Interactive Chronological History

1 9 6 8

Tue. Jan. 2nd:  This was to be the date of Jim's court hearing from the New Haven incident had the charges not been withdrawn.

Fri. Jan. 19th - Sat. 20th:  Carousel Theater - West Covina, CA
    On the first night, Jim is full of energy, as he usually is after a lengthy break, repeatedly crashing down onto the stage and jumping back up to shout out the songs throughout the evening.  On the next night, Jim is just the opposite and the performance suffers due to his ever increasing intakes.  Also performing: The Sunshine Company (both nights)

Mon. Jan. 29th:  The Pussy Cat A Go Go - Las Vegas, NV
    Jim taunts a security guard in the parking lot by pretending to smoke a joint.  Guards rush Morrison and his friends, Bob Gover, author of The $100 Misunderstanding and a journalist from the New York Times and beat them.  When Las Vegas police arrive, they arrest Morrison and charge him with vagrancy, public drunkenness, and failure to possess sufficient identification, also taking in Grover.  Grover later writes an article entitled "A Hell of a Way to Peddle Poems" detailing the event.  Grover sums it up by calling it a classic example of the way Jim attracted trouble:

Thur. Feb. 1st:  Universal Studios offers The Doors $500,000 to be featured in an undisclosed motion picture.  They do not accept the offer but remain open for negotiations in the future.

Sat. 10th:  Berkeley Community Theater - Berkeley, CA
    The Doors play an early 7:30 P.M. show and a 10:00 P.M. show opened by Iron Butterfly.  Jim departs from the set list and recites poetry tonight.  There is a good chance that some of it is from "Celebration of The Lizard".

Sat. Feb. 17th:  Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Phoenix, AZ
    A bomb threat during sound check requires everyone to exit the building.  The Doors then go on as scheduled and give a great performance.  Also performing The Sunshine Company and Hamilton Street Car.

Mon. Feb. 19th - Tue. 20th: In The Studio
    The Doors go into T.T.G. Recording Studios in Hollywood, newly equipped with state of the art 16-track recording capabilities, and begin recordings for their third album Waiting For The Sun.

   

    On the first day, "The Celebration of the Lizard" and spontaneity are the order of the day and the band, full of high spirits and diligence, tackles production of this crucial arrangement which is to cover one side of the album. (Remember: we're still talking about a vinyl LP)
    On the 2nd day, The Doors again concentrate their energies on "The Celebration of the Lizard" and are again pleased with the results.  However, the band pays so much attention to the small details and intricacies of the piece they lose the overall cohesiveness and it lacks the smooth transitions from part to part that is essential to the orchestration of the piece.  The Doors are dissatisfied with the overall feel, especially the perfectionist Paul Rothchild, and the piece is in jeopardy of making the cut.  Jim however is satisfied with the piece but loses the argument to technical aspects.  He and the others like the feel but the song does not seem structured strongly enough to make it on a professional record.

