In The Middle of The Sun: VH1 Legends- Jim Morrison & The Doors

Source:In The Middle of The Sun– The Lizard King Jim Morrison

Source:The Action Blog

“Here’s a very rare documentary without the annoying subtitles, narrated by Henry Rollins. I recorded it on VHS back in something like 1997, then recorded it onto a recordable DVD-R. The tape it was oiginally on stopped working right after I burned it to DVD. Enjoy it. I know I did.”

From In The Middle of The Sun

The Lizard King, ( which he’ll always be known as, at least with me ) Jim Morrison’s birthday was last Saturday, but he’s The Lizard King so he gets a 4 day birthday celebration from me at least. He would’ve been 75 today had he not died at the age of 27 in 1971 and without his alcoholism and other drug abuse and had he lived a natural life in years he would not only probably still be alive today, but probably still performing. The Rolling Stones, same generation as The Doors are still playing. Aerosmith, same generation as The Doors and in their 70s still playing. Bruce Springsteen, same generation as well, late 60s if not already 70 is still playing. So losing Jim Morrison at 27 was a huge tragedy that still affects his fans and the broader rock industry today.

Source:John Dewey Stewart– The Lizard King Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger, Live at The Roadhouse in London, England in 1968

You would have to be familiar with not just the NFL, but NFL history ( meaning you’re not a Millennial, LOL ) to understand this reference, but Jim Morrison had a Gayle Sayers affect on the rock industry. He was there for such a short period of time, really only 3-4 years as an active performer before he went to Paris for good in 1970 and never came back and died in 1971. Whether he gave himself the nickname The Lizard King or someone else gave him that nickname stuck, he was The Lizard King. He moved like a lizard and you could argue even dressed like one with his snakeskin skin-tight black leather suit, cowboy boots, and concho belt. He also patent skin-tight brown leather jeans which might be more popular than is black leathers, but he didn’t wear as often.

Source:Ceoniric– The Lizard King Jim Morrison

The way Jim Morrison moved and how he dressed when he moved, the way he danced, crashed to the stage he really put on a show all by himself every time he performed on stage and some could argue a sex show performing in his skin-tight leather suit almost every time he was on stage. Leather jeans especially black leathers, are popular in rock & roll today and have been really since the late 1970s and early 80s, because of The Lizard King Jim Morrison. His impact on rock & roll including blues rock, is not just because of his music and writing, but rock & roll fashion. He was the rock & roll leather cowboy whose impact on rock & roll was huge 50 years ago and still felt today and he will always be missed especially with the internet being as big as it is and people always having the ability to research Morrison and check him out.

Michael Jenson: Aerosmith- Love Me Two Times: Cover For Jim Morrison and The Doors

Source: Michael Jenson– Aerosmith, playing Love Me Two Times, from Jim Morrison & The Doors

Source:The Action Blog

Just another example of why Aerosmith, is the best classic rock band ever, if not rock & roll band ( including The Doors ) with their cover for Love Me Two Times. Jim Morrison and The Doors, were a blues rock band, similar to Eric Clapton today, Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley from back in the day. Aerosmith is almost purely a classic rock band. Not a punk band, sure as hell not a metal band, but a pure rock & roll band the way the music is played in it’s classic form. And yet they’re playing Love Me Two Times here from The Doors, which is a great blues rock song. Along with Roadhouse Blues, perhaps the best Doors song.

But all great rock bands not only have their own sound down, but they can improvise and be really creative and play other people’s songs as well. You see singers performing other artists music all the time and even showing up at other artists concerts and they’ll play the music together. Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, have played Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life together live and in concert. Something you should check out on YouTube if you’re a fan, with Bruce both on guitar and singing along with Jon, Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life. One of the reasons why Aerosmith is the best classic rock band, ever is because they got their sound down and can play other’s people’s music as well very well.

Source: The Doors– Jim Morrison & John Densmore

If you listen to this performance from Aerosmith, I believe the drummer especially has sound of Love Me Two Times down. It sounds just like John Densmore’s ( from The Doors ) version of Love Me Two Times. Not to take anything away from Jo Perry ( my personal favorite guitarist ) who does a great job here as well. Steven Tyler, is Steven Tyler and would never get mistaken for Jim Morrison and sings Love Me Two Times the way Tyler sings anything where he’s almost yelling, but doesn’t go quite that far. What really impresses me most about this performance is the music, not so much the vocals where they sound just like The Doors here and do a great job.

