Jim Morrison: Dionysian Shaman or Acid-Addled Freak?

Pamela Courson and Jim Morrison
Dead by Heroin

Photo:  Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson.

I watched Oliver Stone's 1991 movie on the life of Jim Morrison, on Hulu.com.  It stars Val Kilmer as the strange rock star of the Doors, an acid rock band that performed and recorded from 1967 to 1971.  The Doors are famous for such rock hits as "Light My Fire," "LA Woman," "Riders on the Storm," and "No One Here Gets Out Alive."

Kilmer actually sang the Morrison songs in the 1991 film, and he was simply awful.  He portrays Morrison as he most likely was in life: a narcissistic, self-absorbed addict who made a concerted effort to erase all viable brain cells with a steady regimen of hard liquor and drugs.  In the process, Kilmer's Morrison goes on stage wasted, insulting the audience, improvising incoherent lyrics to songs, and greatly aggravating both club owners and fellow band members.   Off stage, Kilmer's Morrison is depicted as screwing every female within a three mile radius.  Naked women are seen running through the halls of his hotel while his common law wife, Pamela Courson, suffers the infidelity.  When he isn't copulating, Morrison is depicted smashing things and screaming at Courson.

The film portrays some real events in the life and dubious career of Jim Morrison:  his confrontation with the police in a New Haven, Connecticut concert, where he was arrested on stage, leading to a fan riot in the streets; his alleged indecent exposure on a Miami stage.  Per Wikipedia:

During a Doors concert on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, Florida, Morrison gave a controversial performance. The restless crowd was subjected to Morrison's lack of interest in singing, as well as to his emotional outbursts, screaming challenges to the audience, and making irreverent social statements. A few days later, on March 5, the Dade County Sherrif's office issued a warrant for Morrison's arrest claiming Morrison deliberately exposed his penis while on stage, shouted obscenities to the crowd, simulated oral sex on guitarist Robbie Krieger and was drunk at the time of his performance. Morrison turned down a plea bargain that required The Doors to perform a free Miami concert. He was later convicted, sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine. However, Morrison appealed this conviction and died in Paris before serving his sentence.

In fairness, the bit about exposing himself was later proved untrue; only one witness claimed to have witnessed Morrison's penis, and she was a cousin of the arresting officer.  However, Morrison was guilty of all the other charges, e.g., public drunkenness, public obscenities, etc.  Some sources say he tried to induce the Miami audience to riot, but failed in the attempt.

At the end of his career, Jim Morrison was showing signs of substance-abuse dementia at the band's last and final concert:

During the Doors' last public performance, at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 12, 1970, Morrison apparently had a breakdown on stage. Midway through the set he slammed the microphone numerous times into the stage floor until the platform beneath was destroyed, then sat down and refused to perform for the remainder of the show.

Morrison moved with his common law wife, Pamela Courson, to Paris in March 1971.  He spent several weeks taking walks through the city and visiting all of the usual tourist attractions.  However, on July 3, 1971, after spitting up blood and complaining of chest pains, decided to take a bath.  Courson found him dead in the bath tub at 5 AM.  Morrison had apparently died of a heart attack induced by a drug overdose.  No autopsy was made, however, to confirm the cause of death.  He was 27 years old.

Morrison was buried in the famous Parisian cemetery Pere Lachaise on July 7, 1971.  This cemetery holds the remains of many famous people, such as Frédéric Chopin, Eugène Delacroix, Marcel Proust, Gertrude Stein, and Oscar Wilde.  One of my favorite French singers, Yves Montand, is buried there as well.

Morrison's grave was soon a gathering place for fans who share Morrison's fascination with death; they scaled the walls at night to place lighted candles on his headstone, while smoking pot, shooting up or drinking booze, leaving used needles, flowers, empty bottles and other paraphernalia behind. Morrison's bust (a statue of Morrison's head and shoulders) on the grave, as well as surrounding walls and tombs, were soon festooned with graffiti. In later years, someone stole the bust and cemetery officials removed the graffiti. Night patrols now discourage nocturnal visits from drug-addled fans, but they still come in the daylight.

Morrison's wife, Pamela Courson, went home to California and died of a heroin overdose in 1974 [see death certificate].  Her ashes are entombed there.

The Jim Morrison story is interesting to me. He, like Obama and many other "celebrities," has become a fantasy for fans, who impute great poetic, intellectual or shaman-like qualities to their idol. Morrison, however, was a weak man of limited talents who self-destructed in an orgy of nihilistic self-indulgence.

Here's a video of Morrison performing his most famous hit, "Light My Fire":

Learn To Read Bass Notes: The Bass Clef

Learning to read notes is not as difficult as you may think; it merely takes repetition of exercises. Reading notes is useful when studying bass riffs and exercises.

