"FRIDAY MOVIE SUGGESTION NIGHT" PRESENTS: "THE DOORS LIVE AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL"!

Jim Morrison

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Welcome to a feature I started on this Blog more than 2 years ago in September, 2005. My pick for "Friday Movie Suggestion Night" is "The Doors Live at the Hollywood Bowl". Some of you may be asking why I didn't choose Oliver Stone's 1999 movie, "The Doors". The simple reason is that all three surviving members of the band said that Stone's movie contained many inaccuracies including Val Kilmer's portrayal of Jim Morrison as a raving sociopath. I agree. Secondly, this is the only complete filmed concert of Jim Morrison and The Doors (the BBC Concert was edited). A 1993 release by Elektra records, "Alive She Cried" contains one of the best versions of Van Morrison's hit "Gloria" (by the band Them) on tape during a sound check. Highlights of this featured movie's performance are "When the Music's Over", "The End" and "Light My Fire". I visited The Hollywood Bowl venue and photographed it during my last full day in Los Angeles. Now...for those of you too young to remember this band here's the short summary on their significance.

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The Doors were formed in the summer of 1965 when Jim Morrison, a poet and UCLA film student met keyboardist Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach in California. The two struck up a conversation with Jim sharing with Ray a hip poem that he wanted to translate into music. Guitarist Robbie Krieger (who was actually trained in Classical guitar) and drummer John Densmore formed a spartan but potent rhythm section as the new band began to pull their sound together. To appreciate the persona of Morrison is to grasp his unpredictable if not impulsive behavior on stage. Simply put, nobody was doing anything compared to The Doors in concert. Their performances were a mix of over-the-top free-form poetry and musical improvisation during the growing Civil Rights movement and a general distrust of all authority. Heavy-handed policemen wielding batons and arrest warrants often stood off stage ready to bust Morrison (as they once did) for inciting a riot and sadly, lining the perimeter of various concert halls, which only provoked anger among the audience. As a result, a pall of something edgy and dangerous hung over venues with many cities banning the group. A still-controversial event that allegedly occurred in Miami on March 1, 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium involved a drunk Morrison (who had missed his flight to the concert before hitting the alcohol) later at the show yelling into the microphone. "Anything you want, let's do it", and then, allegedly, exposing himself. In his autobiography, Ray Manzarek claims it never took place. This concert is the shortest film ever featured here on "Friday Movie Suggestion Night". I make it a point to try and preview whatever film I suggest and since I've yet to see The L.A. Woman Tour DVD by the renamed Riders On The Storm, I just sincerely felt that many of you in Blogland new to my Blogsite and The Doors ought to see a piece of history. This show was filmed during the July 4th weekend in 1968. During 1970 and 1971 Jim sadly slipped deeper into alcohol abuse, although he moved away from drugs. He became heavy, grew a long beard and became increasingly unpredictable, albeit, his last recording "L.A. Woman" is said to be the bands' best. During the recording of "Love Her Madly", it was Jim's idea to take his microphone into a bathroom and sit atop the toilet tank with the lyrics in front of him with the door closed to create the unique sound you hear on that song. Despite his poor health, the session musicians worked so well with The Doors that a spirited tour of the album was planned sometime after Morrison and his girlfriend Pamela Courson returned from a trip to France (while his Miami obscenity case was on appeal). The band did perform at the Isle of Wright Festival alongside artists such as Joni Mitchell, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Sly & The Family Stone and Miles Davis. While in France, Morrison telephoned band members to find out how the post production of "L.A. Woman" was coming along. It would tragically be their last contact with the lead singer and bands' visionary. Morrison's body was discovered on July 3, 1971 in the bathtub of his apartment by Pamela Courson. While no autopsy was performed, the cause of death was credited to alcohol poisoning that induced a fatal heart attack. He is buried at Pe're Lachaise Cemetery. The Doors sold 76 million albums and continue to sell millions more each year. Their music remains staples on FM Radio stations worldwide. They were inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

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"Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin...WAKE UP!"

---Jim Morrison