1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: The Seven Club is a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: and Double Elvis Media. Jim Morrison died at the age 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: of and he lived the life that was anything but predictable. 4 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: I can give you twenty seven reasons why that statement 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: is true. Fifteen would be the number of seconds that 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: Jim left his body on stage that he transcended himself, 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: or so was the story that his bandmates would tell 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: later on. Another one would be the number of his 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: most valued collaborators who bailed as The Doors faced their 10 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,880 Speaker 1: most prolonged crisis, leaving Jim and the boys to figure 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: it out on their own. Three more would be the 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: number of American serial killers that would bang around a 13 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: subconscious and inspire the final song on his final album. 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: Another one would be the number of girlfriends who would 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: summon him to Paris and encourage him to purchase a 16 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: one way ticket to the fabled City of Lights. And 17 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: seven would be the number of months he had left 18 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: to live when the original four members of The Doors 19 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: took the stage for the last time in New Orleans 20 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: first show that was part rockfest, part train wreck, in 21 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: part seance. On this our tenth episode of season two, 22 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: prolonged Crisis, serial Killers a rock and roll seance and 23 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison lost in fantasy. I'm Jake Brennan in This 24 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: Is the Seven Clock. There were strong forces at play 25 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: in New Orleans on Saturday, December twelve, when The Doors 26 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: took the stage for the last time with their lead 27 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: singer Jim Morrison. Some of the forces were prosaic but undeniable. 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: The Wilton chemistry between a trio of musicians and their 29 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: malcontent frontman was right. The audience could sense it, They 30 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: could see it, feel it. Jim didn't want to be there. 31 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: In his mind, he was already elsewhere. The fantasy differed 32 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: from day to day, but it was always evolving. Anywhere 33 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: was better than where he was at. Jim's disgruntled stance 34 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: frustrated the others in the band, because musically they were 35 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: kicking ass again. Morrison Hotel had been a welcome return 36 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: to form, and now the new songs they were debuting, 37 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: songs like l a Woman and Riders on the Storm, 38 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: were even better. Rough, rollicking, tapping into late night recesses 39 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: of the American Psyche unlike they had before. If only 40 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: they could get Jim to give a ship. Jim was 41 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: still reeling from a year of chaos, the Office Party meltdown, 42 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: the Miami trial, Patricia's abortion, and wild coke fueled knights 43 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: of blood letting and sets. He no longer found solace 44 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: as the Doors front man. He had just turned twenty 45 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: seven earlier that month. There were other forces too, that 46 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,639 Speaker 1: were harder to describe, harder to see, supernatural forces, deep 47 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: dark forces that were a natural consequence of tapping into 48 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: that late night voodoo. In her preview of the concert 49 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: for the State's item, Molly Chance, he described the Doors 50 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: of Music as demonic. She called it savage and a 51 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: nightmarish glimpse into the other side, and Jim gave her 52 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: some juicy quotes that backed her up. It's a recognition 53 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: of forces that rarely see the light of day, he 54 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: told her. New Orleans played host to the gathering of forces, 55 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: a city of ritual, mystery and magic. New Orleans reveled 56 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: in this kind of scene making. The scene and unseen 57 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: were palpable in New Orleans. This final show with Jim 58 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: at the Mic was at a venue called the Warehouse. 59 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: It was the popular venue in the Big Easy for 60 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: Rock show and had just opened for the first time 61 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: earlier in the year with the show by Fleetwood, Mac 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: and the Grateful Dead. The Infamous show were the Dead 63 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: and their entourage were busted by local fuzz for drugs. 64 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: A bus state immortalized and song lemons turned into some 65 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: strange lemonade shrip busted down on Bourbon Street, set up 66 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: like a bowling pi. For Ray, John and Robbie, it 67 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: was another show with their mood swinging rock star front man, 68 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: so they were prepared for anything. They were excited to 69 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: test out some of their new material, live songs that 70 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: they felt were pushing them in exciting new directions. Jim 71 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: on the other hand, saw faces in the crowd from 72 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: the stage, faces randomly sprinkled within the mass of Louisiana 73 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: Good Tigers. He saw Jimmy Hendrick second rolled back, his 74 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: arms folded across his chest, judging him. He saw Janice Joplin, 75 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: half empty bottle of Southern Comfort in her hand, waiting 76 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: in the wings. As