UNEXPECTED CONVERSATION: Jim Morrison

0:03Tetragramatine I was in New Orleans about two months ago and I thought it was a beautiful town. I had a lot of fun there. I was thinking about New Orleans last night. There's a bar called Bonaparts. They have a fantastic mural done by a young artist who doesn't live in the city anymore. It's a picture of Napoleon in exile.

0:57He's kind of soaking in this field and there's a sword stuck in the ground in front of him. And then over to the left is the scenes from the... It's a war scene in people and sewers and chaos and all that ghost and shades. It's a beautiful mural. I can't get it out of my mind, actually. Do you move around a lot? No, that was just a friend and I went to Atlanta for a film festival. We had a film in there and then we drove from Atlanta to New Orleans. You had a film entered in a festival? Yeah, but it was a little 40 -minute documentary on a rock and roll band traveling around the states. We shot about a year ago.

1:50Do you mean the doors? Yeah, it's called Feast of Friends. They showed it in the New York Film Festival too. So actually it was just an excuse to go to Atlanta and then we drove to New Orleans from there. I dig this out. One thing I do remember at Atlanta is the most amazing hotel you've ever seen. You walk in and from the outside it looks like any other large hotel. You get in and you look up and it goes up about 27 floors and the interior is like a Spanish courtyard. Architecturally it's hollow. So all the rooms face each other across this vast garden arena. And the elevators are like kind of Victorian rocket ships.

2:48That sounds cool. And they're glass and so you go up to the restaurant on the pet house and it's completely encased by glass. Is the glass elevator on the outside of the building? No, it's on the inside. And so you get this strange sensation rising up 27 floors in this glass elevator. 27. Oh, somebody jumped one time. Somebody jumped and landed and they have a restaurant in the middle of it and someone landed in the restaurant. Wow. I hear it was really horrible. Or what is it about the south that people perceive differently? I don't know why the south has such a reputation. But maybe these clichés are really true after all.

3:41I never really noticed that the south was any worse than the other part of the United States. Of course I'm from there, you know. Really? So I might be prejudiced. I think it's a grotesque caricature. However, it is a strange territory. You bet. You don't have a southern accent. Wow, I don't know. I don't know how come I don't have an accent being from the south and all. I want you on a television. I try and obey the norm. You know, people in the Midwest and the south and all. They call it like the way people in California talk. They call it TV talk. You know, the way people talk on television, newscasters and commercials and actors and all that.

4:35It's TV talk. Are there any gigs coming up? Well, the only thing we have planned is a gig in a medicine square garden. Four shows, two days. Around January 17th, 18th, something like that. Do you enjoy performing more than recording? Well, I guess so. I do. I think it's more fun, you know, with a lot of people around. According studios tend to get a little dry and monotonous. Do you make a set list before the gig? Well, we have a repertoire of 30 or 40 tunes. And so we usually plan, like in the dressing room before we go on, we usually plan, you know, the first three or four songs. And then after that, we just play it by ear.

5:29So we don't really know what we're going to do when we go out there. And how do you prepare to go into the studio? Usually we rehearse, you know, until we have a considerable amount of material. And then we go in and do it. We don't... Well, on this new album, it's really strange. It went really quick, you know. We went in and we got a song a day, which is kind of unusual. How would you compare that to the other albums? It was funny. The first album that we did in about ten days and then each succeeding album took longer and longer until the last one took about nine months to do. And this one, we went in and we got a song a day.

6:15It was amazing. Partly because we went back to the original instrumentation, just... just the four of us in a bass player. Why did you decide to do it that way? I don't know. I think that phrase is the most horrible phrase in the English language. I don't know. Terribly embarrassing. When you in the studio do you have expectations about singles or anything like that? No, we joke around a lot. But actually, we just do an album. And then every time we make a choice for a single, it usually turns out wrong. And so what we're going to do on this one is just put out the album and let the public decide which one they like the best and then we'll release that as a single.