Early March:  In the studio
    Producer Paul Rothchild is becoming ever more the perfectionist demanding take after take and the sessions are going awry right from the beginning.  Jim is very uninterested in the process of recording and with his constant drinking and partying he is becoming very unreliable and quite creatively unproductive.  He has somewhat taken an 'I don't care' attitude and after his masterpiece "The Celebration" is rejected he withdraws and rebels.  It takes over 130 attempts to get "The Unknown Soldier" recorded to Paul's high standards.  John Densmore gets fed up with everything and quits but returns the next day.
    Ray and Robby sense that something needs to be done about Jim.  They talk to Paul and decide to hire someone to keep an eye on Jim while out drinking to make sure he gets to the studio and to upcoming gigs on time.  Paul suggests they hire Bobby Neuwirth, a former roadie with Bob Dylan's band, who can think and drink on a par with Jim, to pose as a film maker.  Elektra pays half of Neuwirth's salary and John, Ray and Robby pitch in on the other half.  Jim quickly figures out what is going on but plays along for awhile.  Neuwirth soon figures out there is no one that can stop Jim from drinking and joins him in bars all over town drinking and partying while giving Jim a companion to talk film with or to relate and bounce ideas off of while they're out and about.  He becomes more of a drinking partner than an overseer and coordinator.
    The recording sessions are getting worse and worse.  Jim often keeps the others waiting for hours and hours and blows his chance to get his masterpiece "Celebration of The Lizard" on the record.  It was supposed to cover one entire side of the LP but is too disjointed musically and with Jim's attitude in the studio it never comes to fruition.  The Doors do make a version Jim likes but the others disagree with him.  Upset,  he leaves for a few hours returns extremely drunk, lowers the lights and goes into the recording booth completely plastered and sings the take of  "Five To One". (If you listen closely to the part at the end of the song where he says: "Hey come on honey...(swig)... go along home and wait for me baby and I'll be there in just a little while..." you can hear him take a swig of his bottle of Brandy.)
    Jim, feeling the pressures of having to come up with new material, often while in the studio, is drinking more and more.  Jim takes off whenever he feels, often frequenting the local taverns, and invites all kinds of party goers and groupies back to the studio.  John can't take it anymore and quits again.  Robby after a few days talks him into to coming back and on the road with the band.
    Though the album is nowhere near finished it is time to release a single.  "The Unknown Soldier"/ "We Could Be So Good Together" single is released.  Many radio stations avoid playing the song due to its war anthem.  To promote the single, Elektra produces a short film climaxing with Jim getting shot while bound to a pole on the beach.

Wed. Mar. 6th or Thu. 7th:  Steve Paul's Scene - NYC (DU)
    The Scene is well known for having musicians show up and jam with whoever happens to be playing that night.  Musicians are engaging in improvisational jams together learning and feeding of one another's vibe, often late night and after-hours, which Jimi Hendrix particularly takes an interest in whenever he's in town.  He has lately begun to lug around an open-reel Ampex recorder so not to miss the potential magical happenings during one of his long totally improvisational jams.
    On this night, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin are in the club.  Hendrix is on stage jamming with a group of musicians playing drums, bass, and second guitar.  Jim, during one of the bluesier jams and heavily intoxicated, jumps up on stage and begins to wail some very obscene lyrics.  As the song progresses Jim doesn't.  He soon collapses on the stage grabs Hendrix by the ankles and then clumsily drags himself away knocking a table of drinks over into Janis's lap!  She retaliates "I wouldn't mind... if he could sing".  Hendrix is not impressed by Jim's behavior and a little upset.  He later, on April 4th, adamantly denies a request by Morrison to join him on stage in Montreal at the Suave Arena.

Fri. Mar. 15th:  Colgate University - Starr Hockey Rink - Hamilton, NY
    The Doors open with "Break on Through" and Jim's microphone is not working properly.  The band continues to play and not until the next song, "Backdoor Man", is the microphone fixed.  Despite the small technical difficulty the band does an outstanding show highlighted by Krieger's great leads.  Also performing:  Linda Rondstadt and The Stone Poneys

Sat. Mar. 16th:  Eastman Theater - Rochester, NY
    Also performing: Linda Rondstadt and The Stone Poneys