Source: FRS FreeState via Flickr– Jim Morrison & John Densmore

As great as covers can be, they generally don’t beat the original if the original is great. Jim Morrison and The Doors, own this song and video. Where a lot it was shot in 1968 when I believe they were performing at The Roadhouse in London. It’s a great video where you have The Lizard King ( Jim Morrison, who else ) on a stool the entire video at least the footage from London and yet he seems to be struggling to sit still and is moving around the whole time and practically dancing while he’s on his stool and he’s completely leathered up in his full skin-tight black leather suit and concho belt. He was a true performer was born to always be entertaining.

Source: The Doors– Jim Morrison & John Densmore

Aerosmith is still a great classic rock band and if they’re not the best rock & roll band ever, they’re certainly the best blues rock band who has ever played. But The Doors were a great blues rock band even though they’re were only together with Morrison at least for about four years. And they still own this song and are the best at playing it. Jim Morrison is still the best at delivering the song. Aerosmith does a great job here, but there is only one band called The Doors and they’ll always own Love Me Two Times.

Michael Jenson: Aerosmith- Love Me Two Times

GSTree: The Doors Alive- Hello I Love You: Jim Morrison Cover

Source: GSTree– The Doors Alive: Jim Morrison & The Doors cover

Source:The Action Blog

“This is a better quality upload from my original in 2008. GStree productions.”

From GSTree

The guy who plays Jim Morrison ( if you want to put it that way ) does an excellent job here. The Doors Alive is a cover band for Jim Morrison and The Doors. They go around America and perhaps outside of the country playing as Jim Morrison and The Doors. They are a cover band for Jim Morrison and The Doors. They go around playing music from The Doors that they did in the late 1960s. Hello I Love You is obviously one of the songs from The Doors. Along with Light My Fire and a whole host of songs that The Doors produced in just a 3-4 year time period in the late 1960s. When Jim Morrison was still a full member of the band.

Source: Riders on a Storm– Jim Morrison cover

The guy who plays Jim Morrison, ( again, if you want to call it that ) has the look of The Lizard King down. The skin-tight low-rise black leather jeans, the black leather cowboy boots, even though Morrison generally wore suede boots, and of course the concho belt. Even though Morrison once he went with a full beard in 1969 or so when he was just a complete alcoholic at that point, wasn’t wearing the concho belt anymore with his beard and by late 1970 was no longer wearing his leather jeans black or brown. The Morrison cover here not only has a full beard, but with the black leathers and concho belt and is always performing and dressed like that.

I believe the guy who is the Morrison cover, not only has Morrison’s look down, except for the full beard, but has Morrison’s voice down and is someone I could definitely listen to perform live to hear him as Jim Morrison. And the rest of the band does a good job playing the The Doors music. If you’re a Doors fan especially a Morrison fan, I think you would like this band and want to hear them for yourself. The Morrison cover has the look and voice down and the rest of the band is very good as well.

The Doors: Jim Morrison and The Doors- Hello, I Love You: From 1968 In Color

Source:Action– Jim Morrison and The Doors: Live in Frankfurt, Germany in 1968.

Source:The Daily Review 

“The Doors – Hello, I Love You (Subtitulos Español – Ingles) Gran canción de una gran banda! Suscribanse.”

From The Doors

It’s a rare treat that you get to see Jim Morrison and The Doors perform in color. Even though they came out and became a hit in the late 1960s most of their concert footage and music videos were done in black and white. Almost like watching music performances from 1955 or something even though color video and footage for both TV and movies was pretty common if not expected by 1968 when this video in Frankfurt Germany came out.

But since this video was shot in color, you get to see Jim Morrison and The Doors the best blues rock band I believe of the 1960s playing in color. With Jim Morrison performing in his go to black leather suit and suede cowboy boots. And you get to see parts of downtown Frankfurt, Germany as well.

The song Hello I don’t think is that great of song. But it has a great guitar and drums beat to it and with the Lizard King and his great voice and with the timing down can make ordinary lyrics like “hello, I love you”, sound better than they actually are. And then you throw in Morrison’s skin-tight black leather jeans and concho belt that almost made him look like his crotch was sticking out (and that is as graphic as I’ll get) and you had women who simply were in love with him especially when they got to see him perform up close and wanting to touch him. A big reason why you would see women jump up on the stage trying touch and grab him while her performed in the 1960s. So you put all of these things together and you have a pretty good video here.

