1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is a production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis Media. Jim Morrison died at the 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: age of and he lived a life that deviated far 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: from the straight and narrow. I can give you twenty 5 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: seven reasons why that statement is true. Four would be 6 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: the number of family members he would dismiss and eventually 7 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: abandoned as he went west to California, to Hollywood, to 8 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,159 Speaker 1: the big Time, to a place far off in his 9 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: own mind where he made the rules. Two more would 10 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: be the number of days that passed when he get 11 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: lost in the desert with a friend off on a 12 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: soul searching, acid dropping boondoggle. He returned with wild tales 13 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: about what exactly happened to his companion. Another fourteen would 14 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: be the age of the girl standing on the sidewalk 15 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: that he impulsively stopped to kiss while driving down Hawthorne Avenue. 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: Two more would be the number of white lightning LSD 17 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: tabs he gobbled up and chased with puffs of grass 18 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: and a watery domestic before heckling the well intentioned band 19 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,639 Speaker 1: on stage at the Turkey Joint West In. Five will 20 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: be the number of years you'd have left to live 21 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: after he held a girl captive in her apartment, pressed 22 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: a knife against her flesh, and threatened to cut her 23 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: open for disrespecting him. On this episode, underage Girls, White Lightning, 24 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,839 Speaker 1: death threats, and Jim Morrison lost in another fantasy. I'm 25 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan and this is the seven o'clock. Chief William 26 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: Parker of the Los Angeles Police Department insisted that this 27 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: was no fantasy. The reality waiting for them behind the 28 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: closed doors of the Muslim Temple on South Broadway, the 29 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: headquarters for the l A Chapter of the Nation of Islam, 30 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: was clear. Guns, piles of guns, pistols, shotguns, assault weapons, 31 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,359 Speaker 1: locked and loaded, a veritable ship storm of resistance that 32 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: challenged the very authority Chief Parker had fought so hard 33 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: to maintain. The anonymous tip had been called in after dark, 34 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: and it confirmed the suspicions that had been festering in 35 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: Chief Parker's head, the suspicions that the Nation of Islam, 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: or the Communist Party or ship maybe both working in tandem, 37 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: were hell bent on undermining the l A p D 38 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: in order to push their own agenda. Chief Parker was 39 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: sure of it, and the muscles and his shoulders and 40 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: neck were tense, and his migraine swelled. Parker was exhausted. 41 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: It was two am on Wednesday, August eighteenth, and the 42 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: Watts riots had just ended the day before, and the 43 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: city was broken. It was smoldering, bleeding. Though the rioting 44 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: had stopped and the curfews have been lifted, l A 45 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: was still beyond fucked. It had been a full on 46 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: urban war, unlike anything any American city had ever experienced. 47 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: It all started with a simple traffic stop in Watts, 48 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: a working class African American neighborhood in southern Los Angeles. 49 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: Black driver, white cop l A was in the middle 50 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: of a nasty heatwave. It had been sweltering in the 51 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: nineties all week, and many Watts residents didn't have any 52 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: money for air conditioning, so the sidewalks in front yards 53 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: were full of people milling about. The driver of the 54 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: big Marquette Fried, had been drinking, as the failed sobriety 55 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: tests showed. But when Marquette's brother, a passenger in the car, 56 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: went to get Marquette's mother, things escalated. Marquette's mother got angry, 57 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: and then Marquette got angry, and soon everyone got angry. 58 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: Someone was shoved and then another person was shoved and 59 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: a cop drew a shot gun from his patrol car, 60 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: and the crowd began to form, And then Marquette lost it. 61 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: You motherfucking white cops aren't taking me anywhere. The crowd 62 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: of hot, angry Watts residents got bigger, from a hundred 63 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: people to three hundred people. The cops called it back up. 64 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: Watts was about to riot for days. It wasn't just 65 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: about the traffic stop, but it wasn't just about Marquette Fry. 66 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: The tension and Watts went deeper than that. The tension 67 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: had been there for years. The black community endured substandard 68 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: living conditions, lack of opportunity, and seemingly endless harassment from 69 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: the police. In the two years leading up to this incident, 70 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: cops had shot sixty seven black residents, half of them 71 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 1: in the back, and half of them were unharmed. So 72 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: on that day, when the cops faced off with Marquette 73 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: Fry and Marquette Fry refused to back down, the people 74 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,239 Speaker 1: of Watts rose up. They protested with violence. Stores were looted, 75 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: buildings were burned, rocks were thrown, guns were fired. A 76 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: moll with three thousand people took to the commercial section 77 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: of Watts. Locals transformed themselves into neighborhood snipers and shot 78 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: at fire trucks to keep them away from the burning buildings. 