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Jim Morrison's dad breaks silence about estranged son
Reuters News Service via Houston Chronicle ^ | Nov. 9, 2006, 9:08AM | no byline

Posted on 11/09/2006 10:38:15 AM PST by weegee

LOS ANGELES -- The father of late Doors singer Jim Morrison has broken his silence to share memories of his estranged son, who once sang about killing him and joked that his family was dead.

George Morrison, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, is one of the contributors to The Doors by the Doors, an authorized memoir released this week. The book's author, rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres, also interviewed the band's three surviving members and Jim's younger brother and sister, among others.

"We look back on him with great delight ... The fact that he's dead is unfortunate but looking back on his life it's a very pleasant thought," George Morrison says in the book.

Jim Morrison, a difficult teen who rebelled against his father's military lifestyle, went on to become one of the most magnetic performers in rock 'n' roll. But he disowned his family, and once made a throwaway comment that they were dead. He also referenced his parents in the Oedipal rant The End, singing that he wanted to kill his father and sleep with his mother.

Andy Morrison recalls that his mother, Clara, who died last year, took him to a Doors concert in Washington, D.C., and asked to see Jim, but he refused to meet with her, and she drove home in tears.

The Morrisons surmise that Jim's hostility was really designed to shield them from too much attention.

"I had the feeling that he felt we'd just as soon not be associated with his career," George Morrison says. "He knew I didn't think rock music was the best goal for him. Maybe he was trying to protect us."

Adds his sister, Anne, "He liked mystique, too. He didn't want to be from somewhere."

Jim Morrison died of a heart attack in Paris in 1971, and his grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery is one of the city's top tourist attractions. His family pays the authorities to take care of the site.

George Morrison said it was "quite an honor ... for the family" to have his son buried near cultural giants like Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Frederic Chopin.


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: jdm; jimmorrison; rockandroll; rockmusic; thedoors; thesixties
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1 posted on 11/09/2006 10:38:17 AM PST by weegee
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To: 537cant be wrong; Aeronaut; bassmaner; Bella_Bru; Big Guy and Rusty 99; Brian Allen; cgk; ...
Rock and Roll PING! email Weegee to get on/off this list (or grab it yourself to PING the rest)
2 posted on 11/09/2006 10:38:57 AM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: weegee

Oh man, I would hope that if I died, my dad would say something better than "that's unfortunate"!!


3 posted on 11/09/2006 10:42:26 AM PST by ZGuy
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To: weegee

The Lizard King worshipped his Mojo Rising.


4 posted on 11/09/2006 10:45:10 AM PST by subterfuge (Tolerance has become the greatest virtue, and hypocrisy the worst character defect.)
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To: ZGuy

Under the circumstances described above, I think he was being very kind.


5 posted on 11/09/2006 10:48:35 AM PST by sarasota
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To: weegee

Anyone seen Almost Famous? Wasn't Fong-Torres a 'character' in that?


6 posted on 11/09/2006 10:48:45 AM PST by AUJenn
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To: weegee
Yeah..... sure, I'm not going to acknowledge my family.... cause he was ashamed of them is why. He was an icon of the populist hippies...and to have a flag officer as a dad...gee, he's lose his "street credibility". He was just a spoiled upper middle class blow-hard drunk that likes to say things on stage, make a little cash, and get laid.

.....just like every other guy in a rock band...hahahahahaha

7 posted on 11/09/2006 10:56:30 AM PST by Dick Vomer (liberals suck......... but it depends on what your definition of the word "suck" is.)
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To: weegee
Andy Morrison recalls that his mother, Clara, who died last year, took him to a Doors concert in Washington, D.C., and asked to see Jim, but he refused to meet with her, and she drove home in tears.
The Morrisons surmise that Jim's hostility was really designed to shield them from too much attention.

I guess that's one way of looking at it...

8 posted on 11/09/2006 11:02:36 AM PST by truthkeeper (It's the borders, stupid.)
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To: weegee

Morrison was a sick and depraved drug addict. His father is being kind.


9 posted on 11/09/2006 11:04:23 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: AUJenn

Yep.


10 posted on 11/09/2006 11:06:37 AM PST by Brian Mosely (A government is a body of people -- usually notably ungoverned)
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To: weegee
The Morrisons surmise that Jim's hostility was really designed to shield them from too much attention.

Either that, or Jim was just an arse.

