I have no idea about writing a screenplay but certainly can outline how I see such a project moving along and developing.
This would be my idea of an opening sequence to a fan-based documentary, which I would envisage, having a title
'A Journey Of A Lifetime: The Doors ' and would be narrated by several Doors fans (celebrity or otherwise) in different locations with different perspectives but designed to give an overall feel for what was the 'essence' of The Doors story but explored in detail never seen before.
It would begin at the end of the journey and then move back in time to discover what exactly brought us to the spot that formed the opening sequence in the first place.

Opening sequence... 1st narrator standing next to a tree....looks at camera and says
'I remember when I was a kid a wise man had once said that 'If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite' and I never really understood what that meant without having to look it up, not being the philosophical type myself.
However another wise man once said 'Music inflames temperament' and I did instinctively understand this without having to resort to my local library.
From the days of 50s rock and roll to the modern day I like many have had a passion for music and it does indeed 'inflame temperament'. It is something that helps to form our character as we grow from tiny legs to teens to middle age and beyond. It defines us in ways we cannot ever really explain.
It's part of our heritage and indelibly ingrained into our psyche.
And for me one musical experience stands out more than any of the thousands of musical experiences I have discovered over the decades.
The love I have for a band collectively know as .....................'The Doors'.
Camera pans slowly right to reveal the grave of JDM.
Music starts softly at first then building.
"Who Scared You".
We linger on the grave for a while as the song comes to a conclusion.
Then as Pere Lachaise fades to become the rolling waves of Venice Beach we see a 2nd narrator sitting on the sand and the tale begins.

My first port of call would be before The Doors existed and the friends of Jim and Ray at UCLA to get a feel for what brought both of them to The Doors. The film, the drama, the poetry. Dennis Jakob would be a good place to start as he was there at the beginning of the conception of The Doors as he and Morrison discussed forming a rock duo called The Doors:Open & Closed which would feature just TWO songs 'I'm Hungry' and 'Want'.
The early days of Ray's UCLA Trio and later Rick & The Ravens......
I would not neglect John & Robby at this stage and would explore a similar storyline with thier friends to get a feel for what was going on in their lives, such as The Psychedelic Rangers, as Jim and Ray embarked on thier careers as budding UCLA film makers.


OK mate you got it. It makes sense really rather than have it in the Tom doc thread. Good call.
Lets see if anyone here fancies adding to the narrative. You got an idea for a sequence, a new title, an idea to explore in the documentary or a whole documentary share it here.
Don't be shy....no ideas are silly they are just one persons viewpoint which is the whole point of the thing in the first place ....it's a bit of fun....and to be honest we could do with some of that here......get into the spirit of the thing.

Good opening scene Alex.

I have an idea...We all know by now that when the band came together there was no contract per say between the 4 members and it stayed like that until a Partnership Agreement was written in January 1971. I'm thinking along of lines of trust, dependency on one another, a circle of trust, a friend ship bound by one idea to share and share alike. I'm trying to stray away from the old clique of Alexander Dumas, "All For One - One For All".

Just some reference to this bond between band members would be nice if it was intertwined within the story. Of course this idea falls apart due to greed in 1968 and of course that has to be placed somewhere as well. I find it very attractive to know that the band started as a whole enity with trust and respect. Just a small thread through the story that connects and binds the band together would be nice. Not like Stone showed in his movie when he had the actors do the acid in the desert scene.

We have the green song book from '65 how about incorporating some of the original poetry that evenutally became songs? Off the top of my head I can recall Soul Kitchen, Break On Through, and Moonlight Drive are all in there but the words are structured a little different but it would show the evolution to the final product.

I have an idea. How about something on us, the Doors Fans, based loosely on our forum.
Why is it roughly 1500 members, who, other than their love for the Doors have just about nothing in common, (not even countries) yet, upon meeting here or someplace else forge a friendship that sometimes is life long?
What is it about a group that 'folded' roughly 40 years ago yet continues to draw new listeners who were not even born when the Doors were near or at the top?

Although there are 1500 registered members, the active base is about 40 as far as I can tell.

I think a blog would be good as opposed to putting it on a message board owned by one of the Doors - that way comments can be added without the distraction of having them interfere with the flow of narrative. You can also embed video clips, photos and so on. Just a thought.

Btw, Alex, you can buy software to create screenplay form. I've written a couple of screenplays. It's fun.

Mewsical/ 40 active posters would be about right! Lot of good ideas here. Wonder where this will go?
Us being soooooooo creative!!!! j.

Thats the reason I said to Mewsical that my documentary (not this one the hypothetical one in the Tom thread) would not involve any events after Tuesday July 25th 1967.
Apparently the day LMF hit #1.
I think the events prior to that can illustrate both points you make Sara. The bond between the 4 and the evolution of the songs and music. The club dates of 1966 especially would make a tremendous contribution toward understanding The Doors art especially those that happen before Jac turns up and offers them a deal as they are not sure they are going to make it and are even contemplating packing it in before they get The Whisky booking.
The hungry looking quartet Pete Johnson describes in his LA Times piece on thier Whisky show were facing uncertainty after the Columbia debacle and the struggle for gigs.
That must have formed a strong bond between the four to have the belief in what they were doing even though they were not exactly popular.
Having to do late night shows and soundtrack work like the Ford Motor Company promo helped pay the bills but with no sign of a record contract in sight it must have been hard to keep the faith.
We know John expressed a wish he had joined Love and I am sure that the other 3 had similar doubts but the feeling they must have had when Jac and Paul offered them a deal and within a week they were in a studio making an album must have been something really special for them.
A chance to commit thier art to vinyl for all time.
I think what you bring up Sara would have to be central to The Doors story.
The art and the bond between those making it.......it's the reason we are still talking about it after so long.

