinking, and pressures of fame made him this way. Maybe he needed anti-depressants and hours of therapy. It’s a catch 22, because if he did become sober, I think it would have changed his myth from truly being this I don’t give a f—k attitude to something more tame.

Light my Fire was the #1 song during the Summer of Love in 1967. But Jim and the Doors embodied more of the dark side of the 60s with the assassinations, Vietnam, chaos, Manson murders, and all the drugs. Davis writes the Doors song, "The Unknown Soldier" was the Vietnam protest song of the 60s. I just want to get this out of the way right now - The Doors songs, Roadhouse Blues, Break on Through, Riders on the Storm, LA Woman, and The End are timeless masterpieces. One thing I wish Davis would wrote more about are the creation and reaction to those songs, and a little on how their perceived today or in 2004.

Jim’s longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, was also enigmatic. They seemed to have an open relationship but stayed together till Jim’s end. She was a heroin addict and was encouraging Jim to quit the Doors all the time and seemed to be the biggest influence on why he left for Paris.

Pamela would often run off with drug dealer, Jean de Breteuil. He is known to sell Jamis Joplin the heroin that killed her in the Landmark Hotel 0n 10/4/70. According to Davis, he also might have been the one that supplied Jim that led to his mysterious death. It’s interesting that both Pam and de Breteull would die within a few years after Jim.

The one thing I did not like about Davis’s book was questioning Jim Morrison's sexuality. It wouldn't bother me at all to find out that Morrison was gay or bisexual but there is zero evidence to suggest that Jim Morrison was anything but hetero, but Davis drops hints of that with no concrete evidence.

In a gripping final chapter, Davis synthesizes new evidence recently uncovered in Paris to resolve at last many of the mysteries surrounding Morrison's death and reconstructs the final days and hours of America's greatest rock star. Jim died at 27 in a bathtub allegedly from a heroin overdose although the death was registered as just simple heart failure.

Above all else, Morrison wanted to be recognized as a rebel poet. He idolized the French poet, Arthur Rimbaud, who also burnt out and died in his 20s. Before Jim died, he visited Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, and according to Davis, Jim said he wanted to be buried there. It seems appropriate that he died in France and was laid to rest in the famous Parisian graveyard.

Davis covers The Doors live performances and the social, political atmosphere of the times quite well. His narrative style is clear, concise and always engaging, this is a brisk read for a volume nearly 500 pages in length. I was completely captivated the whole time, in spite of many cringe worthy moments of Jim's drunken behavior.

The Door’s music still holds up today, just like much of the music of that generation does, from a Rock perspective; even if the sound was lighter than what a lot of Rock is today. A whole new generation of kids today have made them favorites all over again. They truly had their own unique voice and sound, easily recognized. I can see fifty years later today, a whole new generation of kids digging the Doors. I can’t say that for much of the pop music that corporations put out today. For people who are hungry for information about Jim, you can't go wrong with this book.

New information I discovered about Jim after reading this Stephen Davis book.

The Doors were pioneers of arena rock.
Jim influenced Elvis’s attire in a 1968 comeback.
Jim loved Joan Baez and Brian jones
Started UCLA – Jan 1964 – Graduated June 65 with a degree in Cinematography
After Byrds “Tambourine man – Sunset Strip exploded.
VOX – UK electric organ manufacturer. Ray was the king of the keyboard bass.
Jim also stayed at Tropicana Hotel for $9 a night.
Jim’s rent in Laurel Canyon was $70 a month.
Neighbor Frank Zappa loved The Doors.
Jim had a relationship with Nico from the Velvet Underground.
Jim and John Dunsmore never got along.
Jim would get plastered and yell the N word on the street.
The Phone Booth – Jim’s favorite topless bar.
Alta Cienga Motel – Jim’s residence for 3 years in West Hollywood.
Jim once hooked up with Grace Slick
Jim had been arrested 11 times.
No real evidence on Miami indecent exposure incident. The Judge was a Nixonian law and order enforcer.
Riders on the Storm is about not picking up Jim’s demon alter ego, and a plea for tender womanly love.
Jean de Breteuil was with Marianne Faithfull when he got Pam’s call about Jim’s death.

