While the 1960s were the era of superstar partnerships, they were far from pleasant. The golden period of rock is littered with tales of furious rivalry, backstabbing, and the odd drunken brawl. Two of the scene’s most prominent figures, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, were guilty of all three of these things. But why did they despise each other so much? The solution lies in a jam session held in 1968.
The Summer of Love may have been in full swing when Hendrix and Morrison met on stage at the ultra-cool New York club The Scene, but peace and love were not on the menu. Several well-known figures, including Janis Joplin, were in the audience that night. Lester Chambers, the Chamber Brothers’ vocalist, was also in attendance. He recalled: “We were the house band at the Cheetah Club, just a few blocks away on Broadway.
When we were finished with the Cheetah, we would head over to the Steve Paul Scene. You’d walk in from the street, down four or five steps, and you’d be inside the club. It was a small place, maybe a hundred people at most, so you could mingle with anyone who was there. John Lennon, Johnny Winter, Buddy Miles; if Janis Joplin was in town, she’d be there; Al Kooper of the Blues Project was frequently present.
After the final act concluded their show, the servers would clear the tables and lead the diners back to their cars, where they would begin their lengthy drive back to the suburbs. The real fun would begin once the stage was cleaned and the performers mingled in the dressing rooms. Slowly but steadily, they descended on stage, initiating long jams, drawing stars like Jimi Hendrix to join.
Shortly after Hendrix arrived, leaping onto the stage to fill in on guitar, Jim Morrison of The Doors walked in, blind drunk and ready to fight. Stumbling onto the stage, Morrison exhibited clear signs of intoxication: slurred speech, heavy-lidded eyes, and an unsteady gait. “Jim could be an ornery character when he wanted. He was direct and confrontational. But everyone was at that time.”
However, Morrison’s attitude rubbed Hendrix the wrong way, and he reportedly took an instant dislike to him. “Jimi was quite different from Morrison. “He had a lovely vibe about him,” Weber added. “He was quite shy and reserved. Jimi was the same soft-spoken man when he spoke to ladies. Morrison was abrupt and said anything he wanted.
Morrison walked over to Janis Joplin, sat next to her, and pulled her hair down to the floor before he had even purchased a drink. The bottle of Southern Comfort, propelled by Joplin’s rage, shattered against his body, sending a spray of glass and liquor flying. Morrison, seemingly unharmed, went onto the stage where Hendrix and the others were performing. He began wailing, absolutely unable to hold a tune in his drunken state. “He was so drunk he had to hold on to the mic stand, and every once in a while, he’d go: “Oooooooh! Waughhhhhh! “Awoweee,” Chambers recalled. “At one point, Jimi said: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the sound of Jim Morrison‘”.
Morrison determined not to allow Jimi Hendrix to have the final laugh, tried an even cruder tactic: he went down on his knees and gave Hendrix a faux blowjob. “So Morrison has his arms around Jimi’s legs and is still screaming, ‘I wanna sck your cck!'” Danny Fields, Elektra Records’ publicist who attended the concert, recounted. “He was quite loud. And Hendrix was still trying to play. Morrison would not let go. It was a tasteless display of scene-stealing, something Morrison enjoyed. To top it all off, Janis, who had been sitting at the back of the room, noticed what was happening. She arrived at the edge of the stage with a bottle in one hand and her drink in the other.
The performance concluded with the three musicians battling in a pile on the floor, Jimi going for Morrison, Morrison swinging for Joplin, and vice versa. Finally, someone had to pull them offstage. Morrison found himself battered and bruised after absorbing a furious barrage from Hendrix and Joplin. I suppose that’s what you get for diverting attention away from the music.
