2017: The Doors 50th Anniversary

Michael Stull was the vocalist on their second album

 

You call it cynical, and that is one way of looking at it. I don't know really, but playing devil's advocate for a moment then what could they have really done? The moment Jim dies they are in a no-win situation - hiring a new singer would look in bad taste, carrying on as a three piece was their only option and I think they knew that was never going to work as they needed a singer. I mean if Jim lived, and announced he was leaving the Doors, then the fans would have accepted the others getting a new singer in.

As I say, you can view it as cynical but there are other ways to look at it and I think they found themselves in an impossible position.

 

That's ok my friend.

 

I guess you referred to the March 11, 1971 agreement, made in a hurry right before Jim departed to Paris. In my understanding it was not actually aimed at Jim but to all members, in order to update their agreement for a new, much serious situation they faced at the time (opposed to their heydays five years earlier). As I gather, it mainly served the interests of the remaining three members (protecting the name), putting emphasis again on the "majority" issue - which, even during the Buick incident was not a tool they could use against Jim.

The following excerpt was taken from a summary of John's recent lawsuits with Ray and Robby and might help us understanding the motifs behind the curtain:

"According to the documents The Doors didn't have a written agreement between themselves from 1966 - 1971 it was an oral agreement up until a retroactive partnership agreement was draw up and executed by all four Doors in 1971. On January 5 1971 The Doors attorney was instructed to draw up a partnership agreement that was to be retroactive back to 1966 and all four Doors signed it. This document was effective from January 1 1966 and was terminated October 1, 1971 of which a new agreement was drawn up that included the three surviving Doors and subsequently the Estate."
...
"An Amendment to the 1966-1971 Partnership Agreement was made March 11, 1971. The amendment included in Page 11 Item #11 of the “Proposed Statement Of Decision”, "sets forth a specific provision prohibiting the use of the name, The Doors, by any partner upon termination of the partnership for any reason other than the death of a partner. The amendment was prompted by a concern that after L.A. Woman was delivered to Elektra, Morrison might leave the band and form another band in Europe using the name 'The Doors.' Manzarek testified (decades later) that he signed the one-page amendment when it was prepared but did not read it and did not understand its purpose. Somer testified that he recalled some concern about the band splintering, and that the amendment, as well as all of the band's agreements, were explained to the band members before they signed." The court found Mr. "Somers' testimony to be credible and accepts it as true."​

Source: http://www.doors.com/magazine/legalaffairs.html

 

My feelings are that Jim would not have returned to the USA. It seams likely he was going to face prison time. Had he lived, I think he would have formed his own band under the Jim Morrison name performing newly composed music and some covers .

 

Didn't our host say this was mainly studio warm-ups, fluffs and instrumental stuff, not worth hearing?

 

Jim's poetry and film isn't anything related to The Doors. If something hasn't been circulated previously and therefore one might assume is "under lock and key", then the impending 50th anniversary deadline for Public Domain status in Europe will hardly be an issue for them either.

 

Whilst we're plotting alternative histories, my own take on this is that Jim would have sobered up after a few years, lost some weight and ended up acting in minor roles in some European arthouse films.

 

The thing I find most astounding is that intelligent, educated people like Jim and Ray seemingly had no idea about financial planning or understanding a legal document. I guess they were just living in different, more innocent times...

 

He was a good vocalist. If it is indeed true that he was selected to become a lead vocalist for The Doors for the follow-up to Full Circle, it was a good decision. Not that he was similar to Morrison or would have sounded great on Morrison-era material in concert, but for a band looking to move forward with a legitimate lead vocalist, he was a respectable choice. As you know, once Ray departed, Robby and John formed The Butts Band and brought in Roden to handle the vocals. The Butts Band's first album is a solid effort:

 

With regard to the LA Woman outtakes released on the 40th Anniversary two-disc set, I think most of it is compelling, some of it quite good for unpolished outtake performances. The Doors were not studio pros, virtuoso players who could repeat the same thing over and over with precision. Each performance offers something unique. The outtakes are fascinating because of the variations. Robby rarely plays the same thing twice. For example, his alternate slide soloing on "Been Down So Long" is very interesting to hear. Ray engages the alternates with different nuances and approaches in his playing, from adding unfamiliar fills to "Love Her Madly," to attacking "LA Woman" with different completely soloing. "Riders On The Storm" and "Cars Hiss By My Windows" are definite highlights with the former maintaining its jazzy atmospheric enchantment, and the latter a raw early take with Robby and Marc Benno locking in the Jimmy Reed/John Lee Hooker groove. Morrison is the weak link on the outtakes; probably due to not being fully committed during developmental stages of some of the material.

