1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is a production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis Media. Jim Morrison died at the 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:12,159 Speaker 1: age of and he died under mysterious circumstances. I can 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: give you twenty seven reasons why that statement is true. 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: Two would be the number of dealers who would lead 6 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: him down the labyrinthian path of a grungy Parisian rock 7 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: club to an unknown fate. Another one would be the 8 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: number of friends that he seemed to lose into thin 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: air just when his days were dwindling down to nothing. 10 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: Twenty more would be the number of minutes, give or take, 11 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: he'd spend in a stall, awake one minute and unconscious 12 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: the next, cycling through the many layers of hell in 13 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: his own mind. Another three would be the number of 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: days it would take for anyone from the Door's camp 15 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: to travel across the pond and attempt to figure out 16 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: what in the hell was going on. And one would 17 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: be the number of people who claimed to have been 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: there for his last moments when the Lizard King shuffled 19 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: off this mortal coil, all totally on this our final 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: episode of season two, a grungy Parisian nightclub, absent friends, 21 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: hell and Jim Morrison lost in fantasy. I'm Jake Brennan 22 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: and this is the twenty seven Club. Yeah. It was 23 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: well after midnight on Saturday, July three when Jim Morrison 24 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: parked himself off at the bar at the Rock and 25 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: Roll Circus and raised his arm at the bartender bombers 26 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: who play. He shouted, it didn't matter what kind of 27 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: beer it was or what country it came from, as 28 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: long as it was cold and wet. He wanted it. 29 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: A pike glass on the bar in front of him, 30 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: he turned to his left and gave Jimbo a big, 31 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: welcoming slap on the back. Jimbo was already a few 32 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,119 Speaker 1: beers deep, already a few puffs de, already a few 33 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: snorts of smack deep. Jimbo turned his head slowly to 34 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: face Jim's, his eyes puffy and half closed, his beer 35 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: dirty and prickly, and attempted a smile as he did. 36 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: His last gulp of stella trickled from the edge of 37 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: his lips, and he knocked the ash off of his 38 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: half smoked galois and with the other hand crushed the 39 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: empty blue box of smokes. It had been a long 40 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: night already. It was around one am, and the day 41 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: it was catching up the Jim. The first swig of 42 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: draft beer was a welcome salve at that moment. He 43 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: had gone to eat that sweet and sour chicken that 44 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: had given a bit of golf afterwards, and then to 45 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: see the Robert Mitchen movie. Pamela stayed at home. She 46 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: was even more tired than he was. No matter, they said, 47 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: the best way to see a movie in a darkened 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: theater was all by yourself alone, and the jury was 49 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: still out on that one. Afterward, Jim found his way 50 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: back to the rock and roll circus, another late night 51 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: deep dive into the deepest of late night skies joints. 52 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: Maybe he'd run into a rolling stone or a beetle, 53 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: or maybe Jimmie Hendrix. Shit, no, wait, he thought, and 54 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: shook his head violently. Jimmy was fucking dead. He looked 55 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: up from his bar stool at the mural on the 56 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: wall of Jimmy reimagined as a clown. Jim shook his 57 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: head again, like if he shook it hard enough, he 58 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: would clear out whatever was still in there that was 59 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: messing him up. His eyes were close shut, his head 60 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: still shaking back and forth, and the stella rattling around 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: in his brain. When he heard the bartender show they 62 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: called nep see, Jim opened his eyes. He looked at 63 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: the bartender and pointed a finger straight at his own chest. 64 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: Me ema words just all lips still in the shaking 65 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: head days. And the bartender looked past Jim and gesture, 66 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: first throwing a wet bar towel over his shoulder and 67 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: then giving a flick of the wrist into the air 68 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: like he was shooting some cats away from his newly 69 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: made tuna ficial sandwich. Then pissy, he repeated, the Count's 70 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: not here man. Jim turned around to see two of 71 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: the Count's dealers standing directly behind him. He met them before, 72 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: met them with Pamela. Pamela was tighter with the Count 73 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: than Jim preferred, but these days, with this growing taste 74 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: for heroin, it was good to have the Count around. 75 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: And the Count had the good stuff, this ship that 76 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: was spreading like wildfire in Paris, and the Count's smack 77 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: was rumored to be something like eight six pc pure. 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: Once Jim had broken his own no junk rule, it 79 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: was all downhill, and the Count's smack was the best 80 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: high Jim could ever hope to feel. And the dealers 81 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: weren't looking for the Count. They were looking for Jim, 82 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: Mr Mojoe Rising, the Lizard King. And they were star 83 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: fuckers just like the Count, haunted places like the Rocket 84 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: Roll Circus, just like the Count, looking just like Jim 85 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: was looking to run into a stone or a beetle. 