Sun. Mar. 17th: The Back Bay Theater - Boston, MA
    The Doors show up two hours late to an early 4:00 p.m. show and the promoters, once notified, save the day by adding a couple local bands to this evening's agenda. They continue to placate the crowd by coming over the loud speaker throughout Linda Rondstadt and The Stone Poneys performance and announcing that The Doors are on their way.  After the under bills the promoters fill space, still waiting for the band, with Doors promotional movies of  "The Unknown Soldier" and "Break on Through" to a raving audience even though the controversial "Unkown Soldier"
was banned from airplay on Boston's radio stations!  The crowd likes the controversial movie so much they demand an encore and are obliged followed by the promoters who are now going around the theater with a live microphone getting responses from the crowd on the movie.
    In the meantime, The Doors equipment has been set on stage and the band comes out playing an enthusiastic "Break on Through" to a roaring crowd.  Jim, however, takes his time making his way onto the stage and appears totally unaware of the crowds enduring wait and seems bored in performing yet another concert.  Throughout the evening he is very dull and just go through the motions until doing a stupid and sarcastic Boston accent on the show's final song
"Light My Fire".
    The Doors, thank goodness, do two shows this evening and their second at 9:30 p.m. is a total make-up for the lack luster early performance in which Jim was probably a little tired since arriving late, going right to the stage, and knowing he had another show to do.  During this late performance Jim is amazingly penetrating with his screams, theatrics, and typical mysticism that he can portray by his presence alone.  He is at his best tonight doing his thing like nobody else can but only, as seen tonight, when he wants or when he feels like doing it!  Morrison magically blends several song's lyrics and throws in moving poetry pieces that are right on and heartfelt.

Fri. Mar. 22nd - Sat. 23rd: Fillmore East (many pics, poster, flier) - New York City
    The Doors headline Bill Graham's new Fillmore East, formerly the Village Theater which opened on March 8th.  The Doors do four performances in the two days and sell out the 2,500 seat auditorium at $5.00 a piece each show.  The concerts are spectacular and some of the band's all-time best!  The band does the entire "Celebration of The Lizard" mesmerizing crowds and The Doors receive stellar reviews.
    In the early show on Friday, giving his all and extremely stoned, Jim falls into the lighting pit!  Later during the same performance, Jim introduces the New York premiere of  The Unknown Soldier by pretending to be a college professor and asking the "class" to pay close attention to the movie because afterward there will be an exam.  After the movie they play "The Unknown Soldier"  followed by what is possibly the first full length rendition of "The Celebration of The Lizard".
    In the late show on Friday, The Doors open with "When The Music's Over" in which Jim, seemingly absent, comes flying over the drum kit and leaping down in front of the microphone just in time to scream the opening and signals the beginning of what is to be a totally outstanding show.
    In the early show on Saturday, the audiences on their way to the Fillmore has picked a considerable amount of daffodils and throughout the show they are flung onto the stage.  Jim picks some up and methodically places a few on each members instrument and between songs seemingly picks on John by placing many on his drums and under his nose in an attempt to get him going.
    In the opening number of the second show on saturday, Jim holds onto the rising curtain to the point of maximum safe height and even a little more before letting go at the very last second soaring down right in front of the microphone in perfect timing to open the show with his characteristic introductory scream.  The band plays The Unknown Soldier and follows it up with live performances of the song during each show this evening and do "Celebration" again during the late show.  After saturday's late show The Doors are in such a good mood they tell Bill Graham they want to do another encore.  Graham comes out on stage as the audience is filing out and asks them if they want some more, which they graciously accept, and the band ends up playing another entire set lasting over an hour.  What a magical weekend this must have been!

Late March:  In The Studio and Feast of Friends
    The Doors begin searching through Jim's tattered notebooks for poetry that can be made into songs or song pieces due to the scrapping of "The Celebration of The Lizard" which was to cover one entire half of the vinyl album.
    The Doors begin production on a documentary (later to be called Feast of Friends).  Bobby Neuwirth, bodyguard/ film maker, has departed but not before making a short film Not To Touch The Earth.  Similar to this attempt, the documentary is to be made up of behind-the-scenes footage and concert pieces.  The first taping will be on April 13th and production will end on September 1st just before heading off on their European Tour.  The band spends $20,000.00 on equipment and a crew.  Three associates of the band are hired as a production crew:

Wed. Mar. 27th:  Hotel Diplomat - NYC
    The Doors are invited to attend "The Group Image Show".  The band not only shows up but also shows The Unknown Soldier to a delighted crowd.