always, she was ready to pounce 77 00:04:57,920 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: on jim As soon as he made the wrong move, 78 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 1: she pounced and waste no time bringing that bottle down 79 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: on his head, even if it meant losing the rest 80 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: of the liquor in side. But Jimmy and Janice were 81 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: both dead. He must be seeing things That New Orleans 82 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: voodoo was working a little too well. It was all 83 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: too real? Was he inside his fantasy now? Was he? 84 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: Was he on the other side, the side where Jimmy 85 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: and Janie, had Otis and Brian all spent their eternal days? 86 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: Was that side breaking through to him? Jim decided to 87 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: pull the rip cord. He needed to back away from 88 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: the faces of the craft, back away from the forces 89 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: he was laid in the set. He missed lyrics left 90 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: and right all night, missed q sometimes because he genuinely 91 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: forgot them, and other times because he just couldn't work 92 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: up the interest to go through the motions, and tried 93 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,359 Speaker 1: to tell a joke, but no one in the crowd 94 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: was quite ready for Jim Morrison, the stand up comic. 95 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,360 Speaker 1: The band had started noodling during the middle section of 96 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: Light My Fire. When Jim decided to sit on the 97 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: drum riser. It was hard to tell which of the 98 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: forces was steering the ship. He was spent, tired, tired 99 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: of being Jim Morrison. Along came Mr. Good Trip, looking 100 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: for a new ship. Jim sat with his head hanging 101 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: down as the group spun through the songs Labyrinthian middle section, 102 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: casting webs of oregon and guitar over the rock solid 103 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: drum pattern. He pressed his eyes into the palms of 104 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: his hands. If he pressed hard enough, maybe he could 105 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,799 Speaker 1: make those spectral visions go away, the dead here among 106 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: the living, the dark coming forth into the light. Ray 107 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: hunched over his Vox Continental and Fender Rhodes piano bass, 108 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: peered over a gym from above the top rim of 109 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,239 Speaker 1: his glasses. He watched as the air above Jim's body 110 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: vibrated like heat rising, and at first he thought it 111 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: had something to do with John's drum kid. He squinted 112 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: his eyes and looked harder and watched as a translucent 113 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: mass the size of Jim's body floated above where Jim 114 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: was sitting. It hovered in the air, and for a 115 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 1: brief moment, Ray thought that the eastern motif he was 116 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: playing with his fingers on the box Continental somehow had 117 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: something to do with it, like he was extracting something 118 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: from Jim's body. Jim sat motionless while the band wore on. 119 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: The translucent figure was gone now just about as quickly 120 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: as it had appeared, but Ray was convinced Jim had 121 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: left the stage. The body that sat there on John's 122 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: drum riser was just that, a body, a shell, a vessel. 123 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: Jim had most certainly left the building. John, on the 124 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: other hand, wasn't witnessing any out of body phenomena. He 125 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: looked down and saw his lead singer being a prima 126 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: donna pain in the balls again. John had just about 127 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: enough of Jim Sulky, and so as they approached the 128 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: return to the song's verse, John stuck his leg out 129 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: and kicked Jim's back with his foot. Jim sprung back 130 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: to life, feet back on the stage, mike stand back 131 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: in his hands. He picked up the mic stand, a 132 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: long piece of shimmer ring silver that ran down to 133 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: a circular base on the stage floor, then raised it 134 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: up to his chest, and then he brought it down. 135 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: The base of the mic stand dug into the hardwood 136 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: of the stage floor, and the audience first thought it 137 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: was a particularly loud drum hit until they saw Jim 138 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: raise the mic stand in the air again. He brought 139 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: it back down so hard this time that the hardwood 140 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: started to splinter, then three more times in quick succession, 141 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: and little pieces of the wood flew back into the 142 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: air for the forest, and the mic started to feedback 143 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: and then fell off the stand into the floor with 144 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: a thud. Jim kept slamming the stand into the stage 145 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: until he felt like he had slammed it enough, until 146 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: it had broken through, Until he had made his point, 147 00:08:46,440 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: he walked off. He was done. M Paul Rothschild bailed 148 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: first before New Orleans. Before Jim left a shattered stage 149 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: Florida's Wake. Paul Rothschild threw in the towel. He had 150 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: had enough. He had sat in the producer's chair for 151 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: every Door's album since the beginning. He had watched Jim 152 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: go from a fully committed participant to a barely there 153 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: fly on the wall. Paul was a veteran, nearly one 154 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: hundred albums produced. He had just finished recording Janice Joplin's 155 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: album Pearl, a labor of love by all involved the experience. 