79 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: President Johnson called in the National Guard. Curfews were in 80 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: force not just for Watts, but for other African American 81 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: neighborhoods in l A as well. A spray painted wooden 82 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: sign in the middle of the street leading into Watts 83 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: read turn left or get shot. Dick Gregory, an African 84 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: American comedian and social activists, was brought into address the 85 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: crowds and help restore order, and they shot him too. 86 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: Watts was burning. The riots set off a slew of 87 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: national urban protests. Not hippy dippy grabs, some signs, some acoustics, 88 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: and some refer and hit the quad, but real violent 89 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: protest riots over racial inequality and social injustice broke out 90 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: in cities all over America. New York, Philly, Rochester, Newark, 91 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: California and l A. Had proper warning, but of course 92 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: they said it would never have happen there. It would 93 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: never happen in California. We're just a year earlier, white 94 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,719 Speaker 1: voters passed Proposition fourteen, which turned back social progress and 95 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: kept segregation alive by making it legal for property owners 96 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: and landlords to discriminate against tenants based on the color 97 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: of their skin. It would never happen in Los Angeles, 98 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: where in April of nineteen sixty two cops rolled up 99 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: to a mosque and shot seven unarmed black Muslims. One 100 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: was paralyzed for life. Another, a Korean war vet, was 101 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 1: shot from behind while submitting to arrest and died. But 102 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: it did happen, and it happened in Watts after the 103 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: police and authorities brought the hammer down. After thirteen thousand 104 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: National Guardsmen were brought in to crush the protests, thirty 105 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: four people had been killed, The majority of them were 106 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: shot by police officers who National guardsmen. All the dead 107 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: were black. One thousand were treated in hospitals, another four 108 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: thousand were arrested, two hundred and sixty one buildings were 109 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: destroyed by fires and other destruction, and another six hundred 110 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: were heavily damaged. And yet, to Chief Parker, this wasn't 111 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: a race war, This wasn't about racial inequality and social injustice. 112 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: It wasn't a disenfranchised population reaching a breaking point with 113 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: a culture of rampant white supremacy, fear and hate. No, 114 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: Chief Parker believed it was communists and Muslims. Chief Parker's 115 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: own personal Boogeuman, he was sure of it. He told 116 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: his protegee Darryl Gates about his theories. He made sure 117 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: that Gates didn't think there were fantasies either. Gates would 118 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: remember those conversations with Parker when he get to leave 119 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: the forest. Decades later. Parker got in the heads of 120 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: everyone on the police force. He knew the nation of 121 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: Islam Muslims from the South Broadway Temple weren't just law 122 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: abiding citizens practicing their freedom of religion, and they were 123 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: sympathetic to deep rooted threats to American democracy, namely communists. 124 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: And worse than that, they were armed to the teeth 125 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: with heavy firepower. At a point in l A history 126 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: when Chief Parker's police department was doing everything could maintain 127 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: control and uphold its authority, and Parker knew that today 128 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: the Muslims from the South Broadway Temple, we're planning on 129 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: killing some cops. Parker clutched his department issued peace felt 130 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: his migraine pound and insistent throb right where his palm 131 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: gripped the guns handle, and he was surrounded by other 132 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: l a p D officers with their own tent stuff 133 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: necks and shoulders, with their own itchy trigger fingers, ready 134 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: to burst through the front doors of the temple at 135 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: two am on a hot August pre dawn morning. Ship 136 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: was about to get real. As the cops started to 137 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: ram the front doors, they thought they heard loud sounds 138 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: from inside Banks Pops. They could have sworn they heard them, 139 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: could have sworn they heard gun shots, But it was 140 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: just Parker. It was Parker's paranoia successfully planted on. Chief 141 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: Parker was inside their heads and there were no shots 142 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: coming from inside the temple. There were only the shots 143 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: being fired by the l a p D. The cops 144 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: raised their weapons and entered the temple, firing just like 145 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: they had in sixty two when they wrote up on 146 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: the mosque. They lit the place up, and they found 147 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: no guns, no weapons, no ammunition. Three weeks later, a 148 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: judge dismissed all charges against the arrested Nation of Islam members. 149 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: He blamed the whole thing on l a p d 150 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: s imagination. Undeterred and unable to let his fantasy slip away, 151 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,079 Speaker 1: Parker switched tactics and started blaming Watts and its aftermath 152 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: on the civil rights movement, which he said was preying 153 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: on people's emotions. A year later, Chief Parker died of 154 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: a heart attack after receiving an award and standing ovation 155 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: from the second Marine Division. He was the longest serving 156 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: chief of the l A Police Department and certainly one of, 157 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: if not the most controversial. Meanwhile, Marquette Fry joined the 158 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,680 Speaker 1: Nation of Islam. In the summer of nineteen Los Angeles 159 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: was forever changed, scarred. The tensions bubbling below the surface 160 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: had exploded. Just like an other urban spots throughout the 161 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: United States, the social sea change had arrived and it 162 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: wasn't pretty. The disenfranchised had had enough of their oppressors bullshit, 163 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: and the hippies were looking to up end the establishment 164 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: riots protests, Lovins Beens and Jim Morrison could not be bothered. 