Fri. Mar. 29th: The Kaleidoscope (pics) - Hollywood, CA
    The Kaleidoscope has just opened on the 22nd and are still celebrating their "grand opening".  The Doors play to 1,500 in a lively atmosphere tonight, which part of was filmed by an independent filmmaker.  This location will unfortunately be sold a year later due to financial reasons and renamed the Aquarius Theater.  It will be here in July 1969 that the band begins their comeback after the Miami incident which lead to numerous cancellations and the end of their Spring Tour.

Manager - Bill Siddons (19)

Assistant Manager - Leon Bernard
Road Manager/ Sound Tech. - Vince Treanor
Runner/ Mail - Danny Sugerman (13)

Sat. Apr. 13th:  Santa Rosa Fairgrounds - Santa Rosa, CA (First concert shoot for Feast Of Friends)
    This is the first on-location shooting for the Feast Of Friends documentary, hey there's a great trivia question!  The crew will shoot for 5 months, film 15 shows, and end on September 1st in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Wed. Apr. 17th:  The Riverside Auditorium - Riverside, CA

Fri. Apr. 19th: Westbury Music Fair (pics, promo & review) - Long Island, NY (Feast Of Friends)
    The doors do an early 3:00 p.m. show and a later show tonight.  The early show's crowd is sparse in attendance and the band is less than enthusiastic in performing to such a small crowd at an unlikely early time slot but the late show goes crazy!

Wed. Apr. 24th:  Kaleidoscope - Los Angeles, CA

Fri. Apr. 26th:  The Whisky - Los Angeles, CA (DU)
    During this time in  L.A., Jim while watching The Ohio Express at The Whisky one night, jumps up on stage, grabs the microphone, and sticks it down his pants upsetting the band.

Thu. May 2nd: Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA

Fri. May 3rd - Thu. 9th:  In the Studio
    The Doors spend this week in the Sunset Studio recording Waiting For The Sun.

Fri. May 10th: The Chicago Coliseum - Chicago, IL.
    Jim, refreshed and roaring to go, incites a riot this night escaping through the backstage door while the crowd of 4,000 destroys the stage.  During the 8:30 p.m. show one teen gets so excited he does a swan dive off the balcony.  Jim is now pushing every button, raising every level as far as they will go, both personally and professionally, just to see what will happen.  Also performing: The Shady Daze; The One-Eyed Jacks

Sat. May 11th: Cobo Arena - Detroit, MI (Feast Of Friends)
    Also performing: The James Cotton Blues Band; Jagged Edge; The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Sun. May 12th: The Exhibition Hall - Toronto, Ontario (Feast Of Friends - insufficient lighting)
    The sound system tonight is inadequate and the crowd is infused with an uneasiness relating to Morrison's off and on microphone problems in which the audience hears only some of the lyrics to their favorite songs.  Also performing: Earth Opera; City Muffin Boys; The Influence

     "Hello I Love You"/ "Love Street" is released.  The single is seen by many as a sell out by The Doors to achieve Billboard rankings.  The band knew it was commercial enough to top the charts and this is what the record company wanted pressuring the band into recording these types of songs to get back on the radio because there last two singles were banned.  Around this time, Jose Feliciano releases his version of "Light my Fire" and it soon tops the charts placing The Doors into the mainstream of american music ever the more.  The Doors are now as pop as it gets alienating some of there earlier underground fans.

Fri. June 7th:  The Fresno Fairgrounds - Fresno, CA

Sat. June 8th:  Bakersfield Civic Center - Bakersfield, CA (Feast Of Friends)

Sat. June 15th: The Memorial Auditorium - Sacramento, CA

Fri. June 28th:  La Playa Stadium - Santa Barbara, CA

Sat. June 29th:  Community Concourse Convention Hall - San Diego, CA

Sun. June 30th:  McArthur Court - Univ. of Oregon - Eugene, OR (DU)

   The Doors are now one of the biggest bands in America and begin playing and selling out arenas making over $35,000.00 a night.