156 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: It was life affirming for Paul. Janice was committed, the 157 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: band was committed. Everything about it was the way a 158 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: record production should be. And now Paul had to transition 159 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: from Cloud nine with Janice to a dark cloud with Jim, 160 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: and it was a trip he didn't feel like he 161 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 1: could take. The making of Pearl was compounded by the 162 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: sudden and unexpected death of Janice Joplin from an apparent 163 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: heroin overdose in her hotel room in Hollywood. Paul began 164 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: to worry when she was a no show for a 165 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 1: vocal session. Her tour manager drove to the Landmark Motor 166 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: Hotel and found her on the floor of her room, 167 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: next to her bed. She was only twenty seven. It 168 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: had only been sixteen days since Jimmie Hendricks died in London, 169 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: and Paul was in shock. He had bonded with Janice, 170 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: believed in her believed in her music. Janice had her 171 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: own demons, though, and fought them off with her own 172 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: regiment of self medication, just like Jim Morrison. Paul drew 173 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: the parallels between the two singers, and after watching Janice 174 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: walked down the path to say destruction, he identified Jim 175 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: on the same path, headed to the same tragic fate. 176 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: The doors were far from ideal, far from perfect, but 177 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: Paul had spent most of his quote unquote production duties 178 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: as of late corralling Jim wrangling him at recording sessions. 179 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: Jim was either disinterested or drunk, sometimes both. His ongoing 180 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: desire to destroy everything was exhausting and indicative of a 181 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: desire to destroy himself. Paul didn't need a psychologist to 182 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: see that the way Jim had gained the beard he 183 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: had grown, it was like he was hiding in plain sight, disappearing, 184 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: becoming more and more like the spitting image of that 185 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: lughead Jimbo that he hung around with. Jim's voice had 186 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: dropped to a low, guttural growl. It wouldn't be much 187 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:48,959 Speaker 1: longer before he wouldn't be able to sing at all. 188 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: Shortly after Janis had died, Paul and Jim were drinking 189 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: at a bar in Hollywood. Jim was unusually affable that 190 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: it was probably that early drunk high he got after 191 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: a few drinks before the tenth or eleventh drinks sunk 192 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: him into total darkness. He finished a point and slammed 193 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: the empty glass mug down on the sticky bar. He 194 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: slapped Paul a few times on his back. That's right, 195 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: he said to Paul Bryan, Jimmy Janice, you'd drink it 196 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: with number four Polly. And then there was the problem 197 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,199 Speaker 1: with Jimbo. Jim was spending more and more time with him, 198 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: and Jimbo's influence was increasingly dark and nihilistic. Paul couldn't 199 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: do it, couldn't put on the brave face and power 200 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: through it. He wasn't going to be part of Jim 201 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: Morrison's inevitable undoing. And even if he could muster the 202 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: strength to carry on, the Doors simply weren't the band 203 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: he had fallen in love with at the beginning. Those 204 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: first three albums were great, they were unique, there was 205 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: something special there. But the Soft Parade was a dumpster fire, 206 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: and then the incident in Miami took that flaming dumpster 207 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 1: and dropped it into a full on circus. The band 208 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: were rehearsing new material for their sixth LP and the 209 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: Bass in of their offices on Santa Wanica Boulevard, The 210 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: Door's Workshop, they called it, and Paul tried to sort 211 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: through the material they had provided. L A Woman and 212 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: Riders on the Storm were strong songs, but the band 213 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: was off, way off, and Paul wasn't able to correct 214 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: their course. Paul took them to the studio, back to 215 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: Sunset Sound, the studio where they made their first record. 