The Doors Miami Incident 3/1/69

Today is the anniversary of The Doors’ “Miami incident” at the Dinner Key Auditorium in which Jim Morrison was accused of indecent exposure. The subsequent trial and Morrison’s conviction affected the rest of his life, people close to Jim said it weighed on him even after he went to Paris. The Doors as a band was affected, it immediately ended a tour and John Densmore said it was “a million dollars in gigs”, and thereafter the band had to post a $5000 bond on the condition that if anything happened was deemed indecent The Doors would forfeit the bond. Miami has affected the band even down to the recent past, on December 8, 2010, the Florida Board of Clemency pardoned Jim Morrison.

Miami didn’t exist in a vacuum, Morrison didn’t just get drunk and start shouting slogans and berating his audience, there was a method and a reason for what Jim did in Miami, and looking at events preceding Miami like the “Rock is Dead” session where Jim previews some of the rap that will appear in Miami, “I’m not talking about no revolution!”, it just got lost in the alcoholic haze Jim drank himself into.

continue reading at The Doors Examiner.