You'd have to bring up the Columbia signing by Billy James, the fact Columbia more or less ignored them, and Billy then taking the whole kaboodle to Jac.

I got some ideas. I love your opening, that totally works. I like the whole starting at the end and going back time line approach. Since this would be low buck project and probably no one is going to give us a real on the camera interview I was thinking of a work around. What we do have is books and all those Door's shows(interviews, TV Shows, Radio Shows) where people made statements. We could have someone read the quotes from the books or magazine articles and record them or cut and splice a quote from a interview if we can find ones that will work in the scene were trying to convey. In the video background we could have a picture of the person talking (example Bill Siddons) and then at the same time playing the audio quote. So you pick an event in Door's history, give some basic background(history) on the event (video background could have pictures of the place, any video we could find, then start popping quotes from the various people that were there. Now this would be part of the presentation of whatever else you envision.

I play around with video so I could put it all together, we just need to figure out what we want to do.

So I think we need to put down important time line events in Door's history. And then go from each event and think about things we would want to say, quotes we could use, and dig up the background info to make it work. This would provide us some framework to organize our thoughts and maybe spur on new ideas.

Oh come on Sara, I like the acid scene in the desert I like the idea of using Jim's poetry in showing the evolution of songs, that works.

I hated that scene in the movie. All it did was put fuel to the fire for Ray to carry on with "do acid, man" rants for decades afterwards. And Manzarek claims he hates Oliver Stone.

Excellent Idea. Unfortunately, the time line I put together a few years begins in 1968 and ended with Jim's death. I could certainly work on another time line for the early years.

Waste of money, a screenplay is all format and fairly easy to set up hence software. & if it's software that prompts for scene description or character but should you really be writing if you don't know how to use those tools???

I would envisage any documentary being split into segments dealing with a particular time period an example is the one I used in a poll to compare the albums on my old forum.
Acid
Indecision
The Blues
In The Shadows

Acid would deal with the period before The Doors got together and the period 1965 to September 1967 when Strange Days was released.
Indecision would deal with the period up to November 69 when they began Morrison Hotel and would focus on the band trying to follow up the success of the first two LPs and struggling to find a new direction.
WFTS and the failure to record the poetry of COTL, the problems recording TSP and the Miami incident as well as the reasons behind it. Also would be a worthwhile moment to explore the Morrison poetry session.
The Blues would deal with the period up to the recording of LAW and the death of Morrison in Paris and focus on how strong the band must have been to survive the Indecision period to produce two of the most powerful albums of the 70s as well as explore fragile state of the relationship between the 4 Doors including the rumours of the band trying to replace Jim Morrison whilst he was still alive.
In The Shadows would take a look at the Doors 3 piece that produced two albums and had 4 tours including a European one. The search for a new singer and the inevitable break up of one of the most iconic bands in rock history and the directions taken during the 70s up to the American Prayer LP.

Some good ideas coming and the thread is not a day old.

Yes, YEs, YES! I always loved those designations & it would also show this is something different from usual fare.

Excellent ideas, Alex. I have a question: In the "Acid" segment you mentioned "before The Doors got together", how far back would be relevent in terms of research? For example when Jim was at FSU he took a class called, Philosophies of Protest and Psychology of Crowds, he wrote a research paper on the imagery of heaven and hell in the paintings of Heteronymous Bosch and also was a part of the theatre arts departments as well as appearing in the 1964 commercial for the college. Jim was going to the coffee houses where the beats made their mark. Alot of his experiences at FSU he used later on in his life during performances with the band. I'm just not sure how far you want to go back in time.

FSU 1964 Commerical
http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicC...ideo.cfm?VID=22

For UCLA we have Richard Blackburns' "Gypsy Wagon" site
http://www.tft.ucla.edu/profiles/scholarsh...hard-blackburn/

Then there is the connection between Wallace Fowlie and Morrison - Morrison wrote Fowlie a letter in 1968 thanking him for providing the complete translation from French to English of Rimbaud's work.

I know you addressed this to Alex, but I could see something like Philosophies of Protest... being relevant but not necessarily Fowlie (although Rimbaud is) but Wallace Fowlie's book on Morrison and Rimbaud while insightful into Rimbaud into Morrison it's not a very deep look, I don't think he had too much to work with on Morrison while he had a lifetime of insight into Rimbaud.

I would not go back too far and would probably start in UCLA early 1965 but you make a very good point Sara and it would be worth making a mention of some of the background as to why the people involved got to where they ended up. Similarly it would be worth mentioning that Ray was involved in live music long before his band with his brothers as we do have the excellent audio document of his UCLA Trio.
It's a difficult call as getting bogged down in all the stuff that leads us to Venice Beach might dilute the story we are trying to tell unless a clearly defined starting point is adhered to.
Not easy this shit is it?