Here is the bass clef with the bass notes that are playable on a four string bass guitar or upright bass. The first two notes, low C and low D, are not playable on a four string bass, but I put them in just for theory's sake.

NOTE: Read from the bottom of the staff first. The first space note is A, followed by C, E and G (remember "All Cows Eat Grass").  Read the line notes from bottom to top also; the first line on the staff is G, followed by B, D, F and A ("Good Boys Do Fine Always").

"Coming Home": We use this Herbie Mann Jazz Song as Our Opening Number

"The King and Us" Performs at Bill's Party, June 11, 2011

"The King and Us" is a rock quartet that features Johnny, an Elvis impersonator. Johnny also sings other rock classics besides Elvis, but the Elvis theme makes for a fun performance.

Note: the video ends abruptly in the middle of the second song. My camcorder battery died. I have to get a second battery.

Videos From Practice Session of June 5, 2011

These are videos of our practices, for use in evaluating and finding what and how to improve our band.  They are not intended to be polished performances.  However, suggestions and criticisms are welcome -- viewers can help us improve!


My World Is Empty Without You



Me and Bobby McGee



Island Style

Learning Minor Scales

This week I am studying natural minor scales.  To do this I am listening to Jamey Aebersold's CD "Minor Blues in All Keys," and practice minor scales.

If you want to learn to play jazz, Aebersold's series of booklets and CD's are excellent (see Amazon.com).

Here is a chart of natural minor scales:

Train Your Ear and Learn the Bass Neck: Practicing Scales Are a MUST

If you are a newbie to bass, or even someone fairly experienced, practicing scales is a must.

By playing scales, you will:

1.  Train your ear;
2.  Learn your bass neck;
3.  Condition your fingers.

Practicing major scales means playing the "do re mi fa sol la ti do" sound, starting with each note in the scale.

For example, to play C major scale, you play C D E F G A B C.

To play F major scale, you play F G A Bb C D E F.

Memorize each scale so that you can play it forward and backward quickly and without hesitation.

Consult the chart on the right for the notes in each major scale.   Then play each one in the order shown above, which is in "Circle of Fourths" order (this will help train your ear).  When you play each note, say the note out loud - this will affix the location of each note in your memory.  Play up the scale and then down the scale (for example, CDEFGABC CBAGFEDC).

To find the location of the notes, consult the graphic immediately below:

Start simply.  Learn C scale first.  Play the notes as follows:

Remember, you count the strings from the bottom up.  The string on the bottom is G, the next up is D, then A and finally (on top) is E.

Finally, watch this video to hear the C Major scale and how it is played:

Some Thoughts on Playing String Bass

My Fully Carved String Bass,
a Calin Wultur Panormo

I have been practicing and gigging with the band herein for a year and a half.  During that time I have used my electric bass guitar exclusively.  I own two string basses, one a laminate and the other a fine carved bass.  My two string basses were only gathering dust in my music room at home.  Oh, I would practice on them from time to time, but the strings hurt my fingers too much and there seemed to be little opportunity to actually play them with the band.  For one thing, string basses are large and not easy to transport.

Here's how I started to actually use and play my string basses.

1.  I changed the strings from heavy gauge to medium gauge, making the basses easier to play and more comfortable on my sore fingers.

2.  I took the laminate bass to our practice room and left it there (on a bass stand).  Now it will be there for each and every practice, making it unnecessary to transport it every time.

3.  I started actually playing the string bass with the band, and this is an important point.  If you want to learn to play string bass, then play the darn thing.  It won't play itself, and once you begin, you start becoming familiar with the instrument and learning the best techniques for playing it.  (You won't bother learning the best techniques until you have a pressing need to do so, i.e. because you are actually playing the bass with a band.)

So I began playing string bass with "Stray Cat Strut," an easy song for bass and a nice starting point for my career as a string bassist.  Once you have begun, you can move forward.  I'm excited by the possibilities.

Note:  You really must amplify your bass in order to be heard.  I use a $90 simple bass microphone that plugs into my bass amp with a regular guitar cord.  You can order these from Gollihur Bass at this link.

"Stray Cat Strut" With String Bass!

I finally tried out my string bass with the band.  It worked out better than I thought and the band loved it.  I will be using my string bass more for appropriate songs.  Meanwhile, check out these videos from our last practice (sound quality is limited due to use of a Canon hand-held camcorder).

Stray Cat Strut  (Kenny does a great job on vocals here)


Groovin' (Not really a string bass song, but this was an experiment)


Susie Q

Rockin' Lorraine and Her Wa-Wa Peddle Blues