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Despite being a mediocre poet, The Doors’ vocalist, Jim Morrison, was a terrific lyricist whose legendary antics were often fueled by alcohol. Although Morrison would drink just about anything and everything, his preferred drink when ordering at a bar tended to be whiskey, specifically Jack Daniel’s or scotch.
Jack Daniel’s grew in popularity in the 1950s due to its consumption by celebrities and other notable persons, bringing it into the mainstream as a symbol of success as its popularity created higher demand than supply. Morrison likely drank Jack Daniel’s as a result of the popularity of the brand.
Jim Morrison’s love of alcohol is apparent in The Doors’ songs. In the lyrics to “Roadhouse Blues,” Morrison quotes his friend and drinking buddy Alice Cooper in the line “I woke up this morning and got myself a beer.” His cover of “Alabama Song” from Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny solidifies his love of specifically drinking whiskey in the memorable line “Show me the way to the next whiskey bar.”
In a story recounted by Alice Cooper as told to him by The Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger, while drinking together he and Morrison were discovered dangling by their arms from a balcony in a competition to see who could hang on the longest. The fact that Cooper does not remember this incident further displays the extent to which Morrison would enjoy his drinks.
Morrison was arrested for indecent exposure after a performance in Miami. He fled to France after this incident where his life was cut short from an apparent heart attack at the age of 27 in Paris. Despite his premature death, the legend of Jim Morrison would not be the same without his alcohol-fueled antics.
– Grant Mazan, Assistant Poetry Editor