 

 

Jim Morrison: The Bad Boy of Classic Rock

Source: The Doors- Jim Morrison

Source:The New Democrat

Jim Morrison aka The Lizard King, is the bad boy and frontman of classic rock and blues rock. I’m not interested in heavy metal and punk rock, where I’m sure you’ll find guys who got into more trouble and perhaps had even bigger addiction problems. Curt Cobain and Axel Rose come to mind damn fast for me. But, the heavy reliance and influence of black leather that you saw at least in the 1980s and 1990s especially with the leather jeans, boots, jackets, came from Jim Morrison. Which just to my point about how big a deal The Lizard King is when it comes to rock and roll and not just classic rock and blues rock where he made his biggest impact. But again heavy metal when you’re talking about wardrobe with the leather jeans, boots and jackets. That Jim Morrison made a staple of his wardrobe in the late 1960s, when almost no one else outside of biker culture was wearing at all.

I don’t know of a frontman that meant more to his band than Jim Morrison. Not to take anything away from Ray Manzarek especially, who was great on the keyboards and also had a great singing voice. And Robby Krieger was an excellent guitarist and John Densmore could play the drums. But The Doors are famous because of Jim Morrison, but Morrison wouldn’t of needed The Doors at least the group that was put together to be famous and successful. How many other rock frontman at least from that generation, had the intelligence, the wit, the writing ability and then throw in the style that The Lizard King had. In an era where frontman looked somewhat preppy except for the long hair and looked like hippies, I mean we are talking about the late 1960s after all, Jim Morrison is wearing a black leather suit. Skin-tight black leather jeans, that would be called skinny leathers today. With a black leather suit jacket, an Indian concho belt and black suede and leather boots.

Jim Morrison not just put leather jeans on the map in rock and roll, but leather period. To the point that Elvis Presley starts wearing a black leather suit in the late 60s and early 70s. John Kay, from Steppenwolf has his own Lizard King outfit. With a leather vest, black leather jeans and an Indian belt. The hard rockers of the 1980s Kiss, Motley Crew, Guns N Roses, as well as heavy metal bands like Skid Row, are all wearing leather jackets and leather jeans. But much more casually than Jim Morrison and wore biker jackets and t-shirts with their leathers. Morrison, again was a rebel and did his own thing and did it so well that he made it so cool and had others following him. To the point that there are countless Doors cover bands and Jim Morrison covers. With the Jim Morrison figure always in his black leather and concho belt and at times with the black leather jacket.

But with The Lizard King, its not just his leather rock and roll fashion. And the fact that perhaps no other man has ever wore a black leather suit better. Or the fact that thousands of women went to Doors concerts to check the man out every night and to see what he would do on the stage next. But it was also his music and the fact that he and The Doors did their own thing and made their own music and to a certain extent sung about the times the 1960s, but did it their own way. Morrison, especially didn’t want to fit in some place, but instead create his own place that was even different from his own band members from again how he carried and presented himself on stage. And then see if others would follow him. The Baby Boom Generation, the 1960s rockers who made it big in that decade, lost three great stars. Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. But I’m not sure as great as Jimi and Janis would’ve been even combined would’ve they’ve meant more to rock and roll than Jim Morrison. The Lizard King was one in a kind and great at simply being himself as an entertainer. And we haven’t seen anyone as good, or similar since.

Fame Music: Jim Morrison- The Bad Boy of Classic Rock

Jim Morrison Project: ‘Jim Morrison’s 1967 Shelby Mustang’

Source:The FreeState MD– Jim Morrison, in 1969.

Source:The New Democrat

“Jim Morrison driving his 1967 Shelby G.T. 500. The clip is from the film “When You’re Strange” (directed by Tom DiCillo) which is in turn borrowed from the movie “HWY: An American Pastoral” which Jim made in 1969 with some friends (Paul Ferrara, Babe Hill, and Frank Lisciandro). This footage is considerably clearer than my previous post of Jim driving the car. Go full screen with this clip, the resolution is killer. You can even see dust on the car it’s so crisp and clear.”

“I did a lot of research on the Shelby and all indications are it was trashed after Jim hit a telephone pole when he was drunk. He had clipped it before, but on that occasion he bent the frame, ending his time with The Blue Lady (his name for the car). Jim met the same fate as the Shelby two years later, though some think he’s still alive. It’s kind of fitting as some people are convinced this car still exists. Maybe he’s still driving it?”