86 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: They'd settled for an expat Doris Singer, and they dismissed 87 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: the bartender and gave him a very precise and simple 88 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: look with no words, communicated one thing. Mind your own 89 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,359 Speaker 1: goddamn business. Jim didn't know the dealer's real names, but 90 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: he knew what they were called on the street. Was 91 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: the half Asian guy, based on the nickname, assumed Chinese, 92 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: but maybe that was part of the joke that he 93 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: was actually half Korean or something. And the pet Robert 94 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: was the one with the Napoleon complex. It was all 95 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 1: nicknames to these guys. The Count nation Le Petit Robert, 96 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: they called Jim jimbo. Jim was eager to correct them. 97 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: Jim beamed ear to hear he was happy to see them. 98 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: As a Pavlovian response, he knew what was next, what 99 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: was coming, He knew in a few short moments, he 100 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: would follow the Count's street team into the stall with 101 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 1: the busted lock and the French graffiti and the bowels 102 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: of the rocket roll circus and do a line so 103 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: long and so fat, you fucking explode. But first he 104 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: had to correct him on this whole nickname thing. Guys, gentlemen, 105 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: great to see, Jim said, standing up and giving the 106 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: dealers some appreciative pats on the arm. People don't call 107 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: me Jimbo, man, I'm Jim Just Jim. This Jimbo. And 108 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: he turned to introduce Lean la petit Robert to Jimbo. 109 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: But Jimbo wasn't there. The barstool next to jim was empty, 110 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: no glass, no sign of any activity, no stubbed out 111 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: galo and the glass ashtray, no crushed blue box. That's 112 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: fucking weird. Jim I thought Jimbo had just been here, 113 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,119 Speaker 1: half cocked it about ready to fall out of his chair, 114 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: but he was here. He shook his head again. He 115 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: was still confused. Obviously, maybe Jimbo bounced, or maybe he 116 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: hit the head, or maybe he was up the skirt 117 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: to some French chick in the back alley somewhere. Jim 118 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: slammed back the rest of his Stella, put the pint 119 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: glass on the bar. He yelled at the bartender, where 120 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: the did he go? He pointed at Jimbo's empty bar, 121 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: and the bartender furrowed his eyebrows annoyed, Ready to close 122 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: up for the night and send all these drunk bar 123 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: flies and junkies out into the street. He threw his 124 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: hands up and looked quizzically at jim who Jim threw 125 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: a couple of bucks down on the bar and turned 126 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: back to the dealers. Never mind, next time, he'd introduced him. 127 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: Next time, just fucking call him jim though, okay, no 128 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: one called him Jimbo. And just as he had suspected, 129 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: the next thing he knew, he was following less and 130 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: lippety Robert down the hallway to the bathroom. A light 131 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: on the wall flickered, another was out completely. A couple 132 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: necked up against the wall. The place stunk of stale 133 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: cigarettes and spilled pints of stella and other orders that 134 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: you find after midnight, and a half lit, dank slice 135 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: of urban cave life underneath the major metropolis in one 136 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: in the bathroom was dark too. When they walked inside, 137 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: it was empty, just Jim and the guys. His vision 138 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: was blurry, His head was a tangle of beer and 139 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,239 Speaker 1: msg and dead people and ship. He shook it again hard. 140 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: This time his head shook it again, thinking that he 141 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: would suddenly glean the location of Jimbo. The dealer stared 142 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: at him like he was having a seizure, and they 143 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: were just waiting for it to be over. Jim reached 144 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out some 145 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: crumpled up bills. Had no idea how much money it was, 146 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: only that it was enough. Le petit. Robert took his 147 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: money and gave him a baggy of the count's finest smack. 148 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: Jim secluded himself in the first stall in the bathroom, 149 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: the one with the busted lock. It was locked. That 150 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: wasn't the issue, but once it was locked, it was 151 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: near impossible to get it to unlock. Jim closed the 152 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: door behind him and latched the door shut. No one 153 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: was getting inside the stall with him. He heard the 154 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: bathroom door shut as the dealers saw themselves out, and 155 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: Jim dumped the pilot Heroine out on the back of 156 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 1: the toilet and dragged another damp French bill from his pocket. 157 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: He rolled the up and snorted the majority of howders 158 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: straight off the porcelain. He did it fast, hard, and 159 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: the junk rocketed up as sinuses, past his eye sockets 160 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: and hit his brain. His eyes watered, and he felt 161 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: each part of his brain light up like it had 162 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,959 Speaker 1: been plugged in direct to a wall socket, and each 163 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: region of his head came alive, and the floor started 164 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: to vibrate. He could smell something burning from inside his ears. 165 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: He sat down on the toilet and held one hand 166 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: against the wall and the other against the stall door. 167 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: He coughed blood he could taste it. Coughed again violently. 