Mr Mojo, page 13
A Frenchwoman in her late thirties stares intently at these pledges to hedonism, and then drops a single red rose onto the grave before running off. She shakes her head as I approach her. For her, at least, this is a private visit.
It might be Morrison’s birthday, but today is pretty much the same as any other at Père-Lachaise. There are no TV crews, no huge groups of worshippers – only the odd tourist, a few tokens of remembrance and the inevitable litter. Hugh, a student from Bristol, is disappointed. ‘I thought there’d be more people here,’ he says. ‘I’m a big fan of Jim’s, and I thought his other fans would be here too.’ He arrived from Britain this morning, and will be leaving later this afternoon. It’s his first time in Paris, and he won’t be visiting anywhere else – ‘What’s the point? This is what I came for.’
Janette Cutter is from Connecticut, and her two-month tour of Europe is just beginning. ‘I’m here with a bunch of college friends. When we decided to come, Jim Morrison’s grave was the one thing which we all had to see. It was our only definite plan.’
Today is also her birthday – her twenty-first – and she’s giving Morrison the bunch of red roses given to her this morning. ‘I think he’s so cool, you know? I like his poetry, I have his poem books, and I thought it would be a neat thing to come today, because it’s our birthday. I’d read about the grave before, but it’s kinda disgusting. I met someone last night whose father’s buried near here, and he hates the graffiti on his grave. It says ‘Jim this way’, and he’s kinda offended by that.’
The tourists come and go, carrying the ubiquitous accessories for sightseeing in Paris: cameras and bottles of Evian. A look of disappointment tends to cross their faces when they appear at the grave. Paris’s fourth most popular tourist attraction is certainly an underwhelming sight. Being a Saturday, tomorrow will be busier, and Jackie will be here. Forty-year-old Jackie comes every Saturday, at 11 a.m., to clean and to tidy the grave. She brings a bottle of champagne or Jim Beam, and sits on a nearby stone, talking to herself in her quiet Parisienne voice, ignoring those around her.
Jackie, and others like her, is one of the people Michelle Campbell sees here regularly. Michelle, an American in her mid-thirties, has been photographing Père-Lachaise cemetery every day since January, a personal project which she hopes to have published. ‘I was here for the anniversary of his death in July, and it was crazy. There were about fifty of these really drunk German fans, singing at the top of their voices. That’s when the obsessives come out of the woodwork.
‘Earlier in the year they had five guards around the grave all day, though they let up in the summer. Sometimes they try and hide the grave, or tell people he’s not buried here anymore. They hate the mess, and the graffiti. They really wish he was gone.’
At four o’clock the day draws to a close. The wind pushes the leaves through the pathways and the avenues in between the graves, like a cheap effect in a pop video. It’s time to go. There is nothing more to see. Tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, more people will arrive. Some will pass by in minutes, while others will moon about the dead dark star, dressed from head to toe in black, paying homage to the original rock and roll wastrel, hoping some of Morrison’s stardust falls their way.
As Michelle turns to go, she beckons me over: ‘I was here in August, and this American guy turns up with his two young daughters. One of them asks him why a Traveling Wilbury is buried in France. On being told that Morrison wasn’t in the band, she says, “You mean this isn’t Roy Orbison?” I think it was the only dead rock star she knew. Another time, there were these American college students here, and this one girl says, at the top of her voice, “Wow, what a concept of death. He coulda had any stone he wanted, he was rich, man, and look at what he chose. What a concept.”’