“Shelby fans, note the car has no front grille emblem, no trunk emblem, small lettered Speedway 350 tires, uneven, hammered rear exhaust outlets, comfortweave seats, fender mounted antenna, and half the molding on the driver’s side taillight is missing. LOL. Best of all, it’s a 4-speed nightmist blue car with parchment interior and 10-spoke wheels. He knew how to pick ’em, huh? That’s the way I would have ordered it. If only you could go back in time!”

“I posted an almost identical clip about 4 years ago but something eventually happened with the formatting and as a result it looked like garbage. I deleted it after posting this newer, better, and even clearer clip even though the old one had about 225,000 views and 300 comments. This clip should be formatted correctly and in HD and will undoubtedly be ripped off by others just as my previous post was. So much for ingenuity. I’ve kept another post up which also features the car and includes the stock audio from “HWY” but the video quality lacks. Regardless, a nightmist blue parchment interior ’67 G.T. 500 4-speed car just like Jim’s sold at Barrett-Jackson auctions for $440,000 in January, 2015. Who would have ever believed it?”

From Toddlem

Source:Toodlem– Jim Morrison, going for a ride in his 1969 Shelby Mustang. 

This video was part of a 2010 PBS film about The Doors, really about Jim Morrison and The Doors, which what really drew my interest to the film that I have on dvd. And this is how the film starts off, with The Lizard King taking to the highway I believe in Southern California desert. And he starts off hitchhiking and someone in a Shelby Mustang, great car by the way, picks him up and somehow which is not shown in film, The Lizard King ends up with the car and driving the car. Only The Lizard King would wear skin-tight black leather jeans in the California desert, but that is one thing that made him The Lizard King. And the original film I believe from 1969 I believe was part of Morrison needing a break from the music business and perhaps The Doors as a whole. And that is what they show with Lizard King hitting the road and seeing what life if like outside of his world. And its a good little film, the 1969 version and the 2010 PBS version Strange Days is even better and it shows this part in that film.”

 

Jim Morrison & The Doors: Live in Frankfurt, Germany (1968)

Source:Getty Images– Jim Morrison and The Doors, Live in Frankfurt, Germany in 1968.

From Getty Images

Source:The New Democrat

“The Doors truly are one of the all-time greatest and one of the most iconic rock bands in history. Jim Morrison was without a doubt one of the most prolific and charismatic frontman in all of rock, and his influence is still regarded as such even to this day. The Doors were one of the best, pure and simple.”

Source:Society of Rock– Jim Morrison and The Doors: Live in Frankfurt, Germany in 1968.

From Society of Rock

I think the Crawling King Snake video from The Doors with Jim Morrison perfectly sums up the style and career of Jim Morrison. The man made leather jeans and rock and roll culture and why it looks the way it does today, at least with hard rockers and headbangers. The Lizard King obviously wasn’t a hard rocker or a headbanger, but he put his signature black snake skin leather jeans on the map and made them cool. To the point by the 1980s they were standard for rockers male and female. And probably a big reason why Melissa Etheridge and Joan Jett got into them and why you saw rock and roll bands like Guns N Roses and Kiss get into them and of course the metal bands like Skid Row and Motley Crew.

And that is what you see in this video. The Lizard King moving so smoothly in his snake skin’s and cowboy boots and the concho belt. He combined rock and roll culture and lifestyle, with Western and American-Indian culture with the leather jeans, cowboy boots and concho belt and the leather jacket as well. He put these looks on the map in rock and roll, because of how often he wore this outfit in public and all the images that have come from those appearances. That were famous then and if anything now more popular forty-five years later. And without the Lizard King, rock and roll probably looks a lot different in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and today.

Leather in general wasn’t very popular in America when it came to wardrobes pre-late 1960s or so, except for perhaps biker and to a certain extent Western culture. So Jim Morrison in his full leather suit and then throw in the cowboys boots and the concho belt, that if anything even highlighted his leather jeans even more, especially in front, he was taking a risk. But he had the style, the look, the moves to make it work to the point that he became a rock and roll and perhaps even style icon in America and not just in rock and roll. And all of this is part of legacy that is still alive and well today.