216 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: Perhaps being in a professional environment would lend some professionalism 217 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: to the whole thing. Perhaps they could recapture some of 218 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: that original magic. Paul sat at the control panel, his 219 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: trustee Jar labeled KDE, next to a Killer Destroyer, his 220 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: killer stash of killer grass. The band wasn't coming together, 221 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:42,959 Speaker 1: and they were expecting Paul to do all the heavy 222 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: lifting for them, sort through the lumpy cold to find 223 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: a well hidden diamond. They tried another new tune, love 224 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: Her Madly, and it sounded like cocktail jazz. To Paul, 225 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: I want to be her daddy. Fuck this ship. Paul 226 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: thought the band was bored, stilted, all had taken them 227 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: as far as he could. Even the promise of a 228 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: two dollar pay day wasn't enough to keep Paul in 229 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: the producer's seat. The doors were shocked when Paul said 230 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: he was leaving. Before he walked out for good, he 231 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 1: told him that the only way they could get back 232 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: on track was to make the record themselves. They had 233 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,240 Speaker 1: to be invested, They had to be in the driver's seat, 234 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: no more passive participation. Either they were all in it 235 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: together or they were done. And then he left and 236 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: took his Killer Destroyer with him. Paul Rothschild's departure served 237 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: as one last wake up call. The doors weren't quite 238 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: done yet. They'd hit the wall soon enough in New Orleans. 239 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: But now now they were going to listen to what 240 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: their longtime producer, confidant and honorary Fifth Door was telling them. 241 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: Do it yourselves. It happened fast. First they made sure 242 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: that Bruce Botnick, their longtime engineer, would co produce the 243 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: album with them. He agreed. Next, they decamped back to 244 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: the Door's workshop. They were going to strip it all back, 245 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: make this thing in the trenches, guerilla style, no fancy studio, 246 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: no hangers on, no distractions. They were gonna focus, do 247 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: it live, do it themselves. The Door's workshop was a 248 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: grown up tree for it. Empty bottles and magazines scattered everywhere, 249 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: large yellow glass ash tray is full of snubbed out smokes, 250 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: a jukebox in one corner, a pinball machine and another. 251 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: They sat up their instruments in the basement rehearsal room, 252 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: un movers, quilts to the walls to absorb the sound, 253 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: hun towels over the windows to keep the outside at bay, 254 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: and direct focus on each other. There would be no day, 255 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: there would be no night. There was nothing beyond that 256 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: basement room. Jim ripped out the door to the bathroom 257 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: so that he could record his vocals in the stall, 258 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: taking advantage of the sweet, reverberating sound of the tiles. 259 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: With the door gone, he could maintain visual contact with 260 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: his bandmates, and they brought in Jerry Chef fresh off 261 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: of Las Vegas run with the King himself, Elvis Pressley 262 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: to play bass. That hired Leon Russell's guitar player Mark 263 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: Benno to play rhythm guitar so that Robbie could focus 264 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: on leads while they captured everything is live as they could. 265 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: Jim was actually on time. Jim was actually focused. Jim 266 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: was actually inspired by this new role leader of a 267 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: blues band in a blacked out basement room, like a 268 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: bunch of high school kids making racket for the first 269 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: time as their parents rolled their eyes upstairs. Bruce dragged 270 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: the console over from the studio and set it up 271 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: in Bill Siddon's office on the first floor. Let's set 272 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: up was lead, the consoles, some speakers, the tape machine, 273 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: and an intercom microphone so he could communicate with the 274 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: band at the basement. For one of the biggest bands 275 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: in the world, one with unlimited resources, despite their scandals 276 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: and troubles. This was a seriously d i y leave 277 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: as back to basics as a band could get. They 278 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: heated the call of their exhausted producer, pulled their ship 279 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: together and did it themselves, And it happened fast. The 280 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: majority of the sessions for the album that would become 281 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: l a Woman were tracked, and under a week the 282 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: music cooked. The title track barreled through its seven plus 283 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: minutes like Jim's Blue eighty, tearing down the one oh one, 284 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: the Changeling, and Ben Down so long were thick hunks 285 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: of window covered basement blues. They got weird with America 286 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 1: and got pretty with Hyacinth House. In hindsight, it's probably 287 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: a good thing that it all happened so fast. Any 288 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: longer in the tears and the fabric of the band 289 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: that have been mended in their time of crisis would 290 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 1: have split open again. It didn't take much. Soon enough, 291 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: they would see that all it took was a shitty 292 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: show in New Orleans to bring them all crashing back 293 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: down to face the reality that they just weren't in 294 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: it for the long haul. The doors weren't going to 295 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: make it. They all decided to take a break out 296 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 1: to New Orleans. They canceled their upcoming shows at Madison 297 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: Square Garden. In January or nine, Jim started talking about 298 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: leaving the country. Pam and spent more time in Paris recently, 299 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: and she wanted him to follow her there. He'd have 300 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: to face the music soon and do his time for 301 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: the Miami incident. With things getting up at home again, 302 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: his attorney, Max Fink, told him that was a possibility 303 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 1: that his passport could be taken. If there was ever 304 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: a time to split, now might be it. But before 305 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: we could go anywhere, Bruce needed him back in the 306 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: studio one last time. He had to put final touches 307 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,360 Speaker 1: on Riders on the Storm, one of the serious songs 308 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: in the band's catalog that drew equally from gory true 309 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: crime sprees, old Western songs, and Jim's non existent film career. 