Back in the 1960s, there were many bands rising up and while the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were loved by many, there was this American band called the Doors that changed the psychedelic rock scene of the 60s. After Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek’s meeting in California, they decided to form a band, hence giving birth to the Doors.
They formed the band in 1965 which consisted of four members Morrison on vocal, Robby Krieger on guitar, Ray Manzarek on the keyboard, and lastly John Densmore on drums. Jim Morrison really took the band from ground to sky and the band is considered one of the greatest today.
The band was quite successful however, their 1971 album L.A. Woman took off like never before. It was their sixth studio album and after its massive hit, they started to work on a new album. They were waiting for Morrison so that they could finish their album, Krieger and others were waiting for him to get back, however, they did not know that Morrison is never coming back because on July 3, 1971, Morrison passed away.
How did Jim Morrison die?
As much as Morrison enjoyed writing songs, he was also into poetry. After L.A. Woman’s recording, Morrison went to live in Paris with his girlfriend Pamela Courson. On the morning of July 3, 1971, Morrison was found dead in his apartment bathtub.
At the time of his death, he was only 27 years old, and even though his death cause is said to be heart failure many reported that he died of an accidental heroin overdose. And although this was never confirmed, people believe this because Morrison was sensational and yet no autopsy was performed.
However, there are various conspiracy theories suggesting that Morrison did not die of heart failure but was murdered. In 1983 a British journal wrote that the CIA was behind Morrison’s death, they wanted to stop counter-culture figures.
While in 2007 a writer named Sam Bernett wrote that Morrison did not die at his apartment but he died inside the restroom of a nightclub in Paris. He said that after Morrison’s death few drug dealers dragged his body and took his body to his apartment.
Furthermore, in 2014, Marianne Faithfull who had a se**al affair with the co-founder, guitarist, and secondary vocalist of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards told that Jean de Breteuil who used to supply drugs to various celebrities including Richards supplied drugs to Morrison and that killed him.
Robby Krieger’s Regret About Jim Morrison And The Doors
Morrison’s death was not shocking just for the world but it was more shocking to his bandmates. Robby Krieger said, “I got a phone call and I didn’t believe it because we used to hear shit like that all the time – that Jim jumped off a cliff or something. So we sent our manager off to Paris, and he called and said it was true.”
It was really sad that the 27-year-old musical genius had to die and even after the frontman’s death, other remaining band members continued the band, and the same year when Morrison died, the Doors released their seventh studio album on October 18 by the Elektra Records. However, Krieger said that he regretted releasing the album the same year as Morrison’s death.
As mentioned the band was as shocked as everyone. And obviously, even with Morrison’s death, they had to keep working however, Krieger thinks that they should have waited and not released the album soon after Morrison’s death.
Krieger said, “It was a tough time, of course. When Jim was gone, we kept going. The three of us were practicing all the time, writing new stuff. When Jim passed, we said, ‘Jeez, what’re we going to do?’ We could just give it up, or, you know, we have all these songs. Let’s go in and record and see what happens. We probably shouldn’t have put it out that quick after Jim’s passing. We just felt like that was all we could do. We could’ve sat around and been depressed. Which we were. But I don’t know. The record company, Elektra, wanted us to continue. It wasn’t that hard of a decision.”
In 1972 the Doors released their eighth studio album Full Circle and even after Harrison’s death they continued as a trio however, two years after Morrison’s death in 1973 they decided to disband.