165 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: He spent his days during the summer of six on 166 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: a Venice Beach apartment building rooftop, shirtless and stoned, living 167 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: off avocados, oranges and a seemingly endless supply of mind 168 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: altering lst far away from the war zone of Watts, 169 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: Venice beach may as well have been in a different 170 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: solar system. Jim Morrison was having his own private watts 171 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,199 Speaker 1: inside his mind. Now he fed it dope and acid 172 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,439 Speaker 1: and boozed. He unlearned what he had been taught, tore 173 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: down the values of his parents, chased the new reality 174 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: in the fantasy world his mind created. He did what 175 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 1: he wanted. His care free life frightened him, it liberated him, 176 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: and it frequently got him into hot water with the law, 177 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: especially when his so called liberations involved an underage girl 178 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: and a missing friend. Jim Morrison didn't know the girl 179 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: was only fourteen. He motioned to her standing on the 180 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: side of Hawthorne Avenue in Los Angeles, her arms crossed 181 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 1: in her stance, impatient, and then motioned back to the 182 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: l A p D officer looking over his identification. He 183 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: leaned into it's the cops here, dropped his voice to 184 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: just above a whisper. She looked The cop wasn't amused. 185 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: Jim looked back to the girl. Another cop was now 186 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: standing next to her, and with that added perspective he 187 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: could see it. Now. Next to the hulking cop, it 188 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: was clear she was definitely fourteen fuck something. He clearly 189 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,079 Speaker 1: hadn't seen when he abruptly jumped out of the moving 190 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: red Chevy to grab her and kiss her on the 191 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: side of the road. He looked at Philolino, his friend, 192 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: who was behind the wheel of the Chevy. Phil looked 193 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: like he wanted to slink down below the steering wheel 194 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 1: and make himself scarce until this whole thing was over. 195 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,440 Speaker 1: The cop repeated Jim's statement back to him. So he 196 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: had told Phil to slam on the brakes right here 197 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: in the middle of Hawthorne so that he could bail 198 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: from the passenger side and scare some teenage stranger out 199 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: of her wits by running up on her and kissing 200 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: her right here in the middle of Hawthorne. Jim laughed 201 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: and nodded his head. He added that he didn't expect 202 00:12:57,800 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 1: the police cruiser to be rolling by at that moment 203 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: that happened. The feeling just came over him. She was there, 204 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: he was feeling friendly. Why not carpet d M and 205 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: all that other jib The cops arched his eyebrow and 206 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: the other officer walked over to say that the girl 207 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: wasn't looking to press charges, and the cops in California 208 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 1: didn't know Jim by name, yet they would eventually. Cops 209 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: all over the country would soon know Jim Morrison by 210 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: name rock and Rolls public enemy number one, troublemaker extraordinaire, 211 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: that drunk, bearded beat Nick. But in nineteen sixty Jim 212 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: Morrison was a nobody, just another weirdo freak jumping out 213 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: of his car to do some stupid weirdo freak stunt. 214 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: The cops told to knock it off and to beat it. 215 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 1: The year before, Jim finally transferred from f s U 216 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,719 Speaker 1: to u c l A, where he restarted his academic 217 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: career As a film student. He read Nietzsche, read Huxley, 218 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: Red Young, red Ginsburg, and CAMU tried to shock and 219 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,719 Speaker 1: outrage with his student films. In return, he received rejection 220 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: and four grades. Fucking if his film professors and fellow 221 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: students didn't want to acknowledge his pure talent, nake it 222 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: fun right off when they handed out diplomas. That spring 223 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: in Jim was far away from the u c l 224 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: A campus. He had successfully decamped to Venice Beach. He 225 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: became part of the scenery human driftwood. He crashed on 226 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: the rooftop of the apartment building where his friend Dennis 227 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: Jacob lift raided nearby avocado and orange trees for sustenance. 228 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: Let the sun bake his bare chest and lighten up 229 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: his long hair. Venice, a uniquely Californian stretch of sand 230 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: on the west side of l A, is known for 231 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: its bipolar blend of drug fueled counterculture and weightlifting muscle culture. 