BE TRUE TO YOUR OWN SPIRIT

GROWING UP IN THE MORRISON HOUSEHOLD

Jim Morrison was born on December the 8th in 1943 in Melbourne, Florida, his father Stephen George Morrison was a strict Naval Admiral, Clara was his mother. Jim had two younger siblings Andrew and Anne, due to his fathers long absences on Naval missions Clara was the head of the family while the children grew up. At just six months old Jim's father returned to the Pacific to fly Hellcats from an aircraft carrier to be absent for three years, Jim and Clara went to stay with Steve's parents, they had strict Victorian values and neither drank or smoked.

Jim moved many times in his childhood as all Naval families have to, Washington next and then to Albuquerque, where his father was an instructor in one of the atomic weapons programs, Anne had now also joined the family, Andrew was born two years later. Jim would go on to have five homes in his first four years

THE BIRTH OF "MR MOJO RISIN"

Travelling home with his parents to Albuquerque on the highway from Sante Fe, Jim witnessed what he later described to be "the most important moment in my life." The family discovered an overturned truck, and saw injured and dying Pueblo Indians, Jim was overcome with grief and wanted to help. His father got out and instructed another onlooker to a telephone to call for an ambulance, he returned to the car where Jim was still crying hysterically. He still wanted to help but his father insisted that nothing could be done as they were dying, afterwards he assured Jim that it was just a dream and it didn't really happen.

Many years later Jim told friends that as their car pulled away from the accident, an Indian died and his soul passed into his body. The birth of "Mr Mojo Risin" had begun!

THE PROGRESSION OF "MR MOJO RISIN"

The Morrison's moved around many more times, it is a well known fact that this causes a lack of stability and many families chose not to make strong bonds with others as they are seldom in one place for more than a year. This along with his fathers strict rules and bullying made Jim withdraw from family life, his father would often intimidate him with his vicious verbal and physical punishment, openly in front of others, expressing that he was worthless and not up to his high military standards that were fully expected.

Jim was also disappointed with his mother as she didn't defend him during the times of his fathers frequent brutal behaviour, this was another step closer to towards "Mr Mojo Risin" Jim's alter ego. Research has shown in times of fear there are four available actions, fight, flight, freeze or disassociate. It is believed that Jim chose the fourth and developed a dissociative personality disorder due to his fathers abusive actions. He later went on to tell people that his parents were dead and he was an only child.

Jim Morrison with his father Stephen Morrison on the USS Bonhomme Richard

JIM'S FATHER AND THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT

The picture shows Jim on his fathers ship named the U S S Bonhomme Richard.

Stephen Morrison was Commander of the U.S Naval forces in The Gulf of Tonkin during The Gulf of Tonkin incident. This false flag event escalated America into full involvement into the Vietnam war resulting in the death of fifty eight thousand American lives and three million Vietnamese lives. It is said that Jim's father was implicated in sending distorted facts to the White house which led to the U.S involvement. Jim unsurprisingly went on to be one of the leaders of the counter culture showing complete disdain for the establishment, authority and the whole Vietnam situation.

GULF OF TONKIN

ODD BEHAVIOUR

In 1957 Jim and family moved to Alamada in northern California, this is where he started high school, he made friends here and carried on his somewhat odd rebellious behaviour, he was thrown out of Alamada cinema for rowdy behaviour and would test the prefects by walking up a stairway which was marked for downward movement only. When questioned by the students board and asked if he was guilty or not , he pleaded "Not guilty" due to fact he didn't "Have any legs!"

At a later date Jim would get up in the middle of class and declare he had to leave as he had a brain tumour and was being operated on that afternoon!

Moving for the last time to Virginia, California, Jim opted to go ahead before the family and stay with naval friends of his father, he met his first girlfriend named Tandy Martin, Jim liked to shock her in bizarre ways, he threatened to urinate on a plug socket, just to see what would happen!

On a crowded bus, he fell to the floor and pulled her socks of and demanded that she let him kiss her precious feet, much to her embarrassment! Another time at a gallery Jim saw a naked statue and asked her "to kiss the glutimous maximus with the orbicular muscle" he was always fond of using his wide range of vocabulary. Tandy then shouted at Jim, who had moved away, making out he didn't know her causing everybody to stare and make fun of her! Tandy questioned Jim about his bizarre antics and his reply was "I have to do this to keep you interested!"

GENIUS

Jim was fascinated with literature and always had a book in his hand, he was glued to Jack Kerouac's tale about the beat generation, which gave birth to the term : beatnik.

Enjoying literature from the likes of Frederich Nietzsche the famous German philosopher, where Jim learn't to manifest his Apollian-Dionision temperament, Ray Manzarek later went on to say that "He had made music with Dionysis."

Rimbaud, the french surealist poet featured heavily in Jim's reading, he would like to experiment that the unconscious could freely express itself. One of Jim's favourite quotes was derived from Rimbaud "A poet makes himself a visionary through a long and systemised disorganisation of all the senses, for he attains the unknown." Jim would fully identify with the decadency and alcoholism of writers such as Baudelaire, Dylan Thomas and Brendan Behan.

Jim would liked to have been appreciated equally, if not more, for his poetry and quotes as he was as being frontman to "The Doors" , Jim has three books published to date, 'The Lords of The New Creatures', 'Wilderness' and 'The American Night'. Many of his quotes are still in circulation and frequently used in modern situations on social media.

