Today 50 years ago, on July 3 1971, Jim Morrison died.
- Thread starter JuanGoodman
- Start date
Life is strange for some. Fame, fortune and talent are not enough. Need drugs to fill in the void inside.
If I recall, Jones had just spent all his cash buying a big piece of land with 16th century house on it (and a swimming pool he drowned in) and was fired from the Stones a month or two later. Be a shit thing to suddenly lose your job and be stuck with a huge mortgage, but I believe that's what happened.
Youth. looks. fame. money. success. Turned into a bloated drunk. Long before interventions were discovered. Never liked the Doors. Can't understand why they were popular after the most obvious rip off song of the century. Hello I love you.....All day and all of the night.
Anyway. Other victims of themselves come to mind like Keith Moon.
Anyway. Other victims of themselves come to mind like Keith Moon.
Interesting point. But bands didn't earn as much back then. And Jones was pretty bankable himself, as an ex Stone. Certainly enough to handle a mortgage on a country house.
I wouldn't have thought that bankable. About as bankable as Wayne Fontana after the Mindbenders kicked him out. He just wasn't that interesting. Andrew Loog Oldham hated him. In his book, he said Brian garnered the hatred of Mick which was kind of as ill advised as going up against Mussolini. Allegedly he was up for anything to tweak the Stones into commercial popularity before they made it. Kick out the singer, and make it a 4 piece, was one option he suggested. Jagger don't forgive ,or forget. Keith said that Brian became very fragile and lost. Pete Townsend wrote a poem for him. something like "The man who died every day"
Wasn't Jim Morrison facing possible jail time in Florida? hence the move to France?
Keith thought Brian was an asshole and B couldn't song-write and didn't want to be just a glorified sideman like Bill and Charlie. That said, Brian was a vicious little fuck who beat up his girlfriend - according to Keith's bio.
There are probably more worthy people to feel sorry for.
Without looking Jim up on Wiki, I think he DID unzip his leather fuck-boy pants on stage in Dade Co and whip out his dick, leading the cops to close down the show and arrest him. Not sure if that gets substantial jail or not in FL in 1970 if you were a long-haired hippie. It probably does.
Again, I suspect there are more likeable people to feel sorry for.
Wayne Who? was hardly in the same category of hype as "the greatest rock and roll band in the world".
I've not read Oldham's book, but I gather the only reason Jones stayed with the Stones from 1965 onwards was the money he was making. It's well documented that as soon as the Stones moved away from doing blues covers, started writing their own stuff and going commercial, Jones lost interest. In the early days, the Stones were Brian's band, but as their popularity increased, Jagger and Richards were pushed to the front and Jones got pushed to the back.
As much as he resented the Stones going commercial, a funny thing is that the only song Brian Jones wrote for the Rolling Stones was a 1963 BBC ad for Rice Krispies.
I believe this picture was one of the last photos ever taken of Brian Jones at his home, Cotchford Farm, just a few days before he died.
If I recall, he was brandishing a rifle or shotgun in some other photos taken that day.
As this thread on Jim Morrison seems to have turned into a Brian Jones discussion there is a 2019 documentary "Rolling Stone: Life and Death of Brian Jones" on Amazon Prime.
One theory is that his death may have not been entirely accidental as he was hanging around with some shady characters at the time including the contractor who was renovating Jones' house. It is an interesting film as it covers more than just his death.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Bri...PV80KHUQDDyQQ_B16BAgsEAE#imgrc=tPu8LGfi0ve8wM
One theory is that his death may have not been entirely accidental as he was hanging around with some shady characters at the time including the contractor who was renovating Jones' house. It is an interesting film as it covers more than just his death.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Bri...PV80KHUQDDyQQ_B16BAgsEAE#imgrc=tPu8LGfi0ve8wM
I read that Jim was already found guilty for indecent exposure in Miami but was free on probation. The move to Paris was apparently motivated by his desire to reconnect with his poetry writing as he thought the city would inspire him.
Instead he got into heroin and was found dead in his bathtub.
By all accounts Morrison was pretty burned out near the end even though he was only 27. One of my favorite Doors songs is The Soft Parade. In it he alludes to the charges he was facing in Miami and through its poetic lyrics you can hear how he was seeking escape from his current existence, or so it seems.
The night Brian Jones died he was having a pool party and had been drinking heavily. As the party began to wind down, he took sleeping pills and went out back for a last swim. According to one of his friends, Jones kept the pool thermostat at a ridiculously warm temperature. These factors are pretty much a recipe for disaster, and I think it's reasonable to believe the official report -- that while he was in the water he passed out, went under and drowned. But then again, who knows.
I do remember reading that the autopsy showed that at only 27 his heart and liver were both in bad shape. Hard to believe there was a Rolling Stone who was a bigger abuser of drugs and booze than Keith Richards, but there was.
Haven't heard of the documentary, but thanks for the tip, I will check it out.