232 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: The Dogtown Boys birth skateboard culture in the abandoned backyard 233 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:54,440 Speaker 1: pools of Venice, and Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped his way into 234 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: Hollywood via muscle beaches equipment. But before all that, and 235 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: after falling into disre pair in the nineteen fifties, the 236 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: one time slum by the Sea was having a bit 237 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: of a renaissance in the nineteen sixties, and Jim Morrison 238 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: was there to take it all in. From high upon 239 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: his rooftop perch, the sun rose and the sun set. 240 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: Black smoke drifted from Watts from the east and dissipated 241 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: by the time it reached the coast. Watts could have 242 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: been happening on an entirely different planet as far as 243 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison was concerned. There on the roof, he was 244 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: above it all, above his shitty grades in film school, 245 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: above the rejection, above his parents who disapproved of every 246 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: movie made. Each morning, he would stand on the roof 247 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: of fourteen Westminster Avenue, a few pounds lighter than the 248 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: day before and reinvent himself again. In Venice, he could 249 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: be himself, whatever that was, and he could shoot on 250 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: LSD unsupervised. He crushed LSD tabs between his teeth like 251 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: an outfielder snacks on sunflower seeds. It was everywhere in Venice. Beach. 252 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: Owsley's white lightning tabs were passed around the boardwalk. Acid 253 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: wasn't over the counter treat at Venice head shops, but 254 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: over the counter acid and free for all white lightning 255 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: was not enough for Jim. He needed more. He wanted 256 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: it right from the source. He wanted to squeeze that 257 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: peyote cactus, taste pure mescaline, stick his tongue out, and 258 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: freak in the hot desert sun. That was the trip 259 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: he wanted to take, the ultimate trip. So it was 260 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: that Jim and Phil hopped into Phil's red Chevy and 261 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: headed east desert bound. After the incident with the fourteen 262 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: year old on Hawthorne, and they were back on track. 263 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: The desert called to Jim. The heat, the expanse, the 264 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: cracked earth, and tope desolation. He heard about ceremonies where 265 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: Native Americans would shoot arrows at the peyote cactus to 266 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: prove their metal. Jim knew he would prove worthy. He 267 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: wasn't Jim Morris, in the military brat from Florida. Ever 268 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: since the moment on the New Mexico Highway when he 269 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: was four, Jim was somewhat different. Surely a peyote trip 270 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: in the desert would offer a more enlightenment on who 271 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: that person was. Jim returned two days later, but Phil didn't. 272 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,240 Speaker 1: Jim came back and started telling stories, stories about shooting 273 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: arrows a peyote cacti with his Native American brethren, stories 274 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: about a Latino biker gang that took offense to his 275 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,119 Speaker 1: girly hair and decided to fuck him up real good. 276 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: And then he told the story about killing his friend Phil. 277 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: The peyote was so strong he couldn't tell what was 278 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: real anymore, who was real anymore? He looked at Phil's 279 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: face in the moonlight out in the middle of a 280 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: California desert, the wind much colder at night than expected. 281 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,159 Speaker 1: He looked at Phil's face, and it wasn't Phil. It 282 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: was the cop on Hawthorne. It was that cop at 283 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 1: the F s U football game. It was his holier 284 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 1: than now film professor. It was his father, Captain Morrison. 285 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: The moonlight intensified as the night wore on, and the 286 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: shadows across Phil's face ebbed and flowed and freed him 287 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 1: the funk out. Jim couldn't remember the exact way that 288 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,159 Speaker 1: he murdered Phil, but he remembered burying his body in 289 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: a riverbed. Which riverbed, which desert, which peyote cactus? Which 290 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: face Phil was wearing at the time, Jim couldn't say. 291 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: Jim's friends in Venice didn't know what to think. Jim's 292 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: fantasies came and went. Sometimes they weren't that far off 293 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: from reality, and other times they were certifiably gonzo. They 294 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: laughed at Off as Jim being Jim, even if it 295 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: was strange that Jim had returned with Phil Chevy and 296 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: no Phil. And there was one person, though, who wasn't 297 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: laughing at Off, Phil's father. He got wind of Jim's 298 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: story and it shook him to the core. Phil's father 299 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: was a lawyer, His son had been missing for days now, 300 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: and he had to spring into action. He wasn't about 301 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: to let some snot know his acid gobbling, authority baiting 302 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: punk leave his child in the wind. He tracked down 303 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: the fourteen year old girl that Jim would kissed on 304 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: Hawthorne and convinced her to press sexual assault charges so 305 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: that Jim would have to be brought in for questioning. 