The Doors' John Densmore Regrets Not Standing Up To "Madman" Jim Morrison
- by Andrew Magnotta
The Doors' drummer John Densmore has been forthright over the years about his complicated relationship with his band's iconic late-front man Jim Morrison.
Densmore maintains that Morrison's legend of being a "Dionysian madman," "psychopath," and "lunatic" is completely accurate. He notes that like many people in the singer's life, he at once both loved and feared Morrison, and he could never be sure where he stood with Morrison at any given time.
Though alcoholism and drug addiction plagued Morrison and ultimately led to his death at age 27, Densmore tells The Guardian in a new interview that he now believes Morrison would have eventually turned his life around had he stayed alive.
"I wasn't trying to enable him. It was another era," Densmore said. "I used to answer the question: 'If Jim was around today, would he be clean and sober?' with a no — Kamikaze drunk. Now I've changed my mind. Of course he would be sober. Why wouldn't he be? He was smart."
