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Doors lead singer Jim Morrison was far more lucid for this promo shot than he was for his last concert, in New Orleans in 1970.
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Hey Blake,
Interesting about Ray Manzarek. Rumor is that someone does indeed have a tape of the Doors' New Orleans concert on Dec. 12, 1970, but they want a huge sum for it.
The concert was supposed to have been a complete disaster, with Morrison smashing the stage with his microphone stand and eventually just collapsing in a stupor, supposedly one of his worst concerts.
Shane
Dear Shane,
You, of course, are referring to my column in the May 3, 2005, issue of Gambit Weekly. I set the record straight about the first concert played at A Warehouse on January 30, 1970 and the concert given by the Doors, Jim Morrison's last concert with the band, as he died in Paris on July 3, 1971. I also referred to the possibility of finding a recording of that historic performance.
Well, we are in luck because I received the following e-mail from a gentleman who has the answer. The Mr. Sugarman he mentions in his e-mail is former Doors manager Danny Sugarman, who died this year. He was the author of a biography of Jim Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive.
Maybe Ray Manzarek will read Gambit.
Hey Blake:
I received word that your column had had some inquiry about the lost tape of the Doors concert at the Warehouse, Jim Morrison's very last performance.
The tape isn't lost. I've had it in a safety deposit box for several years. I was a stage manager at the Warehouse during most of the shows at that classic venue, including the Doors'. The tape is in two-channel stereo -- it was recorded by 'Stagehand Bob' on the same machine he used for just about every early show at the Warehouse.
My recollection is that I came upon the tape when Beaver Productions moved its offices out of the Warehouse, uptown into a building at the Riverbend. The Doors tape, along with a stack of other Warehouse show tapes, were cast off and left behind as debris during the move. The rest of the tapes may have been destroyed. I regret leaving behind the Jimi Hendrix tape.
At sometime along the way, I spoke with a gentleman named Sugarman, who represented himself to be a manager of the Doors, about the tape. Mr. Sugarman said that the keyboard player had only a curiosity interest in that night's rendition of 'Riders on the Storm' (if I have that song's name right), but had no real interest in acquiring the tape, Jim Morrison's last performance notwithstanding.
The Doors shows back then were chaotic, but the Warehouse performance was more music than theater. An exception to that would be at the very end of the show when Morrison, who was whacked near a stupor that night, suddenly jumped up, grabbed the microphone, and then smashed it right through the floor of the stage. What an ending to a great show. Nobody knew it when it happened, but the music indeed was over when they turned out the lights and the Doors left the stage.
Very truly yours,
George M. Friedman
Hey Blake,
Our new director is from New York, and he asked all of us New Orleanians what the fleur de lis symbol stands for. We could not answer him. Could you help?
Virginia
Dear Virginia,
Louisiana was claimed by Sieur de la Salle in 1682 for Louis XIV of France. Not long after, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founded La Nouvelle Orleans in 1718, naming it in honor of the Regent of France, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans.
The fleur de lis, in addition to being an iris, especially a white-flowered form of iris germanica, is also a heraldic lily. It is a device that consists of a three-petaled iris flower used as the armorial symbol for the kings of France. It is associated with the French flag before 1789 and the French nation or government.
Therefore, since our wonderful city has such a French connection, it is not so surprising that there are fleurs de lis everywhere.