306 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: He gets to the bottom of this and find out 307 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,600 Speaker 1: where Phil's final resting place was and put his killer, 308 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison away for good while he was at it. 309 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: But almost as soon as the cops put Jim under arrest, 310 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: Phil appeared, dazed, confused, back from the dead. But Jim 311 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: wasn't a murderer, he wasn't a peyote forager, and he's 312 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: sure as ship wasn't getting pummeled by bikers on the 313 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: side of the desert Highway. Those fantasies weren't working. Everyone 314 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: saw through him, saw through these bullshit stories he told 315 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: that he apparently got off on telling he was a fake, 316 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: a phony. He needed a new fantasy, one that he 317 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: could really stretch his legs inside of, one that no 318 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,639 Speaker 1: one would see coming, but that everyone would absolutely believe 319 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: was true. He found it on a stage in Santa 320 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: Monica when he was least expecting it, the first of 321 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: many stages where he'd have all eyes on him watching 322 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: him as he let out his inner head and went 323 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: Hog Sild, We'll be right back after this word we were. 324 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison stood at the back of the crowd at 325 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,119 Speaker 1: the Turkey Joint, West, cupped his hands around his mouth 326 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: and screamed his request at the stage for the second 327 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: time Louie Louis. Jim favored the back of the room 328 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: in any room because of the back of the room 329 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 1: generally meant close proximity to the bar. He could maintain 330 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,280 Speaker 1: first person access to beers all night and also be 331 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: far enough away from the stage that he could heckle 332 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: as loud as he wanted and not be seen by 333 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: the performers. The band Ricking the Ravens announced another surf 334 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: rock flavored jam to the crowd at the Turkey Joint, 335 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: west of British Pub on the Ocean end of Cina 336 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: Monica Boulevard. The crowd clapped her approval, but Jim dismissively 337 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: waved his hand towards the stage and audibly groaned Jim 338 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: knocked back the rest of the out in his stein, 339 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: wiped his foamy mouth with the back of his hand, 340 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: and yelled some more. We want to hear movie Louis 341 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,639 Speaker 1: Louis Louis the free bird of the sixties. Sure, the 342 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: song was a jam, reductive, insistent, and sloppy, but to Jim, 343 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: a big part of the songs the lure was the 344 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: perception of shock value. Originally written by Richard Barry in 345 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, Louis Louis has since become one of 346 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: the most recorded songs in pop history. In nineteen sixty three, 347 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: two rival bands in Portland, Oregon started playing the song 348 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: in their live sets, Paul Revere and the Raiders and 349 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,479 Speaker 1: The Kingsman. The Kingsman took it to the limit one 350 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: night and played a forty five minutes set of just 351 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: Louis Louis, which, in my estimation is simultaneously one of 352 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: the coolest and most subversive moves a band could ever pull. 353 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: The next day, they went into the studio and recorded 354 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: their electric piano frat rock version of the tune that 355 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: would prove to be the most enduring. A few years later, 356 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty five, College band ends like Rick and 357 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 1: the Ravens included it in their crowd pleasing repertoires. But 358 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: a large part of the song's notoriety had to do 359 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,199 Speaker 1: with the Kingsman slurred delivery of the lyric and the 360 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: songs supposed it obscene content. Did the Kingsman slip a 361 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: sexually graphic song about a sailor and his lady friend 362 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: onto the billboard and cash box charts? Did they really 363 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: just sing me fuck that girl all kinds of ways? 364 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: Never mind the rumored racist lyrics, which is a whole 365 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: other conversation that we won't get into here, but let's 366 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: just say they would not have upset Police Chief Parker 367 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: not entirely unsuspected radio stations banned Louis Louis from the air. 368 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: Mothers forbade their children to bring that filthy forty five 369 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,880 Speaker 1: into their homes. It was such a controversy that the FBI. 370 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: The FBI launched a month long investigation into the song 371 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: to determine if it was truly filthy, and they sped 372 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: it up, they slowed it down. They played the forty 373 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:55,719 Speaker 1: five at thirty three, and a third played it at 374 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: seventy eight. Their conclusion unintelligible at any speed. Years later, 375 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: the Kingsman's drummer Lynne Easton, admitted that the authorities were 376 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: onto something. It was hidden in plain sight and never discovered. 377 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: He copped yelling fuck after he botched a drum fill 378 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: and smacked his sticks together near the end of the 379 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: first minute of the song It's there, Go give it 380 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: a listen and turn it up. Laugh. All of it 381 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: made Jim Morrison love the song even more. He loved 382 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: how the public's reaction to the song was so divided, 383 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: how it teetered on the edge of indecency, how it 384 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: made people uncomfortable. It made parents uncomfortable. Jim hadn't seen 385 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,439 Speaker 1: her talked to his own parents in a while, but 386 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: he was sure a ship that Louis Louis offended every 387 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: bone in their conservative bodies, and that made him smile 388 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: as he stood at the bar at the back of 389 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 1: the Turkey Joint West and demanded a big, reductive, insistent, 390 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 1: sloppy jam at once Slain Louis Louis. Before Rick and 391 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: the Ravens started up another surf rock tune. The singer 392 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,360 Speaker 1: and sometimes piano player Raymond z Eric held his hand 393 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: up and the band stood at ease. He put his 394 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: hand flat up above his eyes and squinted to the 395 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: back of the