Jim Morrison's death 'unfortunate' - dad

Es ist die erste Kino-Dokumentation über The Doors.  Sie erzählt die Geschichte der legendären amerikanischen Rockband von ihren Anfängen im Jahr 1965 bis zum Tod von Frontmann Jim Morrison, der im Juli 1971 mit nur 27 Jahren starb. “The Doors – When You’re Strange” ist eine Ausnahmeerscheinung unter den Musikerporträts. Denn selten ist es gelungen, sich einer Band so vielschichtig, so intensiv und analytisch zu nähern und dabei komplett auf nachgestellte Szenen und Kommentare zu verzichten. Der Soundtrack, natürlich ausschließlich aus “Doors”-Songs zusammengestellt, verleiht diesem spannenden Stück Rockgeschichte zusätzlich eine besondere hypnotische Wirkung. So mancher wird sich nach dem Kinobesuch (wieder) näher mit der Musik der “Doors” auseinandersetzen. Die Stimme, die den Film kommentiert, ist niemand geringeres als Schauspieler und «The Doors»-Fan Johnny Depp!

Jim Morrison of the The Doors, who died 35 years ago, is the suject of a new biography.

The father of late Doors singer Jim Morrison has broken his silence to share memories of his estranged son, who once sang about killing him and joked that his family was dead.

George Morrison, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, is one of the contributors to The Doors by the Doors, an authorized memoir released this week. The book's author, rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres, also interviewed the band's three surviving members and Jim's younger brother and sister, among others.

"We look back on him with great delight ... The fact that he's dead is unfortunate but looking back on his life it's a very pleasant thought," George Morrison says in the book.

Jim Morrison, a difficult teen who rebelled against his father's military lifestyle, went on to become one of the most magnetic performers in rock 'n' roll. But he disowned his family, and once made a throwaway comment that they were dead. He also referenced his parents in the Oedipal rant The End, singing that he wanted to kill his father and sleep with his mother.

Andy Morrison recalls that his mother, Clara, who died last year, took him to a Doors concert in Washington, D.C., and asked to see Jim, but he refused to meet with her, and she drove home in tears.

The Morrisons surmise that Jim's hostility was really designed to shield them from too much attention.

"I had the feeling that he felt we'd just as soon not be associated with his career," George Morrison says. "He knew I didn't think rock music was the best goal for him. Maybe he was trying to protect us."

Adds his sister, Anne, "He liked mystique, too. He didn't want to be from somewhere."

Jim Morrison died of a heart attack in Paris in 1971, and his grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery is one of the city's top tourist attractions. His family pays the authorities to take care of the site.

George Morrison said it was "quite an honor ... for the family" to have his son buried near cultural giants like Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and Frederic Chopin.

Reuters