Kurt Cobain

Cobain was born on the 20th of February 1967 in Hoquaim, a small town 140 kilometres south-west of Seattle. His mother was a cocktail waitress and his father was an auto mechanic. Cobain soon moved to nearby Aberdeen, a depressed and dying logging town
Cobain was for most his childhood a sickly bronchitic child. Matters were made worse when Cobain's parent's divorced when he was seven and by his own account Cobain said he never felt loved or secure again. He became increasingly difficult, anti-social and withdrawn after his parent's divorce. Cobain also said that his parent's traumatic split fueled alot of the anguish in Nirvana's music
After his parent's divorce Cobain found himself shuttled back and forth between various relatives and at one stage homeless living under a bridge
When Cobain was eleven he heard and was captivated by the Britain's Sex Pistols and after their self-destruction Cobain and friend Krist Novoselic continued to listen to the wave of British bands including Joy Division the nihilistic post-punk band that some say Nirvana are directly descended from in form of mood, melody and lyrical quality.
Cobain's artistry and iconoclastic attitude didn't win many friends in high school and sometimes earned him beatings from "jocks" Cobain got even by spray painting "QUEER" on their pick-up trucks. By 1985 Aberdeen was dead and Cobain's next stop was Olympia. Cobain formed and reformed a series of bands before Nirvana came to be in 1986. Nirvana was an uneasy alliance between Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic and eventually drummer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Grohl.
By 1988 Nirvana were doing shows and had demo tapes going around. In 1989 Nirvana recorded their rough-edged first album Bleach for local Seatlle independent label Sub-Pop
In Britain Nirvana received a lot of recognition and in 1991 their contract was bought out by Geffen, they signed to the mega-label, the first non-mainstream band to do so. Two and a half years after Nirvana's first C.D. Bleach was released they released Nevermind, a series of different, crunching, screaming songs that along with it's first single Smells Like Teen Spirit would propel Nirvana to mainstream stardom.
Smells Like Teen Spirit became Nirvana's most highly acclaimed and instantly recognizable song. Not many people can dechiper it's exact lyrics but Cobain used a seductive hookline to hook the listener. Nevermind went on to sell ten million copies and make a reported $550 million (US) leaving Nirvana overnight millionaires. Cobain was shocked at the reception of his highly personal and passionate music repeatedly telling reporters that none of the band ever, ever expected anything like this. It quickly became obvious that the obsessively sickly and sensitive 24yr old was not going to cope well with the rock'n roll lifestyle. "If there was a rock star 101 course, I'd really have like to take it," Cobain once observed. Cobain fell into heroin in the early 90's, he said he used it as a shield against the rigorous demands of touring and to stop the pain of stomach ulcers or an irritated bowel. Through the touring and pressure Cobain continued to write his very personal acutely focused lyrics.
Cobain was distressed to find out that what he wrote and how it was interpreted could quite often be miles apart. He was appalled when he found out that Polly a heavily ironic anti-rape song had been used as background music in a real gang-rape. He later appealed to fans on the Incesticide liner notes "If any of you don't like gays or women or blacks, please leave us the fuck alone." It was to no avail, Cobain found that as an overnight millionaire musician control was something he had very little of. Cobain also worried that his band had sold-out, that it was attracting the wrong kind of fans (i.e the type that used to beat him up.)
In February 1992 Cobain skipped off to Hawaii to marry the already pregnant Courtney Love. Later in the year Nirvana released Incesticide and in August Cobain had hospital treatment for heroin abuse. Shortly after Frances Bean Cobain was born. In early 1993 In Utero was released into the top spot on the music charts. In Utero was widely acclaimed by the music press and it contains some of Cobain's most passionate work. In Utero was a lot more open than Nirvana's previous albums. Songs like All Apologies and Heart Shaped Box detailed aspects of Cobain's sometimes shaky marriage, other songs like Scentless Apprentice detailed the agonies and struggles of Cobain's experiences.
Nirvana embarked on a support tour and recorded and filmed an "unplugged" (acoustic) performance for MTV in November of 1993. Nirvana's choice to honour bands and people that had influenced them and Cobain's passionate and intense vocals especially on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"silenced many of their who had labeled Cobain talentless. Rumours circulated that the MTV Unplugged compilation would be Nirvana's last album and the band were splitting up.
Cobain was a gun fanatic and always had several in his possession or in various forms of confiscation. In the northern winter of 1993-94 Nirvana embarked on an extensive European tour. Twenty concerts into the tour Cobain developed throat problems and their schedule was interrupted while he recovered. While recovering Cobain flew to Rome to join his wife who was also preparing to tour with her own band.
On March the 4th Cobain was rushed to hospital in a coma after an unsuccessful suicide bid in which he washed down about fifty prescription painkillers with champagne. The suicide bid was officially called an accident and was not even made known to close friends and associates. Several days later he returned to Seattle. Cobain's wife, friends and managers convinced Cobain, who was still in deep distress to enter a detox program in L.A. According to a missing person's report filed by his mother Cobain fled after only a few days of the program.