Alex Owskignr: The Doors (1991) Miami Concert Scene: Five To One

Source:The New Democrat – Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison

Source:The New Democrat 

“The Doors Five To One Scene From Movie HD.” Originally from Alex Owskignr, but has since been deleted or blocked on YouTube.

As I mentioned yesterday, The Doors is a very entertaining movie and in at least one sense is accurate as portraying Jim Morrison as a very wild and perhaps immature young man. Who fit in very perfectly in the 1960s generation and the time he grew up in and came of age. But the Miami concert scene is one of the few accurate scenes in the movie. The Lizard King did show up to the 1969 Miami concert, not high, but drunk and was a few hours late.

Morrison was noticeably off and did an awful job and even had a hard time standing up because he was so drunk from the plane ride and from the bar before the flight. Morrison did stop singing all together, got frustrated and started cussing at the audience. And they did boo him and security had a hell of a hard time trying to secure the arena because it was so hot, wild and overcrowded. Sort of like an American prison actually.

But the Miami scene and the New Haven scene might be the only two accurate scenes in the movie. If you are simply just looking for a good fictional movie about a rock and roll band, The Doors is probably a good movie for you. But if you are really interested in the life of Jim Morrison and perhaps the run that The Doors had, I suggest you go the documentary route that is just as entertaining about The Lizard King and The Doors band. But you’ll actually learn some things about them as well.

Oliver Stone: The Doors (1991)

Source:The Daily Journal– Val Kilmer as The Lizard King Jim Morrison, during the Miami concert scene.

Source:The Daily Journal 

“The Doors movie trailer. Oliver Stone’s movie trailer.”

From Sophie T

The Oliver Stone 1991 The Doors movie was a very entertaining movie and worth watching and Val Kilmer did a very good job of playing an entertaining Jim Morrison (Aka the Lizard King)

But other than the Miami concert and perhaps the New Haven concert and maybe the New Haven jail scene and the Lizard King’s outfits, this wasn’t a very accurate movie. And this is according to Doors band member guitarist Robby Krieger.

First of all, Val Kilmer is around 6’1 and 200 pounds, he’s a big tall man. Where according to The Doors themselves, the real Lizard King was around 5’10 and slender. The Miami concert was crazy as it should’ve been with Morrison trying to perform drunk and getting frustrated and taking it out on the audience.

Jim Morrison trying to make it look like he pulled down his leather jeans (black or brown?) and exposed himself which according to the real Doors band, he never did, but wanted to make people believe he did.

And the New Haven scene was fairly accurate, with the Lizard King getting maced in a hall closet before the concert when he was fooling around with a girl, by a cop. And then going out on stage and doing a good job, but then slowing down and getting frustrated and telling the audience about what happened to him in the closet.

And the jail scene was accurate too, with Morrison getting stripped down. And the movie nailed the Lizard King’s outfit down, with over an hour of coverage with Val Kilmer wearing the Lizard King’s go to, skin-tight, lambskin black leather jeans, which Val Kilmer pulled off very well.

But the rest of the movie was an entertaining fiction novel with moving pictures. The Doors movie is very entertaining and if you’re looking for an entertaining fictional rock and roll movie, then I suggest you watch Oliver Stone’s The Doors. But if you want an accurate picture of Jim Morrison and The Doors, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Rudy Overlord: Ed Sullivan Show- Jim Morrison and The Doors Light My Fire: Ray Manzarek Insight

Source: Rudy Overlord- Jim Morrison up close

Source:The New Democrat

Before I make Jim Morrison look real bad here I’ll say that this was one of The Doors best performances ever even as short as it was. The Lizard King (and I say that for a reason) was at the top of his game with the vocals and everyone played very well. But if you watch the video (and you are not blind) you see something real obvious and may get to thinking “what the hell”. (or something stronger than that) Because you see Morrison in his classic black leather suit. Nothing strange there from him, but with a big fact erection sticking out of his leather jeans. I don’t know how you go out on stage with that sticking out and that is assuming you are sober. And perhaps The Lizard King wasn’t and this was one of the reasons why he was The Lizard King. Because he was so out there and not just wore the black leather jeans at most of his performances. But his leathers were so skin-tight and revealing that anything that got him excited sexually was going to be seen by a lot of people and this case being on Sullivan by millions of people. And it happened to him in one of the most public places possible on Ed Sullivan on national TV on Sunday night in 1967.

Rudy Overlord: Ed Sullivan Show- Jim Morrison and The Doors: Ray Manzarek Insight