room. Morrison, is that you? Ray asked 396 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: into the mic Jim and Ray, where U c l 397 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: a film buds? Jim's reputation preceded him, as did his loaded, 398 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,159 Speaker 1: booming voice. Only Jim Morrison would be drunkenly giving the 399 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: band ship from the back of the bar. Jim yelled back, Hey, baby, 400 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: we gotta go. Jim Morrison, the merry prankster. Ray made 401 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: the decision on stage to turn the joke around on 402 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 1: his film school friend. Well, come on up here, Morrison, 403 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: Ray said, let's hear you sing it. If you want 404 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: to hear it so bad. Jim three sheets to the 405 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 1: wind on draft bud and stoned on some good venice 406 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,480 Speaker 1: grass and a few tabs of white lightning. Happily obliged, 407 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: he took the stage Ray handed and the mic. He 408 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: assessed the crowd, ran his left hand through his dark 409 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 1: tangled hair, and then let out a guttural. It started 410 00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: at his belly, mixed up with all the bud and 411 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: resonated up through his chest and arms. Bade his fingers tingled. 412 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: He barked. He whined he tried to eat the fucking 413 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 1: microphone until Ray, laughing, yanked it on the chord and 414 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:15,439 Speaker 1: backed it off. Baby We Gotta Go. Rick and the 415 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: Ravens banged out the song's basic three chords stop and 416 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: the electric piano made that sweet slipping slide riff, and 417 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 1: the drums big and dumb with a rackets four on 418 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: the floor beat. Jim closed his eyes, belted out the 419 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: chorus and felt a new fantasy taking shape. Let's give 420 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: it him right now. Jim got the call up again 421 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 1: from Ray to be part of the band again. Not 422 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 1: soon after the Turkey joint West Gig, Rake and the 423 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 1: Ravens were playing a high school graduation dance, backing up 424 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: Sonny and Share. It was June in The duo were 425 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: just a month away from releasing their iconic single I 426 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: Got You Babe, which would sit at the top of 427 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: the pop charts for the majority of August. One of 428 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 1: the band members had quit in advance of the gig, 429 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: and they were a contracted as a six piece, not five. 430 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: If they didn't show up with six band members, their 431 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: contract would be bunk and they wouldn't get paid. Ray 432 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: needed a fill in. Jim seemed to enjoy his moment 433 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: on stage in Santa Monica even better. He wouldn't have 434 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: to do anything at this gig. Ray would give him 435 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: a guitar to hold and they'd run a chord to it, 436 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: but they wouldn't plug him in. Ray just needed someone 437 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: who looked the part, and god damn it, if anyone 438 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: looked like a rock and roller in five, it was 439 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: Jim Morrison. The sun kissed mind altered Venice King. Jim 440 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: accepted ship. This rock star stage fantasy might be easier 441 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,439 Speaker 1: than he thought, and the idea inspired him, and he 442 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: started to write his own lyrics along with some rudimentary melodies. 443 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: He'd recite the lyrics like poetry on the Venice boardwalk 444 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,399 Speaker 1: and sing them like songs from atop the roof for 445 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: the Westminster Building. The third time that Ray asked him 446 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: to join was the one that took Ray bumped into 447 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,199 Speaker 1: gym on the beach in Venice. Jim told him he 448 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: was working on songs. He's sang Moonlight drive to Ray, 449 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: Let's swim to the moon, Let's climb through the tide, 450 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: penetrate the moment that the city sleeps to hide. Men 451 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: Zara caught it immediately poetry and to boot a voice 452 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 1: that voice, Jim Morrison's voice, a crooner's voice, but a 453 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: crooner's voice on the verge of something crazy and dangerous. 454 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: Ray asked Jim to join the band for real. Ray 455 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to sing lead anymore and he could focus 456 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: on the keys. Ray's brothers, Rick and Jim were also 457 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: in the band, but they didn't get Jim's lyrics. Didn't 458 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:34,919 Speaker 1: get Jim's vibe. Jim was known as opposer and a flake. 459 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: He was an aimless drifter who would only weigh them 460 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: down with his ponderous lyrics and over wrought psychedelic Sinatra isms. 461 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: When they bailed on the band, Ray and Jim picked 462 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: up John Densmore on drums and Robbie Kreeger on guitar, 463 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: both from Ray's meditation class. Robbie was a tender nineteen 464 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: years old. They didn't have a bass player, but Ray 465 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: worked double time to make up for it. He discovered 466 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: the Fender keyboard bass, which he played with his left 467 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: hand while he played his Vox organ with his right. 