Bibliography
Balfour, Victoria, Rock Wives, Beech Tree Books, 1986
Bangs, Lester, Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, Heinemann, 1988
Christgau, Robert, Any Old Way You Choose It, Penguin, 1973
Cohn, Nik, Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969
Crosby, David and Carl Gottlieb, Long Time Gone, Heinemann, 1989
Des Barres, Pamela, I’m With the Band, Pamela Des Barres, Beech Tree Books, 1987
Doe, Andrew and John Tobler, The Doors in Their Own Words, Omnibus Press, 1988
Farren, Mick, The Black Leather Jacket, Plexus, 1985
Green, Jonathan, Days in the Life, Minerva, 1988
Harman, Gary, Rock’n’Roll Babylon, Plexus, 1982
Hopkins, Jerry and Danny Sugerman, No One Here Gets Out Alive, Warner Books, 1980
Jahn, Mike, Jim Morrison and the Doors, Grosset & Dunlap, 1969
Jones, Mablen, Getting It On: The Clothing of Rock’n’Roll, Abbeville Press, 1987
Lisciandro, Frank, Jim Morrison, An Hour for Magic, Delilah, 1982
Morrison, Jim, The Lords and The New Creatures, Omnibus, 1985
Morrison, Jim, Lyrics and Poems, Stampa Alternativa, 1989
Morrison, Jim, Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison, Villard, 1988
Nilsen, Per and Dorothy Sherman, Iggy Pop: The Wild One, Omnibus, 1988
Peellaert, Guy and Nik Cohn, Rock Dreams, Popular Library, 1973
Stallings, Penny, Rock’n’Roll Confidential, Vermilion, 1984
Stein, Jean, Edie, Jonathan Cape, 1982
Sugerman, Danny, The Doors: The Illustrated History, Omnibus Press, 1983
Sugerman, Danny, Wonderland Avenue, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1989
Tobler, John and Andrew Doe, The Doors, Bobcat Books, 1984
Various, The Day the Music Died, Plexus, 1989
Warhol, Andy and Pat Hackett, POPism: The Warhol Sixties, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1980
Williams, Paul, Outlaw Blues, E.P. Dutton & Co., 1969
Magazine articles
Bell, Max, ‘Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine’, NME, 1975
Breslin, Rosemary, Jerry Hopkins and Paul Williams, ‘He’s Hot, He’s Sexy, He’s Dead’, Rolling Stone, 1981
Dorrell, David, ‘Mr Mojo Rises Again’, NME, 1983
Farren, Mick, ‘The Hunting of the Lizard King’, NME, 1975
Zwerin, Michael, ‘The Jim Morrison Bust’, Cheetah, 1968
‘The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years’, Rolling Stone, 1988
Articles from: RAM, Cheetah, Crawdaddy, Creem, Dark Star, Doors Quarterly, Eye, Guardian, Keyboards and Music Player, Los Angeles Free Press, Melody Maker, Newsweek, New York, New York Times, Passion, Record Mirror, Sounds, Time, Village Voice, American Vogue, Way Ahead
Films
Dance On Fire, CIC, 1985
The Doors Are Open, Granada, 1968
The Doors in Europe, Castle Hendring, 1989
Live at the Hollywood Bowl, Doors Video Co., 1987
A Tribute to Jim Morrison, Warner Brothers, 1981
Radio series
The Doors from the Inside, produced by Sandy Gibson
Acknowledgements
With thanks to Ed Victor, Nigel Newton, Jonathan Newhouse, Karl Badger, Max Bell, Maurice Boland, Gordon Burn, Robert Christgau, Nik Cohn, Nicholas Coleridge, John Densmore, Robin Derrick, Pamela Des Barres, Jeff Dexter, Tony Elliott, Danny Fields, Kathryn Flett, Steve Harris, Jerry Hopkins, Alice Howarth, Nick Humphrey, Terry and Tricia Jones, David Keeps, Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, Nick Kent, Robby Krieger, Nick Logan, Christian Logan Wright, Ray Manzarek, Jim McClellan, Haoui Montaug, Lisa Nesselson, Lee Ellen Newman, The New York Public Library, Tony Parsons, Tony Peake, John Peel, David Reynolds, Helen Ridge, Alix Sharkey, Stephanie Sleap, Neil Spencer, Danny Sugerman, James Truman, John Williams, and to Sarah, Edie, Georgia, Audrey and Mike.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
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The Biographical Dictionary of Popular Music: From Adele to Ziggy, the Real A to Z of Rock and Roll
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Mr. Jones’ Rules for the Modern Man
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Index
16 magazine here
Absolutely Live (album) here, here
‘Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)’ here
Albuquerque, New Mexico here
‘All Day and All of the Night’ here
Amsterdam here, here
An American Prayer (album) here, here
Apocalypse Now (film) here
Apollonian–Dionysian split here, here
Applegate, Christina here
Artaud, Antonin here
Atlanta here
Atlanta Film Festival here
Aura Records here
‘Back Door Man’ here, here
Baker, Tom here, here, here, here
Balzac, Honoré de here
BAM magazine here
Bangs, Lester here, here, here
Basquiat, Jean-Michel here
Beach Boys, the here
Beatles, the here, here, here, here
beatniks here
Beatty, Warren here
Beiderbecke, Bix here
Belew, Bill here
Blake, William here, here
Blue (JM grave visitor) here, here
bohemian culture here
Bolan, Marc here
Botnick, Bruce here
Bow, Clara here
Bowie, David here, here, here, here
Brando, Marlon here, here
‘Break On Through’ here, here, here, here
Brecht, Bertolt here
Brown, James here
Brown, Mick here
Broyard, Anatole here
Bruce, Lenny here
Buffalo Springfield here
Butts Band here
Byrds, the here
California, sixties here
Campbell, Michelle here
Canyon Country Store, Laurel Canyon here