168 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: This time he tasted a rubbery, massive blood in his 169 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: mouth and spat it towards the floor. Had he not 170 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: seen Jimbo when he came into the circus? Was he 171 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: not at the bar waiting for him? Jimbo Wood said 172 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: nothing to him tonight. He had said nothing to him 173 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: when he first arrived in Paris and showed up at 174 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: Pamela's door. Come to think of it, Pamela had said 175 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: nothing to Jimbo either, and jim thought it rude at 176 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: the time, But it was almost like Jimbo wasn't even there. 177 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: He coughed again more blood, and this time thought about 178 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: the Billy Cook story. The Zodiac, thought about waking up 179 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: on the doorstep of Eleanor Brow's place in l A, 180 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: about snapping Papa tops with the Wizard at the door's 181 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: rehearsal space. He caught more, and the blood came up again. 182 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: So did the memories stealing flowers from the flower children 183 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: at the human being grabbing Janice Joplin's hair at the party. 184 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: Right before he passed out, Jim had a distressing feeling, 185 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: a feeling that he had put certain memories and certain 186 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: recesses of his mind, his own personal rock and roll 187 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: circus basement labyrinth and his bruize log noggin, and this 188 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: fucking hardcore smack was shaking it all loose. They called 189 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: him Jim, no doubt, But what if they called him 190 00:10:39,280 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: Jimbo too. Jim was fully under in some seventh level 191 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: of sub circus hell. It was no longer in the 192 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: bathroom stall of some dank, subterranean Paris rock club. He 193 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 1: was long gone. And the second rip of Les Pete 194 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: Robers junk rocketed straight up his nose, and then he 195 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: rocketed straight downwards hell bent a sudden and sublime shift 196 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: in his consciousness. It got darker, and the noxious odor 197 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: of the Rock and Roll Circus bathroom stall curdled. He 198 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: felt like he was submerged in liquid, thick, soupy liquid. 199 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: He could still breathe just fine. If he was told 200 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: that he even flushed down the stall's toilet, he wouldn't 201 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: have doubted it for a moment. His cough continued, and 202 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: although the taste of blood in his throat was an 203 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: irritating constant, it reassured him that his lungs weren't filling 204 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: with that strange soupy water. He held on to the 205 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: faintest memory of Jimbo, pieces he had just gotten a 206 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: glimpse of while he snorted enthusiastically, the so called person 207 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: who always appeared when jim was at his best and 208 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: hung around until he was at his worst. Well, he 209 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: could no longer picture Jimbo's face in his mind's eye, 210 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: what he sounded like, what he smelled like, the sorts 211 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: of things he would say. The rocket hit a heroine 212 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: had blown the whole concept of Jimbo straight out of 213 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: Jim's ears. The bartender had looked at him moldly tonight 214 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: when he was talking to Jimbo at the bar, almost 215 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: as if he had been talking to an empty stool. 216 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: And then he flipped back further in his mind, which 217 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:37,439 Speaker 1: was soggy from the smack, and thought of all the 218 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: times he went on a rocket spender and made a scene, 219 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 1: made a fool of himself. Was him, only him, always him, 220 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 1: always Jim, just Jim. Jimbo had no story. He was 221 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: from nowhere. He lived somewhere but where. Jimbo was a crutch, 222 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 1: something to hide bad behavior behind a mask of prickish entitlement. 223 00:12:57,559 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: When Jim felt like being a prick, he knew that 224 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: he'd always known that Jimbo was nobody. Jim Morrison was somebody. 225 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: Jimbo's weird obsession with Billy Cook and the Zodiac and 226 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: the Wizard. Those were Jim's obsessions, deep seated obsessions of dark, twisted, 227 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: fucked up America. He so wanted to put himself in 228 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: a dark, twisted, fucked up storyline of his own. Repressed 229 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: as a child conservative household Florida bullshit, he rose above, 230 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,479 Speaker 1: tossed it off, left it behind, saw his repressed conservative 231 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: upbringing in the face of an American public confused with 232 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: who they were supposed to be, Craving instruction, direction, craving 233 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: chaos to turn their little, insignificant worlds upside down. It 234 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: was simple. Jim repeated the moment he rebelled against his norm, 235 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: against what was expected. His audience could do it too. 236 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: He did it again and again. Instead of teaching the 237 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,959 Speaker 1: kids dance moves, he teached them the steps to move 238 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: towards internal self diagnosed revolution. On stage at the Singer Bowl, Chicago, Phoenix, Miami, 239 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: The Sullivan Show, he did it again and again and 240 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: again and again and again. Killed the father, fucked the mother. 