11 posted on 11/09/2006 11:07:42 AM PST by SIDENET (Is it too early for flapjacks?)
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To: SIDENET

I say the latter.


12 posted on 11/09/2006 11:26:23 AM PST by truthkeeper (It's the borders, stupid.)
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To: weegee
Maybe he was trying to protect us.

Is there something in the water that keeps people from telling the truth these days???

13 posted on 11/09/2006 11:26:27 AM PST by madprof98
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To: SIDENET

The family can believe whatever they want. Truth is, Jim Morrison was an addict of drugs, alcohol, and anything else he could use to get high. Real shame too, 'cause he was so gifted.


14 posted on 11/09/2006 11:27:16 AM PST by geezerwheezer (get up boys, we're burnin' daylight!!!)
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To: weegee
George Morrison said it was "quite an honor ... for the family" to have his son buried near cultural giants like Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Frederic Chopin.

I've been to that cemetery and it's disgraceful what the "tourists" have done to the grave there. It's not hard at all to find Morrison's grave.......just follow the graffiti. I heard a year or so ago that the descendants of people buried there were trying to get Morrison's grave moved out because they were so disgusted with the defacing of their loved ones' grave stones.

15 posted on 11/09/2006 12:05:47 PM PST by EggsAckley
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To: EggsAckley

Hi Eggs! Haven't seen you in a while.


16 posted on 11/09/2006 12:06:30 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Dancing through life like a street mime with tourettes syndrome.)
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To: Tijeras_Slim

Hey Slim! Been doing the low profile routine lately. Not much to say I guess.

How's NM these days?


17 posted on 11/09/2006 12:10:34 PM PST by EggsAckley
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To: EggsAckley

Well the plots there are not sold, they are rented. His lease was up. Some figured it would present the first opportunity for a Stateside funeral.

His parents didn't get to attend the first one. Morrison was buried before word got out.


18 posted on 11/09/2006 12:16:53 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: EggsAckley

Nice here.


19 posted on 11/09/2006 12:26:17 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim (Dancing through life like a street mime with tourettes syndrome.)
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To: Tijeras_Slim

Nice here too. Very clear and warm for November.
Getting ready for winter to hit.


20 posted on 11/09/2006 12:34:32 PM PST by EggsAckley
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To: weegee
I might have been at that concert where the Morrisons attempted to see Jim. I saw them at the Washinton Hilton ballroom in November of 1967, the first time they came to DC. There were only a few hundred people in the audience, and it was a fabulous show.

If that was the same show, it may be just as well that Mom and little bro didn't chat with Jim that night, as he appeared to be pretty drunk.

21 posted on 11/09/2006 12:34:40 PM PST by SupplySider
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To: weegee
"The father of late Doors singer Jim Morrison has broken his silence to share memories of his estranged son, who once sang about killing him and joked that his family was dead."

Weeg, I'm just so touched to hear this.
Is there a *book* I can buy?

Only regret I have is Morrison's not still alive so he could run for public office on the Liberal-Socialist ticket.

Wait a minute, now.

...on second thought. {g}

22 posted on 11/09/2006 12:37:50 PM PST by Landru (That does it, no sleep number for you pal.)
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To: Landru

The father of Jim Morrison's wife (he's a former school principal) is the one who inherited Jim's estate and has thwarted efforts to release things like the art film Jim starred in (one he was in for someone else, after he'd become famous).

Parental rights are odd things when marriages come into play. Like the way Terry Schivo-Schindler's husband was able to plead her case for financial gain and then to present a purely oral contract to end her life even when her parents offered to take custody. He did not have her best interests at heart and had apparently abandoned the marriage.

Even odder is the concept of trademarking celebrity. "Marilyn Monroe" died without any heirs. She gave control of her estate to her psychiatrist. That psychiatrist's wife's family now profits from her persona (including impersonators).

If Mr. Morrison wants to put his thoughts down about his estranged son in a book together with the rest of the band, I don't see a problem with this.


23 posted on 11/09/2006 12:48:26 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: SupplySider
My father-in-law was at the New Haven, CT concert when Morrison was arrested for profanity during the show & trying to incite a riot.

"...blood in the streets in the town of New Haven..."

24 posted on 11/09/2006 12:56:20 PM PST by CT-Freeper (Said the perpetually dejected Mets fan.)
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To: SupplySider

I wonder how widely reported that incident was at the time.

There was a movie called "Wild In The Streets" with a Morrison-like messianic singer. He runs away from home as a late-teen after trashing the house and blowing up the family car. His mom (played by Shelly Winters) sees him on tv one night and makes an effort to see him backstage after a concert.


