Interview with Jim Morrison's father and sister

[JuanCarlosVejar]

check it out :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC

[merseybeat1963]

Beautifull Worth seeing.

[j45nick]

I'm betting that like a lot of high-ranking military officers, George Morrison was so preoccupied with his career that he had little time or patience for his artistic son, and was probably mystified by what he did in life. By the time you get as far up the military food chain as Admiral Morrison was, you don't have time for much else but work.

 

Jim Morrison's life was, consciously or unconsciously, the antithesis of his father's life. His sister, on the other hand, now seems to have a pretty solid grasp of her older brother's place in the world, but probably not so when Jim was a the height of his meteoric rise and deadly fall.

 

My father wasn't as high up the food chain as Admiral Morrison, but he was mystified and a bit heartbroken by the way I turned away from the military and embraced the secular civilian world. We were never fully estranged, but we had some pretty hard times during the Vietnam war, with some pretty harsh things said on both sides. Fortunately, we got well past that later in life, to the point that he was actually proud at the things I accomplished, even though the were totally different from he wanted them to be.

 

And he actually loved the fact that I sang and played guitar. Like a lot of farm boys in the early 20th century, he would sing and yodel to his mules as he plowed, and he had one of those high lonesome falsettos that I always loved (and still do).

 

It's funny how much smarter your father usually gets as you get older........

[blindboygrunt]

i'm glad to hear your tale finished up well with your old man Nick . that footage made me feel sad , to see that man talk with admiration for his lost son ,while at the same time , completely befuddled as to who he was, is a bit of a heart tug. a good/bad example of what happens if you cant see a way of life thats not like your own.

nice to see his sister understand the brother a bit more ... and the resemblance is there.

what a handsome man jim was in those photos .

[MiloMinderbinder]

When his father said that even when he knew Jim was doing well with music but wanted him to get a 'real' job, it reminded me of a story I read about the Stones. I was in high school in '81 when the Stones came through the SF Bay Area. I remember reading a critique in the SF Chronicle saying that Jagger should have stayed in the London School of Economics because his stint as a rock singer was probably near over and now he would have trouble getting a real job without a proper education.

 

Very good interview, btw, and thanks for posting.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

I'm betting that like a lot of high-ranking military officers, George Morrison was so preoccupied with his career that he had little time or patience for his artistic son, and was probably mystified by what he did in life. By the time you get as far up the military food chain as Admiral Morrison was, you don't have time for much else but work.

 

Jim Morrison's life was, consciously or unconsciously, the antithesis of his father's life. His sister, on the other hand, now seems to have a pretty solid grasp of her older brother's place in the world, but probably not so when Jim was a the height of his meteoric rise and deadly fall.

 

My father wasn't as high up the food chain as Admiral Morrison, but he was mystified and a bit heartbroken by the way I turned away from the military and embraced the secular civilian world. We were never fully estranged, but we had some pretty hard times during the Vietnam war, with some pretty harsh things said on both sides. Fortunately, we got well past that later in life, to the point that he was actually proud at the things I accomplished, even though the were totally different from he wanted them to be.

 

And he actually loved the fact that I sang and played guitar. Like a lot of farm boys in the early 20th century, he would sing and yodel to his mules as he plowed, and he had one of those high lonesome falsettos that I always loved (and still do).

 

It's funny how much smarter your father usually gets as you get older........

 

Nick ,

 

was your Dad a gibson guy ?

 

thanks for the story and I am glad your pop eventually came around .

 

 

I don't get along with my dad that much ... he studied mechanical engineering and he continued to take courses to know more and learn more.

I gave up years ago and just resolved that in his mind the machine shops, tecnical books & his design programs are his family ... I sure hope one day he comes around !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC

[billder99]

Very unusual and thought provoking thread in a melancholy way, especially for the Military Brats among us. My dad was a senior officer in the Air Force, a good father but a really hard father (think Great Santini). To say we did not get along is an understatement... during ages 14 - 24, I was hell bent on self destruction and defiance. That I did not succeed in a meteoric flame out is surprise enough, but the real miracle is that we became best friends once I started to grow up and take responsibility for my own actions. Dad is now 92 and fading in the twilight of dementia, Mom passed away in December... I am so lucky to have had them for parents.

 

It makes me sad that he did not live long enough for these two good men to become friends. I love the music of the Doors, Jim Morrison is one of my all time favorite lyricists, and man could they craft a bangin' groove... given the chance, his Dad would have grown to love the music as well.

[MiloMinderbinder]

What I really liked is how George Morrison made an effort after Jim died to get something on his tombstone that he thought Jim would like and represent him well. That shows that even though he didn't understand the music that he did understood his son to a certain degree and respected him.

[Markini]

Jims death also made the Morrison's clan millionares several times over. They also have quite a bit of real estate in So Cal, very expensive properties.