7:10It seems like the most realistic way to do it. Who picked the singles in the past? Yeah, we picked them. But I don't think we really have the key to the pulse of the nation because we've made more mistakes than we've been right. What do you think about what critics say about the band? I think that's where I think we're the band you love to hate. So it's been that way from the beginning. You know, we're universally despised. I kind of relish the whole situation. Why do you think people hate the band? Gee, I don't know. I guess I think it's like I was just at the San Francisco for another film festival.

8:07This feast of friends is filmed. And it was an audience that consisted mainly of young people way under 30. You know, hip, young people, street people. And they booed the film. Wow. And I think that we're on a monstrous ego trip and people resent it. That's pretty funny. They hate us because we're so good. Do the things they say bother you? Yeah, it does. I wish they wouldn't do it. But freedom of the press and all that. I think maybe it will change. I think what it is, it's a question of longevity. It's like a, you know, it's that old thing, like a first novel. You know, they usually give the cat a break, you know, when everybody kind of pats him on the back.

9:05And then the second one, they really chop him up. And then if he does a few more, you know, and shows he has staying power, then, you know, they say, well, welcome back to the fold. The human family embraces you. And I think it'd be the same way with us. We just have to hold out for a while. Everyone, one day, will realize, wow, they're just like old friends. They've been around for years now. And, you know, they're part of our national psyche. I guess we'll just accept them. You know, but now it's a little, you know, we're kind of in between. Do you think your music's been getting more commercial?

9:48I don't agree with that. I just think the music keeps getting better and better. It gets more subtle and more sophisticated, musically and lyrically. Besides, you know, if you keep saying the same old thing over and over, I mean, it's bound to get boring, right? Who wants to hear revolution 24 hours a day? Tell me about Hello, I Love You. You know, that song I wrote that very early, but three years ago.

10:28If you listen to the lyrics, Hello, I love you. What you tell me your name? Hello, I love you. Let me jump in your game. Ah, huh. She's walking down the street, blind to every eye she meets. Do you think you'll be the guy to make the queen of the angel's side? Poetic. Forget the rest of it. Oh, do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel? I would, you know, I wouldn't say that's such a bad lyric. The sound of the band keeps changing, evolving. Yep, we're just full of surprises.

11:10Did the doors start when you were still in college? No, it was after I got out of college. And I wanted to see, I finished up in the film school, because I wanted to make movies. So you know how difficult it is to break into the movie game. So I just kind of wandered around, was living down at the beach in abject poverty. And just kind of, for no reason at all, I started writing some songs. I just kind of popped into my head. And I ran into Ray, who was at the film school also. And he'd been working in bands since he grew up in Chicago and he'd been doing it for a long time. So I showed him some of the songs and we said, hey, let's get a band together.

12:03So we did. How did you become the singer? Well, I suppose because, you know, the person that writes the songs on his singum, because he's the one that, you know, must feel it more than anybody else. So since I was writing most of the songs, I just gradually became the singer. Tell me about your listening taste. Well, the only time I listen to music is on car radios when I'm driving around, you know, top 40 stuff. I don't listen to music that much. Every now and then I'll catch an act in public somewhere. I saw when I was in Vegas, I saw Peggy Lee. You know, I'll go to clubs there and I don't listen to music that much.

12:59I don't know what you call a music buff. You spend much time reading? Nope, I don't read very much either. I used to. And then I, life got so interesting that I didn't need to anymore. Do you write a lot? Nope, I don't. I don't do much of anything really. But I will, don't worry. I'll get back in the saddle, you know. I've just been kind of lazy lately. It's cycles of non -productiveness and then intense periods of creativity. So right now I'm just soaking it all in. So what do you do with your time? Oh, I did do one thing. I just completed a short feature movie, 35 millimeter in color, called Highway, H -W -Y, with a few friends of mine.