Cobain was cited in the Seattle area with a shotgun. Days later on the 5th of April he barricaded himself into the granny flat behind his mansion, put a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. On Thursday April the 7th ~ two days after a medical examiner says Cobain shot himself and the day before his body was found police say Courtney Love herself was taken to hospital in L.A. for a drug overdose. Released on bail, Love checked herself into a rehab center but left soon after a friend called her the next day with news of Cobain's death.
Cobain's body was found when an electrician visiting the house to install a security system went round the back of the house when no one answered the front door and peered through windows. He thought he saw a mannequin sprawled on the floor until he noticed a splotch of blood by Cobain's ear. When police broke down the door they found Cobain dead on the floor, a shotgun still pointed at his chin and on a nearby counter a suicide note written in red ink addressed to Love and the couples then 19 month old daughter Frances Bean.


The note ended with the words "I love you, I love you." Two days after Kurt Cobain's body was found about 5,000 people gathered in Seattle for a candlelight vigil. the distraught crowd filled the air with profane chants, burnt their flannel shirts and fought with police. They also listened to a tape made by Cobain's wife in which she read from his suicide note. Several distressed teenagers in the U.S. and Australia killed themselves. The mainstream media was lambasted for it's lack of respect and understanding of youth culture



This is a series of Interviews with Kurt
The Fender Frontline Interview, Kurt Cobain
CHUCK: Nirvana has become a Big Rck Story, but the music still seems to be the most important part of the story. How proud are you of the band's work?
KURDT: It's interesting, because while there's a certain selfish gratification in having any number of people buy your records and come to see you play - none of that holds a candle to simply hearing a song that I've written played by a band. I'm not talking about radio or MTV. I just really like playing these songs with a good drummer and bass player. Next to my wife and daughter, there's nothing that brings me more pleasure.
CHUCK: Is it always a pleasure for you to crank up the guitar, or do you ever do battle with the instrument?
KURDT: The battle is the pleasure. I'm the first to admit that I'm no virtuoso. I can't play like Segovia. The flip side of that is that Segovia could probably never have played like me.
CHUCK: With Pat Smear playing guitar in the touring lineup, has your approach to the instrument changed much?
KURDT: Pat has worked out great from day one. In addition to being one of my closest friends, Pat has found a niche in our music that compliments what was already there without forcing any major changes. I don't see myself ever becoming Mick Jagger, but having Pat on stage has freed me to spend more time connecting with the audience. I've become more of a showman. Well maybe that's going too far. Let's just say that having Pat to hold down the rhythm allows me to concentrate on the performance as a whole. I think it's improved our live show 100%.
CHUCK: On In Utero and in concert, you play some of the most powerful "anti-solos" ever hacked out of a guitar. What comes to mind for you when it's time for the guitar to cut loose?
KURDT: Less than you could ever imagine.
CHUCK: Krist [Novoselic] and Dave [Grohl] do a great job of helping to bring your songs to life. How would you describe the role of each player, including yourself, in the Nirvana sound?
KURDT: While I can do a lot by switching channels on my amp, it's Dave who really brings the physicality to the dynamics in our songs. Krist is great at keeping everything going along at some kind of even keel. I'm just the folk- singer in the middle.
CHUCK: You're a very passionate performer. Do you have to feel the tenderness and rage in your songs in order to perform them?
KURDT: That's tough because the real core of any tenderness or rage is tapped the very second that a song is written. In a sense, I'm only recreating the purity of that particular emotion every time I play that particular song. While it gets easier to summon those emotions with experience, it's a sort of dishonesty that you can never recapture the emotion of a song completely each time you play it.
CHUCK: It must be a very odd feeling for Nirvana to be performing in sports arenas these days. How do you get along with the crowds your attracting now?
KURDT: Much better than I used to. When we first started to get successful, I was extremely judgemental of the people in the audience. I held each of them to a sort of punk rock ethos. It upset me that we were attracting and entertaining the very people that a lot of my music was a reaction against. I've since become much better at accepting people for who they are. Regardless of who they were before they came to the show, I get a few hours to try and subvert the way they view the world. It's not that I'm trying to dictate, it's just that I am afforded a certain platform on which I can express my views. At the very least, I always get the last word.
CHUCK: Do you see a long, productive future for the band?
KURDT: I'm extremely proud of what we've acomplished together. Having said that however, I don't know how long we can continue as Nirvana without a radical shift in direction. I have lots of ideas and ambitions that have nothing to do with the mass conception of "grunge" that has been force-fed to the record buying public for the last few years. Whether I will be able to do everything I want to do as a part of Nirvana remains to be seen. To be fair, I also know that both Krist and Dave have musical ideas that may not work in the context of Nirvana. We're all tired of being labeled. You can't imagine how stifling it is.
CHUCK: You've made it clear that you're not particulary comfortable being a "rock star", but one of the things that tracks like Heart-Shaped Box and Pennyroyal Tea on In Utero make clear is that you're certainly a heavyweight when it comes to songwriting. You may have job sometimes, but is the writing process pleasurable and satisfying for you?
KURDT: I think it becomes less pleasurable and satisfying when I think of it in terms of my "job". Writing is the one part that is not a job, it's expression. Photo shoots, interviews...that's the real job part.