[Thomas McDade]

Reviewed by Jill Silos (Department of History, Hesser College) Published on H-1960s (May, 2006)

"Finally, there was much more to Morrison as a historical figure, beyond the question of sexual identity politics in the 1960s and whatever challenge he might have presented to the behavioral codes of the era. Morrison and the Doors produced songs that were a startling and sometimes ominous counterpoint to the prevailing optimism of the pop world in the 1960s. Songs such as "When the Music's Over" and "The End" were perhaps a more accurate expression of the sturm-und-drang of the late 1960s than the sugary bubble-gum pop that dominated the Top 40 charts--a musical harbinger of the violent shift toward rebellion and revolution, individualism and self-exploration that displaced the heady "ask-what-you-can-do" cooperative volunteerism of the early decade. This strange dichotomy might have provided an interesting avenue toward an exploration of the often contradictory impulses of a confusing decade. But Davis presents merely a limited conception of Morrison as a man driven by glamorous internal demons rather than as a possible prism through which to examine an era that was, like Morrison, full of promise but ultimately suicidal. Without footnotes, providing only a limited list of "Selected Sources," and peppered with factual errors that would have been easy to check and correct, this is one biography that does not add to our historical understanding of the individual or his era."

[Gdybym-wiedziała]

Jest to niewątpliwie jedna z moich ulubionych biografii. Według mnie także najlepsza biografia Jima Morrisona.
We wstępie możemy przeczytać:

"Był wizjonerem, koneserem, bardem, alkoholikiem, biseksualnym erotomanem."

Sam początek jest intrygujący. Stephen Davis odwalił kawał dobrej roboty pisząc tę biografię. Danny Sugerman niestety pominął wiele ciekawych rzeczy w swojej książce "Nikt nie wyjdzie stąd żywy", którą jednak mimo wszystko świetnie się czyta.


Morrisonowi przyszło żyć w ciekawych czasach. Z zamkniętego w sobie nastolatka powoli zamieniał się w intrygującego mężczyznę. Magnetyzował kobiety i mężczyzn. Okres gdy dojrzewał, to mój ulubiony okres życia Jima,bo przełamywał wtedy wszelkie schematy. Stał się inteligenty wizjonerem pasjonującym się literaturą, mistycyzmem, filozofią i przekraczaniem granic. Trafił na okres kryzysu duchowego, nowych religii, pojawienia się narkotyków, buntu przeciw wojnie w Wietnamie. Większość zespołów z tamtego okresu tworzyła utwory z przesłaniem "Flower-power". Morrison był inny. Mrok zawsze go fascynował. Śmierć siedziała mu na ramieniu a on zawsze czuł jej oddech. Skąd się to wzięło? NIby pochodził z normalnie funkcjonującej rodziny. Pozornie. Była to rodzina niestabilna. Ojciec Jima był wojskowym, który chciał aby syn zrobił karierę w wojsku. Jim tam nie pasował.


Morrison nie wyznawał zasad hippisów. Naprawdę był bitnikiem. Od początku fascynował go ten ruch. Biblią Jima była powieść Jacka Kerouaca "W drodze". W powieści Jim znalazł swoje alter ego Deana Morriartego. Według mnie do Jima doskonale pasował cytat z tejże powieści:

(...) bo dla mnie prawdziwymi ludźmi są szaleńcy ogarnięci szałem życia, szałem rozmowy, chęcią zbawienia, pragnący wszystkiego naraz, ci, co nigdy nie ziewają, nie plotą banałów, ale płoną, płoną, płoną, jak bajeczne race eksplodujące niczym pająki na tle gwiazd, aż nagle strzela niebieskie jądro i tłum krzyczy „Oooo!”

Były współtwórca Ray Manzarek (który niedawno zmarł) napisał, że Fryderyk Nietzsche zabił Morrisona. Po lekturze książek niemieckiego filozofa bardzo się zmienił. Obrał ścieżkę mroku.

Nauka Jimowi szła bardzo dobrze, jak na jego tryb życia. W testach szkolnych miał IQ 149. Jednak z Morrisonem coś się działo. Wkraczał w niego cień. Miał tendencje do znęcania się nad rodzeństwem. Konflikt z rodzicami stał się nie do wytrzymania. Związek z dziewczyną rozpadł się częściowo z winy Jima, który następnie wyjechał na Florydę.

W 1964 roku rozpoczął naukę na UCLA. Jim kochał film i fascynował się obrazem. Tak samo fascynowała go literatura. Czytał bez opamiętania. Tam poznał Raya Manzarka. Jima w tym czasie fascynowała poezja Dylana Thomasa;

"Cokolwiek jest ukryte, powinno zostać odsłonięte. Odrzeć się z ciemności, znaczy oczyścić się."
"Moja poezja jest lub powinna być mi przydatna z jednego powodu. Jest zapisem mojej osobistej walki z ciemnością w celu dotarcia do drobny światła".