310 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: Jim met Bruce in l a, put on a pair 311 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,120 Speaker 1: of headphones and put his lips to a microphone. One 312 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:41,159 Speaker 1: last time. He went out with a whisper, We'll be 313 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: right back after this word word word. Billy Cook shot 314 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: the dog. Last. He had dumped the Monster family down 315 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 1: a mine shaft outside of Joplin, Missouri. First, the parents 316 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: Carl and Thelma, and then the children. Ronald seven years old, 317 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: Gary was five, little Pamela Sue was only three. Just 318 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,360 Speaker 1: moments earlier, Cook raised his thirty two caliber snubnose pistol 319 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: and pulled the trigger five times, and they were all dead. 320 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 1: Thelma had begged for her life. The tears ran down 321 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: her face as she begged Cook to at least spare 322 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: the lives of her children. Cook didn't care in the least. 323 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,479 Speaker 1: He acted quick, without emotion. He told his daddy, when 324 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: he had been released from prison earlier that year, that 325 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: he was going to quote lived by the gun and 326 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 1: roam and God damn it, that's what he was gonna do. 327 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: People would die. He dragged the bodies from the nine 328 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,239 Speaker 1: blue Chevy Sedan across grass and gravel and threw them 329 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: down the mine shaft. The dog whimpered as it followed 330 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: Cook to the mouth of the mine shaft. While he 331 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 1: dragged the last body over, Cook turned around slowly and 332 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger a final time. The shot rang out, 333 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: empty and lonely across some unremarkable Missouri grassland. Cooked through 334 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: the dog down on top of the others, got back 335 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: in the driver's seat and hit the highway. There's a 336 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: killer on the road. His brain is squirming like a toad. 337 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: It was December. Carl Masster had been driving his family 338 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: through Oklahoma on route to New Mexico when they saw 339 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: the hitchhiker on the side of the road, riding thumb. 340 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: Mr Monsters sedan was almost at Max's capacity, the wife 341 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: of the kids, the dog, but they had room and 342 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: Mr Mosser was a neighborly guy, so he pulled over. 343 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: Where you aheaded? Mr Monster hollered out the window that 344 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: Thelma had just rolled down headed west. Mr was a 345 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: hitchhiker's response, the collar of his denim jacket was pulled 346 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: up to shield his neck from the wind. Of course, 347 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: the hitchhiker wasn't headed west. The hitchhiker, Billy Cook, was 348 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:59,120 Speaker 1: headed south south of Heaven. Billy Cook had other plans, 349 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: but Lee Cook was going to kill this family. The 350 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: first thing Mr Master noticed about Cook was this deformed i. 351 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: It sagged down like someone had grabbed hold of his 352 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,959 Speaker 1: face on both cheeks and pulled down on one side. 353 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: As soon as Cook climbed in the car, Mr Mosster 354 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: had a bad feeling. The next thing Mr Master noticed 355 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,959 Speaker 1: where the tattooed letters on Cook's left hand. The letters 356 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: H A R D imprinted above the knuckles on each 357 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: finger L you see k imprinted below the knuckles hard luck. 358 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: The Master family was about to get a free lesson 359 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: and hard luck. Mr Mosster saw the tattoos when Cook 360 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: drew his small thirty two and pointed it to the 361 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,919 Speaker 1: back of his wife Felma's head and told Monster to 362 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 1: turn the car around. The killer awoke it down. He 363 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: put his boots on. The children, squashed like sardines in 364 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,360 Speaker 1: a can next to Cook in the back seat, try 365 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: to move their bodies as far away from the hitchhiker 366 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: as they could. The boys clung to their hop along 367 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,199 Speaker 1: cassidy cowboy hats. Pamela Sue wrapped herself up in her 368 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: baby blanket and cried for seventy two hours. Cook made 369 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: the family drive a serpent team route back to Joplin, 370 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: his hometown, and they wound through Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 371 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: they reached Joplin after sundown on New Year's Day, and 372 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: almost as soon as they had crossed the city line, 373 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: a police car pass them. Thelma rode down her window 374 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,199 Speaker 1: and screamed for help and Mr Masters slammed on the brakes. 