Kurt And Courtney Sitting In A Tree, Kurt and Courney interview in Sassy, By Christina Kelly

It's 1:00 PM and I've been sitting in this East Village restaurant since noon, waiting for Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Hole's Courtney Love to arrive for our interview. On this particular rainy afternoon Nirvana has the number-one record in the country, the awesome Nevermind, which has sold, like, three million copies. The album was their first major label; their debut, Bleach, was released on Sub-Pop back in 1989 and sold only 50,000 back when they were just a northwest punk trio with an underground following. Their sudden, massive and shocking success has made the band sought after by media ll over the world. And the anti-mainstream Kurt has blown off everyone from Rolling Stone to the New York Times. Also, at this time, all kinds of major labels are trying to woo Hole (the foxcore band whose drummer was included in our February piece on girl drummers) away from Caroline, which released their first record, Pretty On The Inside. I should be worried that they're not going to make it to this interview, but I've been told that Kurt and Courtney are both Sassy readers, and I just know they're going to show up.
As I'm assuring the waiter again that the rest of my party will be here any minute, Kurt and Courtney walk in the door. I wave, and they come over to my table, apologizing for being late. Courtney's in this cool black midi-dress, a fuzzy old sweater, and brown vintage pumps. She keeps playing with her bleached hair, covering her face with it and making it stand up and stuff. Courtney says she's 24, but I think she could be older. She's not classically pretty, but wears her offbeat looks well. Kurt, who probably really is 24, is very cute, with incredibly blue eyes which are set off nicely by his pink streaked hair. However, he is so skinny that I would like to force-feed him a solid meal. He's wearing disintigrating jeans and a cardigan over an ancient Flipper (the band, not the TV show) t-shirt. His black sneakers have holes in them. "He's got the number-one record," says Courtney, in her scratchy voice, "and he only has one pair of shoes."
I mention that I saw their engagement announced on MTV when Nirvana's video was number-one. Says Kurt, "It was embarrassing, but it was also kind of neat." Courtney says, "I thought it was kind of dorky." She's wearing an engagement ring, circa 1906, with a ruby or something in the middle. Kurt has one too, an ornate band. "Sorry about this zit," she says, pointing to her cheek. "Zits are beauty marks," says Kurt.
Kurt has a very sweet way about him, almost shy. He'll sit there and not talk, but not in a hostile way- besides, it's hard for anyone, even me, to get a word in edgewise with the loquacious Miss Courtney. But he'll definitely answer any question. I ask how they met. "I saw him play in Portland in 1988," says Courtney. "I'm from Eugene. I thought he was really passionate and cute, but I couldn't tell if he was smart, or had any integrity. And then I met him at a show about a year, or something ago." "Butthole Surfers," says Kurt. "And L7," adds Courtney, "I really pursued him, not too agressive, but agressive enough that some girls would have been embarrassed by it. I'm direct. That can scare a lot of boys. Like, I got Kurt's number when they were on tour, and I would call him. And I would do interviews with people who I knew were going to interview Nirvana, and I would tell them I had a crush on Kurt. Kurt was scared of me. He said he didn't have time to deal with me. But I knew it was inevitable." Kurt adds, "I would just like to say I liked Courtney a lot. I wasn't ignoring her. I didn't mean to play hard to get. I just didn't have the time, I had so many things on my mind." "He had to write a hit record," says Courtney.
The turning point for their relationship was last September. Courtney was meeting with a record company exec. "He said to me, 'What do you want? I can make you a big star,'" says Courtney, whose band is based in L.A. "And I said, 'I want to see Nirvana in Chicago.' So he got on the phone and spent, like, $1000 and bought me a ticket and I went. And that is when we got together."
Before you knew it, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. And now they're planning to get married as soon as possible (maybe by the time you read this), both wearing dresses. Kurt likes wearing dresses because they are comfortable and he says he looks best in baby-dolls with flowers on them. "In the last couple months," says Kurt, "I've gotten engaged and my attitude has changed drastically, and I can't believe how much happier I am. At times I even forget that I'm in a band, I'm so blinded by love. I know that sounds embarrassing, but it's true. I could give up the band right now. It doesn't matter, but I'm under contract." What a wonderfully sweet thing to say. I can't believe it when Courtney tells me that a friend of hers called her up in Europe and told her not to go out with Kurt: "She told me, 'What you're doing is culturally important and you'll just get swallowed up by going out with Kurt.'"
Courtney continues: "We get attention for our relationship, but if we didn't have bands, no one would care. I mean, the reason we're doing this interview is girls have been trained to look up to rock star boys as these... objects. They grow up their whole lives with horses or rock stars on their walls. For me, I didn't want to marry a rock star, I wanted to be one. I had a feminist hippie mom, and she told me I could do whatever I wanted to do. But a lot of girls think that to go out with somebody who's cool or successful, they have to be pretty and submissive and quiet. They can't be loud and obnoxious like me, and they can't have their own thing."
