This is the lizard king. He could do anything.
Jim Morrison gained fame and notoriety as the often mythicized front-man and vocalist for psychedelic 60’s rock act The Doors.
While the group broke boundaries with their bass-less musical arrangements, it was Morrison and his shamanistic presence and poetry that propelled the group to stratospheric heights. His writing was so prolific past the lyrical contributions to The Doors, his written works have previously been released in various forms.
Most notable were 1970’s “An American Prayer” and 1988’s “Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison”.
If you missed those, no worries, “The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts and Lyrics” comes out in June of 2021. Published by HarperCollins, included in this giant 600+ page tome is an exhaustive collection, including the complete aforementioned ‘An American Prayer” and “Wilderness” along with pretty much everything else that could be complied by his estate that has been previously published.
But what is new is quite generous. Roughly half of the book consists of previously unpublished material. Lyrics, excerpts from 28 recently discovered notebooks, and a large amount of photos and drawings, including rarely seen family photos).
Also included will be his thoughts on his trial in Miami in 1970 (he was found guilty of indecent exposure and open profanity), as well as what are believed to be Morrison’s final writings, the contents of a Paris notebook from shortly before his death, “reproduced in full reading size,” according to the publisher.
Other rarities include Morrison’s treatment for “The Hitchhiker”, a movie project in which he played a murderous drifter. Parts of it were eventually filmed as his experimental movie HWY. An accompanying audiobook includes the first-ever release of Morrison’s final poetry recording session along with a transcript, held in an L.A. studio on his 27th birthday in December 1970.
It’s been nearly 50 years since the last Doors album. I fear a lot of the younger generations have neither the time, nor interest, to dive deep into music that, well, now their grandparents… or maybe even GREAT grandparents were into. And that’s a shame. The Doors were legend. They were magical. They held a mystique unlike any other band of their era. Their impact was so powerful, it will still reverberate for generations to come… just a little bit less as time goes on.
But for those that understood and still understand what The Doors meant and hold Morrison in awe… This is the collection you want, as there probably isn’t that much more in existence.
In a 1969 interview with Rolling Stone, Morrison was asked, “Do you see yourself going more toward print?” Morrison replied, “That’s my greatest hope. That’s always been my dream.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0vBpbHb5WQ&ab_channel=SketchiT