241 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: He wasn't a killer, he was a liberator, an upset her. 242 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,199 Speaker 1: Suddenly there was a loud knocking sound, massive vibrations. The 243 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: seventh level of sub circus hell shook with wild, abandoned, violent, insistent. 244 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: The commotion was all around him, shaking, kicking, knocking, French voices, yelling, 245 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: Etsiel Morton. The busted door was ripped open, and Jim 246 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: was back in the bathroom stall still slumped on the toilet, 247 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: he coughed again, this time a fit that grobbed hold 248 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: of him and wouldn't let go. He coughed louder, struggled, 249 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: to get to his feet, and there were men outside 250 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: the stall door, and they reached in for Jim, helped 251 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: him out. They thought he was a gonner in their ship. 252 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: He'd been in there for twenty minutes. The dealers who 253 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: had let him inside had fled the scene long ago, 254 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: and the men were glad to see that Jim was 255 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: all right. But more importantly, the rock and roll circus 256 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: was closing for the night. Jim did not have to 257 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: go home, but I couldn't stay here. Jim wasn't sure 258 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: how he got back to the flat with Pamela that morning, 259 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: or how long it took him to get there. He 260 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: remembered the men in the bathroom and more men ushering 261 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: him outside. The late night early morning air was still 262 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: humid from the day before. He puked on a sidewalk, 263 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: reached in his pocket for a cigarette, but realized he 264 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: had left him at the bar somewhere at the flat. 265 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 1: Pamela didn't seem that surprised to see him. She obviously 266 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: had taken her own fair share of snorts that evening 267 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: and was equally out of it. She opened her eyes 268 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: wide when Jim devolved into another coughing fit. He ran 269 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: into the bathroom and puked to get it was a mess, 270 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: full of John coughing of blood, having the kind of 271 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: revelations one can only have while on a lonely bender 272 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: in a foreign country. He needed a bath. A bath 273 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: would do him good, stabilize him, get him back to 274 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: that warm, liquidy, floating feeling he had experienced earlier in 275 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 1: the circus bathroom stall. He turned the bathroom fauceted on, 276 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: and the water rushed out in the It was a 277 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: pleasant drone, soothing. He watched the steam rise from the 278 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: water as it slowly filled up the tub, his eyes 279 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: lost in the swirls of heat, the steam easing into 280 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: his chest and calming his cough. He took his clothes off, 281 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: climbed in the tub, shut off the faucet. Then there 282 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: was no sound at all, just the sound of his 283 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: own breathing, and that absence of sound, which in turn 284 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: makes its own sound a ringing faint. At first, rising, 285 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: he heard sounds in the absence of sound that weren't there, 286 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: And then he felt the nausea crash over him, a 287 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: big wave of it. His stomach wretched, and he sat 288 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: up from his reclined position, yelled for Pamela, but nothing, 289 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: and the wave hit him again, gaining intensity now, and 290 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: Jim yelled for Pamela again. She was in the bathroom 291 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: a few moments later. It felt like an eternity to Jim, 292 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: half asleep, fully dozed, walking zombie. Jim told her he 293 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: was going to be sick again. He needed a bucket, 294 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: a pot of pans, something he couldn't moved from the tub. 295 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: Hen did her help now, and Pamela returned with a 296 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: pot from the kitchen and Jim immediately threw up in it. 297 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: She rinsed it out, handed it back to him. He 298 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: was sick again again. Pamela rinsed it out and then 299 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: he felt better, he had gotten it out of his system. 300 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: He'd stay in the tub a while longer, and Pamela 301 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,200 Speaker 1: went back out to the living room, back to the couch, 302 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: back to her own oblivion. She woke up after the 303 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:30,400 Speaker 1: sun had risen that morning, July three. Didn't see Jim, 304 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: who wasn't on the couch with her, wasn't in the bedroom. 305 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: She could hear the rustle of traffic outside the city 306 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: come to life once again after a long, hot summer night. 307 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: The radio had been left on all night She was 308 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: just realizing this now. The Grateful Dead's version of Sonny 309 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: Boy Williamson's Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl was playing, and the 310 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: signal was full of static and hum. I'm gonna leave you, 311 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: baby about the break of day. I count of the 312 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: way you treat me. I gotta stay away. She walked 313 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: back to the bathroom slowly, cautiously. She started to have 314 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: bad thoughts about what she'd find in there. The worst thoughts, 315 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: the thoughts that she had from time to time when 316 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: she couldn't find him, when he wasn't where he said 317 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: he'd beat, didn't come home when he said he would, 318 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: The thoughts that would pop up when the band couldn't 319 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: find him, when his manager couldn't find him, when it 320 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: seemed like Jim just up and left the world without 321 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,280 Speaker 1: letting a soul know. Pamela was used to those thoughts, 322 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: but that didn't make them any less difficult. It didn't 323 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: make the journey down the hallway to the bathroom any 324 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: less traumatic. She called out his name as she got closer. 