Jim Morrison & Ben-Fong Torres 1971 Interview

Recording Date: February 1971
Interview Location: Diane Gardiner's Apartment - Los Angeles, CA
Publication: Rolling Stone # 77 - March 4th - 1971
Length: 73:43

Info:
Jim Morrison's last known recorded interview is conducted by Rolling Stone journalist Ben Fong-Torres and features Pamela Courson. This tape was made unintentionally after a chance meeting at Diane Gardiner's apartment in Los Angeles. The interview is later used in the March 3th, 1971 issue of Rolling Stone (Ben-Fong Torres "Jim Morrison's Got The Blues" © Straight Arrow Publishers Inc.1996)

Ben Fong-Torres: - "Working for Rolling Stone, I used to pop into Hollywood on a regular basis. Sometimes I stayed at the apartment of a rock publicist friend, Diane. One of her neighbors was Pamela Courson - Jim Morrison's old lady. One February afternoon in 1971, Jim came around, looking for Pamela. She wasn't there, so he decided to hang out & wait. When Diane introduced us, I asked for an interview. He and I hit it off right away, and got into doing this parody of a TV talk show. I played Dick Cavett; he was a rock star. He told a couple of jokes so risque that they would have gotten Cavett canned, and then, with my cheap cassette recorder running, we settled into a pretty serious chat about the Doors and the blues; the future of rock, and his own future. Despite his reputation as a wild man; despite his busts for obscenity and for exposing himself on stage, Morrison had struck me, in published interviews, as a smart, thoughtful guy. Maybe he wasn't quite the poet and artiste he fancied himself to be, but at least he was playing with the conventions of rock, performance, and theater. He was at home on the edge. Jim was planning to move to Paris within weeks, and this turned out to be his last interview before his departure in March. In July, I was in Hollywood again - visiting with his friends and associates, and writing his obitu."
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JIM MORRISON-By Ben Fong-Torres.

When I bumped into Jim Morrison in West Hollywood in early 1971, I had no idea that we'd wind up doing the last interview he'd ever give to an American publication.

The bump-in took place at an apartment building where a publicist friend, Diane Gardiner, lived. One of her neighbors was Pamela Courson, who, despite Morrison's liaisons with various other women, considered herself his main companion. One February afternoon, Jim came by, looking for Pamela. She wasn't home, so he came downstairs to Gardiner's apartment, where I was visiting.

I hadn't met Morrison before, and soon after Diane introduced us, I asked for an interview. He had nothing better to do, he said, and I grabbed my cassette recorder.

And then things got weird. For some reason, he was feeling playful. Having done no research, and with no questions in mind, I was happy to play along. We decided to pretend as though we were doing a talk show on TV, and he kicked things off with a decidedly lewd riddle or two.

While he joked, I searched through my memory for the latest news on Morrison's never-dull life, and we settled into a pretty serious interview. He got into it enough that when Pamela showed up, he continued with our conversation, one that turned out to be his last with the press before he left, in March, for Paris.

Four months after settling into Paris with Pamela, Jim Morrison died, and I was dispatched to Hollywood to write his obituary. A few non-stop days and nights later, the article was complete, except for a headline. Jim had considered himself as serious a poet as he was a rock musician and stage performer. By and large, his poetic interests had been dismissed. In fact, one reason Morrison gave for going to France was that the people there would give him his poetic due.

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