Fri. July 5th: Hollywood Bowl (pics and promos) - Los Angeles, CA (Feast Of Friends)
     The show is touted as the event of the season and everyone who is anyone comes out to see the show.  Mick Jagger and Jimmy Miller have dinner with the band at Mu Ling's Chinese restaurant before the show and are in the audience this night to see the big show.  All 18,000 seats are sold out and the stage is tweaked with over 60,000 watts of power.  The Doors hire a few additional cameramen to their crew who are filming tonight, one of which turns out to be a young Harrison Ford.
     Steppenwolf opens the evening followed by The Chambers Brothers and they blow the crowd away.  The Doors follow and there is anticlimax in the air.  Jim drops acid before the show and the band begins with a very long intro to "When The Music's Over" and what is suppose to be suspense turns into monotony.  Throughout the night, the crowd awaits Jim to do something but on this night he just stands by the mic and sings his heart out concentrating on his vocal performance.  Jim is performing professionally this night and the crowd, with plenty of left over fireworks from the 4th, wants the crazy freak to do something they can tell their friends.  Mick Jagger is interviewed after the show calling it a bore saying 'They (The Doors) were nice chaps, but they played a bit too long.'

Sat. July 6th:  Kaleidoscope - Hollywood, CA

Sun July 7th: Ed Sullivan Show Re-broadcast
    The Doors performance taped on Sept. 17th, 1967 is re-broadcast.

Tue. July 9th: Dallas Memorial Auditorium - Dallas, TX (Feast Of Friends)

Wed. July 10th: Sam Houston Coliseum - Houston, TX (Feast Of Friends)

Fri. July 12th:  Seattle Center Arena - Seattle, WA

Fri. July 12th (2):  Waiting For The Sun
    The Doors third album is released and is a huge success among the kids and Top 40 radio.  The rave reviews from there previous two albums comes back to haunt them by comparison and the album receives much negative press do to its overall pop appeal.  The press begins to turn on The Doors.  As if in apology for not making the record, inside the sleeve of the album is Morrison's 133-line poem "The Celebration of the Lizard".

Sat. July 13th:  P.N.E Coliseum - Vancouver, Canada

Sat. July 20th:  The Honolulu International Civic Arena - Honolulu, HI (Feast Of Friends)

Thu. Aug. 1st:  J.F.K. Stadium - Bridgeport, CT

Fri. Aug. 2nd: The Singer Bowl (pics and promo) - Flushing Meadows Park, NY (Feast Of Friends)
     The Doors headline with opening act The Who.  Jim's limo driver gets lost before the show in the traffic of the crowd and the limo is mobbed by fans.  Jim gets out and the fans go crazy grabbing his clothes and hair forcing items, necklaces, etc. into his hands.  He finally makes it backstage and decides to take a walk around the arena.  He gets 10 yards down the hallway and is swarmed by hundreds of fans and is forced  to go backstage.  The Who refuses to play with The Doors equipment on stage during their set.  They get there way and go on but the rotating stage gets stuck and a quarter of the restless crowd cannot see the band furiating many of the audience.  They finish the set smashing their equipment and the crowd is roaring.  Pete Townsend walks off telling The Doors people that the crowd is ready to explode!
     The Doors wait 30 minutes and finally take the stage with Jim waiting even longer as the others jam.  Jim comes out swarmed by security and his film crew.  The fans who cannot see begin to storm the stage and are thwarted back by security.  Jim is animated and growls songs while dancing and gyrating, hopping and twirling in a shamanic tide often rapping obscenities during breaks and between songs.  The crowd is hot and Jim is in rare form.  The tension builds with each song, each chant, each movement.  Jim and the audience are one.  He feels there emotions boiling and slowly turns up the heat.  Jim throws himself down on the stage and crawls around on his belly driven by the music, the crowd, and his demons.  The Doors finish with "The End" and as Jim sings the last note, falling back on the stage, the crowd as if being pulled back like an arrow, as if on cue, suddenly erupt and thunderously rush the stage.  The crowd overtakes the stage and begins smashing the bands equipment.  The riot rages on for over an hour with the band backstage drinking.  Many fans are injured, hospitalized or arrested.

