I scared my first love

School portrait of Jim Morrison, 1961
Donaldson Collection/Getty Images
When he was 14, Jim Morrison met his first love, Tandy Martin, with whom he was together for about 2.5 years. The girl remembered that all this time the man was acting strangely and playing with her cruelly. Commenting on Jerry Hopkins’s book None of Us Get Out of Here Alive, Martin said he often woke up at night to see Morrison quietly looking from the street at the windows of his room.
A few days before leaving for college in Florida, Jim confessed his love to the girl, but she did not reciprocate.
“Jim grabbed his hand and pulled it painfully behind his back. She held back a scream and listened in horror to Jim’s words that she had to do only one thing: she took a knife and cut her face, leaving an ugly scar, “no one should look at you from now on but me,” the book says. .
All my life I remembered a scary story from my childhood

Jim Morrison, 1960s
Edmund Teske Estate/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
When he was four years old, Jim witnessed a serious car accident that claimed the lives of a Native American family.
“The Indian truck either hit another car or something and they were all bleeding out on the highway,” Morrison recalled.
As the singer noted in adulthood, he believed that at that moment the soul of one of the Indians could pass into his body. He later described the event as one of the significant events in his life and frequently returned to it in his poems and songs, including “Dawn’s Highway”, “Peace Frog” and “Ghost Song”.
His IQ was 149

Jim Morrison signing autographs on the bus, 1968
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Hopkins writes in his book that during his 2.5 years at Washington High School, Jim easily maintained a GPA of 88.32 and an IQ of 149. In college, Morrison’s scores were above the national average; in mathematics 528, average 502, and in literature – 630, average 478.
He enjoyed reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Plutarch, as well as the works of Arthur Rimbaud, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Patchen, Gregory Korsow, Honoré de Balzac, and other authors. Referencing Morrison’s teacher in his book, Hopkins wrote that the future musician most likely studied demonology.
“These were English books on demonology from the 17th and 18th centuries. I’ve never heard of them. But they existed, and I was convinced of this by the work in which he wrote that he had read them and could only read them in the Library of Congress,” said the teacher.
Inspired by books, Morrison became interested in poetry and prose and wrote down his ideas in a notebook.
He lied about his parents dying

Jim Morrison with his father George, 1964
US Navy
The musician did not get along with his strict military father, George Morrison, who took a harsh approach to disciplining his son: scolding and humiliating him for any offense. After entering the University of California at Los Angeles in 1964, Morrison cut off contact with his family and told others they were no longer alive.
After learning of his son’s rock career, George Morrison wrote a letter to Jim asking him to reconsider his decision to become a musician. He also told his heir that he saw in him “a complete lack of talent in this direction.” It is known that in all these years Jim spoke to his father on the phone only once.
Inspired by Alexander the Great

Jim Morrison, 1968
Manfred Rehm/image alliance/Global Look Press
The musician imitated Alexander the Great and wore a similar hairstyle.
“The image maker said in despair: “Well, who do you look like?” Jim responded by pulling out a reproduction ripped from a historical artifact depicting a statue of Alexander the Great: “Here’s him!” – said an article about Morrison in the Trud newspaper.
The author of the material also stated that Morrison “aims to become a god” like the Macedonian, who declared himself the incarnation of the god Dionysus during his lifetime.
He was obsessed with reptiles

The Doors, 1967
Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images
One of the known facts about Jim Morrison is his nickname “The Lizard King”. He gave himself this name because he loved reptiles. This nickname stuck with Morrison after a performance of the song “Not To Touch The Earth”, in which he sang:
“I am the lizard king. “I can do anything” (“I am a Lizard king. I can do anything”).
In 2013, a giant ancient lizard whose remains were found by American paleontologist Russell Sayokon in the 1970s was named after the musician. The reptile reached a length of 180 cm and weighed about 30 kg.
Arrested twice for stage antics

Mugshot of Jim Morrison in Florida, 1970
Donaldson Collection/Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images
On December 10, 1967, Morrison was arrested during a demonstration in New Haven, Connecticut. He was first forced out of a shower stall before a performance where he refused to stop kissing a woman. Taking the stage, Morrison criticized local officials. Police eventually arrested him and charged him with public indecency and inciting a riot.
And during The Doors’ performance in Miami on March 1, 1969, the singer mimed masturbating. According to one eyewitness, Morrison actually exposed his genitals; but there is no documentary evidence of this information. The musician was found guilty of indecent behavior – he was initially sentenced to six months in prison and, after an appeal, was released on bail in the amount of $ 50 thousand.
Thirty-seven years later, one of the witnesses who testified against Morrison recanted his statement to the Miami Herald: “I didn’t see anything in his pants.”
I did not obey the traffic rules

Jim Morrison and Shelby Mustang GT500
Toodlem/YouTube
Jim had a Ford Mustang nicknamed “The Blue Lady.” He liked to scare travelers by driving at full speed through the streets in the wrong direction. Author Babe Hill recalled how the singer went off the side of the road and crashed into the Blue Lady.
“We were right behind the Beverly Hills Police Department. They called a tow truck and a taxi. The chassis was destroyed. “I just stood my ground and said, ‘We’re going to die,'” Hill said.
Morrison’s cause of death still remains a mystery

Jim Morrison with girlfriend Pamela Courson, 1969
Edmund Teske Estate/Getty Images
On the morning of July 3, 1971, Morrison’s body was found in the bathroom of the Paris apartment he shared with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson. According to him, Morrison felt bad the night before and decided to take a hot bath. Kurson then fell asleep and after a few hours realized that the singer was not responding to him. The official cause of death was announced as heart failure and no autopsy was performed.
Since then, many rumors have emerged about the tragedy. Notably, journalist Sam Burnett, a friend of Morrison’s, said he died of an overdose. There is also a theory that the CIA may have been responsible for Morrison’s death.
Entered “Club 27”

Jim Morrison unconscious on stage in Amsterdam, 1968
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Morrison died exactly two years after Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones’ body was found in a swimming pool and nearly nine months after Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix were drugged to death. All four were 27 years old at the time. Other members of Club 27 include Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and other stars.
Source: Gazeta

Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.