14:10And we got the first answer print day before yesterday. It should be ready next week. Do you like how it turned out? I think it's quite good too. It's about 60 minutes long. What's it about? Essentially there's no plot, no story, in a traditional sense. A person that played by me comes down out of the mountains and hitchhikes his way through the desert into a modern city which happened to be LA.

14:46And that's where it ends. It's a very beautiful film. Were you in it or did you work on the film? There were four guys that made it. Me and three other guys. And we all just kind of made it together. It started out. I had an idea for a film about a hitchhiker who becomes a mass murderer. The kind of thing that happens every year or so. Kind of like the zodiac character. Except it's stark weather and billy cook. And it happens every couple of years. And so we went out in the desert to start shooting it. While we were out there, the film took over and just went in its own direction.

15:43And became something a little different. The only thing that was left from the original idea was the idea of a hitchhiker. Do you like the experience of acting? The only reason I did it to tell you the truth is because I couldn't think of anyone else to do it. It was just as easy for me to do it. I'm not that crazy about being an actor. I'd rather be a director or writer. Something like that. But if I had a chance, I'd probably do a few films. Why not? Shakespeare was an actor when he first came to London. Do you plan on making more films? Yeah, probably. If I do anything in films, it will probably be this script called St.

16:33Nicholas at Michael McCleur and I wrote based on his novel, The Adept, which hasn't been published yet. And it's a contemporary story about a couple of dope dealers that go to the desert to make a score. And if I do anything, it will probably be the first project. That sounds kind of like Easy Rider, no? Yeah, I know. But there's nothing I can do about it. This story was written before Easy Rider was made. And it's just superficial similarities. I know people are going to call attention to that. But I don't know what to do. Easy Rider had such a big impact. Do you know I read in a daily variety yesterday.

17:31Easy Rider was made for about $385 ,000. And the estimated gross so far, $50 to $60 million. He said, you know, religious hushed tone. $50 to $60 million, that's quite a profit margin. My dear. Well, quite the return on the investment. Yeah, but they usually cost $10 or $12 million to make. This is like a Brexit precedence all over the place. Because it's the first essentially independent low budget feature to really clean up in the old marketplace. It's unusual. It's going to open the scene up for a lot of people. I think Dennis Hopper's next film shoots in Peru. Great. Have the door success changed your life in any way?

18:43Oh, yes. I can go into any restaurant in town and order anything I want. And I don't have to go to 50 cent movies anymore, either. And if you stop now? Let me think. No, I'm just so greedy. You know, just the more I can get, the better. You know, just my ambition is to have a whole bunch of gold bullion. Is that the proper terminology? That sounds right. I'd like to have a big gold bar, big chunks of gold, you know, just to have around the house. And, you know, that sounds kind of hip -hop. Let's put it this way. I think with our, you know, with our economic system, you know, and tax structure, you're all that, I don't think it's possible ever to just retire and never work, you know.

19:52You know, because the economy keeps increasing if you drop out of the economy, then it just passes you up, you know, in a couple of years, and you're left high and dry. I don't think it's possible to retire in a capitalistic society. Lots of artists seem to spend as much as they make. Yeah, and look where it goes. How would you describe your relationship to money? I think, you know, I dig money because I've always said this, money does beat soul every time. Not only that, it's a form of communication, and besides that, if you run into some good luck and you get some money, right, then I think you should just keep pouring it back into creative ventures, just as soon as you get it, you know, don't go out and buy a bunch of diamond rings and stuff, you know, but pour it back into creative ventures, you know, that are creating new things, and you can't ever go wrong, you know.

21:06Do you like talking about these kind of things? Hey, listen, man, this has been one of the most, this has been probably one of the most exciting interviews I've participated in. You're getting the benefit of my grand Irish wit all over the place, and you call it disdain. Well, you want to arm wrestle? Huh? What do you want, man? Go ahead, ask me something else. And I won't be disdainful. I'm sorry if I was disdainful. I don't hear it as disdain. How do you and the other band members get along? Well, you know, it's like being married or being a member of a family, you know, there's always strife, you know, people that live together fight a lot.