25 posted on 11/09/2006 12:56:26 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: weegee

Great movie to watch while high, so I recall.


26 posted on 11/09/2006 1:00:38 PM PST by freedomson (Tagline comment removed by moderator)
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To: freedomson

On laserdisc it was issued on a double-feature with Psych-Out.

On DVD they paired it with Gas-s-s-s. Psych-Out on DVD is paired with The Trip.

Netflix should have them all.


27 posted on 11/09/2006 1:04:08 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: freedomson
Wild In The Streets was a bit of "speculative fiction" about what would happen to America when the baby-boom generation was allowed to vote and become president.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vTRNly1UiOw

If you're over 30, "you'd better see it".

28 posted on 11/09/2006 1:08:21 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: weegee
"If Mr. Morrison wants to put his thoughts down about his estranged son in a book together with the rest of the band, I don't see a problem with this."

Good.
Because this coming out *now* is part of a marketing plan for an upcoming book.
Surely veteran forum citizens know the modus operandi of these things, by now.
Hell's bells every moonbat Liberal-Socialist has used & continues to use the same shtick.

FWIW I enjoyed Morrison's stuff for years, maybe longer than you are old, I dunno 'bout that except it's been a long time -- say 1968?
Long time.

Interestingly enough Morrison's keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, following Morrison's suicide did a solo album.
Was Ray's only effort that I knew of.
Anyway one cannot buy a copy of that one album on CD, and I for one would love to own a copy since so much of the Doors' sound came from Ray, vocals aside.

Make sure you ping me to your review of the book, weeg.

I'm sure it'll be available at Amazon.

...real soon. ;^)

29 posted on 11/09/2006 1:08:45 PM PST by Landru (That does it, no sleep number for you pal.)
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To: Landru

I buy "review copies" or close-out editions of most new books from Half Price Books. No sence in paying $24.95 for a book that I can find for $4.95 in under a year (or sometimes in the first month of release).

And I am behind on reading autobiographies. I do have Manzarek's and have read some but not all of it.

Ray Manzarek has done some recording and performance off and on with a poet, Michael McClure, in recent years. He also produced the LA band X in the 1980s.

http://www.mcclure-manzarek.com/mcclurebio.html


30 posted on 11/09/2006 1:16:53 PM PST by weegee (Remember "Remember the Maine"? Well in the current war "Remember the Baby Milk Factory")
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To: weegee
"Ray Manzarek has done some recording and performance off and on with a poet, Michael McClure, in recent years. He also produced the LA band X in the 1980s."

Good to learn Ray's keeping busy.
But the work Ray'll be remember for he did when he was a very young man, filled with spit & vinegar & it sounded like it.

On his one solo album he performed a protest song called, "America, love it or leave it".
It mocked the then "rednecks" who told the "hippies" the same thing.
The CD would be worth that song alone.

They sure don't make 'em like that, anymore & since I collect classic rock (to the tune of 3,600 CDs) I'd love adding it to my collection.

...just for posterity. ;^)

31 posted on 11/09/2006 1:31:58 PM PST by Landru (That does it, no sleep number for you pal.)
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To: Landru; weegee

If one of you know where I can find a CD of the soundtrack from "Wild in the Streets" or the original "Cool Hand Luke" soundtrack, or where I can download those from, I would appreciate the information.


32 posted on 11/09/2006 2:03:13 PM PST by ansel12 (America, love it ,or at least give up your home citizenship before accepting ours too.)
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To: madprof98
Is there something in the water that keeps people from telling the truth these days???

ooooh, one of these trick questions. I know! I know! no matter what the truth is, the answer will be 'no,' right? =P

33 posted on 11/09/2006 2:56:18 PM PST by Zeppelin (You've been Zarqed !)
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To: trisham

"Let me tell you something. We need a two and a half hour movie about the Doors? Folks, no we don't. I can sum it up for you in five seconds, ok. I'm drunk. I'm nobody. I'm drunk. I'm famous. I'm drunk. I'm f'ing dead. There's the whole movie, ok!? Big fat dead guy in a bath tub, there's your title for you." - Dennis Leary


34 posted on 11/09/2006 2:57:57 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator
LOL! Leary is pretty funny, even if he is a liberal. He also does wonderful work for the firefighters of this state.
I loved his show "The Job".
35 posted on 11/09/2006 3:00:15 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

My favorite all-time Leary line, "What kind of country is this where John Lennon gets six bullets in the chest, and Yoko is standing right next to him and not one f'ing bullet? Explain that to me."