Obok Dylana Thomasa u Jima pojawia się fascynacja Rimbaudem, który miał później wpływ na jego poezję w tomiku "The Lords" i "The new Creatures".

JimW roku 1965 nowe powstawały nowe hippisowskie kluby. Jim dużo pił. Skończył UCLA z tytułem licencjata. Znajomość z Rayem Manzarkiem nabrała na intensywności i starszy kolega widział w Jimie gwiazdę rocka. Jim wcześniej nie śpiewał, nie miał wielkiego pojęcia o muzyce. Był to dziwny okres Morrison głównie zażywał LSD, mało jadł. Wtedy to właśnie zaczął się przemieniać w przystojnego mężczyznę o gibkim ciele. Davis pisze:

"Poszcząc, ćpając i żyjąc w izolacji niczym szaman, zrzucał wężową skórę odrzuconej mentalności, zaglądał ludziom w okna, onanizował się i pisał teksty do rock and rollowego spektaklu, który słyszał w swojej głowie".

Wtedy też pojawiły się myśli o założeniu zespołu. Nazwę zaczerpnął z "Drzwi percepcji" Aldousa Huxleya. Po latach Morrison wspomniał, że nie zamierzał zostać muzykiem. Chciał być pisarzem lub dramaturgiem. Zażywanie narkotyków przez niego miało na celu dążenie do transcendencji, a nie przytłumiania myślenia. Któregoś dnia wałęsając się na plaży spotkał znów Raya. Tam doszło do pierwszego otwarcia Jima, który odważył się zaśpiewać przed kolegą piosenkę "Moonlight drive". To był pamiętny i kluczowy moment w życiu Morrisona. Manzarek zaprosił do siebie Jima i ten przez jakiś czas z nim pomieszkiwał. W garażu Raya odbywały się pierwsze próby niepełnego zespołu. Niedługo później Manzarek poznał trzeciego członka zespołu Johna Densmora, a następnie jako najmłodszy do zespołu dołączył dziewiętnastoletni Robby Krieger. John Densmore nigdy nie rozumiał się dobrze z Jimem. Był dla niego mroczny. Uważał go za osobę bez hamulców, co było sprzeczne z jego naturą.

"Jim Morrison tworzył jednocześnie fascynującą symbolikę poetycką - lśniącą niczym diament na pierwszych dwóch płytach The Doors - która miała zapaść głęboko w pamięć jego pokolenia i odbijać się echem przez następne dekady."

Pierwszy występ Doorsów odbył się w London Fog. Tam właśnie Jim powoli przekształcił się z pisarza nieśmiało stojącego tyłem do publiczności w piosenkarza estradowego. Poznał w tym czasie swoją największą miłość życia-rudowłosą Pamelę Courson. Ich związek okazał się niezwykle burzliwy. Pam nie stroniła od heroiny i przepuszczania pieniędzy Morrisona. Obydwoje nie raz się zdradzali. Wracali do siebie zawsze. Przyciągała ich do siebie jakaś magnetyczna siła,a może pokrewieństwo dusz. Niewątpliwie obydwoje siebie kochali i gdyby nie okoliczności ich związku (kariera Jima),ich losy potoczyłby się inaczej.

Kulminacyjnym momentem w karierze The Doors był występ w Whisky a Go Go w 1966 roku. Jim po raz pierwszy zaprezentował odmienioną wersję utworu The End. Cały klub zamarł w oczekiwaniu co stanie się dalej.

"Morderca zbudził się przed świtem, założył buty
Twarz przykrył maską ze starożytnej galerii
I przeszedł wzdłuż korytarza
Poszedł do pokoju gdzie mieszkała jego siostra, i potem
Złożył wizytę swemu bratu, I potem
Przeszedł wzdłuż korytarza, i
Podszedł do drzwi... i zajrzał do środka

"Ojcze?" "Tak synu?" "Chcę cię zabić"

"Mamo...chcę cię...zer..nąć"


Jim z Pamelą Courson
Jim wpadł w trans. Ciągle powtarzał "kill-fuck-kill-fuck". Kilkunastominutowy utwór wprawił w osłupienie całą publikę. Szybko po tym występie sława The Doors roznosiła się. Szybko zespół nagrał pierwszą płytę.Kawałki takie jak "Light my fire" czy "Break on through".