Sat. Aug. 3rd: Public Hall (Musicarnival) (pics) - Cleveland, OH (Feast Of Friends)
    Last time they were here only 700 people showed up to see them perform, but this time The Doors pack the place with 9,200 screaming teenage kids.  Jim is again in rare form tonight showing up well inebriated and mischievous.  During "Light My Fire" he jumps completely off the stage well into the audience.  The fans go crazy throwing chairs and punches as shirts are torn and mass hysteria breaks all around Jim.  Order is somewhat restored and Jim ends the show by flinging himself to the stage lying motionless.  A kid gets on stage and takes a photo of him bringing Jim back to life and he flings upward as being reborn.  Later, as the crowd leaves, he appears back up onstage causing pandemonium as many were trying to then get back in to see what is going on.

Sun. Aug. 4th:  The Philadelphia Arena - Philadelphia, PA

Fri. Aug. 30th:  Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD (Feast Of Friends)

 

Sat. Aug. 31st:  The Convention Hall - Ashbury Park, NJ (Feast Of Friends)

Sun. Sept. 1st: Saratoga Performing Arts Center - Saratoga Springs, NY (Feast of Friends - Last concert filmed for documentary)

  

Jim and his Feast of Friends film crew get on a plane today to New York prior to the show.  This is The Doors final appearance before their big upcoming European Tour and, for more important documentative aspects, the last performance taped for Feast Of Friends.  Tonight Jim swaggers out slow and serene and what appears to be an upcoming mellow Morrison evening until the band abruptly jumps into 'Back Door Man' to start an upbeat, fierce, and intense evening of driving music an electrifying vocals.  Morrison comes out for a standing ovation after the show, bows, and then abruptly leaps into the audience where police and security move in freeing him and directing him back onto the stage.  The crowd is livid and pleads for more - but The Doors must be on their way for tomorrow they fly off to London.  On the way to New York however, The Doors stop at The Aerodome in Schenectady, NY where Jim sits in with an undetermined blues band for more than a few numbers and drinks!

 

Mon. Sept. 2nd:  The Doors embark on a 17 day tour of Europe flying out of Kennedy International Airport in Queens, NY to London on Air India on a 11:00 p.m. flight, which was delayed from a 6:00 p.m. flight schedule.  Note:  The Jefferson Airplane and Canned Heat are currently touring Europe and The Doors will catch up with them, schedules permitting, and share billing on upcoming concert dates.

Tue. Sept. 3rd: London Airport - England
    The Doors and their equipment crew arrive at London's Heathrow Airport where the Granada Television crew is awaiting their arrival.

Thu. Sept. 5th:  Top of The Pops - BBC-1 TV, London, England
    The Doors play "Hello I Love You" live during the show.  Jim is less than thrilled.  Also appearing: Canned Heat.

Fri. Sept. 6th - Sat. 7th:  The Roundhouse (pics and promos) - London, England
    The Doors do two shows a night selling out all 10,000 seats of the remodeled train station's 2,500 seat concert hall.  Both concerts on Friday are filmed by Granada Television for the British television program "The Doors Are Open." (Note:  The program airs on October 4th and only footage of the 2nd show is used)  The concerts go extremely well.  Jim is somewhat reserved in his performances but very involved and in good voice, control, and appearance. 
On the first night: The Doors open for The Jefferson Airplane.  These Friday shows are attended by many London music scene artists, such as members of the Rolling Stones and Traffic.   Jim is fabulous and sober!
On the 2nd night: The Jefferson Airplane opens up for The Doors.  Jim would later state that this 2nd show on Saturday night was probably one of the band's all-time best performances.

Sat. Sept. 7th:  ICA Gallery - The Mall, London, England
    The Doors hold a press conference which is filmed by Granada Television and becomes part of "The Doors Are Open" broadcast/film/video.

