Jim Morrison: Friends Gathered Together

Jim Morrison… We know the stories, but does anyone know the real man? If you don’t know where the truth ends and the fiction begins, you’re not alone. Lies, myths, rumors and tall tales spread by people who didn’t know him have masked Jim Morrison and clouded what he accomplished.

Fearing that the original, actual real Jim would become hopelessly lost, Frank Lisciandro, Jim’s friend and film collaborator, gathered together more than a dozen of Morrison’s friends for a series of conversations and interviews. In the transcripts of these talks Jim Morrison is candidly brought to light by the people who knew him, who were his pals, colleagues, mentors and lovers. Jim Morrison: Friends Gathered Together confronts and sweeps away the fantasy to illuminate an extraordinary man and gifted creative artist.

A quote from the book:
"To call him a rock star is just a total insult to him and his intelligence and his awareness and this philosophy that was inside of him. His life was a philosophy. He didn’t tell people what they have to do, he just did it himself. He just put it all out there."– Ron Alan

The conversations covered a multitude of topics and events. The people who share their stories were themselves active participants in the West Coast music scene: musicians, concert promoters, publicists and band managers. Readers will discover funny stories, secrets revealed and truths more astounding than the fabrications published during and after Morrison’s life.

Another quote from the book:
“I loved Jim when he would get an idea, he'd say, ‘Uh oh, I think I'm getting a cerebral erection’. And then he'd hold his hands to his head because he had a new idea for a poem or song and then laugh about it. It was the laughter that followed that was wonderful.”– Leon Barnard

From his first year in high school and his student days at UCLA to the formation of The Doors and his rise to fame, this book weaves an amazing tapestry of honest information about Morrison the poet, the brilliant lyricist, and the iconic singer and performer of The Doors. The book is a treat for Jim’s fans worldwide and for curious readers who want to know the true Jim Morrison story. The conversations also offer a unique oral history of the restless and turbulent Sixties when L.A.’s Sunset Strip was the focus of a cultural renaissance and musical revolution.

The book contains more than 50 original Frank Lisciandro photographs, many never published before.

More quotes from the book:
"Jim was totally not interested in the economic aspect of his career. I never met anybody like Jim. He was seemingly disconnected with the meaning of money. He truly had no interest in physical possessions." – Bill Siddons

“The biographers seem to have lost Jim’s sense of humor. I can’t impress upon you enough that it was always there….He was the funniest human being I ever met. Simply that, the funniest human being I ever met.” – Fud Ford

"A few weeks before he left for Paris, I organized a (touch) football game. Jim was relentless in his pursuit of my brother, who was the opposing quarterback. Jim would go diving after him and hit the ground, and get up and chase him again. I remember him going, ‘Boy, that guy’s really squirmy, isn’t he?’ I remember Jim’s enthusiasm that day. He just didn’t quit.” .” – Rich Linnell

"Sometimes when I was typing his poems, I’d come across a word and I’d ask him, 'What does this mean?’ And he would give me the history of the word. What was the antecedents of that word, epistemology. So I would have an idea what that word meant in time and space. He had that kind of knowledge.” – Kathy Lisciandro