DEAD FAMOUS: Jim Morrison

COMING SOON!

In this unique programme fusing travelogue, biography and the paranormal, cynical but curious Gail Porter and ’sensitive’ Chris Fleming take a spirited road trip through America in search of the spirits of the ’dead famous’.

Biography

Curious

Music

Quotes

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Jim Morrison
born: 08-12-1943
birth place: Melbourne, Florida
died: 03-07-1971

Making use of the latest technology of the late 1960s, The Doors produced a sound that was totally unique and musically ground-breaking. This was due in no small part to Jim Morrison’s lyrics, which were drawn largely from his poetry and writings. Morrison’s songs tackled dark and powerful subjects, such as death, murder and madness, along with the traditional themes of sex and drugs and rock and roll. The Doors’ guitarist, Robb Krieger also contributed on the song writing side, and wrote or co-wrote many of the band’s most famous numbers, including “Touch Me“, “Love Me Two Times” and most importantly, “Light My Fire”.

The Doors were signed to the Elektra record label early in 1967, and began to be noticed shortly afterwards. Their first single release was “Break On Through”, but it was “Light My Fire” that really put them on the map, when it went to Number One in June 1967. Three months later, The Doors were invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan show, a popular Saturday night chat show that had featured celebrities such as The Beatles and Elvis Presley. Morrison caused a furore when he agreed to change the lyrics of “Light My Fire” so as not to implicate drug taking on the show, but then went ahead and sang the original lyrics anyway! The show’s host, Ed Sullivan, was allegedly so incensed that he refused to shake hands with the band after they had performed. In addition, they were never invited back. Jim’s response to this was: So what? We already did The Ed Sullivan Show!”

By the time their second album, Strange Days, was released, The Doors had become a national musical phenomenon, and were one of the most popular rock bands that the world had ever seen. The band’s mixture of styles, which embraced blues and rock with psychedelic was totally novel, and made them irresistible to young rock fans. Their choice of lyrics was as far-reaching as Morrison’s literary tastes, and included “Alabama Song” from the Brecht and Weill operetta, “Rise and Fall of The City of Mahogonny”, which had first been written and performed during the 1930s. The band also created a new genre of song by producing extended concept works, including the famous epic songs, “The End” and “When The Music’s Over”, along with their famous concert piece, “Celebration of The Lizard”.

Another factor which made The Doors hugely popular and innovative was the way Morrison and Manzarek drew upon their background in film (they had both studied film at UCLA) to produce some of the earliest music videos to accompany their music. Morrison and Manzarek produced a film for “Break On Through “, their first single release, which featured the four members of the band playing the song on dimly-lit set, with alternate views and cutaway shots of the performers, with Morrison singing the lyrics. Morrison and Manzarek also made videos to accompany other singles, including “The Unknown Soldier”, “People Are Strange” and “Moonlight Drive”.

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