Courtney clearly wants to be a huge rock star in her own right. She doesn't want to be perceived as glomming on Kurt's success. And she seems a little paranoid- probably with good reason- that people will think that she is.
Like, when I ask if they plan to tour together, Kurt is totally normal about it. "I know that when we were on tour, we wished we were playing all our shows together," he says. "I spend so much money on phone calls. The next time we go on tour, we're going to go together." But Courtney quickly interjects: "That has to do with my band being on a level where we should go on tour with his band. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it. I would rather die than go on tour with someone just because I go out with them.
"It's cool to go out with someone that you know you would go out with if you were a waitress and they worked at a gas station- you can get really paranoid in music because you never know why people like you." Courtney's boyfriends are usually in bands. Kurt doesn't always have muscian girlfriends, although he did go out with Tobi Vail, the drummer in Bikini Kill. He even tells me that they want to record some songs they co-wrote when they were together. He and Courtney want to collaborate too.
Courtney has interesting things to say about girls in rock. "I kind of don't think it's enough at this point for girls to start a band, and be punk," she says. "There aren't many girls right now who write really good songs. I wanna write as good as Charles from the Pixies, or Kurt, or Neil Young. It seems like girls always concentrate on lyrics. I read in Sassy about how girls get discouraged from math, and I think that affects songwriting, because math is a big part of arranging songs in your head."
I ask Kurt how being in love will affect his songwriting. "My songs have always been frustrating themes, relationships that I've had," he says. "And now that I'm in love, I expect it to be really happy, or at least there won't be half as much anger as there was. I'm just so overwhelmed by the fact that I'm in love on this scale, I don't know how my music's going to change. But I'm looking forward to it. I love change. All the bands I respect the most have changed with every album. I can't stand to hear the same format, where after three or four albums you know exactly what to expect. That's boring, and that's why those bands lose their audience."
Courtney adds: "It's a lot harder to write about sunshine and make it interesting. I'll always have certain amounts of anger about social things, about my life. I think a lot of the reason people like both our bands is because of the anger involved. His band always had prettier songs too, but I was scared of pretty songs. Because my first band was all 12-string Rickenbacher, three girls, no drummer, I got accused of being wimpy, and I got a really big chip on my shoulder about it."
Courtney shifts conversational gears a lot and now she brings up the house they're going to buy in Seattle. "It's really beautiful," she says. "It's Victorian. And my favorite thing to think about while we're doing major label meetings and stuff is basically what color we're going to piant the walls. I want to have a baby really bad, but I want to able to afford it myself. I want my own money. I couldn't imagine marrying someone with money and then living off them." Kurt on the baby possibility: "I just want to be situated and secure. I want to make sure we have a house, and make sure we have money saved up in the bank."
With Nirvana's material success, I doubt that will be a problem. Speaking of which, alternative rock fans have a way of slagging their favorite bands once they become famous. Are people just jealous? "I'd be really egotistical to admit that, but I can't help but feel that way once in a while," Kurt says. "The other day I was driving around in L.A. listening to a college station. They were playing a lot of my favorite bands, like Flipper and The Melvins. I was saying to myself, This is great. And then the DJ came on and went on this half-hour rant about how Nirvana is so obviously business oriented and just because we have colored hair doesn't mean we're alternative. And I felt really terrible. Because there is nothing in the world I like more than pure underground music. And to be shunned by this claim that just because you are playing the corporate game you are not honest! You use [the corporate ogre] to your advantage. You fight them by joining them."
It is now time for Kurt to go to MTV, where Nirvana will tape five videos to be played in regular rotation. And Courtney has an appointment at Charisma Records. But first we go outside for some photos. They sit on the sidewalk and Courtney kisses Kurt, smearing lipstick on his face. It's looking very Sid and Nancy (Courtney, by the way, had a small part in the 1986 movie). Kurt asks Janet, Hole's publicist, to give him a copy of their album. "This is the man I'm going to marry," says Courtney, "and he still hasn't heard my entire album." Then a yuppie couple walk by and ask to photograph with Kurt. "Who were those people?" I ask. "Christina," says Courtney, "everyone has the Nirvana album. Everyone." I guess so, because the guy with the camera was wearing a bolo tie.

Guitar World, SMELLS LIKE TEEN IDOL, By Jeff Gilbert

We're just musically and rhythmically retarded" asserts Kurt Cobain, guitarist, vocalist and chief songwriter for Nirvana. "We play so hard that we can't tune our guitars fast enough. People can relate to that."
Seems reasonable enough, considering that Nevermind, the Seattle trio's major label debut, has become one of the hottest out-of-the-box albums in the country. Fueled by the contagious hit single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the spirited album turned gold a mere five weeks after its release, and leaped past both volumes of Guns N' Roses Illusions just one month later. But their sudden, platiunum-bound popularity probably has more to do with the bands infectious, dirty riffs and wry lyrical hooks than with their roughly played, out-of-tune guitars, of which Cobain is so proud.
"We sound like the Bay City Rollers after an assault by Black Sabbath." continues the guitarist in his nasty smoker's hack. "And," he expectorates, "we vomit onstage better than anyone!"
Nirvana began their career with 1989's Bleach (Sub Pop), an intensely physical melange of untuned metal, drunk punk, and Seventies pop, written from the perspective of a college drop-out. The album's other notable distinction was that it was recorded in three days for $600. Nevermind, costing considerably more than six bills, is Nirvana's major-label, power-punk/pop masterpiece, awash in slashing, ragged guitar riffs, garbled lyrics and more teen spirit than you can shake a Kiss record at.
Guitar World: MTV thinks Nirvana is a metal band.
Kurt: That's fine; let them be fooled! I don't have anything against Headbanger's Ball, but it's strange to see our faces on MTV.
GW: Kirk Hammett is a huge Nirvana fan.
Kurt: That's real flattering. We met him recently and he's a real nice guy. We talked about the Sub Pop scene, heavy metal and guitars.
GW: Speaking of guitars, you seem to favor low-end models.
Kurt: I don't favor them-I can afford them. [laughs] I'm left-handed, and it's not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars. But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I've only owned two of them.
GW: What is it about them that works for you?
Kurt: They're cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small. They also don't stay in tune, and when you want to raise the string action on the fretboard, you have to loosen all the strings and completely remove the bridge. You have to turn these little screws with your fingers and hope that you've estimated it right. If you screw up, you have to repeat the whole process over and over until you get it right. Whoever invented that guitar was a dork.
GW: It was Leo Fender.
Kurt: I guess I'm calling Leo Fender, the dead guy, a dork. Now I'll never get an endorsement. [laughs] We've been offered a Gibson endorsement, b ut I can't find a Gibson I like.
GW: Is the Mustang your only guitar?
Kurt: No, I own a '66 Jaguar. That's the guitar I polish and baby-I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd. [laughs] Lately, I've been using a Strat Live, because I don't want to ruin my Mustang yet. I like to use Japanese Strats because they're a bit cheaper, and the frets are smaller than the American version's.
GW: The acoustic guitar you play on "Polly" sounds flat.
Kurt: That's a 20-dollar junk shop Stella-I didn't bother changing the strings. [laughs] It barely stays in tune. In fact, I have to use duct tape to hold the tuning keys in place.
GW: Considering how violently you play the guitar. I have to assume you use pretty heavy-duty strings.
Kurt: Yeah. And I keep blowing up amplifiers, so I use whatever I can find at junk shops-junk is always best.
GW: What was the last amp you blew up?
Kurt: A Crown power amp that was intended for use as a PA, but which I used for a guitar's head because I can never find an amp that's powerful enough-and because I don't want to have to deal with hauling 10 Marshall heads. I'm lazy-I like to have it all in one package. For a preamp I have a Mesa/Boogie, and I turn all the mid-range up. And I use Radio Shack speakers.
GW: How reliable is this setup? It doesn't seem like it would be that durable, especially in view of all the touring you do.
Kurt: It works out okay. The sound changes with every club we play in, but I'm never satisfied. I think the sound I get is mainly a result of the Roland EF-1 distortion box I use. I go through about five a tour.
GW: Ever get the urge to use a twang bar?
Kurt: No. Anybody that plays guitar knows that only Jimi Hendrix was able to use the standard tremolo and still keep it in tune. Those things are totally worthless. I do have one on a Japanses Strat, but I don't use it.
GW: Your first album, Bleach, was recorded for $600; how much did Nevermind run you?
Kurt: [laughs] I don't remember, I've got Alzheimer's. Please don't ask us how much our video cost; that's a hell of an embarrassment. We definitely could have used some film student, who would've done just as good of a job.