School grades were much higher than the national average especially verbal studies where his results were 630 compared to the average of 478, Jim's IQ was 149, a 'genius' test score is generally considered to be anything over 140.

poetry and quotes

LIBRARY

With an impressive library of well over a thousand books it was Jim's pride and joy, he would tell friends to pick any book and read a paragraph so he could name the title and author. He would do his brother Andy's homework writing his speeches in Jim's special dark and intellectual manner always producing A grades for him.

Leaving the house at dawn most days and not returning til late Jim became distant and disturbing personality changes were taking place, causing confusion for friends and family, he was somewhat of a loner and would frequent sleazy bars to watch blues singers and spend time with down and outs. St Petersburg college was Jim's next choice and he initially moved in and lived with his grandparents who were christian tea-totallers.

Soon after arriving the conformity wasn't working for Jim so he moved to a small trailer near campus, by now he was drinking, his class mates observed that he only drank to get drunk and not on a social level, it seemed as if it was a place of comfort.

U.C.L.A

Two significant courses Jim attended were 'The philosophies of protest 'where he got to discuss his favourite writer Neitzche's thoughts and the second was the psychology of crowds. Jim read Norman O'Brien's 'Life against Death' with the thesis that mankind must be viewed as largely unaware of it's own desires, hostile to life and insistent on self destruction, characterising Jim's demeanour.

Joining the school of cinematography at U.C.L.A was Jim's dream, he could put all his visions and fantasies into film to promote his ideas. Jim's parents were of course totally against this and expected him to have a military career, his siblings were both proud of him and were happy that he was fulfilling his love of literature and poetry and eventually the rock star idolised by millions.

FISRT ARREST

Whilst on a bender with other students and professors Jim was arrested for stealing a police helmet from a patrol car, he was charged with petty larceny, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and public drunkeness and fined fifty dollars.

Jim started U.C.L.A in 1964 shortly after visiting his father on the USS Bonhamme Richard this would be the last time they would speak. Always disappointed with Jim's behaviour, it now troubled him that he could control three thousand men on his ship with strict authority, but now had no control over his eldest son.

Jim accrued a wild and anarchic circle of friends at U.C.L.A, the most bizarre being Dennis Jacobs, they would experiment with acid and weed and have elaborate discussions on literature, namely Neitzche, Dionysis also featured heavily in conversation.

One time a line arose from William Blake "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it truly is, infinite" Aldous Huxley titled his book "The Doors Of Perception". After this, Jim and Dennis decided to form a band which was to be called "The Doors: Open and Closed," but the band didn't materialise for the pair.

JOURNALS

While learning about film making Jim studied, camera, lighting, sound and editing, He kept journals with strange images portraying sex, violence, magic and death and wrote a short film titled "The appeal of cinema lies in death"

Jim had a cleverly disturbed mind, some believed him to be quite dangerous to himself and others, his journals could have very easily been interpreted of that of a crazed lunatic in an asylum. His brain worked on a much darker, expressive level than most students at U.C.L.A.

RICK AND THE RAVENS

Ray Manzarek also studied at U.C.L.A, Jim would often go and see his band 'Rick and The Ravens' in Santa Monica, Ray asked him to join them on stage one evening as they were a man short and the venue would't pay if there were not enough members in the group. All Jim had to do, Ray explained, was to stand and hold a guitar, he would then receive his wages, it turned out to be the easiest money Jim had ever earned.

FILM ENTRY

Jim's diploma film entry was of an erotic nature, including a girl in her underwear wearing spiked heels, dancing on a television set showing a film of marching Nazi soldiers, the production was set in an apartment (Jim's) covered in wall to wall nude playboy models. It also featured several men getting stoned watching porn films, ending with a girl licking one of the men's eyeballs signifying that she was cleansing the filth entering his vision. The final scene is the TV being turned of and fading into darkness, I must admit that as brilliant as it may be to an intellectual dark natured mind, it does seem to have rather strange topic matter.

The film was heavily criticized by the board of examiners and only received a 'D' mark mainly due it is said "to its perverse and seedy content." Equally, I,m assuming that the examiners didn't and weren't prepared to understand Jim's mind.

JIM'S VISION

Immediately quitting U.C.L.A after this Jim bummed around for a while, living a very poor existence often eating left over food, temporarily he moved in with Dennis Jacobs down on Venice beach, this being the fashionable part of town where the hippy counter culture was gaining momentum, Jim was by now experimenting heavily with acid and was stoned more frequently than straight. His music writing had also begun, he insisted that in his mind he saw a whole rock concert situation and had at least ten to fifteen songs written in his head, he later said that the music was distant but the words had been prominent.

"HELLO, I LOVE YOU, WON'T YOU TELL ME YOUR NAME" was spinning through Jim's head, this was still 1965, the first doors single was not released until 1967. More songs followed many with the same dissonant overtones as his films and journals about death and sexual experiment.

MOONLIGHT DRIVE

Whilst walking along Venice Beach one evening Jim had an unexpected meeting with his old student pal Ray Manzarek, they chatted about music and Jim told him about his song writing and poetry, both kneeling in the sand Jim began to gently sing

LET'S SWIM TO THE MOON

LET'S CLIMB THROUGH THE TIDE

PENETRATE THE EVENIN' THAT THE

CITY SLEEPS TO HIDE

When Jim had finished Ray emotionally said "THOSE ARE THE GREATEST FUCKIN' SONG LYRICS I'VE EVER HEARD, LET'S START A ROCK 'n' ROLL BAND AND MAKE A MILLION DOLLARS"

Jim replied "THAT WAS MY VISION"