THE LIZARD KING

Jim Morrison

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne,Florida on December 8,1943.His father was a naval officer and right from the start during his childhood his genius in writing poetry was already noticed.

Jim's both life and death were shrouded with mystery.A hyperactive child,he is already doing verbal duels with his English teacher in high school quoting off from Joyce,Kerouac, and Nietzsche.His craving for the classics and obsession with such poetic symbols--intimacy and distance,fire,sex, and reptiles became his vehicle for being a tremendous and brilliant writer/lead singer for the Doors.Jim Morrison reportedly have an IQ of 149.

He claimed at four years old he could remember witnessing a family of American Indians being killed in a car accident in which he would later put references to his songs and poetry such as "Peace Frog" and "The Ghost Song".

THE DOORS

 Morrison eventually studied cinematography at UCLA and there he met his three other bandmates.Fellow UCLA alumnus Ray Manzarek[who would later become the band's keyboardist] was reportedly impressed by Jim's lyrics on how he loved to play with words."Those were the most beautiful lyrics that I've ever heard" said Manzarek,referring to the song "Moonlight Drive" one of the first songs ever written by Morrison.With guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore,the Doors were formed in 1965 and it took them two years before releasing their debut album.

Playing extensively in deserted bars helped perfect their act,and in 1967,the band got a record deal with Elektra Records and released their first album with triumphant success-a new sound was born.

The band claimed not having any hesitations on their chosen career with such strong competition such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.Who was the competition anyway? The Beatles doing the Everly Brothers and the Rolling Stones doing Chicago blues,the band shrugged off their shoulders and went far ahead.The album's mighty success has put Morrison immediately into the spotlight and rock music has never been the same."Light My Fire" is the band's biggest hit by the way.

ROCK STAR

Jim Morrison,"The Lizard King" as he calls himself,changed the way rock music is presented onstage.As fame comes in,management and touring pressures took toll on him that he slowly turned into drugs and heavy drinking which would later affect his life.Taking large doses of LSD-a drug which has awesome hallucinogenic power which he claimed  helped write more and more songs.Inspired by acid,the Doors released more albums with mighty success.



As the Doors became more popular,riots were already becoming a common act following their concerts as Morrison became more and more contempt of his audiences,provoking them to some kind of action.A new idea struck him that he would instigate a riot and stand back and observe the way things were happening.

It was in New Haven,Connecticut that Morrison first got himself arrested,an argument with a cop backstage resulted him being sprayed in the face with a can of mace.He eventually related the incident to his audience and was dragged off by cops after that.He was,for the record,the first rock star to be arrested onstage.

The Doors released more albums and more hits followed, bad publicity seemed to be common with Jim Morrison but nevertheless,rock fans must admit,the guy's a genius and his awesome style and sex appeal that lasted  with new generation of Doors fans popping up every minute.


The worst is yet to happen when Jim Morrison once again caught the eyes of the media and authorities with the Miami incident,wherein it was alleged that he exposed his penis onstage.Fueled with booze and drugs,he was again arrested and was found guilty with profanity and indecent exposure.


MYSTERY

 As I have previously said,Jim Morrison's life is shrouded with mystery as his death.It was said that nobody saw Jim Morrison's dead body apart from his on and off girlfriend Pamela Courson and the doctor who signed his death certificate.Even as early as 1969 there have been ill reports of his passing with wild rumours ranging from falling off a cliff,jumping on a tall building and diving on a dry pool out of being high on drugs,but Jim was always there to nullify them all.He even married a witch named Patricia Kennely in which they signed their names from their own blood.

Finally,Jim took a time off after recording what would be their last album LA Woman  and fled with his on and off girlfriend Pamela to Paris.And then the rumours began spreading again,"was it true that Jim Morrison is dead?" Elektra's manager at the time received a phone call from Pamela and was told to come to Paris immediately.They found the couple's flat in Paris,and there was a sealed coffin and a death certificate attributing to the death of Jim Morrison,the coffin was said to have been interred the following day.Again,rumours that Jim Morrison faked his death once again surfaced,some say he relocated to the Amazon jungle coz he was too tired of being famous and being in the spotlight all the time.The only person who could once again straighten up those rumours is in no longer position to do so--Pamela died in 1974 and the French doctor who signed his death certificate was nowhere to be found.

Today,Parisian authorities believed that Jim died of a drug overdose. 

Jim Morrison Dec 8,1943-July 3,1971


Jim,whether he faked his death or not,is unanimously one of rock music's greatest saints.Jim,you truly are THE LIZARD KING

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio