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UPDATE: Click here to watch the Jim Morrison Interview.
Handwriting by Jim Morrison on a typed letter sent to The Doors frontman by literary agent Sylva Romano, inquiring whether Morrison would be interested in an interview with the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company). Morrison’s handwriting appears at the top and bottom of the letter in both felt and ballpoint; the felt tip portion reads, “He tapes here (portable),” with Morrison adding a line to the upper margin and writing “Next Week.” In ballpoint, Morrison writes the name and phone number of “Tony Thomas,” the CBC Radio interviewer, adds a doodle sketch, and then writes below, “Song Book.” The annotation to the lower border, “interview on May 27, 1970,” is in the hand of The Doors’ office secretary, Katherine Lisciandro.
The typed letter from Romano, one page, 8.5 x 11, Mitchell J. Hamilburg Agency letterhead, May 7, 1970, reads: “Tony Thomas who tapes an interview show for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, saw The Lords and the New Creatures in our office and made inquiries to CBC, who said they'd love to have you as the subject of one of the shows. I think it's an hour-long show—intelligent interviews, and in depth. Please let me know if you'd be interested and available for this. Among other things, it would be a good opportunity to talk to a Canadian audience about your poetry as well as your music. Please call me about this when you get back. Also, I want to get the British rights contract signed, with a couple of amendments I recommend.” In fine condition.
Originates from the collection of Morrison's close friend and UCLA classmate Frank Lisciandro, editor of the documentary film Feast of Friends, and accompanied by a detailed certificate of authenticity signed by Lisciandro, which reads: “On May 7, 1970, Sylva Romano, who worked for the Literary Agency, Mitchell J. Hamilburg, wrote to Jim Morrison passing on a request for an interview from Tony Thomas, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Company…Jim Morrison wrote on the letter four times with two different pens and he added 2 small designs. The CBC interview did take place at The Doors' office on May 27, 1970. Tony Thomas and Morrison had a deep and far ranging conversation on many subjects, including youth culture and Jim’s published writings.
In June or July 1970, several months after the film HWY was finished and post-production work was completed, Jim decided to close the film office. I returned the rented equipment, gathered the boxes of film and sound rolls and trims, and moved them to a storage facility. What was left included posters, books, office and editing items (chairs, an editing table, metal reels, rolls of leader) and miscellaneous notes and papers. I talked with Jim about what to do with these items. After examining what remained, he said he had no use for any of it. He told me that I could have and keep any of the items that still remained in the HWY office. The Tony Thomas letter was one of the items he gave me that day. I have owned the letter with Jim’s words ever since. I certify that the handwritten words on this letter were written by Jim Morrison and are in his own distinctive hand.”
Jim Morrison, age 26 and at the height of his fame, was interviewed for CBC Radio’s Something to Say by Tony Thomas at The Doors Workshop on May 27, 1970, shortly after the publication of his first poetry book, The Lords and the New Creatures. A notoriously difficult interview subject, he was persuaded to speak not only about his music but also his writing, as well as his reflections on youth culture and the cultural climate. Soft-spoken and deliberate, Morrison emerges as an introspective, if at times meandering, subject, with Thomas pressing to frame him as a voice of his generation. The interview aired on September 27, 1970; less than a year later, Morrison died in Paris at age 27.
Selected excerpts from the CBC Radio interview with Thomas capture Morrison thinking through the concerns of his time, observations that resonate today. Asked what young people ‘worship’ or ‘hope for,’ he points to continuity, ‘a joy of existence, self discovery, freedom.’ On student unrest, he frames it not as an anomaly but as a pattern, noting that ‘every revolution has started with students and spread to workers.’
Perhaps most prescient is his response to the Thomas question: ‘Life does seem to become more and more involved and complex. We’re becoming computerized and dehumanized in that process. That bugs me. I wonder how it bothers you and your generation.’
Morrison: ‘There does seem to be a trend toward a return to a kind of primitive outlook on life, a more tribal attitude and I think it’s a natural reaction to industrialization, but unfortunately it’s kind of naive because I think the future is going to become increasingly mechanized, computerized as you call it and I don’t think there’s any turning back. It’s just figuring out a way to survive and thrive in that kind of society. But I don’t think there’s any chance of going back.’
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