325 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: No response. She said his name again, this time louder, 326 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,639 Speaker 1: this time closer to the bathroom door, but nothing. She 327 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: stepped into the bathroom and the thoughts were gone, and 328 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: she screamed out loud, screamed the thoughts away. Jim's body 329 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: was still on the tub, but Jim, Jim was not. 330 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: Jim was long gone, and he took Jimbo with him. 331 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:07,880 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word. We were Bill 332 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: Siddons wanted to see the body. If there was no body, 333 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: it was all just fantasy, make believe. He wanted to 334 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: see Jim Morrison's lifeless body on a slab, on a table, 335 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: on a bed, in a bathtub, anywhere. He just had 336 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: to put his eyes on it, check that box, vet verified. 337 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: Someone just taken to the goddamn body. So he knew 338 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: that it was true, that the rumors were true, the 339 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: Pamela's call was true, and then he'd go into Bill 340 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: Siddons crisis mood. He'd handle it, take care of the ship, 341 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: the media, the authorities, the label of the family, the doors, 342 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: the fans. He Bill Siddons, the ship out of this thing. 343 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: But he needed visual identification. Bill hadn't seen Jim in months, 344 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: had hardly heard from him in months. International long distance 345 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: call rates were no joke. The doors had money, sure, 346 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: but Bill was smart, thrifty. Only call if absolutely necessary. 347 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: Jim sent the occasional postcard. In one to his lawyer, 348 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: Max Fink, he wrote the women are great and the 349 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: food is gorgeous, and another to Bob green Is accountant. 350 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: He asked for credit cards for himself and Pamela, and 351 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: also for an extra three large for the mounting bills 352 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: that came. Was living a charmed life and giving zero ships. 353 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: Bill knew that Jim was taking some extended r and 354 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: R in Paris, and Bill had instructed everyone to keep 355 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: their distance, let him learn some new words, meet some 356 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 1: new people, or you know what, meet no one who cares. 357 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,080 Speaker 1: Just let the guy disappear. Bill and the label would work. 358 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: L a woman on the home front, continue to repair 359 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 1: the still fragile image of the doors post Miami, and 360 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: when Jim was ready to come home, ready to get 361 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,159 Speaker 1: back in the saddle and make music again, they'd be 362 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: waiting again. Bill was smart. He knew deep down that 363 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: that would never happen. Jim was never coming home. Jim 364 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: wasn't going to prison, he wasn't making any more records 365 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: of the doors. He was an indefinite hiatus from the world. 366 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,040 Speaker 1: He had even used that word when he spoke to 367 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: Bill about his status and Paris indefinitely. He had remade 368 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: himself into an expas he was long gone. Then the 369 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: calls came. The phone started ringing. That Saturday, July. Three 370 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: calls came in French. Calls came in English. Calls came 371 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: in English with a French accent. And the calls were frantic, confused, concerned, 372 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: heightened panics. Jim Morrison was dead. Bill had taken these 373 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: calls before. It was a weekly game. He played back 374 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 1: when the doors were at their height. Jim and drank 375 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: himself to death over the weekend. Jim drove the Blue 376 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,199 Speaker 1: Lady into a telephone pole. Over the weekend. Jim got 377 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,399 Speaker 1: into a brawl with a Wilson brother. Over the weekend. 378 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: The calls kept coming, the phone kept ringing. They all 379 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: repeated the same thing, Jim Morrison is dead. Bill get 380 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 1: he confirmed this for us. Bill felt sick. His stomach 381 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: dropped to somewhere around his knees, Sweat beaded around his collar, 382 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: at his wrists, slid down his temples, and off his chin. 383 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: He took each phone call with a stainless steel bowl 384 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: on the desk next to him, in case he had 385 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: to throw up on the fly, and then more calls 386 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: came in that Jim Morris wasn't dead, he was just hospitalized. 387 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 1: He was very tired, he was resting, he had another 388 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: bott of that coughing fit where he'd spit up blood 389 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: and would feel woozy. And the news started running conflicting stories. 390 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: Jim was in a hospital, Jim was in a sanitarium. 391 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: The phone rang again, and this time it rang louder 392 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: than all the other times, urgent, insistent, like a pair 393 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: of hands was on the other side of the phone 394 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,400 Speaker 1: where it sat on the desk and shook it violently. 395 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: Bill picked up the receiver. It was Pamela. Her voice 396 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: was quiet, weak, broken up by the cross atlantic connection. 