375 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: The children's cries echoed their mothers. Thelma flailed her arms, 376 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: and Cook told them all to shut the funk up. 377 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: Mr Master rolled his window down and stuck his arms 378 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: out into the cold night air. Cook reminded them he 379 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,639 Speaker 1: would start shooting if they didn't stop screaming and flailing about. 380 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: The police car didn't stopped, and the monsters didn't shut up, 381 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: so Billy Cook shot them all. If you give this 382 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: man a ride, sweet family, Billy Cook was never given 383 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: a chance as a child. His mother died when he 384 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 1: was five. Legend has it that Cook discovered her body 385 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: after she had suffered a freak accident with a hatchet 386 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,520 Speaker 1: in her face. His father, an abusive boozer, drove Cook 387 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: and his seven siblings out to an abandoned mine and 388 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: left them for dead. When authorities found the children, Cook 389 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: was the only one who wasn't placed in foster care. 390 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: His temper and violent outbursts got him a one way 391 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: ticket to reform school and eventually to the Missouri State Prison. 392 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,239 Speaker 1: As a teenager, they called him billycock eyed Cook due 393 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: to his right eyelid, which sagged low and wooden close 394 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: when he slept the eyelids state opened. When he was 395 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: released at the age of twenty one, he became a 396 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: drifter and headed west. First he kidnapped an auto mechanic, 397 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: and then he killed the monsters, and then he killed 398 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: again a salesman from Seattle, and then kidnapped again before 399 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: he was made in Mexico and turned over to the FBI. 400 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,159 Speaker 1: When he was arrested, he said, I hate everybody's guts 401 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: and everybody hates mine. At just twenty three, he got 402 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: the gas chamber at San Quentin. Jimbo told Jim the 403 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: story of Billy Cook in his brief yet savage killing 404 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: spree one night on Venice Beach early on when the 405 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: doors first began. Jimbo was obsessed with this sort of lore, 406 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 1: and for Jim he found the slice of MiCab Americana 407 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: both appalling and fascinating. It resonated in similar stories of 408 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,640 Speaker 1: Bonnie and Clyde, the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. 409 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 1: The forces that rarely see the light of day, the 410 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: darkness here in the light, the other side breaking on through. 411 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: Jimbo's story kicked around in Jim's head for years. It 412 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: was there when he made Highway in an American Pastoral, 413 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:52,360 Speaker 1: his experimental short film about a murderous hitchhiker played by Jim. 414 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:58,439 Speaker 1: In the script, Jim's character's name is simply Billy. And 415 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: then the Manson family murder has happened, and the Zodiac 416 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: killer Jimbo's Billy cooktail kicked around some more. Jim thought 417 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: it odd that Jimbo had spent so much time with 418 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: the Wizard himself, and that Jimbo was so fascinated with 419 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: the likes of Billy Cook and here he was hanging 420 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: out and drinking beers with this generation's Billy Cooked Charles 421 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: Manson himself. Jimbo didn't speak much about Charlie after the 422 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: ship hit the fan and he and his spawn Ranch 423 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: family were arrested. And then there were Jimbo Zodiac stories, 424 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,119 Speaker 1: the ones that seemed oddly familiar to some of the 425 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: news stories Jim had read about the Unknown Killers victims. 426 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: But Jimbo would always say he was just fucking with Jim. 427 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,879 Speaker 1: But how should Jim explain what he saw that night 428 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: in Patricia's apartment During the hand fasting marriage ceremony, he 429 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: snapped into his own Highway killer fantasy, his own private 430 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: Zodiac moment. He was on a highway. He was the 431 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: killer on the road. His brain was squirming like a toad. 432 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: He wasn't sure that he could trust himself with what 433 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: was real and what wasn't anymore. I wasn't sure what 434 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: to believe, especially from a drunken, unreliable narrator like Jimbo. 435 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: Not the gym himself is any more reliable. He simply 436 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: couldn't exercise the Billy Cook trope from his brain. Bruce 437 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: Botanik played him Stan Jones his Ghost Riders in the 438 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: Sky one night at the studio, a Western chestnut recorded 439 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: by everyone from burl Ives to Gineatry. Immediately his brain 440 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: went to highway kidnapping and murder like it was a 441 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 1: Pavlovian response. If you want to save your soul from 442 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: Hella riding on our range, then cowboy change he wais 443 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: today with us, he will ride. He dumped the Billy 444 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,440 Speaker 1: Cook mess from his brain once more into the lyrics 445 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: of Riders on the Storm, the creepy epic that would 446 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 1: close outside too, of l a woman. After New Orleans, 447 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: Jim flew back out to Los Angeles at Bruce's request 448 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: and met him at Poppy Studios, one of Motown's West 449 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: Coast studios, where Bruce was putting the finishing touches on 450 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: the l A Woman album. He needed Jim to lay 451 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: down a few final vote tracks, including a harmony vocal 452 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: on Highest House and then some atmosphere For that ominous 453 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: closing track. Jim had Bruce add the rain and thunder 454 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:12,719 Speaker 1: sound effects which lend the songs some of its dread, 455 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: and then added in his final vocal takes on a 456 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: doors record or any record for that matter. Bruce started 457 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,919 Speaker 1: the tape up. It was rolling now. Jim held his 458 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,360 Speaker 1: hands tight to the headphones, cradling his ears. The rain 459 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,439 Speaker 1: came in a clap of thunder, and the band playing 460 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: its slow burned down the horizon. On cue. Jim opened 461 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: his mouth and leaned into the microphone and whispered underneath 462 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: his existing lead vocal, His breath hot and his voice tattered. 463 00:27:43,600 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: Riders almost the count provided the smack. He had the 464 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,879 Speaker 1: good stuff, the stuff that made the rest of the 465 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,120 Speaker 1: world irrelevant, the stuff that made you forget about yesterday, 466 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: stopped worrying about tomorrow, and sink you deep into an 467 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: impossibly warm now. The skag was everywhere, an increasing number 468 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: of American Gis were returning from Vietnam with heroin addictions. 469 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: It was on the streets, in veins, up noses. It 470 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: took down Janice Joplin, and it would soon take down more. 471 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: Pamela craved it, needed it, missed it when she didn't 472 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: have it, went nuts when she couldn't get it. She 473 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: had gone full blown junkie since she had been in Paris, 474 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: where she stayed while Jim and the Doors were finishing. 475 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: All a woman, she had felt the sting of heroin, 476 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: and back in the States working handshake deals and otherwise 477 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: upscale Elien neighborhoods. While Jim was none the wiser, he 478 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: was always too stoned on his own trip to stop 479 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: and pay attention to hers. In Paris, she had quicker 480 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: and more reliable access to junk. The Count scored it 481 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: for her best, Count, Jean de Bretoi, a French aristocrat 482 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: who Pamela found herself wrapped up with every time she 483 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: was back at Paris. She had originally met the Count 484 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: in Morocco when she was buying inventory for a boutique 485 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: shop that she opened the nineteen sixty nine on Las 486 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: Sienega in l A and pedaled exotic furs, tapestries, and 487 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: sheet clothing. Jim had paid for the shop with the 488 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: royalties he made from The Strange Day's album. He wanted 489 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: to call it fucking great, but she opted for the 490 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: more subdued themis. The joke was that themas was so 491 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: exclusive that it was never actually open. Given that it 492 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: was a pet project with no real pressure to have 493 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: the regular sustaining cash flow of a reg in the 494 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: retail store, Pamela could drop out and hit the City 495 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: of Lights when she wanted to. It was there that 496 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: she could dive headfirst into her own fantasy. She was 497 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: still Jim's, but she was also temporarily not Jim's, so 498 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: she felt free to be someone else, someone who had 499 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: a Parisian tryst with her socialite drug dealing lover who 500 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: was also a count. But she was always inextricably tied 501 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: to Jim. In Paris, she went by Pamela Morrison and 502 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 1: the friends she hung out with newer as Jim's wife, 503 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: Jim's wife, waiting patiently for her husband to meet up 504 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: with her in the City of Lights. She had another 505 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 1: Paris fantasy that she'd get Jim to follow her across 506 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: the pond. She'd give up the junk. He'd stop drinking. 507 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: He'd shave his beard, comb his hair, he'd lose his 508 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: beer belly, all that bloated water weight gone. He'd dry out. 509 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: They'd stroll the foreign city hand in hand, freely. He 510 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: dropped the rock star thing, put the doors behind him. 511 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: She knew that's what he really wanted to do. Anyway 512 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: that he limped around with the band around his ankle 513 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: like a ball and chain, and he'd focus on his poetry. 514 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:07,959 Speaker 1: It would be romantic, artistic. Jim would be like Rombeau 515 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: a Baudelaire, and Pamela will be his muse. Jim had 516 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: devoured text by Camus, Satra and Wild and in Paris 517 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,040 Speaker 1: he could walk in the same steps as his literary 518 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: idols did. Marry for real. He'd cast off that faith 519 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: marriage to Patricia, and they would settle into a life 520 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: of quiet anonymity, surrounded by people who didn't speak their language. 