Jiursday, September 11, 1980
daily nebraskan
page 11
pook is an open door to Jim Morrison life
By Pat lliggins
No one nets out alive, bv Jcrrv Hookin and rvni
Sugarman, Warner Books, 1980, 389 pages.
Jim Morrison, the lecendarv lead tineer nf th iWr
has been missing and presumed dead for
Morrison was one of the most charismatic and complex
fit as
figures rocn n rou nas ever produced. Jerry Hopkins and
Dannv Suearmen have collaborated on a fWinatino hin.
graphy that reveals a lot about the mutant Lizard King.
The authors admit, however, that Morrison remains an
elusive and enigmatic character.
Hopkins is best known as the author of the defini
tive Elvis Presley biography and Sugarman was an aide
de camp with the Doors organization. Both men were
close friends of Morrison. They also extensively inter
viewed others close to Morrison, which provides a wealth
of intriguing anecdotes concerning Morrison's personal
life and describing what the Doors meant, culturally and
politically.
Morrison was considered by those around him to be
a virtual renaissance man: poet, singer, intellect, sex
symbol and drunkard.
The Doors, as a band, were considered the most out
ragous group extant, even more so than the Rolling
Stones. The Doors personified anarchy, much as the Sex
Pistols did in later years.
However, the difference between the Sex Pistols and
the Doors was that the Doors werexonsidered artists. The
Doors were capable of arousing primal passions on stage,
when at the same time, Morrison was a highly regarded
poet.
Sugarman and Hopkins were able to uncover the sdo
lescent Morrison in a very telling fashion. Morrison had
a typical adolescent distaste for authority something he
never outgrew, combined with difficulties with his
parents.. Morrison's father was a naval officer who.coinci
dentally, was involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
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The elder Morrison demanded strict obedience from
the young Jim, including hair length, which he bitterly
resented. In fact, in later years, Morrison was so estranged
from his parents that' he would tell interviewers they were
dead.
Morrison was an intellectual youth and a voracious
reader strongly influenced by heavyweight poets such as
William Blake and Rimbaud and philosophers Nietzche
and Sartre. At that time, Morrison wasn't interested in
music and was rather chunky, which is quite surprising
considering his later appeal as a sex-symbol.
Morrison seems to have digested the works of these
poets and philosophers and re-invented himself in their
image. For a rock star. Morrison was quite unusual in that
he was a college graduate. He studied film at UCLA
where his classmates included Francis Ford Coppola and
Ray Manzarek.
With Manzarek, Morrison formed the core of the
Doors. Youth culture at the time was a viable alternative
the Doors wholeheartedly agreed with. It was not nece
ssary to be explicitly political to threaten the status quo,
unconventional life-styles were enough to be branded a
revolutionary.
The Doors were one of the few bands ever to combine
worldwide commercial success with a subversive message.
The Doors genuinely believed in the youth revolution and
every gesture they made was designed to antagonize the
ruling structure. Doors concerts set all-time records for
audience riots which were usually provoked by a combin
ation of Morrisson and the police., each playing their role
to the hilt.
The infamous Miami performance and bust was moti
vated by a politically ambitious distict attorney claims
Hopkins and Sugarman. The DA was willing to railroad
Morrison on phony charges in exchange for parental
votes. Morrison, however was certainly no innocent as
he contributed to his own self destructiveness, which led
directly to his alleged demise.
The authors do not appear completely convinced that
Jim Morrison died on July 3, 1971 but do not offer a
plausible alternative. File this book next to Up and Down
with the Rolling Stones because it proves that the deca
dent rock star image is reality, not hype. Especially when
compared to the corporate rock dominating today's
marketplace, Morrison's passion and excitement is sorely
missed.
0
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take one - The American Film Classics Series
Fall Schedule
n1 m
An American in Paris
Sorry, Wrong Number
OCT. 2
Some like It Hot
OCT. 16
The Best Years of Our Lives
OCT. 31 a !OV. 1
Utile Women RIOU. 13
The films are presented at the
Sheldon Film Theatre, 12th & R
sts. Admission is $1.50 student &
$2.00 general. Semester tickets are
available at the Nebraska Union
South Desk for $6.00 & $9.00
Join the American Films Com
mitte & see the films for FREE!
For information contact the Cam
pus Activities & Programs Office at
472-2454 or rm. 200 Nebraska
Union
7 South 13th & Arapanoe
1
ft
The Man Who Would Be King
DEC. 4
U .