Was Jim Morrison burned out at the time of his death?

Hepcat

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By the time of Morrison Hotel (1970) & LA Woman (1971) the Doors were fighting a lot of negative publicity.

Their concerts were being cancelled all over the U.S., & while, in retrospect, those albums have lots of great music, the fact is, in the majority of the record buying public's eye, the Doors were a sinking ship when Morrison died in July '71.

The Doors barely played live again after Morrison's arrest in Miami in '69. I don't think they ever toured in the '70s.

I disagree that the Doors were a sinking ship when Jim Morrison died. I think their second last album, "Morrison Hotel", was their best since their first album and "L.A. Woman" was pretty good too.

But what do you think? Was Jim Morrison creatively as well as physically burned out at the time of his death - or could he and the rest of the Doors have released another four or five very good albums over the course of the seventies?

:steering:
 
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Mr. Shadow

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Jim burned out long before his death. His lust for drugs and sex destroyed him.
 

Foxhound

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His lust for drugs and sex destroyed him.

So a schoolgirl wrote a letter to the Secretary of Parliament in Canada asking for a list of the elected members broken down by sex. The Secretary's reply was that she knew of many members who'd been broken down by alcohol but she knew of none who had been broken down by sex.

:heheh:
 

LG

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Jim Morrison was a mess when he died, his alcohol abuse and other poor lifestyle choices pretty much assured he was not going to live a long life. I don't think they would have released many more Classic albums, to me JM was a spent force by the time he died.
 

Magic

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Musically, no. Morrison was not burned out. His addictions had too much control over him. From a business standpoint, his addictions were killing the band. Morrison had alot of issues, hell he even tried to convince people his family was dead, which isn't normal behavior for a sane person.

Morrison was a very talented lyricist and a fantastic frontman. It is hard to speculate if his addictions would have ended The Doors or his mental issues. I hardly think professional or musical "burn out" was his problem.
 

Hepcat

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It is hard to speculate if his addictions would have ended The Doors or his mental issues. I hardly think professional or musical "burn out" was his problem.

By "burned out" I actually meant as a result of factors related to substance abuse.

Was he just too far out of it to execute in the studio by the time he died?
 

Magic

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Well yea, Hepcat, he was gone.......found in a bathtub with no sign of struggle and from an apparent overdose. (they never did an autopsy)

In the days prior to his death he went reclusive, and totally paranoid. He did sit on the street with a street performer before his death, but from what I understand he was a bit incoherent. It would have taken a devine intervention to have helped him at that point.

correct me if I am wrong, but there have been conspiracy theories surrounding his death. Although, I dont feel there was a conspiracy, Jim was just too wired on drugs and for him to disappear for several days on a binge was not unheard of.
 

Hepcat

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I take it you would therefore argue that his career as a rock musician was not cut short by an untimely death because, quite simply, it was already over for all intents and purposes.
 

Magic

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His musical talents still existed, but he was on a crash course with drugs and mental issues, and he did crash.

Anyone who is addicted, no matter what the addiction, is cureable if intervention is implemented. In Jim Morrison's case, it was too late.
 

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When Morrison went to Paris, he was an overweight, bearded drunk, not a heroin addict. When he started coughing up blood due to his three pack a day cigarette habit, Pamela offered him heroin to ease his cough. It worked, just like codiene cough medicine. Morrison went to the Crazy Horse on the left bank to score heroin and begin his trip to immortality on the last night of his life.

Morrison went to Paris to avoid going to prison in Florida. Plain and simple.

Was he and the Doors done? Hard to say. A lot of performers have come back from substance abuse to have succesful careers. Keith Richards, James Taylor, Alice Cooper and Eric Clapton all suffered from addictions they succesfully conquered. Personally, my favorite Doors albums were the first and last.
 

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