521 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: It would be a true reinvention. They would lose themselves 522 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: once and for all, just get lost, real lost, just 523 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: like she was lost in this heroine high at the moment, 524 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 1: lost in the Count's two eyes, one green and one 525 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: yellow lost in his accent. The higher she got, the 526 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: more she fell under the Count's spell. She would forget 527 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: about how he'd fire off on an angry tangent and 528 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: her old sentence after sentence of incomprehensible French hadder. She 529 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 1: would tell him about Jim, and sometimes, as they laid 530 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: in bed together higher than the night before, he would 531 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: ask her to talk about Jim some more. He wanted stories, 532 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: he wanted to know about the doors. She would suspect 533 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: that the only reason he came around was to get 534 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: closer to Jim. That perhaps one day he'd walk into 535 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: the room at the Hotel George and the Count could 536 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: supplies dope straight to the source, straight to the rock star, 537 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: and not just the rock stars girl. The Count wanted 538 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: to be a rock star, but he had to settle 539 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: for the European drug dealer to the rock stars. He 540 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 1: split his time between Paris and London, or he circled 541 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: an ominous orbit around the likes of Keith Richard's Indy 542 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: to Palenberg, he provided the drugs, and the drugs paid 543 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: for his entry into lifestyles and the rich rockn rollers. 544 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: Pamela said she was thinking of asking Jimmikinn to come visit, 545 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: to stay with her in Paris, and definitely back in Hollywood. 546 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: Bruce and the gang were still mixing l a woman. 547 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: Jim didn't think it was quite ready yet. There were 548 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,520 Speaker 1: still some tweaks that needed to be made to the mix, 549 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,479 Speaker 1: and they all agreed, But he had more pressing matters 550 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: on his bra. He was still a free man in 551 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 1: Los Angeles, sall be it, a freeman on a fifty 552 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: thousand dollar bond. While his attorney, Max Fink worked on 553 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 1: his appeal, things weren't looking good. He'd be doing time, 554 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,480 Speaker 1: for sure, hard labor. Even worse, he'd be back in Florida, 555 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: the land of his childhood that he'd worked so hard 556 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: to repress, to leave behind literally and figuratively. In the 557 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: less time he spent back in that ship hold, the 558 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: better it transcended Florida. Now it was time to transcend 559 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: the whole damn country. The rest of the Doors were 560 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 1: a little surprised when they heard that Jim had skipped town, 561 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: but the more they thought about it, it was another 562 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: one of Jim's impulsive decisions. That he was gone, gone 563 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: to find a lucky little lady in the city of 564 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: light just another lost Angel. On March eleventh, nineteen seventy one, 565 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison stepped on a plane bound for Paris or 566 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: how long he couldn't say, long enough to get his 567 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: head right, reassess and then take it from there. He 568 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:02,360 Speaker 1: wouldn't last through the summer. He never came back. I'm 569 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is the seven Clock alright. The 570 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club is scored and co written by myself, 571 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan. Zef Lundy is the lead writer and editor 572 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,479 Speaker 1: on the show. Matt Bowden mixes the show. Additional music 573 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: and score elements by Ryan Spreaker and Henry Lenetta. The 574 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: seven Club is produced by myself for Double Elvis and 575 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Sources for this episode are 576 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,399 Speaker 1: available at Double Elvis dot com on the twenty seven 577 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: Club series page. Twenty seven Club is released weekly every Thursday. 578 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,879 Speaker 1: Season one features twelve episodes on Jimmie Hendricks, which are 579 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: all available for you to binge right now whoever you 580 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and if you like what you hear, 581 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the twenty seven Club 582 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: on Apple podcast to I Heart Radio, Apple, wherever you 583 00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: get your show, and if you'd like to win a 584 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: free twenty seven Club poster designed by the man himself, 585 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: Nate Gonzalez, then leave a review for twenty seven Club 586 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:11,359 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts or hashtag subscribe to seven Club on 587 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,320 Speaker 1: social media, and we'll pick two winners each week and 588 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 1: announce them on the Double Elvis Instagram page that's at 589 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: Double Elvis. You're gonna want to give that a phone, 590 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,280 Speaker 1: So get out there and spread the word about twenty 591 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,360 Speaker 1: seven Club. And as always, you can find me blabbing 592 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 1: about other crazy rock stars and my other shows, disgrace 593 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:28,919 Speaker 1: Land and Blood on the Tracks, and you can talk 594 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,560 Speaker 1: to me per usual on Instagram and Twitter at disgrace Land, 595 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:39,319 Speaker 1: Pod Rock Corolla. What's up here is