I apologize, Jim for being so vague in the explaination of the Fowlie book. I used this book as a reference while compiling my first timeline. For example - the following passage on page 87 Fowlie gave me ideas in which to draw from:

False friends, jealous musicians, and lawmen used Jim as a scapegoat, as a blatant example of immorality. It would be more justified to explain his behavior as a misuse of power. Politics and personal shame had combined with other elements to bring about the chaos which characterized Miami and what followed.

Page 87
Rimbaud & Jim Morrison The Rebel As Poet, A Memoir
By: Wallace Fowlie

There are a few other passages of interest that compare to what Morrison did on the stage and the influences that he had from the books he had read. It's not a great deal of information but it does give a somewhat different perspective.

It isn't easy, that's a fact. And you know me I like a challenge if the results produce something new. This is the reason why I asked how far back to go with the research because there are bits and pieces of the early history that carry forward all the way through Jim's short life and of which influenced him.

I like that. Good, Alex.

Time for a quick recap for you guys, so we can begin to deliniate the narrative threads that are unfolding. Already two or three of them are starting to emerge and to intertwine. We need to decide how best to bring them together, incase they get so tangled they begin to unravel. If we do this they will be in better stead when other narratives begin to form around them and dialogue begins to ensue (but that will come later, don't worry about it now).



1) Merging different narrative voices together, to get personal, never before seen detailed perceptions on...

..starting at the end of these perceptions, and working their way back thru to the beginning, retracing their

This is to say Personal Doors Journeys offering perpectives on The Doors, working from the end thru to the beginning, give us some kind of notion of The Essence of The Doors (and the more of those journeys you can incorporate, the more concentrated an essence you will create).

Great approach, easily repeatable, and an illiuminating way to look at such a multifaceted subject: not aiming to be all-knowing, but a unique amalgum of different sincere voices.
But beware the narrators you choose, not egotistic Number-One-Doors-fans: it becomes more about "their" notion of The Doors, than a notion of The Doors they can share: this a commentary, a dialogue within itself, not a bunch of soliloquies. A narrative is a live and dynamic structure.

2) Also, interviewing people who knew members of The Doors before they formed, especially in UCLA, to glimpse perhaps what may have influenced them in philosophy classes, theatre and film classes, poetry lectures, and the kind of conversations, aspirations and ideals dem cwazy kids had in those places in those days. Something like The Unborn Doors

Structurally, Alex, I think this is pretty damn sound. You have a solid foundation upon which to build your documentary of intertwining retrospective narratives.
If you could incorporate your retrospective intertwining narrative voices with your "Acid/Indecision /The Blues/The Shadows" designations, you will have a preset musical chronology to follow, that will help structure the whole piece, and allow the music you must inevitably use to be heard against the history in the light of these temporal designations.


Emphasis on the origins and stories surrounding the bonds, friendships, loyalties and pledges between the four group members, right from the very outset when it was fresh, exciting and perhaps brotherly. Tracing the developments of these bonds over time, against circumstances. A similar kind of method applied to the origin of the songs, to see how these poems became the songs they turned out to be, and how these songs themselves course thru-out the history of the band, as the art created by the artists.

SO far as I can see, that is a stunning idea too, because that shadowry area right at the beginning seems to be where it all was most concentrated and pure, full of ambition, need, artistic intention, value and integrity....What the band felt about, what Alex has called...
"A chance to commit their art to vinyl for all time"

Right, I dun my bit, I'll piss off now, and someone else can do the recap in twenty posts time.

So for Acid the firsts segment a very very rough outline wud be
A little bit of background to the 4 players with an emphasis on Ray and Jim at UCLA as thats where it all starts.
I wud include a few scenes from Morrison at FSU and I think also his idea to forma duo called The Doors with Dennis Jakob who wud become important later on as a facilitator for Morrison to hang out in his building and write.
Music I wud use at this point wud be Rick and The ravens and Ray's UCLA trio and before getting to the meeting on the beach which wud be very important I wud envisiage this bit of poetry being read by someone.


"In that year there was
an intense visitation
of energy.
I left school & went down
to the beach to live.
I slept on a roof
At night the moon became
a woman's face.
I met the Spirit of Music."


An appearance of the devil
on a Venice canal.
Running, I saw a Satan
or Satyr, moving beside
me, a fleshy shadow
of my secret mind. Running,
Knowing.

The day I left the beach

A hairy Satyr running
behind & a little to the
right.