James Douglas Morrison

James Douglas Morrison was born in Melbourne, Florida, on December 8, 1943. His father, Steve Morrison, was a U.S. Navy admiral. In 1942, after graduating from the Naval Academy, he had married Clara (Clarke) Morrison, the daughter of a lawyer. In 1946 he returned from the Pacific and during the following years the family moved according to his numerous postings.
Morrison was early interested in literature, he excelled at school, and he had an IQ of 149. Morrison studied theatre arts at the University of California. With his fellow student Ray Manzarek, keyboardist, John Densmore, drummer, and Robbie Kriger, guitarist, he formed a group which was in 1965 christened The Doors. They never added a bass player to their group. Its name was taken from Aldous Huxley's book on mescaline, The Doors of Perception, which quoted William Blake 's poem ("If the doors of perception were cleansed / All things would appear infinite"). All the members of the band read much, not only Morrison. Their first album, The Doors (1967), mixed performances from Bertolt Brecht /Kurt Weil's 'Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)' to Willie Dixon's 'Back Door Man'. It also included such Doors classics as 'Break on Through' (to the Other Side)' and 'The End'. The lyrics Morrison wrote in 1965 dominated the first two Doors albums. In July 1967 the band had its first single chart success with 'Light My Fire'.
Morrison's drinking, exhibitionistic performances, and drug-taking badly affected his singing and input at recordings. "Let's just say I was testing the bounds of reality," he confessed in 1969 in Los Angeles. "I was curious to see what would happen. That's all it was: just curiosity." In Miami in 1969 the audience thought it saw Jim's "snake" - he was charged with exposing himself on stage, in full view of 10.000 people. The police did not arrest him on the spot, for fear that it would cause a riot. Next year Morrison was sentenced 8 months' hard labor and a $500 fine for "profanity" and "indecent exposure", but he remained free while the sentence was appealed against. The Soft Parade (1969), which experimented with brass sections, was received with mixed emotions but it had a hit single, 'Touch me'.



After Miami everything changed and Morrison put his leather pants in closet. He grew a beard, started to take distance to his fans, and devote more time with projects outside the band. John Densmore has later told in an interview, that although he knew Jim well, there was so much about him that he could not find out. Possessed by his inner visions and urge to write and create music, Morrison also had troubles to explain his aims. He also felt that his time was running short: "O great creator of being, grant us one more hour / to perform our art and perfect our lives."
After finishing sessions for a new album, L.A. Woman, Morrison escaped to Paris, where he hoped to follow literary career. "See me change," he sang. He never came back from Paris. His first book, The Lords and the New Creatures, was published by Simon and Schuster in 1971. It went into paperback after selling 15.000 in hardback. An earlier book, An American Prayer, was privately printed in 1970, but not made widely available until 1978. On 3 July 1971 Morrison was found death in his bathtub. He had regurgitated a small amount of blood on the night of July 2, but claimed he felt fine. Recently had consulted a local doctor concerning a respitory problem.
Morrison was buried at Pére Lachaise cemetary in Paris, which houses remains of many famous artists, statesmen and legendaries from Edith Piaf to Oscar Wilde. In 1990 his graffitti-covered headstone was stolen. Pamela Courson Morrison, died in Hollywood of heroin overdose on April 25, 1974. In 1979 Francis Ford Coppola used The Doors' performance of 'The End' in his Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now, and in 1991 director Oliver Stone made the film biography The Doors, starring Val Kilmer. Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison was published in 1989. It was compiled from the Morrison literary estate by his friends

THE MIAMI INCIDENT

The Doors were scheduled to play a concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium on March 1, 1969. The Doors manager, Bill Siddons had made a deal with the Miami promoter, Ken Collier to accept a flat fee of $25,000 instead of sixty percent of the gross receipts. Collier then sold between eight to nine thousand tickets at more than the agreed price. Collier also removed seats to allow more people into the auditorium. An auditorium designed to hold seven thousand people was now packed tight with about thirteen thousand.
Jim Morrison missed his scheduled flight into Miami and spent the time waiting for the next flight, drinking in the airport lounge. Once he boarded the plane he continued drinking. During a stopover in New Orleans he missed his flight again and consumed even more drinks waiting for the next flight. By the time he reached Miami he was extremely drunk. Once he took the stage he was almost falling down drunk. He was abusive towards the audience, he would start a song only to stop it after a few lines, he would bum even more drinks from members of the audience. At some point in the concert he then asked the audience, "Do you wanna see my cock?" He allegedly then exposed himself for a brief instant and continued on with the show.
The next day the Doors started a planned vacation. While out of the country, the press in Miami had a field day with the alleged exposure incident. Pressure was put on local officials to do something about it. On March 5 1969, Bob Jennings from the state attorney's office acted as complainant. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Jim Morrison on one felony count of lewd and lascivious behaviour and three misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open profanity and drunkenness.
Jim turned himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles on April 4, 1969. On November 9, 1969 he entered a not guilty plea in Miami. The trial did not start until August 12, 1970. Max Fink was Jim's defense lawyer, the prosecuter was Terrence McWilliams and Judge Murray Goodman presided over the case. Much evidence was heard from witnesses for both sides. Most of it was contradictory. On September 20, 1970 the jury found Jim Morrison guilty on the misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and profanity. He was found not guilty on the felony charge and the misdemeanor for drunkenness. He was released on a $50,000 bond and returned to Miami on October 30, 1970 for sentencing.
Judge Goodman sentenced Jim to six months of hard labor and a $500 fine for public exposure and sixty days of hard labor for profanity. The sentences would run concurrently. He would be eligible for release after two months and would be on probation for two years and four months. His lawyer filed an immediate appeal. Until the appeal could be heard, Jim would be free on the $50,000 bond.
Jim Morrison was to die in Paris, France July 3, 1971 before his legal problems could be resolved.
Fans and historians alike have long questioned the details of Morrison's death. Some believe him to be the victim of a drug overdose, while others blame the CIA. There are even those who speculate that he is alive to this day, living in Africa or the Seychelles Islands.

