James D. Morrison
Born: December 8, 1943
Died: July 3, 1971
 

"I hope you went out Smiling Like a child Into the cool remnant of a dream" --Jim Morrison

After spending his formative years as a Navy brat, emerging with all the usual emotional problems appertaining thereto, he attended St. Petersburg Junior College and Florida State University, finishing his academic career at UCLA in 1965, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in film. In the summer of that year, he began the only gainful employment he was ever to have -- a singing job with a band called The Doors. He remained with them until March 1971, when he went to Paris, intending to return in the fall to record a solo album.

He was the author, in his own lifetime, of The Lords, The New Creatures and An American Prayer; after his death, two more volumes of poetry were "edited" and published by the parents of Pamela Courson, who inherited his estate when their daughter, to whom he had left everything in an unrevised 1968 will, died intestate.

The DOORS

The band consisted of....
Jim Morrison, vocals
John Densmore, drums
Robby Krieger, guitar,
Ray Menzarek, Keyboards

You could say it's an accident that I was ideally suited for the work I am doing. It's the feeling of a bowstring being pulled back for 22 years and suddenly being let go. I am primarily an American, second, a Californian, third, a Los Angeles resident. I've always been attracted to ideas that were about revolt against authority. I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos—especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom—external revolt is a way to bring about internal freedom. Rather than starting inside, I start outside—reach the mental through the physical. I am a Sagittarian—if astrology has anything to do with it—the Centaur—the Archer—the Hunt—But the main thing is that we are The Doors.

We are from the West. The whole thing is like an invitation to the West.

The sunset—This is the end
The night—The sea

The world we suggest is of a new wild west. A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun, you know? Toward the end. At least for our first album. We're all centered around the end of the zodiac. The Pacific—violence and peace—the way between young and the old.

-Taken from the original Elektra Records biography, 1967-

    Jim Morrison Stats: 

                                                                                JIM'S POETRY                                                                                                                                                  JIM'S GRAVE

                                  GALLERY--PICS

The scoop on Jim Morrison and Patricia kennealy

Jim Morrison met Patricia Kennealy in January 1969, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. A tall, attractive redhead, Patricia was then the editor of Jazz & Pop, an influential rock trade magazine. In June 1970, Jim and Patricia were married in a Celtic Pagan handfasting ceremony (this info is straight from Patricia herself, this event has been disputed by others who knew Jim).

Patricia has since written a few books, one of which is about her and Jim:

Strange Days: My Life With and Without Jim Morrison is the story of what led to the handfasting, and also of what came after the death of the author's mate. It is also a portrait of an era. Kennealy attended Woodstock; she knew personally many of the most famous rockers of the time. Her favorite bands were Jefferson Airplane and The Doors and she describes several concerts by The Doors in great detail. She also recounts time spent interviewing members of Jefferson Airplane. She did not really care for the atmosphere of Woodstock and she does not use nostalgic language to describe the experience. Despite its title, Kennealy's book does not really focus on Jim Morrison, though she describes in detail each of her meetings with him. It is the story of those few years in her own life and how Morrison changed that life forever. She is careful to point out that she had a life of her own as a rock critic before she met him which continued after his death. She went from being a critic and editor to writing ad copy; then began writing her Keltiad novels. Kennealy also speaks about Morrison's long-time girlfriend Pamela Courson, who often used Morrison's name and publicly proclaimed herself to be his wife. They were never wed, though; both Morrison and Courson admitted as much to Kennealy, despite claims later put forward by Courson's family. (Kennealy hastens to point out that her own "marriage" to Morrison was never legal, nor did she ever claim so.)

Now,on to Pamela Courson.....

JIM MORRISON AND PAMELA COURSON

A self-proclaimed creation of Jim Morrison, Courson was a complex and compelling woman who lived several roles in her relationship with the Doors lead singer: groupie, muse, and wife, to name a few. Pam and Jim's relationship was relatively private and long term for a rock couple then and maybe for any couple anymore. The two were essentially beautiful booze- and drug-addled twentysomethings with money to burn, and their fatal flaw was not so much being at odds with the material world as it was never having been forced to confront it without help from agents, roadies, groupies, or sycophants.

The Doors' keyboardist and co- founder (with Jim), Ray Manzarek, claims that Pamela and Jim will "go down in history as great lovers,'' and that their tale recalls Romeo and Juliet, Heloise and Abelard. Perhaps one could argue that a more fitting, albeit less flattering, comparison might be Sid (Vicious) and Nancy (Spungeon).

You may want to check out a book written about this couple:

Angels Dance and Angels Die : The Tragic Romance of Pamela and Jim Morrison

by Patricia Butler

MORE ABOUT JIM MORRISON:

American rock singer and rock lyric who achieved after his death a cult position among fans. Morrison wished to be accepted as a serious artist, and he published such collections of poetry as An American Prayer (1970) and The Lords and The New Creatures (1971). The song lyrics Morrison wrote for The Doors much reflected the tensions of the time - drug culture, the antiwar movement, avant-garde art. With his early death Morrison has been seen as a voluntary victim of the destructive forces in pop culture. However, he was not ignorant about the consequences of fame and his position as an idol. Morrison once confessed that "We're more interested in the dark side of life, the evil thing, the night time."