"She Smells So Nice" is a ridiculous title and fairly dull performance, but it is clearly is an excerpted part of a jam session, not really a bona fide song or traditional outtake. The band's management and record label likely wanted a "new" song to tout as part of the project's marketing campaign, but that track along with "Rock Me" appear to simply be part of the jamming that took place during the sessions. It would probably would have come off better within the scope of the aborted box set where there would have been a number of jamming passages.

 

The Butts Band is a terrible name for a band. Is it any wonder they never took off? The first few tracks are the highlights but then it tapers off in my opinion.

 

I just wanna say...i just wanna say i am really proud that i met all you guys. your true love for the doors and music is touching. thank you for sharing infos and your judgment here. Keep on

 

Yes, thank you, this is an amazing thread because of you guys and your countless stories and history of the Doors.

 

Yes, great thread about one of the greatest and influental bands ever to emerge from the USA.
I think it's great to get some more proper info that you have shared here and I hope that one day there will be some truly extensive unbiased documentary/book about the final months and moments in the life of Jim Morrison.
I have read the official books (from band-members and related)and some more, even one study about Morrison, seen documentaries etc but still there's plenty of things that are left unanswered, unknown or just weird since there's so much fascinating mystery surrounding these happenings.
Thanks for everybody here contributing and commenting, it's been great to see this going and finding a lot important stuff like stories, memories, opinions and trivia.
I just wish that I could have been there to see The Doors live and etc those days when they peaked, but unfornately I was born too late (1978).

If you keep this going up, I will surely follow...

 

Live.robby is on fire

 

I'd love to hear that stuff

 

Ray was well educated and was aware of contracts(didn't the Doors renegotiate their label deal between Sun/Parade?).

If he said he read 1971 contract during the 2005 court case then Ray would basically have to write a 7 figure check to the Densmore. Ray/Rob vs. John/JM estates

 

Jim's poetry and HWY have been used in a half dozen Doors projects. Do we ever get to hear them in form approaching that Jim may have intended?

Uncirculated 1967-1970 soundboards will be fair game for PD releases. I think copies of the SD and MH outtakes exist in private hands before the Doors bought the masters at auction. The studio/live stuff from OV/FC era Doors may be in private hands as well, PD eligible release in about 5 years.

 

I see... Yes, I did suspect he might have been being disingenuous

 

There are plenty of educated and intelligent people who do not have the technical sophistication and expertise to fully understand and interpret contracts, that is why they hire lawyers.

 

Probably not. Morrison allegedly had ideas of backing some of his poetry with orchestration, but there does not seem to be any real direction from Morrison on this issue documented anywhere. That said, it might be interesting to see the complete, unedited spoken poetry tapes released alongside HWY at some point. One would think the Morrison and Coursen estates would not need band approval or collaboration for such a release.

 

Just because some of Jim's non-Doors work has been misappropriated to sell Doors posthumous products doesn't mean anyone should automatically have the right to mix the two up. Some of Jim's poetry work has already been published separately since his death without any associated Doors hoopla.

Personally I'd be intrigued to see what PD labels do with the post-70, non-Morrison related material in 4 years time.

The letter to T.E. Breitenbach gives general details of what Jim was hoping to achieve with the artwork for American Prayer. He also contacted Lilo Schifrin about his possible involvement in orchestrations for the poetry album he was recording. I don't think that particular letter has surfaced to date though?

I agree with you that it might appear incongruous to think that either estate would need permission from The Doors to release HWY or extended poetry reels.

 

Perhaps a release of Jim's recorded poetry more in the way he imagined it with orchestration etc. no doors involvement would be nice, probably not a commercially attractive product I guess.

 

Sadly there have already been some very good unauthorised instrumental 'classical styled' backing tracks added to some of Jim's works but none have been made available commercially (for obvious reasons).