397 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: She sounded like she had been transported somewhere, somewhere she'd 398 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: never been before, and she was finding her footing. She 399 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: told Bill that the rumors were true. Jim was dead. 400 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: Bill needed to be on the next plane to Paris. 401 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: It was days before Bill could get there. Every day 402 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: was a new panic attack. The phone continued to ring, newspapers, 403 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: TV stations, managers from other bands, venues, family, and the 404 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: new rumors started up. Jim died of a heroin overdose 405 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: in the rock and roll circus, Jim choked on his 406 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: own vomit, just like Jimmy. A jealous mistress killed him 407 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: with witchcraft. He was murdered to discredit the counterculture movement. 408 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: Coke alcohol, heart attack suicide, killed by Count Smackula and 409 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: his vicious dealers. He wasn't really dead at all. He 410 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 1: had just figured out how to disappear completely. That old 411 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: evil spirit got a Greyhound bus and ride Pamela agree 412 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: to build the door to were flat. When he finally 413 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: made it, Bill needed to see the body, needed closure 414 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 1: for personal reasons, and needed confirmation for professional matters. Pamela 415 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: collapsed into Bill's arms, let it loose, like she had 416 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 1: been holding back at day luser tears for days now, 417 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: which she had. She waited on Bill's shoulder, and Bill 418 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: confronted her and repeated his request the body, pam where's 419 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,719 Speaker 1: the body? I need to see Jim, that's the problem. 420 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: Pamela told him there is no body. There is no 421 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,360 Speaker 1: Jim the funk? Do you mean there is no Jim 422 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: couldn't believe it. He had traveled all the way from 423 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,959 Speaker 1: Los Angeles to Paris, well over five thousand miles. At 424 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,120 Speaker 1: Pamela's request to see after his friend an employer, because 425 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison was dead. Jim Morrison was very much, very dead, 426 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: and now there's nobody. Pamela was scatter brained. She had 427 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: flushed the rest of her heroin stash and burned a 428 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: handful of Jim's letters before authorities got to the flat 429 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: on Saturday. But when they did, she was too paranoid 430 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: to panic, too firmly in the twin grip of shock 431 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: and trauma to think clearly. There have been a paramedic 432 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,680 Speaker 1: that morning, a coroner, and Jim had been declared dead. 433 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: They said natural causes, most likely a heart attack. Because 434 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: there was no suspicion of foul play, no autopsy was performed. 435 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: French law, they put Jim in a coffin then and there, 436 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: put him in a coffin, sealed it up. It was 437 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: French tradition, do it quick. They told Pamela that's the 438 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: way it was done, to just seal him up then 439 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: and there and she could be with him in the flat. 440 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: She signed the death certificate that they brought her, and 441 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 1: she didn't think to ask questions or asked for more information, 442 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: or asked to make a phone call, because she just 443 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,400 Speaker 1: did not time to think. She wasn't thinking. The first 444 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: lucid things she had done since Jim died was to 445 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 1: call Bill. She had no one in Paris, no one 446 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: really who could help. They were a handful of friends 447 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: and then people on the fringes, like the Count, but 448 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: the Count had disappeared suddenly, and the friends they had 449 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: there were more like drinking buddies and friends, dinner friends maybe, 450 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: but not real friends, not the Bill Siddons type who 451 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: would know what to do. Bill stood in the flat 452 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: with Pamela. The coffin was there, but I was sealed, 453 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: was already a done deal. That wasn't going to be 454 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: the one to open it. Probably a million tablooms would 455 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: be breaking so. Unable to confirm that it was really 456 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: Jim's body inside, and unable to speak to the attending 457 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: doctor or get a second opinion, Bill just stood in 458 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: the flat with pam and the coffin stood waiting. It 459 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: was a lot Paris hot summer. A man who never 460 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: identified himself to Pamela since he didn't speak English, she 461 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: assumed he was from the more brought dry ice by 462 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: the apartment a few times, but time was not on 463 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: their side. They needed to get the body in the ground. 464 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: Bill would see the that that was a Bill size job. 465 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: Pamela couldn't stop thinking about the night before, about Jim, 466 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,719 Speaker 1: the coffin, the vomiting, the bath he drew. They haunted 467 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: her for years, followed her, clung to her, wouldn't let 468 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: her go. Jim left everything to Pamela in his world, 469 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,400 Speaker 1: but his his state was a mess of lawsuits. Multiple 470 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: women came forward with eternity claims that the remaining members 471 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: of the Doors wanted a fair share of royalties. Pamela 472 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: got a little bit of money from the estate as 473 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: the legal battles wore on, but it wasn't enough to 474 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: live on, especially give him. The heroine habit she continued 475 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: to harbor more than the lack of money, though. It 476 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: was the memory of Jim, the memory of that morning 477 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: in the bathroom. She couldn't let it go. Her heroin 478 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: habit got worse. She described herself as Jim's wife. Despite 479 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: everything that had happened, she was expecting Jim to return. 