Fri. Sept. 13th:  "4-3-2-1 Hot & Sweet" TV Show - Romer Square - Frankfurt, West Germany
    The Doors do a 1:00 p.m. lip-synch, in an outdoor presentation, of  "Hello I Love You" and "Light My Fire" in the streets of Frankfurt.  Later this afternoon, they do a press conference at Frankfurt city hall.

  "They invited us over for breakfast.  It was the most adult thing I ever saw Jim and Pam do.  I was so proud of them.  They were a couple.  A man, and a woman, a unit, making breakfast for their friends. . . . bacon, fried eggs, toast with imported strawberry jam from Poland, and French roast coffee . . . They seemed quite at home and quite happy.  It was the calmest and happiest I'd seen Jim since his "nervous breakdown."  Light My Fire p. 298-9

J I M   M E E T S   T H E   B E A T L E S

Mon. Sept. 23rd:  Abbey Road Studios - London, England
    In the evening, Jim visits The Beatles during one of their recording sessions.  The Beatles are working on "Happiness is a Warm Gun" by Lennon and Jim possibly sings chorus on one take, but more than likely, he only watches and listens for awhile, says hello, and leaves shortly afterwards.

    The Doors take it easy from touring and begin rehearsals for their fourth album, The Soft Parade. Jim manages to get away often and is more and more participating in the editing of the documentary, now titled "Feast of Friends", in The Doors office with Frank Lisciandro,  Paul Ferrara and Babe Hill, who are now calling themselves, rather arrogantly, the "Media Manipulators."
    Jim views footage of the band onstage in shows like The Singer Bowl and sees himself in a different light - much like a puppet being controlled by alot of forces he only vaguely understands.  Beginning around this time, Jim often refuses to give interviews choosing rather to write a poem or rap for publication thus revealing perhaps more about Jim Morrison than they might have otherwise expected and/or received.

Sun Oct. 13th:  Michael McClure Visits Jim - Belgravia Hotel - London, England
    While still in London, Jim meets up with San Francisco beat poet Michael McClure and they establish a personal friendship based out of respect of each other's work.  During this time while waiting for Jim to get out of bed one morning, McClure finds some of Jim's poetry laying around the loft and secretly reads it.  He is very impressed and suggests that Jim try and get some of it published to a private edition for friends to read.  It is to become the beginning of The Lords, and The New Creatures.

Sun. Oct. 20th:  Back in the States - Jim and Pam return from London and Jim immediately heads to rehearsals for their fourth upcoming album The Soft Parade.  The Doors are in and out of rehearsals for the upcoming studio album from this point until the midwest tour begins.

Thur. Oct. 31st:  Freedom Hall - Louisville, KY - Halloween 1968
    The Doors play one 8:00 p.m. show and everything goes rather well.  Morrison comes out  in somewhat of a different style wearing baggy white jeans and a T-shirt while smoking a cigarette.  Is this his costume for the evening?  None the less, he's his usual subdued self (when he's subdued) and there's only a minor obscenity here and there between the band's tight and explosive improvises.

 Fri. Nov. 1st:  Milwaukee Arena - Milwaukee, WI
    Tonight Jim takes a plunge of the stage at the conclusion of "The End".  The band then encores with a crowd rousing "Gloria" where Jim lets loose and brings a good night to a fitting close.   

Sat. Nov. 2nd:  Veterans Memorial Hall - Columbus, OH (7:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.)

Sun. Nov. 3rd:  Chicago Coliseum - Chicago, IL
    The Doors play one afternoon show at 3:30 p.m.  The show is just the opposite of their rowdy appearance here on May 10th and from the outset Jim and the band are subdued to the point of hypnosis.  Jim is obviously slowed by alcohol and off key yet remarkably graphic and poignant during "The Celebration of the Lizard" which the band plays before closing with an airy version of "Light My Fire".