In the holy solipsism
of the young

Now I can't walk thru a city
street w/out eying each
single pedestrian. I feel
their vibes thru my
skin, the hair on my neck
-it rises.

then obviously the recruitment of JD and RK mentioning the fact that RK was NOT the first guitar player JD brought along to the band. Obviously in between JD and RK we wud have to explore the demo session and shortly after RK the Columbia contract and the important part Billy James plays as well as the visit to Vox where The Doors find some rather important equipment.
To research the early 1965 gigs that took place thru October to December 1965 would be pretty amazing as wella s their UCLA appearance backing Rays film at Royce hall. The famous New Year party of 1965 when Morrison swallowed a quarter as a symbol of The Doore being aliving jukebox.
1966 wud be a very pivotal year in Doors History and there wud be too much really to cover but important moments wud surely include the bonding of the 4 as friends and bandmates and the start of the band as a true band with a couple of January gigs prior to them getting the booking at the Fog. The dissillusionment sets in after the Columbia contract falls thru followed by the club gigs and the Ford Motor Company up to the audition for the Whisky leading to the Whisky residency.
I wud love to include Betty's Music Shop as that has always fascinated me since I found out about it.
The way the bands fortunes turned on Jacs visit to the Whisky to see Love and as a result being asked to check out The Doors. Which BTW is something I have never been that comfortable with as Billy James by then worked for Elektra and surely wud have told Jac about his signing of The Doors and Jac wud have been well aware of this band even as he set foot in the Whisky to see Love.
Jac and Paul are impressed sign band and set up recording session.
Doors controversial Whisky gig more club gigs first appearance in NY.
1967 and Jac unveils The Doors with the LP and BOT as a single. Not a lot of interest. First ever TV appearance. First trip to SF. Back to NY and continuation of gigs in California.
Bowing to DJ requests LMF is cut down for AM airplay.
May 67 begin work on second LP.
Appearance of what is thought to have been the first 'proper' rock festival on June 10th at the Fantasty Faire & Magic festival.
Gigs like the (bad) Action House NY and the (good) Scene club ......Tuesday 25th July and LMF hits #1.
Morrison buys a black leather suit to celebrate.


I think this is utterly essential as although the title A Journey Of A Lifetime implies it is a personal view of The Doors I do not actually see it that way. It starts out seemingly like that to set a scene but afterwards should concentrate on History rather than personal opinions even though as it's from a fan perspective an element of the personal would filter through. It could end with a more personal overview of what has been explored but the point of the excercise is to tell a story not put forward a position.

I think fan commentary would be good. Just like for example the Miami incident and the reasons behind it. You could present all the quotes where the official word was because of the Living Theater shows that Jim saw, and Jim was drunk, and promoter oversold the concert, and it was hot and so forth. And after that you and Sara could come in with all your facts that you believe led up to what happen in Miami. And then end it with some of quotes from Jim expressing his desire to kill the whole sex symbol, Rock & Roll image that he created in some of the interviews that he did later on.

And I think having a fan perspective would make the video unique. I don't think anybody really done anything like that. Maybe include fan interviews of what The Doors meant to people in their lives. I'm like you Alex, I have been into The Doors since I was 12 or 13. I'm 45 now and I'm still passionate about them. And if I lived in Europe, I would be just like you guys probably making my pilgrimage to Jim Morrison's grave on his death and birthday. Just something about them that I find important in my life that keeps me coming back.

One more thing, are you going have somebody wearing Jim Morrison sneakers in the movie? Oh that can be mentioned in that part of the movie where the remaining Doors lost their artistic integrity and sold out.

I was actually thinking of a scene where a dog chews a faeces stained Converse Sneaker in the back of a Buick but then I'm weird

It's a fair point you make Chris and it's true something like that would be unique but if so we would have to heed Alsatians warning of ego creeping in. I wud argue that the main narrator shud be American as it's an American band and that is important I think.
A bunch of girls did a documentary on fans in Paris a few years back in 2005 and made a proffesional short film so it's not a pipe dream. Needs more peoples input........like those other 40 active members to pipe up with something.

These poems date back prior to the Venice Beach Ray/Jim meeting in August 1965. These could have been written in late June early July 1965.

Jim: I never did any singing. I never even conceived it. I thought I was going to be a writer or a sociologist, maybe write plays. I never went to concerts – one or two at most. I saw a few things on TV, but I’d never been a part of it. I just got out of college and I went down to the beach, I wasn’t doing much of anything. I was free for the first time: I had been going to school constantly for 15 years. It was a beautiful hot summer and I just started hearing songs. Those first five or six songs I wrote, I was just taking notes at a fantastic rock concert that was going on in my head…and once I’d written them, I had to sing them.

Ray: Ray speaking to Jim on Venice Beach/Summer 1965) Hey man, I thought you were going to New York. Well, I was, but I decided to stay here, I’ve been at a friends house, up on his roof, writing songs.

“Aha! Why not sing one?”

So what he did was sing “Moonlight Drive” and when I heard those first four lines, I said, Wow, those are the greatest lyrics I’ve ever heard for a rock n’ roll song. As he was singing I could hear the chord changes and the beat – my fingers immediately started moving, I asked him if he had anymore and he replied, “Yeah, I’ve got two or three others…
Source: The Doors In Their Own Words
By: Andrew Doe and John Tobler 1988


Angel Flight

The hiss
of the viper is heard in the land

What's
happening, here

What's going on

What's happening,
hey

What's going on

What are these people

Walking
thru the room

These strange youths I hope it's
over soon

The garden of earthly
delights You're going too far out

Well we're almost there
now I see the stair (now)

Get on your
feet They're friends to greet

We're right on time Just
yours and mine (break)

Get Ready, Ready,
Ready As we drive on Drive on Drive on

Drive
on Drive on I'm lost

It's too late Go
back

Go back Too fast Too fast I'm gone So
long Good bye Don't cry

The night will come &
close your eyes

Note: After the line "till we
get inside" at the same margin and intended to be a
part of "Angel Flight" but later edited out are these
four lines:

Keep on drivin, till we break thru, break
thru, break on thru to the other side, our bodies
gather & divide.