480 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: He'd show up one day. It would have all been 481 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: a sick joke. People would whisper conspiracy theories in her ear, friends, strangers, 482 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: even people in the doors in her circle. They tell 483 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: her that it wasn't even Jim's body and the coffin, 484 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,440 Speaker 1: and she was scared to death that they were right, 485 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: that Gym was somewhere, had been somewhere all along, waiting 486 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: for her. But while she waited, she had nowhere else 487 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,680 Speaker 1: to turn to, no one else to turn to. She 488 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: went deeper in, give in to the addiction, gave into 489 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: the darkness, and three years after Jim died in Pamela 490 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: was dead of a heroin overdose. She was seven. The 491 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,479 Speaker 1: doors weren't at Jim Morrison's funeral, neither were his family 492 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: or his friends. The ceremony of Pelich Cemetery at Division 493 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: six was attended by Pamela, Bill Siddons, two of Jim's 494 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: friends in Paris, photographer Alan Rene and French new wave 495 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: filmmaker Agnes Varda, and jim secretary Robin Werde. The cemetery 496 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: was also the final resting place of fellow Leo Tell 497 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: guests Oscar Wild, as well as Edith Piaf and Frederick Chopin. 498 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: It was a Wednesday, July see it was like a 499 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: funeral for someone that no one really knew, and Bill 500 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: thought of the unknown soldier, because he still wasn't one 501 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: pcent positive that the ceremony they staged was for the 502 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: person who was in the box or not. How could 503 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 1: he ever be sure? When he got back to the States. 504 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: Raymond z Eric shared his skepticism. How would any of 505 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: them ever know? That it had all happened so fast? 506 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: Pamela didn't know what to do when the French authorities 507 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: gave it barely a moment's notice and suddenly had to 508 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,479 Speaker 1: get the body in the ground before a word had 509 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,640 Speaker 1: time to spread, before the body and the coffin had 510 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: tied to rot the body, none of them who knew 511 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: Jim had actually seen. Jim was buried before most of 512 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: the world knew what had actually happened, that he was 513 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: actually dead and gone five months before his birth day, 514 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: and the grave side soon became its own rock and 515 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: roll circus. Long after the Ceed Underground Club closed shop. 516 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: It became mecca for fans from all over the world, 517 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: Fans who brought flowers, bottles of boos, drawings, candles, potted plants, 518 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: makeshift crosses, seashells, poems, lyrics. People would travel to visit 519 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: Jim's grave and make a day of it, and afternoon 520 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: and evening, they let up cigarettes and waxed poetic about 521 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: this world and the next about art and poetry and music. 522 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: They take a hit from a joint, leaned back and 523 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: that heads resting on the bellies of others, contemplating the sky, 524 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: contemplating death, contemplating life. At first, the grave wasn't properly marked, 525 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: and so the fans did the marking themselves. Jim's family 526 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: and the other members of the Doors had a hard 527 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: time properly grieving grave side because it was a constant zoo. 528 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: The cult of Jim Morrison wasn't going anywhere. In fact, 529 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: it was coalescing here grave side. Some like John Densmore, 530 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: didn't visit the grave side for years for other reasons. John, 531 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: like the others the band, hated seeing Jimbo dragged Jim 532 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: down a cliche inevitable path to self sabotage. Jim was 533 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: a beautiful thing and Jimbo ruined it. Three years after 534 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: Jim's death, John was finally able to travel to Pere 535 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: la Chaise to pay his respects. On the tenth anniversary 536 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: of Jim staff and actual headstone was finally installed. The 537 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: headstone and an accompanying bust of Jim were created by 538 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: Mlada mcculkin, a Croatian artist and fan of the doors. 539 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: The zoo that passed through the cemetery scrowled on the 540 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,760 Speaker 1: bust and black marker and in paint, defiling it with 541 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: names and dates and messages. Pieces of the bust were 542 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: broken off when it was stolen in mccullin's once generous 543 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: homage was a decimated shadow of its original self. In 544 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: December of nine, Jim's family had the trashy grave site 545 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: cleaned up and a brand new headstone installed with the 546 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: bronze plaque. Jim's mother and father stood in front of 547 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: the grave site for a few moments. It was the 548 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: first time they had been near their sun in years. 