22:00But I've noticed that we went through a period of kind of, it was really getting strained, and in the last few months, everything is really, really smooth out. Would you attribute that to? I think when you're creating well, when the music is going well, everybody's happy. It's not only when your creativity kind of dies off a little bit, and everybody starts feeling strained, but the relations are very good. But that's good to hear. How long do you think the band will continue? I have no idea, really. I reasonably project at least another seven or eight years. But beyond that, I don't know. What's the status of the situation in Miami?

22:59Well, you know, it's still up in the air right now, but I'll probably have to probably be a big trial. And I guess the best thing would be just, you know, I might even buy a suit, you know, to make a good impression on the judge and the jury and everything, you know. Suit, nuttie, what kind of a suit? What kind of a suit? Kind of a conservative dark blue suit. What would the pie look like? Not one of those paisley ties, but more of a, you know, just, you know, I like a, instead of those narrow, those real thin ties, I like a big fat tie, you know, with a great, big knot, you know, how will you prepare for the trial?

23:55I think I'll get a suit and take a lot of tranquilizers and just try and have a good time. Maybe I'll keep a diary of the whole thing and publish it in Esquire, something. That sounds like a good plan. You know, my impressions of my hanging, is there still a markout for your arrest? Yeah. Hey, man, you're putting me on a bummer. Let's get on to another subject, all right? It's a rainy day and L .A. and you're talking about all this horrible nonsense. What would you like to talk about? Let's talk about something light. What did you think I was going to ask you? It's a funny thing. I've noticed that when people are joking, they're usually dead serious.

24:49And when they're dead serious, it's usually pretty funny. So I actually think anything you say means exactly what you say and it's opposite.

25:03Are you hungry? Why do you ask? Well, maybe we could order out for some sandwiches or some chicken delight or something. It's a lunch time. What did you have breakfast this morning? What'd you have? I just had coffee. Is that all you had? Yeah, that's all I wanted. Why is it so onerous to be fat? I don't see anything wrong with fat. I mean, I remember when I used to weigh 185 pounds. I'm the same height. I was the same height that I am now. I weighed 185 pounds. I was going to college and I had this food ticket at the cafeteria. And the cafeteria food is mainly all based on starch. It's cheap food.

25:53And so I don't know what it was. But in order, I don't know, I just felt like I was, if you missed your meal, you just, you know, I just figured, well, I was getting screwed, right? If I missed a meal, I just blew it. So I'd get up at 6 .30 every morning just to make breakfast.

26:15Eggs and grits and sausage. And toast. And milk. Then I'd go do a few classes. I'd make it in there for lunch. Mashed potatoes. You know, every now and then they'd put a little piece of meat and something, you know. And I'd go to a few more classes and then I'd go to dinner. And it was more mashed potatoes. And so about three months later, I was 185 pounds. And you know what? I felt so great. I felt like a tank, you know. I felt like a large mammal, a big beast. When I moved through the corridors or across the lawn, I just feel like I could knock anybody out of my way, you know. I was solid, man.

27:14Did you like how that felt? It's terrible to be thin and wispy because you could knock over by a strong wind or something, you know. Fat is beautiful. What was the fashion magazine that you were in? Well, you know, I was, um, invogue, you know. Wow. How did that happen? I don't know, I must have been out of my mind to do it. Can you imagine? Can you imagine doing that? Posing for a picture? Can you imagine? You know, and really looking in the camera and really posing? That's insane. I must have been out of my mind. If I had the whole thing to do over again, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't. What were your thoughts at the time?

28:05I thought I knew what I was doing, you know. I thought, you know, I knew what I was doing. And the horrible thing about a photograph is once it's done, you can't destroy it. It's there forever. So can you imagine when I'm 80 years old and I have to look at myself, you know, posing for these pictures and everything? It's too late. This guy's trying to put me in a bummer, man. Your look was always part of a band's story. That's another thing, see? You know, talk gets around, talk crazy, talk like that. What happens? You know? I mean, that's a difficult burden to bear, you know? It really is. Because we all know no one's any sexier than anyone else, right?