Work out
fast!
Work out fast Now work out fast

We're so
close

We're so close

Get in line
Collect your
time We have to climb

We have to climb I'll
help you now

I'll help you now I see the
lights

I see the lights We're got to

Keep on
moving
Keep on moving

Get in stride Keep on
moving Till we get inside


We gotta break on thru to the other
side (The day begins the day night destroys the
night)

You know the day/destroys the (day) night & the
night/divides the (night) day

We tried to run/(I) we tried
to hide

We/gotta break on thru to the
other side

We/gotta break on thru/to the other
side (band)

We chased/our pleasures here

We dug/our treasures
there

Can you still recall/the times we
cried

We/gotta break on thru/to the other side

I
found an island/in your arms I found a country/in
your eyes

Arms that chained us/eyes that lied

We
/gotta break on thru To the other side

We/gotta
break on thru/ To the other side

We made the
scene/from (day to day) week to week(week to week)

From
day to day/(year) hour to (year) hour

We/gotta
break on thru/To the other side

We/gotta break
on thru/to the other side


-------------------------------------

Strange Days

Strange Days have fallen on me
Strange Days have fallen on me
Strange Days have twisted my head

Strange Days have fallen on me
Strange Days have fallen on me
Strange Days have found me in bed

Strange Days have found me baby
Strange Days have found me baby
Strange Days have shown their light

Strange Days have found me darling
Strange Days have found me darling
Strange Days so clear at night

Rescue me from
Rescue me from
Rescue me from stranger days than
these

------------------------------------------


Hello
I love you
Would you tell me your name
Hello, I love you
Can I play in your game?



Contempt (Suspicion & Lies)



I'm addicted to you
I'm addicted to you
I'm an addict for your habit
A rabidadabitit dodo

You're a drug to my pain
You're a rug to my smile
You're my roof to the rain
You're a curve to my mile


--------------------------------------------------

Let's swim to the moon
Let's climb
thru the tide
Talking in silence
Tells us not a sigh
So let's swim out together
Cause it's our time to try babe
And we've entered a river
On our moonlight ride

Let's swim to the moon
Let's climb thru the tide

I'm holding on to your hand
Tho you sure don't need a guide
It's easy to dig you
Feeling you glide
We're falling thru forests
On our moonlight ride
RIDE ON



Dutten Du Da
Dutten Du Da
Dutten Du Da
Dutten Du Da
" " "
" " "
" " "

----------------------------------------------------

Once I had/a little game

I like to crawl/back in my brain
I think you know/the game I mean
I mean the game called go insane
Blow your mind insane



The idiot roars, in laughter
Out my door
The idiot roars, in laughter
And strange things happened
Out those doors
Bout which I'll tell you
More & more
Like guerilla warfare
On your mind

You plow into it
from behind

It's filled w/brothers
It's filled w/lovers



It's filled w/fathers
And smiling sisters
It's filled w/
Miles & miles
Of frightening mothers!

Scream

Burrow back, thru that
cosmic past
Burrow back, thru that
cartoon past
Burrow back thru that
Gray T.V. past



Burrow back/into
That/radio dark night
Burrow back/beyond all/
that

Burrow back/beyond all/
that
Burrow back
(Burrow back)
Take a journey w* To the WEST!

(Girls scream in concerts)
Singer laughs, sighs
Out of breath
Band glides on




Every trip is a trip
That I know
Every trip is a trip
We are told
But a trip/is only a trip
A trip is never a journey
And journeys are better than trips
But journeys mean numbers & numbers
And take quite alot of time
But don't leave you stranded
On foreign shores
Looking around, asking for more


Way back deep into the brain
Way past the realm of pain
Back where's never any rain
And in the labyrinth of
Streams beneath
And the quiet unearthly
Presence of nervous
Hilldwellers in the
Gentle hills around
Reptiles abounding,
Fossils, cool air heights,
Pools, caves, loam gardens,
servants, dogs in the cruel



Morning yards.
Each house repeats a mold,
Windows rolled
Beast car locked
In against morning
All now sleeping
Rugs silent, mirrors vacant
Dust blind, under the beds
Of legal couples wrapped
In sheets and
Daughters
Smug w/semen
Eyes in their nipples
Wait!
There's been a slaughter
here.
Don't stop to speak

Jim Morrison at Florida State
Gerry McClain Remembers
http://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/morrison.htm

Jim Morrison: Film Student an exclusive
interview with American Legends, McCartney-Filgate,
who now lives in Toronto, remembers Jim Morrison.
http://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/morrison_film.html







Rick and The Ravens perform at Port's 'O Call, San Pedro Marina (Harber), CA.
(Performance Date Uncertain)
1965

Rick and The Ravens are hired as an opening act for a Los Angeles High School Graduation dance headlined by the pop group Sonny and Cher. The contract somehow specifies that the band is to consist of 6 musicians, requiring that they find someone willing to sit in with them or forfeit the job. Ray Manzarek approaches Jim Morrison with an offer of equal pay for standing in with the band while pretending to play an unplugged guitar throughout the show. Jim accepts and later remarks it's the easiest money he ever made. Sonny and Cher never appear for their performance, so the future bandmates play together the entire evening.