549 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 1: And then on July twenty, anniversary or Jim's death, the 550 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: cemetery gates caught fire at midnight. Thousands descended upon the 551 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: pair of shades, ready to honor the memory of Jim 552 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: Morrison with the thing he had both subtly and over 553 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: he tried to get his audiences to do over the 554 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: years right. Jimmy tried to take them there years ago, 555 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: egged them on to throw chairs and yell at cops 556 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: and upend the status quo in general. They got close 557 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: to full blown ma'am on a few occasions, and now, 558 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: twenty years after he had left them, they would finally 559 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: give him the chaos he craved. Cars were flipped over, 560 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: fights broke out, bruises, blood destruction. The riot squad was 561 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 1: called in and the tear gas flew, and the cops 562 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: clashed with the fans. The giant wooden doors at the 563 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: entrance of the cemetery went up in flames. This blood 564 00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:00,360 Speaker 1: in the streets, it's up to my ankles. Even in death, 565 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 1: Jim inspired and uprising the eternal upsetter, And even in death, 566 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: the authorities stepped in before Jim's revolution went too far. 567 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: They beat back the rioters, sent them home and courting 568 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: off the area around Jim's gravestone. In two thousands sixteen, 569 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,600 Speaker 1: a councilman from Jim's hometown in Florida made a bid 570 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: to relocate Jim's grave from Paris to the Sunshine State. 571 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 1: The French and the Doors management both had a good 572 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: laugh over that one. Jim shrine wasn't going anywhere Florida Man. 573 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 1: The Door's original lineup only released six studio albums in 574 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 1: the span of four short years. Despite the brevity of 575 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: their output, their legacy has grown to mythic proportions. In 576 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties, the Doors catalog was flying off record 577 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: store shelves, aided in part by Electra's decision to drop 578 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: the list price on half of their LPs. The Doors 579 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,479 Speaker 1: sold more albums after Jim Morrison's death than they ever 580 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: did when he was alive. Francis Ford Coppola's nineteen seventy 581 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 1: nine film Apocalypse Now may have had something to do 582 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,560 Speaker 1: with the rise and popularity. It's You, So the End 583 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: is iconic and became a model for rock music and 584 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: movies about the Vietnam War. Despite the graveside shrine and 585 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: the post mortem record sales, the rumors persist, as rumors do, 586 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: that he faked his own death. That Jim Morrison hopped 587 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: up Playe in Paris early on that morning of July 588 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: three and was never seen again. That there's nothing but 589 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: sand in his coffin, That he's living as a poet 590 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: on the streets of New York City, That he opened 591 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: a ranch in Oregon. Jim Morrison, the poet, the artist 592 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: was he real? Jim Marrison, the drunk, the oh was 593 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: he real. Jim Marris and the revolutionary, the upstart, the 594 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 1: challenger of norms? What about him? Was he real? And 595 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison, the dilettante, the tenderfoot, the poser? How about him? 596 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: What was fantasy and what was the truth? With Jim Morrison, 597 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: sometimes the genius moments were a masquerade. At other times 598 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 1: they were super real. Sometimes he played the role of 599 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: the fool, and it was tough to say in those 600 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 1: moments that the joke was on him or us, or 601 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: if it was a joke at all, or books his 602 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 1: life for perhaps even his death. I'm Jake Brennan, and 603 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: this is the seven Club, all right. The twenty seven 604 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 1: Club is scored and co written by myself, Jake Brennan. 605 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,839 Speaker 1: Zeth Blundy is the lead writer and editor on the show. 606 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: Matt Bowden mixes the show. Additional music and score elements 607 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: by Ryan Spreaker in Henrynetta and The Seven Club is 608 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: produced by myself for Double Elvis and partnership with I 609 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Sources for this episode are available at Double 610 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: Elvis dot com on the twenty seven Club series page. 611 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,240 Speaker 1: And The seven Club is released weekly every Thursday. Season 612 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: one features twelve episodes on Jimmie Hendricks, which are all 613 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,920 Speaker 1: available for you to binge right now wherever you get 614 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 1: in podcasts, and if you like what you hear, please 615 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the twenty seven Club on 616 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: Apple podcast to I Heart Radio Apple wherever you get goes. 617 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: And if you'd like to win a free twenty seven 618 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:05,600 Speaker 1: Club poster designed by the man himself, Nate Gonzalez, then 619 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: leave a review for twenty seven Club on Apple podcasts 620 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 1: or hashtag subscribe to seven Club on social media and 621 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,279 Speaker 1: we'll pick two winners each week and announce them on 622 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 1: the Double Elvis Instagram page that's at Double Elvis and 623 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: you're gonna want to give that a fall, So get 624 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,839 Speaker 1: out there and spread the word about twenty seven Club. 625 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 1: And as always, you can find me blabbing about other 626 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: crazy rock stars and my other shows Disgrace, Lam and 627 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: Blood on the tracks and you can talk to me 628 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:34,479 Speaker 1: per usual on Instagram and Twitter at Disgrace Land Rock ROLLA. 629 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: What's up your ear is