Captain Beefheart here, here
‘Cars Hiss by my Window’ here
Castle Hotel here
‘Celebration of the Lizard’ here, here
Chicago here, here
Chorush, Bob here, here
Christgau, Robert here
Claremont, California here
Clearwater, Florida here, here
Cleveland here
Cobain, Kurt here, here, here
cocaine here
Cohn, Nik here
Columbia Records here, here
Conrad, Joseph, Heart of Darkness here
Cooper, Alice here, here, here
Cope, Julian here
Copenhagen here
Coppola, Francis Ford here
Courson, Pamela here
death here
Doors contribution here
first meets JM here
JM moves in with here
and JM’s death here, here
meeting with Kennealy here
in Paris here
relationship with JM here, here, here, here, here, here
‘Crawling King Snake’ here
Creem magazine here, here
Crosby, David here
Crosby, Stills & Nash here
Curtis, Ian here, here
Cutter, Janette here
Dallas here
Davies, Ray here
Dean, James here, here
Demelo, Lee here
Densmore, John here, here, here
Butts Band here
drums here
European tour, 1968 here
foundation of the Doors here
and JM’s death here
Miami concert, 1969 here
stage performances here, here
threatens to quit here
Des Barres, Pamela here, here
Dexter, Jeff here, here
Didion, Jean here
Dietz, Lawrence here
Dixon, Willie here
Doors, the
achievement here
break up here
Chicago concert, 1968 here
drug use here
early performances here
European tour, 1968 here
film performances here
final concerts here
first album here
first number one here
first single here
foundation of here
inability to tour here
JM on here, here
limitations here
Los Angeles concert, 1969 here
loss of passion here
Miami concert, 1969 here
name here
New Haven concert, 1967 here
in New York here
post-Morrison work here
press attitude to here
relationship with JM here, here, here
revival here
Rothchild on here
sign for Elektra here
Singer Bowl concert, 1968 here
songs here
sound here, here
split here
status here
stopped smiling here
studio experimentation here
success here, here
tour, 1968 here
Doors Are Open, The (TV program) here, here
Dylan, Bob here, here, here
Ed Sullivan Show, The (TV show) here
Elektra Records here, here, here, here, here, here, here
‘End of the Night’ here
European tour, 1968 here
Farren, Mick here, here, here, here, here
Feast of Friends (film) here, here
Fields, Danny here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Fillmore West here
film performances here
‘Five to One’ here
Florida State University here, here
Flowers, Brandon here
Forestier, Monsieur here, here
Frankfurt here
freaks here, here
Full Circle (album) here
Gabriel, Peter here
Gahan, Dave here
Gardiner, Diane here
George Washington High School here, here
Goldman, Albert here
Gondouin, Charles here
Great Britain here, here
tour 1968 here
Greer, Germaine here
Haight-Ashbury here
Harris, Steve here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
‘Hello I Love You’ here, here, here, here
Hendrix, Jimi here, here, here, here, here, here
Hollywood here
Holmes, John here
Holzman, Jack here, here, here
Hooker, John Lee here
Hopkins, Jerry here, here, here
Hugh (JM grave visitor) here
Hutchence, Michael here
Huxley, Aldous here
Hwy (film) here, here, here, here
I, a Man (film) here
Iggy Pop here, here, here, here
Isle of Wight festival here
Jackie (JM grave visitor) here
Jackson, Blair here
Jacqui (JM grave visitor) here
Jagger, Mick here, here
Jahn, Mike here
Japan here
Jefferson Airplane here, here, here, here, here
Jeremy (JM grave visitor) here
Jones, Brian here
Joplin, Janis here, here, here
Kantner, Paul here
Kennealy, Patricia here
abortion here
first meets JM here
on JM here, here
and JM’s death here
marriage to JM here
meeting with Courson here
on the Miami trial here
pregnancy here
relationship with JM here, here, here, here
Kinks, the here
Knapp, Dan here
Krieger, Robby here, here, here, here, here
Butts Band here
European tour, 1968 here
Isle of Wight festival here
and JM’s death here
joins Doors here
Miami concert, 1969 here
song writing here
stage performances here, here, here
Kris (JM grave visitor) here
LA Palladium here
‘LA Woman’ here
LA Woman (album) here, here, here, here, here
Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles here
Lee, Arthur here
‘Light My Fire’ here, here, here, here, here
Living Theatre, the here, here
London here, here, here, here
London Fog, the here
Lords, The (Morrison) here, here, here, here
Los Altos, California here
Los Angeles here
Apollonian–Dionysian split here
bohemian culture here
concert, 1969 here
East Hollywood here
JM arrives in here, here
La Cienega Boulevard here
Laurel Canyon here
the sixties in here
Sunset Boulevard here
Los Angeles Free Press here, here, here, here
Love here
‘Love Her Madly’ here
‘Love Me Two Times’ here
‘Love Street’ here, here
LSD here, here, here, here
Lydon, John here
McClure, Michael here
McCulloch, Ian here
Madison Square Garden here
Mailer, Norman here
Malanga, Gerard here
Manson, Marilyn here
Manzarek, Ray here
and Apocalypse Now here
and the Doors break up here
European tour, 1968 here, here
foundation of the Doors here
on JM here, here, here
and JM’s death here
on JM’s leather trousers here
keyboards here, here