[GuitarLight]

I take from this interview that Jim Morrison and his Father were light years apart. The sister loved and empathized with Jim, even idolized him.. But the Father, at least during Jim's actual life was as cold and as callous as could be, and disapproved of the disgraceful way his son performed. Indeed this was unspoken in the interview, but there non the less. It is hardly imaginable that his own Father states that he never once saw his son perform, and apparently had no interest in doing so. He could have had a front row seat to any Jim Morrison concert, in any state, or country in the world, and paid for free. But he didn't go. His earlier obstinate nature seems clear. My guess is that he changed his own tune after realizing his own son, rejected by him, had now made him a millionaire in his untimely death. Sad. The tombstone deal was done out of guilt.

[MiloMinderbinder]

I take from this interview that Jim Morrison and his Father were light years apart. The sister loved and empathized with Jim, even idolized him.. But the Father, at least during Jim's actual life was as cold and as callous as could be, and disapproved of the disgraceful way his son performed. Indeed this was unspoken in the interview, but there non the less. It is hardly imaginable that his own Father states that he never once saw his son perform, and apparently had no interest in doing so. He could have had a front row seat to any Jim Morrison concert, in any state, or country in the world, and paid for free. But he didn't go. His earlier obstinate nature seems clear. My guess is that he changed his own tune after realizing his own son, rejected by him, had now made him a millionaire in his untimely death. Sad. The tombstone deal was done out of guilt.

Pretty harsh, but you're entitled to your opinion. I don't think a lot of people back then that were part of the 'establishment' ever thought that rock and roll was legitimate to begin with, so I think it's pretty easy to see where the father is coming from.

[Markini]

I take from this interview that Jim Morrison and his Father were light years apart. The sister loved and empathized with Jim, even idolized him.. But the Father, at least during Jim's actual life was as cold and as callous as could be, and disapproved of the disgraceful way his son performed. Indeed this was unspoken in the interview, but there non the less. It is hardly imaginable that his own Father states that he never once saw his son perform, and apparently had no interest in doing so. He could have had a front row seat to any Jim Morrison concert, in any state, or country in the world, and paid for free. But he didn't go. His earlier obstinate nature seems clear. My guess is that he changed his own tune after realizing his own son, rejected by him, had now made him a millionaire in his untimely death. Sad. The tombstone deal was done out of guilt.

 

This is true and the poster was mild in his comments. Read any biography on the Doors (or Jim Morrison). He and his father had a poisoned relationship.

Only got worse when the father heard the lyrics "Father I want to kill you, Mother I want to ..&$#^ you.

 

Tis a shame but bad blood there.

[blindboygrunt]

This is true and the poster was mild in his comments. Read any biography on the Doors (or Jim Morrison). He and his father had a poisoned relationship.

Only got worse when the father heard the lyrics "Father I want to kill you, Mother I want to ..&$#^ you.

 

Tis a shame but bad blood there.

 

Oedipus complex was the subject , not his family

[geeterpicker]

That was an interesting watch. Everything I've ever read about Jim Morrison was that he pretty much hated his father. When I hear his dad in that video, it comes through loud and clear to me that he was clueless about his son and is just saying things pleasant because of his military sensibilities - not to mention that he richly benefitted in the end. JM was anything but an upstanding citizen, as he said. His drunk and reckless behavior created all kinds of dangerous situations that most people around him grew very weary of. I loved the Doors and would like to have seen them, but their appearance in Cincy (as was the case in many other cities) was cancelled after the Miami incident. His sister was far more in tune to who he was. Interesting and sad at the same time. It was a volatile era and one can't take a 21st century mindset and make a revision of it. Thank you for posting it.

[j45nick]

Oedipus complex was the subject , not his family

 

 

Exactly, but the extrapolation is always made to one's own circumstances, rightly or wrongly.

[MiloMinderbinder]

Exactly, but the extrapolation is always made to one's own circumstances, rightly or wrongly.

I tend to agree with you that that happens in music, but it's odd that in literature how readers doesn't assume the story is somehow autobiographical or reflective of what the writer actually believes. Put another way, if Morrison writes Then End as a short story and readers see it that way, but as a song, listeners associate Morrison with the character in The End and think he actually wanted to do all those things.

[j45nick]

I tend to agree with you that that happens in music, but it's odd that in literature how readers doesn't assume the story is somehow autobiographical or reflective of what the writer actually believes. Put another way, if Morrison writes Then End as a short story and readers see it that way, but as a song, listeners associate Morrison with the character in The End and think he actually wanted to do all those things.

 

 

For whatever reason, we seem to look at songwriting as autobiographical, but recognize prose as story-telling. No logic in it, as all writers, whether songs, poetry, or prose, use personal experience in some way as a starting point.

 

It used to be pounded into my head the you start by writing what you know. After that, your imagination can take over, but you have to break through that barrier and get started somewhere.

[MiloMinderbinder]

It used to be pounded into my head the you start by writing what you know. After that, your imagination can take over, but you have to break through that barrier and get started somewhere.

I agree, but Jim Morrison was a very well read young man, so I think it's possible that writing about what he 'knows' was on a much different level than most people his age. What I'm saying is that his head was already filled with social theories and philosophy, and I can see how someone like that doesn't simply write about himself but rather about something larger like the human condition or another person in a peculiar situation. I'm not saying this is the case for sure because I only really know him from his music and a little background info, but I do get the sense that it's quite possible.