Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison Paperback – November 7, 2006

Finished reading the book last week and it was amazing. The book is well researched, with minor grammatical errors but don’t deter from the book itself. This covers a lot more than just Jim and his life, there is talk about the rest of the band members, the influence of where Jim’s lyrics came from as well as interpretations of his songs. There is mention of their recording process as well as the many tours and shows they did throughout their career. The book goes as far as to explore The Doors after the death of Jim Morrison and details us how they continued without him for some time and how they were affected by his death.

Having read Sugermen's "No one Here Gets out Alive" I wanted more, but really more depth. An insight into Jim's dismay over attaining stardom in so short an order and then not handling it well, even to the point of hating the audiences that adored him, allowed me to understand his conflicts much better than the previous book, which by comparison was suraface-ey. But I digress.My favorite passages in the book first had to do with generational separateness felt by each generation:"Morrison said that each generation wants new symbols to divorce themselves from the preceding generation and he seems to have been right."Also a discussion of doubt: Riordan understands well the creative process, it's ups and downs and doubt, its ultimate killer. As one who writes and must necessarily question motivation and meaning of given passages, I know that remaining objective and non-judgmental is a continual challenge. This paragraph brought me to tears as I faced that truth head on:"...that being an artist for the long haul means more than harnessing sudden and terrible inspirations. It means being willing to study and grow in one's character as well as one's art. It means overcoming toil and trouble and mastering that enemy of all creative forces— doubt."As can be ascertained by these short quotes, this is more than a sensationalistic book aimed at the teen crowd, the ones that demanded "light my fire" and stopped getting that Jim took himself and thus his craft (he fancied himself more the poet than the rock star) much more seriously than the young fans who embraced him as a sex god, would allow.A final enlightening understanding of how many whom have supposedly made it in the big time of rock and roll, and then creatively dried up may rest in this final paragraph worth noting, though there are many salient observations also worth noting, this one caught my eye:"One way of looking at Jim Morrison's life and death is as a testimony to that offensive myth that claims artists are somehow a race apart and thereby entitled to the most outrageous actions imaginable in the name of art. The sad truth is that such insane tolerance contributes to their drying up as artists. Most of the rock 'n' roll heroes from the sixties who managed to survive the decade have proven this out by ending up having nothing to say. If everyone around an artist is catering to his whims or sheltering him from the consequences of his actions, he will lose touch, first with his art, then with his audience, and finally with himself."I could not put it down and even at his low points, he appears to have "broken through!"

The Doors were an amazing band when they first came out, and they proved their worth in their live shows, where Jim Morrison was more than a command presence, he kept the audience spellbound and soon the word was out that this amazing singer was the one to watch. Their music had a unique sound and texture, songs like The End, When The Music Is Over, People Are Strange, and so many more made them very successful. Everyone knows Jim Morrison forte was his poetry and his vision, acquired according to the book from an early dramatic childhood incident involving a highway accident, that apparently transformed the young Morrison in more ways than one. Jim Morrison was very lucky to have known Ray Manzarek, who was a proficient musician, and who in turn, knew of two more musicians that eventually became The Doors.Something dark about the performances of Jim Morrison, specially when The End was introduced to the crowds, announcing a different lyrical approach than what was customary at the time. They actually resembled a door that otherwise would have remained closed, but with Jim Morrison at the helm, John Densmore at the drums, and Robbie Krieger at guitar they created a total unique sound, which in their first two albums was at their peak.The authors, James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky have obviously done extensive research about their subject matter, and it shows. I have always been under the impression that most of these shinning stars, with the passage of time and the consumption of drugs and alcohol, have all found a way to destroy all that was good at one time. The book tries to reason with the sort of madness that would make a person like Jim Morrison start acting the way he later did, which basically brought down the band, and more tragic still, made him loose himself for ever, never regaining what once had been his greatest period.This was definitely the band to watch when they first started, and as they worked like a coherent group, the quality of their material was second to none. Sadly, and this theme repeats itself over and over again, the Strange Days turned into the Crazy Days, and none was a bigger victim than Jim Morrison, which fell head first into the destructive lifestyle that has taken so many great performers away. I like Break On Through a little more than I did No One Gets Out Alive, even though both books were entertaining in showing the immense talent that The Doors had in their reigning days. I can understand how tortured souls in the music business seemed to always find a way to destroy everything they accomplished. The real wonder is the story of those that survived temptations and addictions, and made their music stronger, and more admirable those that were always above the madness that success tends to bring to the uninitiated. The curse expands way beyond the music business, it strikes all the artistic fields perhaps more than any other group. People at the very top falling to the very bottom, and in the way down making everyone around them miserable and resentful. Jim Morrison was no exception. He lost control, and his last years of his very short life, did not bring many rewards, but while he was on top there was no one who could silence an audience and command their attention as he could. All one has to do to realize the intensity of this incredible performer is to listen to The End in the movie Apocalypse Now. What a song! Hauntingly tragic, a journey of serious repercussions led by a visionary with an incredible talent. Like most good things, this band came to a halt much to sooner, according to the authors they run out of material, because the main source of their magic, had drifted away into more corrupted worlds, or maybe it was in the cards. Who really knows? Some of these rock stars seemed to have been around to fulfill a moment in time, like pre conceived pawns of a much greater design. Certainly The Doors came about, and we are the luckier for their time. Also the sadder to watch how easy the house of cards crumbles, card by card. Break on through to the other side, break on through, yeah! 4 Stars.