Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison Paperback – November 7, 2006

I have been fascinated with The Doors music for more than 25 years when a friend of mine in school got me into them. Jim Morrison has been and continues to be a subject of deep interest and fascination for me as for countless of other Doors fans. I have read just about every book written on Jim and the band and this by far is the most accurate I believe. The authors did extensive research on Morrison and spent several years writing and perfecting this biography. This is an excellent book and makes a wonderful read not only for Doors fan but for people that enjoy reading about the excesses of rock and roll and the music industry. Jim Morrison was a man ahead of his time, extremely gifted and talented perhaps the most well read of all rock stars. He was an intellectual who possessed a brilliant mind but by the same token he was deeply misunderstood by society and by the authorities which he despised so much. Morrison was a brilliant scholar, an amazing poet, a soulful singer with a clear and very distinctive voice and a fantastic songwriter. He was a genius no doubt and his demise on July 3, 1971,in Paris is still mourned by the legions of fans that the mercurial and ecletic singer left behind. BREAK ON THROUGH:THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JIM MORRISON, is a must read for any admirer of this brilliant artist and renaissance man. The book is 544 pages long and it traces Jim's life from the beginning in Melbourne Florida where he was born to his sad and untimely death in Paris. Read this book and find out what the real Jim Morrison was all about. This book will probably shock and confuse a lot of people but it is an excellent biography of a man that 35 after his death still continues to fascinate and spark the interest of people all over the world.

Great read about the life and loves of Jim Morrison the poet who sang in a great band, The Doors. I got a great feel for Jim and his journey. He actually accomplished a great deal in his short life and joined the ranks of the other shooting. stars...

The Doors were an amazing band when they first came out, and they proved their worth in their live shows, where Jim Morrison was more than a command presence, he kept the audience spellbound and soon the word was out that this amazing singer was the one to watch. Their music had a unique sound and texture, songs like The End, When The Music Is Over, People Are Strange, and so many more made them very successful. Everyone knows Jim Morrison forte was his poetry and his vision, acquired according to the book from an early dramatic childhood incident involving a highway accident, that apparently transformed the young Morrison in more ways than one. Jim Morrison was very lucky to have known Ray Manzarek, who was a proficient musician, and who in turn, knew of two more musicians that eventually became The Doors.Something dark about the performances of Jim Morrison, specially when The End was introduced to the crowds, announcing a different lyrical approach than what was customary at the time. They actually resembled a door that otherwise would have remained closed, but with Jim Morrison at the helm, John Densmore at the drums, and Robbie Krieger at guitar they created a total unique sound, which in their first two albums was at their peak.The authors, James Riordan and Jerry Prochnicky have obviously done extensive research about their subject matter, and it shows. I have always been under the impression that most of these shinning stars, with the passage of time and the consumption of drugs and alcohol, have all found a way to destroy all that was good at one time. The book tries to reason with the sort of madness that would make a person like Jim Morrison start acting the way he later did, which basically brought down the band, and more tragic still, made him loose himself for ever, never regaining what once had been his greatest period.This was definitely the band to watch when they first started, and as they worked like a coherent group, the quality of their material was second to none. Sadly, and this theme repeats itself over and over again, the Strange Days turned into the Crazy Days, and none was a bigger victim than Jim Morrison, which fell head first into the destructive lifestyle that has taken so many great performers away. I like Break On Through a little more than I did No One Gets Out Alive, even though both books were entertaining in showing the immense talent that The Doors had in their reigning days. I can understand how tortured souls in the music business seemed to always find a way to destroy everything they accomplished. The real wonder is the story of those that survived temptations and addictions, and made their music stronger, and more admirable those that were always above the madness that success tends to bring to the uninitiated. The curse expands way beyond the music business, it strikes all the artistic fields perhaps more than any other group. People at the very top falling to the very bottom, and in the way down making everyone around them miserable and resentful. Jim Morrison was no exception. He lost control, and his last years of his very short life, did not bring many rewards, but while he was on top there was no one who could silence an audience and command their attention as he could. All one has to do to realize the intensity of this incredible performer is to listen to The End in the movie Apocalypse Now. What a song! Hauntingly tragic, a journey of serious repercussions led by a visionary with an incredible talent. Like most good things, this band came to a halt much to sooner, according to the authors they run out of material, because the main source of their magic, had drifted away into more corrupted worlds, or maybe it was in the cards. Who really knows? Some of these rock stars seemed to have been around to fulfill a moment in time, like pre conceived pawns of a much greater design. Certainly The Doors came about, and we are the luckier for their time. Also the sadder to watch how easy the house of cards crumbles, card by card. Break on through to the other side, break on through, yeah! 4 Stars.