The Dark Side of Music Contd.

“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.”

James Douglas Morrison (Jim Morrison). The Lizard King. The bad ass musician as they call him, has been one hell of a mystery during the late 60s and early 70s. Since the dawn of Rock culture in early the 1950s, there have been numerous iconoclastic musicians like Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and many others. But being the most notorious artist of all, Jim Morrison definitely tops the list. From performing live on stage in dead drunk conditions to being involved in domestic violence and sexual assaults, Jim has always been famous for all the wrong reasons. Performing shaman dance moves on stage, abusing the audience, showing middle finger to the crowd and not to be forgotten, the man exposed his private parts in front of the audience in a live concert. Yeah, it sounds absurd. But in spite of his wild, obscene behaviour, the audience loved him and he has been a heartthrob amongst the girls.

The Doors concerts where Jim performed have always been a nuisance, especially for the cops. The concerts witnessed exorbitant police protection because Morrison had tried to spark the riots amongst the crowd several times. But despite the police protection, controlling the crowd and Morrison himself was quite a challenge. The crowd went wild whenever The Doors (Morrison’s band) performed. People used to tear off their clothes during the concerts and there were countless scuffles and fights.

Well, it all began in 1965 when Morrison joined the UCLA film school. That’s where he met some guys who brought out the poet in him and encouraged him to write songs. Together, they formed a band that would alter the course of history, The Doors. According to his fellow band members, this name was suggested by Morrison himself. Jim believed, “there are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.”

Their first single failed to leave a mark up on the audience but the second single, “light my fire” was a huge success. This has been the most successful number of The Doors and it skyrocketed the band's popularity all over the world. 'Light my fire' acquired the no. 1 position on the Billboard Top Hundred Hits. The song remained at the top for over five weeks. This song led The Doors, especially Jim Morrison to unprecedented heights.

So now that we’re talking about, “Light my fire” how can we forget about the controversy associated with this song. The Doors were going to perform live at the Ed Sullivan show for the first time. The song light my fire had a phrase in its lyrics that goes like, “girl we couldn’t get much higher.” And due to its explicit reference to drugs, the show’s producers told Morrison to avoid this line since it was a family show. His fellow band members assured the producers that they won’t be using this line during the show. But as they were on air, Morrison intentionally sung its original version without avoiding the objectionable phrase. In fact, he screamed out the word, “HIGHER” on the camera which led to a huge controversy.

In a musical career of just 6 years, Jim has witnessed an outrageously high number of arrests. His crime record has been horrific. Believe it or not, the man has been arrested six times. Let’s have a look at Jim Morrison’s arrest history.

1        1.  September 28, 1963

Charge: Disturbing the peace

This was the time when Jim hadn’t seen the limelight and he was just an ordinary guy. However, alcohol addiction has been an early part of his life. On this day at Campbell stadium in Florida, Jim was caught making fun of some footballers in a dead drunk condition. Police arrived on the spot shortly, but Jim didn’t give in and started playing with the cops. Before getting caught and arrested, Jim stole an umbrella and a police officer’s helmet.

2. January 23, 1966

Charge: Sexual assault

Jim was charged of sexual assault for allegedly kissing a 14 year old girl without her permission while he was on a road trip with some friends.

3. December 10, 1967

Charge: Inciting a riot, indecency and public obscenity

It happened during a concert in New Haven. A cop caught Morrison making out with a girl back stage just before the concert was about to begin. The cop didn’t know it was Jim Morrison and he asked him to leave. Jim refused to leave and infuriated the cop. At this, he maced Jim in the eyes. The cop later apologized to calm the situation but it wasn’t enough. During the concert, Jim recited the incident to the crowd trying to enrage them against the cop. Nevertheless, he defamed the cop by calling him “a little blue pig.” After this, Jim was arrested on stage during the live concert.

4. January 28, 1968

Charge: Public drunkenness

Once again, Jim targeted the cops at a parking lot and started taunting them in a dead drunk condition. He was arrested and was charged of public drunkenness. But Jim wasn’t finished yet. He kept yelling at the cops from inside the cell, literally abusing them all night long.

5. March 1, 1969

Charge: Lewd and lascivious behaviour, Indecent exposure, Public profanity and drunkenness 

This is the most abominable one. It happened during a live concert in Florida. When a girl from the crowd poured champagne on him, he took off his shirt, held it over his crotch and pretend to do masturbation. And then the worst part happened, he exposed his private part on stage in front of everyone. He was arrested on the spot and was charged for lewd behaviour, indecent exposure, public profanity and drunkenness.

6. August 10, 1970

Charge: Suspicion of public drunkenness

This was Morrison's last arrest before he died. After a whole night of drinking, he fell asleep on a porch in front of Elenor Brough's house. She spotted him there in the morning and tried to rouse him out of his stupor but it didn't help. She then reported it to the police and he was arrested once again.

Well, in spite of his bad boy image, Jim Morrison still can’t be forgotten for his indelible contribution to the rock music. He still has a humongous fan base and remembered as a legend. But for obvious reasons, some legends don’t live a very long life. Apply this to Jim Morrison as well, who died at the age of 27 on July 3, 1971. But unlike many others, his death has been an unravelling mystery. No one knows how exactly he died. His death news was recited by his girlfriend Pamela. He was reportedly found dead in a bathtub of his hotel room in Paris. The cause of death was said to be a major heart attack triggered by excessive intake of drugs. No autopsy was performed on Jim's corpse nor was there much of an examination. The story told by his girlfriend was taken into account.

The Doors: Movie

In 1991, a biopic on Jim’s life was released. Directed by Oliver Stone, it starred Top Gun fame actor, Val Kilmer who portrayed the role of Jim Morrison. The movie depicted Jim’s life from his early days at UCLA film school to his untimely death at the age of 27 in Paris. The movie was unrated due to its illicit and obscene content.