Kariera The Doors potoczyła się szybko. Jim zamienił się w Adonisa, bożyszcze którego pragnęły tysiące kobiet. On jednak chciał przekazać na scenie coś innego. Historia potoczyła się swoim rytmem. Libacje, koncerty, alkohol i narkotyki powoli toczyły młody organizm Morrisona. Podczas tourne po Europie w 1968 r. doznał pierwszej zapaści z której szybko wyszedł. Nadal nie przestawał wrzucać w siebie różnorodnej chemii.

"Jego reputacja chłodnego renegata i aroganckiego outsidera wynikała z faktu, że nikt nie chciał się z nim zadawać, kiedy był pijany".

Jim na koncercie
Pamela namawiała Morrisona na opuszczenie The Doors. Jim był wyczerpany psychicznie, Kariera go przerastała. Incydent z Miami (z rzekomym obnażeniem) i proces z tym związany doprowadziły Jima do ostatecznego załamania. Sam się zmienił. Zapuścił w tamtym czasie już długą brodę. Zaczął przypominać poetę, którym chciał naprawdę być. Zamiast rocka pociągał go coraz bardziej blues.
W roku 1970 Jim już nie przypominał dawnego Jima. Jego twarz napuchła od alkoholu i wyglądał niezdrowo. Widać, że lata alkoholizmu odcisnęły na nim swojego piętno.
W kwietniu pojawił się jego pierwszy tomik poezji "The Lords and the new Creatures".

"Michael McClure wspomina, że kiedy Jim zobaczył pierwsze egzemplarze swojej książki, po policzkach pociekły mu łzy. Po raz pierwszy w życiu nie zostałem kompletnie wydymany-powiedział".

Jim był człowiekiem hojnym. Miał zwyczaj znajomym dawać pieniądze, sam miał niewiele. W niedługim czasie nastała czarna seria zgonów znanych muzyków, m.in. Janis Joplin i Jimiego Hendrixa. Morrisona kompletnie załamały te wieści. Mówił, że będzie następny. Zażywał kokainę. Skutkiem tego były krwotoki z nosa. Dodatkowo palił do trzech paczek papierosów dziennie.
Zapytany, jak sobie wyobraża własną śmierć, Jim odparł: "Mam nadzieję umrzeć w wieku mniej więcej stu dwudziestu lat, z poczuciem humoru i w przyjemnym, wygodnym łóżku. Nie chciałbym, żeby ktokolwiek był przy mnie.
Proces w Miami go wyniszczył. Mówił o sobie jako o inteligentnej, wrażliwej istocie ludzkiej o duszy klauna, który w najważniejszych chwilach każę mi wszystko psuć.
"Czy czegoś żałuję? Nie przeczę, że przez ostatnie lata dobrze się bawiłem.(...) Gdybym miał cofnąć czas, sądzę, że zostałbym spokojnym, nierzucającym się w oczy artystą, pracującym w własnym ogródku".
Jim w Meksyku Ostatnie miesiące życia Jim spędził z Pamelą w Paryżu. Wałęsał się po mieście, pił po barach. Często sprawiał wrażenie oderwanego od rzeczywistości. Zażywał w tamtym czasie heroinę. 3 lipca 1971 Pamela znalazła go w wannie martwego. Okoliczności jego śmierci do dzisiaj są niejasne.

Stephen Davis nakreślił życie Morrisona bardzo dokładnie. Jest w niej wiele smaczków, których nie znalazłam w innych książkach. Podoba mi się jego obiektywny styl pisania. Nie próbuje wyjść poza fakty. Otrzymujemy portret szalonego i uduchowionego poety, którego kariera przerosła. Dokładnie opisuje okres dzieciństwa i dorastania artysty jak i ostatnie miesiące życia. Nie ma w tej biografii patetyzmu.

Dla mnie osobiście jest to bliska opowieść. Jim Morrison jest od ponad dwudziestu lat bliskim mi artystą. Mam odczucie, że rozumiem po części jego osobę. Dzięki niemu jako nastolatka zainteresowałam się ambitną literaturą, sięgnęłam po filozofię. Tym samym odkryłam także swoje mroczne alter ego. Powieść polecam wszystkim, którym nieobce są stany dryfowania w innym wymiarze percepcji ale nie tylko.


Ocena 10/10