Source: The Doors: On The Road By Greg Shaw p. XI

The Doors record at World Pacific Jazz Studios, Los Angeles, CA. September 2 1965

Moonlight Drive
Hello, I Love You
Summer's Almost Gone
My Eyes Have Seen You
The End Of The Night
Go Insane (A Little Game)

This recording is often referred to as the first Doors recording, which is not technically true due to the absense of Robby Krieger. At this time, the band consists of:

Jim Morrison (vocals)
Ray Manzarek (piano)
John Densmore (drums)
Rick Manzarek (guitar)
Jim Manzarek (harmonica)
Unknown Woman (bass)

They set up and record all six songs in just three hours, and afterward press a few acetates for booking purposes. Their studio time is obtained through a contractual exchange with Aura Records as a substitution for studio time for Rick and The Ravens, whose previous singles have not fared well. (The Doors never opted to record 'Hello I Love You' until their third album, and that was after Elektra president Jac Holzman's son remembered the song from this session and brought it to their attention.

Around this time Manzarek's brothers expressed a growing uncertainty and dissatisfaction with the direction the group has taken and shortly thereafter leave the band.

After Manzarek's brothers depart the band, John Densmore suggests guitar player, Robby Krieger whom he is friends with at his Transcendtal Meditation course. Shortly thereafter Krieger plays slide guitar on the song, Moonlight Drive during an audition and the group immediately asks him to join.

In September and October 1965 The Doors rehearse at a number of Los Angeles locations including the beach house where Manzarek is staying. Robby Kriegers' home and thie friend Hank Olguins residence located behind the Santa Monica Greyhound bus depot in Venice Beach. Hank Olguin (Henry Crismonde) is an actor with who Ray had worked while producing his movies at UCLA. The band rehearse an average of 5 days per week.

Source: The Doors On The Road by Greg Shaw pgs. 1-2


October 1965 - (No Date Specified)

The Doors sign an initial contract with Columbia Records. Billy James, manager of Talent Acquisition & Development fro Columbia, perceives the possibilities of the band.

This contract is restricted with the lowest of royalty rates. The following February (1966) just before the contract is to expire Billy James receives a notice of termination from Bill Gallagher. Columbia has no intention of forefilling the contract and The Doors terminate the 6-month agreement.

Source: The Doors On The Road By Greg Shaw p. 4

QUESTION: There been various suggestions about narration - how about some utilization of the audio interviews that most people have in their collections?

Alex what ever happen on that documentary? I would like to see that.

For the American, I elect Jym or Sara. I can do the part of Ray. He has only two parts. One part he says, "Did you buy my book". The other part he says, "Did I ever tell you the story about when I was at Venice Beach and I saw Jim Morrison walking.....

Hey, that's great idea!!!

Here's Billy James' Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_James

and a photo of him with Dylan. Billy was the only Columbia executive that Dylan would deal with. He went on to manage Jackson Browne, worked with the Byrds, and so on. Without Billy, the Doors would not have been signed to Elektra.

Heres a small piece of my research I wanted to share. Everyone knows about the young lion photos - the sex symbol image, etc, etc...and most would know about Jim getting his Alexander The Great haircut in 1967 from Jay Sebring and the fact that a couple years later in 1969, Sebring was murdered in the Tate house by the Manson Family.

NOW....

Picture the young lion photos in your head and put this passage from "Break On Through - The Life & Death Of JM" in your head as you picture the photos.

"It wasn't just Alexander's looks that attracted Morrison - it was also the parallels in their lives. Alexander was born into an aristocratic family and his father, King Philip of Macedonia, was a military man. Philip was very organized, disciplined, and intimidating without an introspective or artistic bone in his body. Alexander met this intimidation by becoming everything his father wasn't: artistic, a thinker, a pupil of Aristotle. And yet, Alexander wound up being an even greater military man than his father, amassing more power in his lifetime than any man before or since. Morrison used to say that "the big mistake Alexander made was that he hesitated at the Danube. If he had gone ahead and conquered Europe and England he would not have become mired in the East and India. He should have gone west. If he had, the whole history of the world would have been changed."

Source: Break On Through - The Life & Death Of Jim Morrison - Riordan & Prochnicky
Page 55

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I would have Morrison doing a magic show somewhere in the 10 hours...

Jay Sebring was as big a star as Morrison in his own way. He had entree to the Hollywood elite, was a truly talented hair cutter on a par with Vidal Sassoon, one of the great party-boys of the day and was very well-liked. He basically conspired with Morrison to create what ultimately became the shag haircut, as later modified by Allen Edwards and made world-famous by Allen's client Farrah Fawcett.

