Page 32 - Classic Rock (February 2020)

‘I woke up this morning, got myself
a beer…’ A bar was not the best place
to be for Morrison in early 1970.

Up On Cripple Creek. The Beatles, having ditched the orchestrated super-pop of Paul Rothchild, meanwhile, might have been ready to accept that the
Sergeant Pepper in favour of a return to their roots with the more grounded rock experimentation of The Soft Parade had not proved a hit, but he deeply resented
of Abbey Road, released in the US in October 1969, and preceded by the having to try to work with a Jim Morrison who had always been a loose
pointedly retro single Get Back, also appeared to be signalling the way back to cannon in the studio, but in the past had also at least been able to come up
a more ‘real’ musical state of mind. Meanwhile, Dylan retreated so far back into with songs, lyrics and melodies, and to sing them well. Now he was simply
the history of rock that he’d ended up releasing an album so square – Nashville a dishevelled drunk, as far as Rothchild could tell.
Skyline – that critics found it hard to believe he wasn’t putting them on. It was getting to the point where he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as
The Doors, though, had a more pressing need for a return to simpler, less Morrison any more. Rothchild had “grown tired of dragging The Doors from
bombastic music than that which Paul one album to another, especially an
Rothchild had coerced them into on unwilling Jim, and he had virtually
The Soft Parade. Simple blues and balls- ‘What they eventually came out of dried up. Two out of three times, Jim
out rock was all Morrison could would either not want to work or
manage now. He simply didn’t have the studio with was, paradoxically, would go into the studio drunk. He
the attention span – or the voice – any would intentionally disrupt things
more for anything more sophisticated the most ‘up’-sounding Doors – never fruitfully. Most of my energies
or time consuming. Nevertheless, the album of them all. were spent trying to co-ordinate Jim
sessions were uphill all the way, with the group.”
engineer Bruce Botnick recalls. Doors manager Bill Siddons recalled one session where Morrison came to
“Some of it was real tough, yeah” he says. “That was a concentrated effort rehearsals and drank 36 beers. Ray Manzarek would confess: “The situation
to get away from Soft Parade and back to the roots. But even then that was was dire.” He and the rest of the band had come to realise at last that “Jim was
a struggle… Many was a time when Ray, in particular, would go into Jim’s an alcoholic”. Manzarek tried to qualify it by pointing out that, as far as he
poetry book, see something interesting, do some editing, and sit with the knew, “a genetic predisposition to alcoholism ran in his family. It was hard to
other two guys and they’d come up with an arrangement. Jim might have tell him to clean up his act”.
a smattering of a melody… I mean, it still kept going, but it just wasn’t that Nevertheless, attempts were made. One afternoon during the Morrison Hotel
block of creativity from Jim.” sessions, Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger drove Jim over to

of product placement, other stations Royal Bath And West Showground JULY 3-5 was a new confidence in him,” says
for its supposed drugs reference), the hosting Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Santana, ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL producer Eddie Kramer. “He was ready
bandleader makes the round trip from The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, Johnny POP FESTIVAL “By the time to break through to the next stage.”
New York to London – and back – just to Winter, John Mayall with Peter Green, Not to be outdone, the Americans hit
change the lyric to the less contentious Canned Heat and many more (with back with the ‘southern Woodstock’, Jimi got to AUGUST 3
‘cherry cola’. Genesis, Yes and Hawkwind playing featuring the Allman Brothers Band, Atlanta, there MICK CHEATS ON KEITH IN THE
unofficially in an adjoining field). BB King, Mott The Hoople and, most FILM PERFORMANCE
JUNE 27-29 of all, Jimi Hendrix, his status as a black was a new Critics of the time skewer the violence
BATH FESTIVAL OF BLUES headliner in the cradle of the civil rights confidence and squalor of Donald Cammell and
AND PROGRESSIVE MUSIC movement not to be sniffed at, and his Nicolas Roeg’s “pretentious and repellent
Promoter Freddy Bannister pulls off set signposting a musical future that in him.” little film”, loosely based on a co-habiting BATH FESTIVAL: GETTY
what might be the best pound-for- – spoiler alert – would never happen. gangster (James Fox) and a faded rock
pound festival bill in history, with the “By the time Jimi got to Atlanta, there star (Mick Jagger). Although Anita

32 CLASSICROCKMAGAZINE.COM