468 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: The doors would take that sweet sixties electric piano and 469 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: organ pop and twisted up distorted as if the songs 470 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: in that era were swirls of watercolor on paper, and 471 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 1: the Doors were a big droplet from a pipe that 472 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,159 Speaker 1: sent the colors reeling. Songs like question Mark and the 473 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: Mysterius Tiers, Sam the Sham, and The Pharaoh's Woolly Bully, 474 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: possibly the greatest recorded song of all time. Songs like Bokotine, 475 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: the MG's Green Onions, The River as California Sun, The Animals, 476 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,399 Speaker 1: House of the Rising Sun, the Castaways. Liar liar, But 477 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: the Doors knew that one of their greatest assets would 478 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: also prove to be one of their biggest liabilities. Jim 479 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: Morrison was going to be one hell of a front man, 480 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: but he was wild, wild on stage and wild offstage, 481 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: uncontrollable on his own trip, running fast from the past, 482 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: and a society that wanted to label him and cage him. 483 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: He wanted to challenge others, but he didn't want to 484 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: be challenged by anyone. He would helped make The Door's 485 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: famous cement them in the pantheon of rock music forever, 486 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: but he would also jeopardize the band's career. At times, 487 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: it seemed like he'd end their career. He'd provoked audiences, 488 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: provoked cops, a fan and shock. He was so volatile 489 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,480 Speaker 1: he wouldn't even think twice about pulling a knife on 490 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: a girlfriend who dared to tell him what he didn't 491 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: want to hear. Rosanna White wanted to scream, but she 492 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: was worried it would just make things worse. She didn't 493 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: want to spook Jim Morrison, didn't want to enrage him 494 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: anymore than she already had, didn't want to escalate. But 495 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: his grip was tight and the knife blade was sharp. 496 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: She was worried that he was actually cutting her, that 497 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: the blade was piercing her skin, that she bleed all 498 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 1: over the apartment, that Jim Morrison would leave her for dead. 499 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: If ever there was a time to scream, it would 500 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: be now. Rosanna had seen this sort of behavior in 501 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: Jim before. He would whisper sweet nothings in one moment 502 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: and then turn around and become verbally abusive in the next. 503 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: But in the past it was all talk, all threats. 504 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 1: He had never been physical with her in this way. 505 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: This was different, and it scared the ship out of her. 506 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: Jim held Rosanna tight against his bare chest. He really 507 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: wore a shirt, walked around like God's gift to chest, 508 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: assumed everyone wanted a good long look. He held her 509 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: tight by her wrist, her arm twisted around to her back, 510 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: and her back pulled into his chest. He had grabbed 511 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: her carving knife from her kitchen in a fit of rage, 512 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: and before she knew it, she was all twisted up 513 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: with a cold, sharp curving implement tight against her. Jim 514 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,719 Speaker 1: dared her, dared her to say it again, dared her 515 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: to insult him again. Who the fuck did she think 516 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: she was? Rosanna just called him out on his bullshit 517 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: once and for all. Jim would just carry on like 518 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: some profound poet, day after day, pacing around her apartment 519 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: every day that he happened to be there, shirtless, stoned 520 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 1: out of his mind, reciting someone else's poetry shittily, or worse, 521 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: reciting his own shitty poetry. And seriously, who was she? 522 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: Who was he? Who the fuck was Jim Morrison to 523 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: say anything to her about anything? Jim had been crashing 524 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 1: on and off at her apartment for months, using her, 525 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: eating her food, sleeping in her bed. If anyone should 526 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: be getting upset, it should be Rosanna. When he wasn't 527 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: at her place, he was at Katie Miller's place, one 528 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: of Rosanna's art school friends Jimmy's Katie in the same way. 529 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: She let him borrow her car and he disappear for days, 530 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: come back, talk sweet, and then go full asshole all 531 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: over again. But two girls weren't enough for Jim. He 532 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: needed more, more to mooch off of, more to wrap 533 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 1: around his finger, more to yell at when things didn't 534 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: go his way. His third study around this time was 535 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:05,000 Speaker 1: Pamela Courson real maternal type, originally from Weed, California. She 536 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: was eighteen when he met her. Fellow military brat, Pamela 537 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: would be a constant, a long term steady, and Jim's 538 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: most well known girlfriend over the course of the rest 539 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: of his life. But to Rosanna, she was just another 540 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: one of the chicks he screwed around with. When he 541 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: wasn't at Rosanna's place, he was at Katie's or Pamela's. 542 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: He was predictable. Jim didn't work, didn't go to school, 543 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: just cut super high all the time and rehearsed with 544 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: his band, The Doors. He told Rosanna another dumbass poetry 545 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,400 Speaker 1: reference if she recalled correctly. Sure, Jim was sexy and 546 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: could be sweet, but most of the time he didn't 547 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,800 Speaker 1: seem genuine, like he was playing a role, putting her on, 548 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,440 Speaker 1: putting everyone on. So she called him out, told him 549 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: he was a phony, and that sent Jim over the edge. 550 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: It was actually Jimbo who had helped push Jim over 551 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: the edge. Jimbo gun in his head, fed into his anxieties, 552 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: his fears, his insecurities. Rosanna hated it when Jimbo came over. 553 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: Jim would just invite him over like it was his apartment. 