It would be good to have the doors and whoever was around at the time share their memories of the doors performing the end at that fateful whiskey night when the doors get fired. Sorry, I am going to jump ahead but I think most of 1967 is covered. We go through some of the waitng for the sun sessions showing Morrison's self destruction and the bands frustations with jim's drinking buddies, the europe press conference, the incident where they played with the jefferson airplane. it would be good to have a scene where the doctor tells jim that if he does not stop drinking he will destroy his liver. There could be some mention of pam courson and a little of their relationship, the buick ad and miami.

I would like to see a scene of the very last concert that jim did with the doors and show clips of him twirling his microphone in slow motion andinto the audience and band members looking on as ray once said the spirit leaving his body, the noise of him banging the mike and then leaving the stage and some of him narrating his poetry for a little perspective and then jim leaviong for paris and people talking about his time there and a little on his death speculation and what fans and musicians think of the doors impart today.

I hope I have the right idea about this thread. Just my thoughts on a doors jim doco.

That's exactly the kind of thinking that will make this thread interesting.
That was quite inspired Sheri and pretty much nails the working title I started off with 'A Journey Of A Lifetime'....as one journey into discovering the Doors ends another begins. Full Circle.
I know it sometimes sounds a bit soppy, but it isn't with this band.
People do get into it at a young age and discovering stuff about the group takes years and even after decades they can still surprise you with stuff you never knew before.
Not many bands can do this and none as well as The Doors.
I have met a few young people in Paris that are exactly like that and even though young focus on surprising aspects of both the band leader and the band itself.
This thread is not yet a week old and has been pleasantly surprising.
Keep it up folks.
There are NO dumb ideas just IDEAS.
It will be interesting to see how far this can be taken and how many Doors fans can find themselves involved.


That's a very interesting area to explore in the Acid section as the common perception is that Jac was at the club to see Love and Arthur Lee persuaded him to stay and see this great support act.
Jac himself says that in Follow The Music but I cannot see how Billy James could possibly have NOT talked to Jac about The Doors as he was working for him in LA.
I cannot believe for a second that Jac Holzman did not know who The Doors were when he entered the Whisky and even though he was there to see Love I can't believe he was not also there with the express purpose of also checking out this LA outfit.
I know it depends on if these people are still alive but Billy James, Rich Linnell and Jac Holzman wud be very interesting people to talk to about the earliest days as too wud be Botnick as I am sure he would have been around the clubs watching The Doors in 1966 especially after he helped them create the first LP.

This was also covered in the radio program "Jim Morrison, Artist In Hell". I think it's the only program which really covers where Jim Morrison was coming from. Quite interesting.

Never heard of that one. Is it online somewhere?

I haven't started going through any magazine interviews yet but I did find some "limited" information regarding Billy James using several different sources.

Billy James as you know was the A&R man at Columbia Records when The Doors approached him with their demo. Unlike other industry people, James actually liked what he heard and offered them a contract which was excepted. The deal included some equipment as well. John Densmore happened to see The Doors name on the drop list at Columbia and after 5 months with the label giving them no results the band asked to be released. The Doors went back to the Whisky and then Jac Holzman sees them several times, then Rothchild comes in from the east coast and sees them - Holzman offers a contract with Elektra and The Doors bulk at the offer at first. What follows is Billy James' story in his own words.

“It was a two way street,” says James. “I didn’t always discover artists – they discovered me too. And the Doors discovered me, I spotted them around my secretaries desk when I came back from lunch one day. We talked and I ended up being very intrigued by them. I later asked Morrison how come they chose me as someone to bring their demo to. He said he’d seen a picture of me in one of the trade magazines and liked the fact that I had a beard. He said he figured I was into ‘something.”

“Moonlight Drive”, “Go Insane”, they really jumped out at me,” James says. “It was rough, but there was a completely unique energy in the music. What a great band”, he laughs. “I thought I got it. I thought I knew what they were about.”

James had a hard time convincing anybody else at Columbia that he had found the next best thing.

“Very few people in the industry were hanging out in clubs, and a stylistic change took place among the musicians well before it came to the industry,” say James. “I kept bringing the acts to Columbia and I got the feeling that the higher-ups were thinking, ‘What is this shit this kid keeps bringing us?”
(Page 18-19 Moonligh Dr. Crisafulli 1995)

Billy James: “The deal we signed was for 5 ½ years with the half year being the initial term during which Columbia was obligated to produce and release a single from the band. We wrote that in the contract because I didn’t want them to just langish on the label and have nothing happened for a long time. At the end of 5 months John Densmore finally called and asked if they could be released from their contract. I said, ‘Okay. There’s obviously nothing happening here.’ An A&R administrator prepared the release for the and Columbia officially lost The Doors.” (page 96 BOT)

John Densmore had seen The Doors name on Columbia’s drop list prior to asking for the release from the label.

The Doors are offered a record contract from Jac Holzman during one of their sets at the Whisky.

After their bad experience with Columbia the band was somewhat hesitant to sign and sought out advice from one of the few people in the music business that they trusted – Billy James. James, the Columbia A&R man who had first believed in them.

