Fifty years ago in New Orleans, Jim Morrison snuffed out the Lizard King once and for all.
On Dec. 12, 1970, at the fabled Warehouse concert hall on Tchoupitoulas Street, the Doors played what turned out to be the band’s final concert with Morrison. It was, in short, a mess, courtesy of the drunk and disillusioned singer.
James Douglas Morrison, a cocky and very expressive human being that continues to make every generation swoon with his deep lyrics and euphonious sound. His death was sadly cut short at the prime of his music in 1971, but his legacy continues to live on inspiring man artists to express themselves in any way they feel is right.
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Fans of the band The Doors may not know that lead singer Jim Morrison lived with his grandparents in Clearwater while attending college in the early 1960s.
BEFORE THE DOORS recorded the first take of “Roadhouse Blues,” the boogieing lead-off to their fifth album, Morrison Hotel, frontman Jim Morrison set the scene for the band by describing a vivid scene with his natural gusto.
When one thinks of The Lizard King, AKA The Doors’ enigmatic frontman Jim Morrison, one doesn’t necessarily think of him as an overweight glob of a man. The undying image of Morrison scantily clad in leather trousers is that of a sinewy and sultry rock God, untouched by the humanity of food. However, Morrison, more than most, struggled with his weight and under the spotlight, he developed some serious thoughts about the pressures on being body conscious.
We’re dipping into the Far Out Magazine vault to revisit a momentous occasion in the career of the counter-culture kings The Doors. It was a moment which could have quite easily cost them their career but, in the end, may well have made it. It was the moment they were banned from The Ed Sullivan Show.
Val Kilmer is one of the most talented performers of his era, and while his career did not play out like many would have predicted, the truth is that the man had plenty of successful films back in his prime. His time playing Batman saw him alongside Nicole Kidman and Jim Carrey, while Top Gun had him alongside Tom Cruise. Kilmer did it all in his prime, and he forged an interesting legacy.
It’s safe to say that the sounds Jim Morrison created with The Doors was lightyears ahead of its time, the enigmatic vocalist is a figure that alternative music will always be forever grateful for—even if he was somebody that departed us painfully too soon.
The Doors remain a pillar of rock music when looking back at the last century’s sonic victories. Jim Morrison and The Doors’ influence on contemporary music is undeniable, but their importance to an audience in 1970 is vastly more imposing.
Not everyone was convinced that Jim Morrison really died in Paris in 1971, and that included at least one member of the rock icon's own band.
