Jim Morrison- Rock Star, poet and song writer was born on December 8th, 1941 in Melbourne, Florida. The son of a Navy man, Morrison began to rebel against his fathers strict discipline & discovered alcohol and women but remained an avid reader and a pretty good student. After graduating High School, Jim made his way back to Florida to attend Florida State University, where he landed on the Dean's List. But the draw to California was too much, he transferred to UCLA to study film & met pianist Ray Manzarek. Adding guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, the band became The Doors, based on the title of Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception.
In June 1966, Morrison and the Doors became the opening act at the Whisky a Go Go. Later that year the band release a short film, music video if you will, for "Break on Through"
The following year, the band signed with Elektra Records and released their self titled album. The second single, "Light My Fire" launched the band to stardom & the single hit #1 and stayed there for 3 weeks. The Doors, and Morrison especially, became infamous later that year when they performed the song live on The Ed Sullivan Show. Because of its obvious drug reference, Morrison had agreed not to sing the lyric "girl we couldn't get much higher" on the air, but when the cameras rolled he went ahead and sang it anyway, cementing his status as rock's new rebel hero.
The second album, Strange Days, included 3 Top 40 hits: "Love Me Two Times", "People are Strange" and "When the Music's Over." They quickly followed their sophomore album months later with Waiting for the Sun, which included another #1 hit: "Hello, I Love You".
Although he was briefly married a music journalist named Patricia Kennealy, Morrison spent most of his time with Pamela Courson. In an attempt to clean up his act, he moved to Paris with Courson in March of '71. He shaved his beard, lost weight (Fat Jim Morrison) and began to walk and write more. But he couldn't escape his demons and the drug use continued until his death on July 3rd, 1971 when Courson found him in the bathtub of their apartment in rue Beautreillis. Cause of death was determined to be 'heart failure'. Since the French found no evidence of foul play, no autopsy was performed & the conspiracies started. Morrison was buried at the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and his grave has since become one of the city's top tourist destinations.
Morrison, who died at 27, was one of the most iconic musicians of our time. His antics, his mystery, his lifestyle and his apparel all typify what has become known as a 'Rock Star'. His influence can be seen in bands from Alice in Chains to Pearl Jam to STP and the Strokes.
Enjoy some of Morrison's best quotes
"I am the Lizard King, I can do anything."
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
“The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.”
“I've noticed that when people are joking they're usually dead serious, and when they're serious, they're usually pretty funny.”
And my personal favorite
“No one here gets out alive.”