James remembers “I had brought The Mothers Of Invention to Columbia and they didn’t sign them. I’d brought The Jefferson Airplane – same thing. Lenny Bruce same thing. I was getting frustrated there when one day Jac Holzman called to ask if I’d head up the labels new West Coast Offices. About 3 weeks before I told anyone there about my decision to leave, I got a call from Ray Manzarek saying he wanted to meet with me at my house. That night he showed me the contract that Elektra had offered The Doors. I told him I didn’t want to comment on the contract because, as I explained in confidence, I was about to go to Elektra myself. We’d had a good relationship and Ray liked that I would be at Elektra too of the group signed with them.”

(Page 104-105 BOT Riordan & Prochnicky 1991)


Somewhat perversely, the band took their time deciding whether or not to accept the offer, consulting Billy James and Ray’s father’s attorney, Max Fink. Eventually a deal was struck for a one year contract, with an option for two further years, or seven albums, and a producer, Paul A. Rothchild, assigned to them.

(Page 22 The Doors – Tober & Doe 1984)

Holzman offered James a position of opening the new West Coast Offices at Elektra and Billy James took the offer and left Columbia and went with Elektra. This offer from Holzman to James was within the 3 week period in which Holzman offered the Doors a contract but I can't find any conversations between James and Holzman about The Doors performances or if James had any hand in Holzman signing the Doors. In all the sources I have found the Arthur Lee suggestion to Holzman to see The Doors and the fact that Holzman went several times to see the band prior to calling Rothchild is the way the story is presented with a few quotes from Billy James.

Good call Chris.

I have the "Jim Morrison Artist In Hell" series. It's one of my favs - unfortunately the copies I have which span over several cds were sourced from a collection of record albums and as such the cds carry over all of the hisses, pops and scratches from the source. I do love this show as it paints a different picture of Morrison - a picture that doesn't focus on the sensationalism that has been rehashed over and over again in the press and of which has been used to a great extent for marketing purposes. This is the Jim Morrison I'm most interested in as well as the intellectual side of the band as a whole without all of the bullshit that has been spoon fed to the masses for decades. Remove the decadance and things are seen in a different light.

Nina Holzman - Jac's wife, after whom Nina Music was named - was also instrumental in the signing. I believe Billy talked with her and she saw the Doors first, then persuaded Jac to go. Densmore also mentions Billy's involvement in his book, but unfairly blames Billy for Columbia's heel-dragging. Billy then became a restauranteur - he and his wife owned The Black Rabbit on Melrose, and then he came to Elektra. Billy was there when I first worked there, but he was not the head of the West Coast offices, he was the press officer, replacing Pat Faralla (who had gone to work for David Geffen) and Risa Potters who had a record deal of her own - she is now a Los Angeles chiropractor. The head of the West Coast was David Anderle, who left to go to A&M in mid-70, and he was replaced by Russ Miller. Billy is too creative to be some 'suit,' but he certainly had as much carte blanche as he wanted. He and his then-wife, film producer Judy James, were my next-door neighbors in Laurel Canyon. Diane Gardiner was also working in Billy's offices, I think helping him out, but also involved in her own projects. Billy remains a friend to this day. He recently completed a bike ride for AIDS - from San Francisco to LA - and then became involved in the Obama campaign and went to Nevada to get out the vote.

If anyone has any questions for him, I'll be happy to forward them on.

Thank you so much for your offer of forwarding questions. I have some questions that I would appreciate answers too.

I'll take my time and get something together. I really appreciate this offer!

He's pretty good about that sort of thing. Let me know.

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It's so true Sheri I think that is a general thing with rock and is certainly very true with The Doors.
I know of young kids that are into King Crimson or Gentle Giant or bands like Gong from the 70s.
Daft as it may sound this idea could indeed become more than just a discussion with enough people like yourself getting involved. It wud be very interesting to see how far it can be taken

Sometimes the particular song you focus upon can end up generating your narrative. I once heard it said that Oliver Stone crafted many of the themes and symbols of his film around the song The End, and in someways that song is pivotal to an understanding of it. If that is so, then what kind of documentary would result from say, Soft Parade as an emphasis, with its kaleidoscopic, psychedelic slant of many musical voices, indicative itself of an aspect of the age? It seems that the song, much less the album, gives a specific perspective on and of the band. You could start from a song and tell a story, using different songs to illustrate different aspects of what you try to say, whilst at the same time adopting and combining the approaches suggested here, by Walls Screamed Poetry, Darkstar, and Next Little Girl. This way the music can speak for itself, but at the same time the fans can express their feelings, alongside the history, with a little camera work and drama besides.

I really appreciate this, Mewsical.


1. Did you ever see “The Doors” perform live prior to a record contract being offered?



2. I understand that you had a lot of faith in The Doors which was your initial reason for signing them to Columbia. When you were offered the position at Elektra did you mention “The Doors” name to Jac Holzman?



3. Were you instrumental in helping to negotiate the contract that “The Doors” we offered after you came on board at Elektra?

I like your enthusiasm,but I'm done with regurgitated half mutilated Doors movies.I'll watch The Doors perform when the technology exists to transfer the film footage of them performing into a 3D hologram format to be viewed in a theatre or concert venue,or how it exists now in raw song format,our generations are lucky that film and video tape came into existence in time to preserve our modern history.Cheers