Thu. Nov. 7th:  Arizona State Fair, Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Phoenix, AZ
    Jim  tells the other members in the band 'I want to see phoenix flip out' and right from the start he gets the crowd of 10,000 strong going by provoking nearly 500 teenagers into rushing the stage creating a war between concert goers and security.  Jim comes very close to getting arrested himself for using obscenities and lewd behavior.  Charges are filed but later retracted as the city of Phoenix decides to rather ban The Doors from playing here ever again.

Fri. Nov. 8th:  Dane County Memorial Coliseum - Madison, WI

Sat. Nov. 9th:  Kiel Auditorium - St. Louis, MO

Sun. Nov. 10th: Minneapolis Concert Hall - Minneapolis, MN (8th and final Midwest Tour date)
    It's obvious from the pictures of this concert that Jim is very tired.  The Doors always kept their tours extremely short and spread out because Jim would often take his excesses a little too far and many times right on through to the next day! It definitely made for some great performances but also some rather poor hangover and worn performances.  All in all, the tours were kept short because he would eventually and obviously get tired!

Late November:  The Doors back from doing 8 shows, in 8 cities, in only 11 days go right into Elektra's brand new recording studio to begin recording The Soft Parade.   The Doors are the first band to record in this new state-of-the-art Elektra studio that they helped build.  The band members thought it was going to be free recording sessions but Jac Holzman, president of Elektra, only gives them a 10% discount!  During these sessions, Beatle George Harrison stops by and compares how the band is tying in an orchestra this album to The Beatles recording of Sergeant Pepper.

"We were the first group to record there.  We were all excited at the prospects of breaking the cherry of a brand-new, state-of-the-art recording studio.  And we thought it was going to be for free.  Hell, Jac Holzman built the damned place with profits from Doors' record sales.  Everybody called the new Elektra facility on La Cienega "the house the Doors built," so why shouldn't we record for free?

---

Wed. Dec. 4th:  Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour - CBS Television City, Los Angeles, CA
    The Doors record their only appearance on the show as everyone synchs to the music as Jim sings live. They perform "Touch Me" and "Wild Child" with the house orchestra.  Robby is sporting a black eye during the performance caused by a few rednecks that had given him and Jim a hard time a few days earlier.  The delay between recordings and airplay is typically 10 days.

Sun. Dec. 8th:  Jim Turns 25

D O O R S   P R E V I E W   S O N G S   F R O M   T H E   S O F T   P A R A D E

Sat. Dec. 14th:  L.A. Forum - Inglewood, CA (Jim's brother Andy is in attendance)
    Providing a fitting end to their tremendously successful year on the outside and terrible year on the inside, The Doors fill the stage with 32 amplifiers, a string sextet, and a full brass section playing mostly new songs from The Soft Parade to a stunned audience of over 18,000 who only want to hear "Light My Fire".  The audience has been booing every opening act horribly off the stage awaiting The Doors to sing their most popular songs.  During their show, the band reluctantly gives in and plays "Light My Fire" but afterwards the audience begins chanting 'again, again'.  They want The Doors to play the damn song again!  Jim has all he can take and chastises the crowd. 
    Only a year ago he was playing to at most 3,500 fans and had the control.  Now, the crowds were beginning to call the shots and he is sick of it all.  In defiance, in L.A., he walks to the front of the stage sits down and recites the entire 133 line Celebration of the Lizard in front of 18,000 - mostly teenagers!  When it ends he glares at the audience, no words need spoken, and walks off the stage to almost no ovation.  The backstage atmosphere is that of a funeral and later Jim plays kick the can with his brother Andy and Pam in the parking lot on the way home.  Jim is becoming increasingly bummed out by audiences expectations of him.  It will all culminate in a few months . . . . in Miami.  Also performing but getting terribly booed off the stage: Jerry Lee Lewis, Sweetwater, Tzon Yen Luie (Japanese Koto player)

Sun. Dec. 15th:  Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
    The Doors appear nationwide to 27.1 million people as their recorded performance on the 4th airs tonight on CBS. The Doors are at their most prolific popularity and injectuous mainstream stardom.