The Legends

The band Pink Floyd is as most bands a result of several years of changes, both in crew and musical styles. The ones to form the band were all born at the end of and nearly after the second World War, which in many ways should influence their music in the late 70's and early 80's.Most band members came from working class families, except Nick Mason.
The year of birth of Pink Floyd was 1965. Nick Mason and Rick Wright, who both had gone to Frensham Heights and Haberdashers, met Roger Waters in an architectural course at Regent Street Polytechnic in London. They all got together and formed a band with the other musicians Clive Metcalf, Keith Noble and Juliette Gale (who later married Rick). The group was initially named Sigma-6, then T-Set and Abdabs (including Screaming Abdabs and Architectural Abdas).When the Abdabs finally broke up Waters, Mason and Wright kept together. Bob Close and Syd Barrett later joined as first and second guitar, and with Waters on bass guitar, Mason on drums and Wright on keyboard the group was named the Pink Floyd Sound. The name was taken from one of Barret's recordings with blues players Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Jazz player Bob Close finally left the group as Syd Barrett was driven more towards mystique and pop. Syd later started writing his own songs replacing their usual cover repertoir. The songs were all odd and new to the public, with somehow childish lyrics and a new sound, which attracted a small crowd every time the group held a school concert, but the small popularity around the group was not enough the members felt. In the spring of -66 the group was thinking of breaking up, and everybody were planning on spending their summer vacation in different locations. At what would be one of their last concerts in june -66 the group was luckily discovered by a music agent called Jenner, who felt that the group had a huge commercial potential. Jenner was very much into the music styles of the London underground and he also absorbed much of the vibrations coming from loudspeakers at hippie-gatherings all across the USA. Forming Blackhill Enterprices with Peter Jenner introduced them to a whole new set of lights and sounds. Sounds were adapted from other groups playing the London underground, and light technichians came from the U.S. and replaced their color slide light shows with oil slides projected on the stage during concert. The name was changed back and forth from "the Pink Floyd Sound" to "Pink Floyd" and finally ended as the last name which is still in use. The band's popularity was increasing radically with the increasing numbers of concerts, and in early spring -67 the band played as many as 20 conserts a month. The band was signed on with a record label named EMI which held their first press launch on the 1. April 1967.

In late 1969, Pink Floyd released a Double Album called Ummagumma. The first disc consisted of live tracks from various live performances in 1969. The second disc consisted of solo studio tracks by each member of the band.

In early 1970, Pink Floyd released their newest album Atom Heart Mother, with an orchestra playing on the 23-minute-plus title track. The band toured extensively with the orchestra supporting the album.

In early 1971, Pink Floyd's executive producer Joe Boyd, made a compilation album of both released and unreleased material from Pink Floyd's past. It was called Relics. While this was going on, Pink Floyd was in the middle of making their new album Meddle with another 23-minute-plus song called Echoes.

In early 1972, Pink Floyd was asked again to do another soundtrack for a movie called La Vallee or The Valley Obscured By Clouds, hence the name Obscured By Clouds came about.

After Obscured by Clouds was finshed, Pink Floyd took a plane to Rome, where they took a bus to Pompeii, one of the 2 cities destroyed by Mount Vesuvius 2000 years ago. There they filmed a private concert, playing some of their best material. The video was called Live At Pompeii, which also included footage behind the making of the album of their new opus.

During the time that Floyd was making Obscured By Clouds, they had written a 45-minute opus of songs that they played live. This opus was called Eclipse. It was mainly focused on society and how it alienates, controls, and destroys daily life. The original name for the opus was supposed to be Dark Side Of The Moon, but the British Blues band Medicine Head released an album the previous year of the same name. So they let the name go, until they heard that the Medicine Head album flopped on Billboard charts, so they revamped the name Dark Side Of The Moon and also wrote an end song for the opus which was called Eclipse. They turned their opus into an album in 1973, called Dark Side Of The Moon. It is the second highest selling rock record in history, compared to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

To follow up their success to Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd made Wish You Were Here. The album was dedicated to original lyricist and guitar player Syd Barret. During late recording of the album, Syd actually showed up to congratulate them on their success with Dark Side Of The Moon, although at first they didn't recognize him because he had gained alot of weight. During that tour they wrote yet another opus, but this one was mostly instrumental. This opus turned out to be Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It was split into 2 halves because it was too long to fit on one side of the record. During this tour Pink Floyd performed Dark Side Of The Moon in it's entirety again.

