Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer-songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band The Doors. Following The Doors' explosive rise to fame in 1967, Morrison developed an alcohol dependency which led to his death at the age of 27 in Paris. He is alleged to have died of a heroin overdose, but as no autopsy was performed, the exact cause of his death is still disputed, as well as rumors floating of him faking his own death to escape the pressures of fame. Morrison was well known for often improvising spoken word poetry passages while the band played live. Due to his wild personality and performances, he is regarded by critics and fans as one of the most iconic, charismatic, and pioneering frontmen in rock music history. Morrison was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and number 22 on Classic Rock Magazine's "50 Greatest Singers In Rock".
Early years
Was the kind of
nomadic existence that’s typical of many children who grow up in military
families. Being raised in such a strict and disciplinarian environment,
Morrison was a dutiful and respectful child who did extremely well at school,
and excelled at swimming and other outdoor pursuits. For a while, his parents
hoped that he would follow his father into the Navy, and enter the United
States Naval Academy at Anapolis, in Maryland.
As he embarked on
adolescence, however, Morrison discovered alcohol, and settled into a lifelong
routine of excessive drinking and drug abuse which soon put paid to his
parents’ dreams of naval glory. He became a disruptive student - although he
did succeed in graduating from George Washington High School in Alexandria
Virginia in June 1961.
His father was
transferred to serve in California, and Morrison returned to Clearwater,
Florida, to live with his grandparents once more. He attended school at St
Petersburg Junior College, but carried on drinking and carousing until late
every night. He would frequently go out late and return home drunk, in order to
annoy his grandparents. Neither of his grandparents drank alcohol, so he would
purposely leave empty bottles and beer cans in the garbage where they would see
them.
In 1962, he transferred
to Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee, where he appeared in a school
recruitment film. While attending FSU, Morrison was arrested for a prank,
following a home football game. He had already
developed a passion for film, so with the encouragement of one of his FSU
Tutors, he transferred to UCLA’s film school in Los Angeles, the Theatre Arts
Department of the College, where he completed his Bachelor’s Degree. Jim made
two films whilst studying at UCLA, one called 'First Love', the other was a
longer film called 'Obscura'.
Jim was a keen poet,
and whilst reading his work live at a poetry reading in Venice, he hooked up
with fellow ex-UCLA student Ray Manzarek, who was immediately intrigued by
Morrison’s writing and lyrics. The two budding bandmates were joined by drummer
John Densmore shortly afterwards. The guitarist Robby Krieger auditioned for
the group at Densmore’s recommendation and so The Doors were born. Since
experimenting with drugs was such a major part of Morrison’s lifestyle, it’s
believed that the band’s title came from the title of the book written by
Aldous Huxley on the effects of drugs on human perception, 'The Doors of Heaven
and Hell'.
