February 23rd – Did anybody else out there, not get The
Doors? I struggled with them from day one. Was it just that they tapped into a
time and place (done this before as a possible theory for the success of the
undeserving) that made them so popular and I was in the other room?
Certainly Jim Morrison’s louche behaviour struck a chord with
the laid-back, drop-out mantra of the times, or was it just that he was seen as
‘sexy’ and ‘casual' by the girl (and boy) fans of the time, welding together
nicely into the phrase, “someone to have casual sex with”?
Certainly his just–woken, tousle-haired photos that adorned much of their
album releases ‘Honestly, this band and this album is about the social times and the political terrain; it isn't all about me, honest’) and the well-aired use of drugs and booze all had a hand in
marketing him as a commodity to both the pro and anti brigades of the hippie
generation; that may seem a poor choice of phrasing but, as has been said by
many in the fame game; ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’. OK, in
fairness, with his colourful background of ‘life in a dysfunctional family’ he
can be allowed some leeway for his behaviour. Certainly fed on through to the
other side as his ignominious death/s (depends which story you go with) via
overdose, and the inexplicable inactivity of friends supposedly falling asleep alongside
the fast-expiring popster instead of dialing for an ambulance, says a lot
about just how laid-back our Jim and his friends were.
In 1970, on this day, The Doors’
‘Morrison Hotel’ (‘Honestly, this band and this album is about the social times
and the political terrain; it isn't all about me, honest’) was certified gold
(their 5th…can you name ANY of the other four?) Just like the white-hat-waving
Steve McQueen in ‘The Magnificent Seven’ taking the focus away from Yul Brynner
in almost every scene, on the Doors album cover photo Mr. Morrison takes centre
stage position dressed in a startlingly white shirt; all the other band members
set back a little…and in dark colours (‘Honestly, this band and this album is
about the social times and the political terrain, it isn't all about me,
honest’).
And when you think of the all
original Doors members, all seminal musicians in their own right, shoved into the
background (Roy Manzarek – Robby Krieger – John Densmore…look ‘em up, see what
they've done) you get an idea of the band priorities for Mr. Morrison…and then
'his band' (‘Honestly, this band and this album is about the social times and the political terrain; it isn't all about me, honest’). Post the ‘Miami Incident’ and the flop of the previous album, ‘Soft
Parade’, Mr. Morrison wanted to guarantee a success; the workload was hard and
dedicated but he got it. Critical acclaim! (The Doors are BACK!!!!! kinda
thing). With that sort of success you
need to capitalise on it which, in a way, he did...and then he didn't.
Didn't: His follow-up release to
‘L.A. Woman’ was referred to as ‘drunken gibberish’ so not so great.
Did: As I've mentioned before in
these scribblings’ (January 17th) there’s no better publicity than to die young
and make a beautiful corpse.
Being discovered the morning after with a nose full of
heroin and in the early stages of rigor may lack a certain beauty but his
death, coming just a year (July 3rd 1971) after the release of ‘Morrison Hotel’
and ‘L.A. Woman’ was perfectly timed and certainly cemented him in the rock-memory…
Not mine, you understand, I still think he was a poseur with a voice that often
went out of tune, even in studio recordings with all their ‘fix in the mix’
paraphernalia but, as I've said before, what do I know? Look who’s famous…
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