28:54Everybody's got the same equipment, unless, you know, you know, biologically you got mixed up or something. We're all about the same. Did you like the attention that you got from it? Well, I must admit that there were occasions when having a reputation like that did help me out in some tight situations. And plus, I got to meet a lot of groovy ladies that otherwise I would, you know, they probably wouldn't even have noticed me, you know? So it's not all bad. So in that respect, it was all to the good. Tell me about where you went to school. Let's see. So many schools, I traveled around a lot as a child, and I went to so many schools about one school, different school a year.

29:55Or every year and a half, I go to a different one. I finished up at UCLA. Did you learn much at school? No, I didn't learn too much. The only reason I did it was because I didn't want to go in the Army, and I didn't want to work, and school was fairly easy for me, so I just kept doing it. And that's a damn truth. What's the best thing about school? If they have a good library, that's about it. Or unless you want to be an engineer or a scientist, something like that, I think you could learn a lot. You know, they have all the equipment and professors and all that, but I think the main key to education is just reading, basically.

30:40You could do the same thing on your own. What are some of the places you've played besides the United States? Not too many, really. Mexico City, Canada, London, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. But most of the United States are audiences the same in all the places you've played. Nope, they're not. They're not the same. London, they're very, very hip over there. And in Frankfurt, I noticed that they were quite rude. Rude? The people in Stockholm were nice. Mexico City, well, you know, rather boisterous. You know, they drink a lot and really, you know, yell. We're going to try and go to Japan for that expo thing, play there, and we're going to go to Australia.

31:40And I like traveling around. Do you like playing in different parts of the world? That's the best part of this business is, you know, you get to change your locale a lot. The shows in Mexico were canceled several times. Well, in Mexico, it's a unique problem because that place is a hotbed of political unrest. Do you know, I heard some stories down there that would curl your hair. Take this. These guys are going to school, you know, college. If one of their friends disappears, they don't seem for two weeks. They just ride him off. They say, well, I guess they got him. Do you know, see, I think when we went down there, it was the anniversary of the first anniversary, a year earlier, something like the government heard that when the Olympics were going on, the government heard the students were going to do a little demonstration, you know, a March protest.

32:48So when the students showed up for the protest, there was an ambush waiting. I think they slaughtered about 2 ,000 young students. Wow. Really? Like that. It's a very, you know, bad place for students or, you know, people against the government. You know, they don't mess around. They just kill you. They go into your house at night and shoot you and your whole family. Wow, that's pretty scary. First, that's just hearsay. You know, I can't back that up with any photographs or anything, but that's what I heard. How long were you down there? About a week. Since Miami has it been difficult to book shows, it's like a political football, you know.

33:37They let us sign up for a concert and then about two days before we show up, the mayor or the sheriff or somebody, whoever's, you know, wants to get his name in the paper, will try and cancel the show and get everybody out, outrage, you know. People like, you know, parents that wouldn't even have, wouldn't even know who we were, you know. All of a sudden, they hear that, you know, the sheriff, Peabody says they shouldn't be a lot of perform. So, you know, like that. It's just a political football. Why do you think the doors have been singled out? I told you, were the band you love to hate? Do you think it's based on the material?

34:26I know, I could write an American folk song, you know, something that would appeal to everyone. And everyone would say, gee, what a great guy. I put a lot of American eagles in it and sagebrush, timber, boulders, rivers, mountains, prairies. How do you describe the music that you like best? Oh, let me think. I like old blues singers. And about the best, I like Stravinsky. I like him. Stravinsky. And who's that, uh, Vabern? I like Vabern. Vabern. See, there's one other one. I can't think of it right now. If I remember, I'll tell you. Cool. What about rock music? I like it. Any favorites? I like the early rock and roll people, you know, all the classic dudes.