After the success of Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd took off for a year and a half to make a new album. This album was based on the aristocratic and communist lifestyles in the world. Each type of person was loosely based on an animal. And this album became Animals. Dogs were the creepy rulers of industry, Pigs were the communist tyrants, Sheep were the common folk, always being brainlessly led by the Dogs and Pigs, and Pigs On The Wing was a love song that Roger wrote to his new wife, Carolyn, the niece of the Duke of York. For the tour the band recruited Dick Parry for saxophone and Snowy White on rhythm guitar. On July 6th, 1977 in Montreal, Quebec, the last show of the Animals tour, a fan was screaming relentlessy and climbing his way up towards the stage. Roger spit on him to show disgustment. After the show, Roger felt bad about this, and escaped back to his hotel room and started writing new music, about how much he and the audience have come apart.

In late 1978, Pink Floyd met together to discuss new projects, after David and Rick made solo albums. Roger presented 2 projects in demo form. The first project was rejected, that project turned out to be, Roger Waters' solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch-hiking. But the second project was taken, that project was The Wall. Roger had enough songs for 3 discs, but he had to get rid of a bunch of songs. November 30, 1979, The Wall is released in the UK, and the fans love it. December 5, 1979, The Wall is released in the US, and again, the fans love itt. For the tour they recruit Andy Bown on 2nd Bass Guitar, Snowy White on Rhythm Guitar in 1980, Andy Roberts on Rhythm Guitar in 1981, Peter Woods on Keyboards, Richard Wright on Keyboards, and Jon Joyce, Stan Farber, Jim Haas, & Joe Chemay on Backing Vocals.

February 26th, 1980, Pink Floyd premiers The Wall Tour in Nassau Coliseum, on Long Island New York. October 1980, Pink Floyd premiers The Wall Tour in Earl's Court in London. January 1981, Pink Floyd plays The Wall in Los Angeles. April 1981, Pink Floyd Plays The Wall Show 4 times in Westfallenhalle in Dortmund, Germany. August 1981, Pink Floyd plays The Wall at Earl's Court London again, and their tour is over by September.

In 1982, Rick Wright left the band for good. Pink Floyd recuited new Keyboard Players for a new project called, Spare Bricks, A Collection Of Unrealeased Songs intended for The Wall but were scratched. The new Keyboard Players were Michael Kamen on Piano, and Harmonium, and Andy Bown on organ, and synthesizer.

Roger had plans to tour for the new album in November 1983, but because of tensions between each member, Roger cancelled those plans, and changed the name of the album to The Final Cut, which it probably would be if David and Nick left, but they didn't
In 1984, the band went their own seperate ways,Rick Wright made a solo project with Dave Harris called Zee-Identity, David Gilmour made a new solo album called About Face, and Roger Waters made The Pros and Cons Of Hitch-hiking. In 1986, David Gilmour talked to Nick Mason about getting the band back together. This caused a major law suit. Roger Waters, sued David and Nick for the rights to the music, and the band name itself. Roger lost the case because Pink Floyd was never anything put into writing, but Roger was given the rights to perform Pink Floyd music at his concerts and was given ownership of The Wall and The Final Cut.

In later 1986, Dave and Nick set out to make the new album, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. They recruited an array of Musicians for the album like King Crimson's Bass Player Tony Levin, Roxy Music's Guitar Player Phil Manzenara, Vanilla Fudge's drummer Carmine Appice, Richard Wright on Keyboards and about 20 others. They took off for the road, in later 1987 under the name Pink Floyd. They recruited Gary Wallis for Drums and Percussion, Guy Pratt on bass guitar, Jon Carin on keyboards, Tim Renwick on Guitar, and the "cre`me de la cre`me" of the show, the return of Richard Wright. The 3-Year Tour concluded in August 1990, when Pink Floyd played at The Knebworth Festival.

The Band took a 3 year Hiatus from Touring and Recording in 1990.

Pink Floyd started recording in 1993 for their new album, The Division Bell. Richard Wright was finally back fully with the band. The band toured for 6 months. The Tour Ended after a series of 12 shows at Earl's Court London, and during their tour of Europe, David Gilmour married his girlfriend Polly Samson. For this tour they did something they hadn't done in about 20 years, they played Dark Side Of The Moon in it's entirety.

Pink Floyd released a live album and video on their Division Bell tour, both featured with live Dark Side Of The Moon. The band was successful once more.

In 1996, Pink Floyd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Gilmour, Wright, and Mason performed Wish You Were Here with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. Floyd has done no concerts since then, but made a new live album in 2000. The band made this live album from many different recordings from The Wall Shows of 1980 and 1981 in London's Earls Court and Los Angeles, with Roger Waters. Roger Waters toured in 1999 & 2000, he made a new live album called In The Flesh.

In Late 2001, Pink Floyd including Roger Waters and Syd Barrett, with producer James Guthrie, made a new compilation album called Echoes. Although Floyd never did well with Compilations or greatest hits albums, this album was remastered as one continuous song like Dark Side Of The Moon, and did well in the charts.