554 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: He'd have a six pack dangling off his finger, a 555 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 1: lit joint haining from his cracked lips. He was pudgy 556 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: and bearded and scratched himself all the time. He'd get 557 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: hammered and spent some racist nonsense what he thought were 558 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: the actual lyrics to Louis. Louis did that gross dude 559 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,800 Speaker 1: thing where he'd snored up a huge watt of mucus 560 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: in his mouth and then look around for a place 561 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: to spit it. Jim was at his most ridiculous with 562 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 1: Jimbo around, and his most entitled. We are so much like. 563 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: He told Jim, I know exactly how you're feeling, and 564 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: I'll tell you what you gotta do with these chicks. Man, 565 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: You gotta keep them in their place, where else to 566 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: walk all over you. You're Jim fucking Morris and man, 567 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: and your band is gonna be huge. You're gonna be 568 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: the biggest fucking rock and roller in the world. Any 569 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 1: of these chicks would be lucky to have you. You 570 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: have the power. You need to fucking show them you 571 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: have the power. Jimbo wasn't there when Rosanna called Jim 572 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: a stone poser, but he didn't have to be. He 573 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,480 Speaker 1: had planted the seed. Jim felt the carving knife pressing 574 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: slightly into Rosanna's belly, and he thought about it for 575 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 1: a moment, thought about going through with it, cutting her, 576 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:19,400 Speaker 1: slicing her, gutting her. It was partially the drugs he 577 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: couldn't even remember all the things he had chewed and 578 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: swallowed and smoked that day, and partially the ship that 579 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 1: Jimbo had said, and partially Jim's own delusion that he 580 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,320 Speaker 1: could just cut a person right here in her apartment 581 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: and walk away from it. He leaned in Rosanna's ear. 582 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,320 Speaker 1: I will cut you and watch you lead, he whispered, 583 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,719 Speaker 1: not the phony, navel gazing, poetic whisper he'd used to 584 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: get her in bed, but one that came from a 585 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: darker place and intended to frighten her. It ended seconds 586 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,600 Speaker 1: later when John Densmore walked into the apartment with Katie. 587 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,200 Speaker 1: The spell was broken. Jim let Rosanna go, laughed off 588 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:57,400 Speaker 1: the knife, laughed off the threats. The whole thing was 589 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 1: one big gag, a goof not to Sannah. She had 590 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 1: seen through Jim Morrison once before, and she saw through 591 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: him now. Jim felt disrespected. He also felt empowered by 592 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 1: the knife incident, like he was in control. He shrugged 593 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: off Rosanna's comments as bullshit. She was just jealous. He 594 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: wasn't a fake. He'd do the disrespecting from now on. 595 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: In fact, he'd disrespect whoever and whatever he felt like. 596 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:25,160 Speaker 1: He hold a knife to the whole world. The Doors 597 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 1: soon started gigging on the Sunset Strip in l A, 598 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,920 Speaker 1: where they want some hard fought auditions to get regular gigs. 599 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,080 Speaker 1: Almost as soon as they did, Jim held up the knife, 600 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: challenged them all bit the hand that fed him. What 601 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,440 Speaker 1: were the Sunset Strip clubs gonna do about it? Simple 602 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,279 Speaker 1: and fires, asked the whole band. As soon as the 603 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: Doors secured a legendary gig playing at the Whiskey a 604 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: go go, Jim Morrison would open his big mouth and 605 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:53,680 Speaker 1: the whole thing would come crashing down. I'm Jake Brennan, 606 00:35:54,200 --> 00:36:09,799 Speaker 1: and this is the twenty seven Clubs, all right. The 607 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,240 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club is scored and co written by myself, 608 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan. Zef Blundie is the lead writer and editor 609 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,680 Speaker 1: on the show. Matt Bowden mixes the show. Additional music 610 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: and score elements by Ryan's Breaker and Henry Nenetta. The 611 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club is produced by myself for Double Elvis 612 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: and partnership with I Heart Radio. Sources for this episode 613 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: are available at Double Elvis dot com on the twenty 614 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,720 Speaker 1: seven Club series page. The twenty seven Club is released 615 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,960 Speaker 1: weekly every Thursday. Season one features twelve episodes on Jimmie Hendricks, 616 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: which are all available for you to binge right now 617 00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:43,960 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like what 618 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,120 Speaker 1: you hear, please be sure to subscribe to the twenty 619 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,000 Speaker 1: seven Club on Apple podcast, I Heart Radio, Apple, wherever 620 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: you get shows. And if you'd like to win a 621 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 1: free twenty seven Club poster designed by the man himself, 622 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: Nick Gonzalez, then leave a review for twenty seven Club 623 00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,920 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts or hashtag, subscribe to Evan Club on 624 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:03,880 Speaker 1: social media. I will pick two winners each week and 625 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: announce them on the Double Elvis Instagram page. That's at 626 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: Double Elvins and you're gonna want to give that a phone. 627 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:11,800 Speaker 1: So get out there and spread the word about twenty 628 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 1: seven Club. And as always, you can find me laughing 629 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,640 Speaker 1: about other crazy rock stars and my other show, disgrace Land, 630 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 1: and you can talk to me per usual on Instagram 631 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:34,920 Speaker 1: and Twitter at disgrace Land pod rock A Rolla. What's Up? 632 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:35,640 Speaker 1: Fear is