36 posted on 11/09/2006 3:01:48 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator

LOL! I also love his rant on the French.


37 posted on 11/09/2006 3:03:00 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: weegee

Some of the Doors songs are my favorites.... will always listen when "Riders on the Storm" or "LA Woman" or "Light My Fire" is on the radio


38 posted on 11/09/2006 3:25:27 PM PST by dennisw ("For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks-- Matt. 12:34)
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To: ansel12
"If one of you know where I can find a CD of the soundtrack from "Wild in the Streets"..."

Start here for that, but follow all links:
http://www.blaxploitation.com/s_320.html

From the little I read you're looking for a vinyl copy as it's not available on CD.

"or the original "Cool Hand Luke" soundtrack, or where I can download those from..."

Here ya go, ya got lucky, knock yourself out:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000006XS7/internetmoviedat/

It's an import y'know, hence the $84 asking price.
So the question is my friend, how bad ya want it?

Could be worse.
I paid $125 for Bob Seeger's first album called, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" when his group was known as, The Bob Seeger System.
Was done in '67 or '68 & I wanted just *one* song off that thing, and I got it.

To get it away from me now, $500.

...or forgetaboutit. ;^)

39 posted on 11/09/2006 3:30:09 PM PST by Landru (That does it, no sleep number for you pal.)
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To: dennisw

I'm fond of "Hello I love you" or whatever the name of that song is. It's just so cool, not the lyrics, but the instrumentation.


40 posted on 11/09/2006 3:41:40 PM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Landru
(to the tune of 3,600 CDs)

Can I come over sometime?

41 posted on 11/09/2006 3:49:11 PM PST by KevinB
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To: trisham

I'm fond of "Hello I love you" or whatever the name of that song is. It's just so cool, not the lyrics, but the instrumentation.............


No one else played music like that


42 posted on 11/09/2006 3:52:31 PM PST by dennisw ("For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks-- Matt. 12:34)
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To: weegee
The End

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you!
Mother...I want to...f_ck you!

_____________________________________________________________________________

Nice.

Jim would have made a great Democrat politician had he lived.

43 posted on 11/09/2006 4:03:29 PM PST by SkyPilot
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To: Landru; weegee

Ray did a CD with Scott Richardson called Revelation Blues. Check it out here:

http://www.raymanzarek.us/rev_album.html

It's out of print, so if either of you are interested in getting a copy from me, drop me an off-line e-mail.

Don't ask me how it is though, I've had the disk for like 2 years and am JUST listening to it now. I knew I had it somewhere so I just dug it out!


44 posted on 11/09/2006 4:53:23 PM PST by t_skoz ("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
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To: Landru

Do you have any vinyl? I have a really large vinyl collection butam most interested in Detroit rock live bootlegs such as MC5, Stooges, Seger, etc. I have some pretty awesome Seger bootlegs, we should chat about that.


45 posted on 11/09/2006 4:55:51 PM PST by t_skoz ("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
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To: weegee

I got the new "the doors by the doors" book. My first thought was "wow, these hippies won't think twice about selling their quick buck." Of course, I was in line buying the book at the time.


46 posted on 11/09/2006 9:10:09 PM PST by Big Guy and Rusty 99 (proud sponsor of the "helmets for democrats" foundation)
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To: dfwgator

I think billy martin said it best when he said 'i;m ok to drive.'


47 posted on 11/09/2006 9:21:24 PM PST by Big Guy and Rusty 99 (proud sponsor of the "helmets for democrats" foundation)
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To: weegee
Did he say, "It's a shame my son was such a pack ass."
48 posted on 11/09/2006 9:22:46 PM PST by unspun (What do you think? Please think, before you answer.)
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To: Landru

3,600? kid stuff . . . try over 10,000 albums.


49 posted on 11/09/2006 9:24:53 PM PST by Big Guy and Rusty 99 (proud sponsor of the "helmets for democrats" foundation)
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To: trisham
Morrison was a sick and depraved drug addict. His father is being kind.

I'm sure it's easier on his family to try to think the best of Jim especially since he treated them very badly while he was alive and then made them very wealthy after dying in a bad way.

50 posted on 11/09/2006 9:27:32 PM PST by Route66 (America's Main Street)
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