Fact #113651

Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist, Jefferson Airplane) : I remember that when we were in Amsterdam, Jim Morrison - may he rest in peace - ate a block of hash or something, and had to be taken to hospital. Their keyboard player Ray Manzarek - may he rest in peace - went on that night and sang all the songs and sounded exactly the same as Morrison.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black, Sep 2014)

Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) : Amsterdam was very much like San Francisco at the time. All the buildings were painted the same way, in the psychedelic sense if you want to talk about that, the business of having the door frame yellow, the doors red, the frames around the windows are blue, and the walls are purple, and there's bongs in all four corners of the room.

And in Amsterdam also drugs are legal.

There was one main street where they had shops of our kind, which means the psychedelic stuff- hand made tie-dye, beads and that kind of stuff- and we're walking down this street, both bands.

The kids would offer us drugs, everything, drugs of all kinds, so you say `thankyou very much`, put it in your pocket, maybe have a little bit of that later, but you don't take everything you're given because otherwise you'll be dead. Jim, on the other hand took everything that was given to him, on the spot.

Steve Sparks (The Doors road crew) : I';m taking Jim Morrison round, dragging him out of those rooms with the ladies in the windows. I took him to a bar and I was trying to drink my drink and half of his when he's not looking, cos the man could really drink. This kid comes up and says, 'You';re Jim Morrison.' So Jim Morrison says, 'Yes.' The kid puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a lump of hashish about half the size of a matchbox. Now, I knew what was going to happen, and the kid knew what was going to happen, and it was like a frozen moment. I went for it, and Jim went for it and he was nearer than I was and he got there before I did, picked it up and swallowed it.
(Source : Days In The Life by Jonathon Green, Minerva Books, 1988)

I walked him back to the hotel and then we went to the gig... By now he's tripping just a little bit, and the Airplane were on and he ran onto the stage and started dancing.

Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) : We were playing in Amsterdam and Jim came out in the middle of our set - we would trade off, we'd open one night, they'd open the next night. We were opening and Jim came out in our set, somewhat drug abused, and started doing almost like Sufi dancing, to Plastic Fantastic Lover, which is a pretty fast song for us, and getting really wild and having a good time.

Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane) : Jim had his arms over his head and was spinning in circle like a flamenco dancer. I'm singing and he's dancing, and we were circling each other, wrapping the microphone cord around us.
(Source : BAM magazine, date unknown)

Paul Kantner : We, in our perverse manner, started playing faster, just because he sort of invaded our turf. We didn't consult ourselves, it just occured, and it was amusing, and he went faster and faster and then he collapsed, and he couldn't do the show.

Marty Balin : We unravelled at a perfect place in the song, Jim looked at me real funny and then CRASH! - he dropped to the floor. I finished the song leaning over him. He was totally out. He wasn't moving.

Steve Sparks : Marty Balin of The Airplane was absolutely not pleased.. He (Morrison) was then carted off to hospital in a portable oxygen tent.

Paul Kantner : Then when we were in our dressing room, we heard Jim was sick or something.

Then the Doors started- we heard The Doors coming from out on the stage, so we went to check them out.

There was no Morrison out there, and quietly Ray is there behind singing "baby you could light my fire", probably having never done it before.

Grace Slick : The man is amazing, because I've watched him, and heard other stories about him having to do things that are just increddible.

I dont know of another band where the keyboard player would all of a sudden take over the show, and sing, and play the piano and get all the phrasing right without probably having ever done it before.
(Source : http://newdoorstalk.proboards.com/thread/1684/doors-concertgebouw-amsterdam-sep-1968)

Ray Manzarek (organist, The Doors) : What a show that was. I'll never forget seeing Jim Morrison carried out on a stretcher ... It's an interesting story ... We were in Germany and we were playing with Canned Heat and Canned Heat was doing a lot of hash ... "The Bear" had given Jim this large chunk of hash at the airport ... And we're about to cross a border ... And a rock and roll band and a bunch of "long-hairs" ... You know we're gonna get searched. So, our manager came up to us and said, "If anyone's got any dope then for God's sake ... get rid of it. We're going into Holland ... Get rid of it ... We're not gonna cross a border with anyone carrying anything" ... So Jim reached into his coat pocket and "Woops ... I've got this ball of hash ... Well,I guess I'll get rid of it ...gulp!"...And he shoved it into his mouth before any of us could anything. We all went, "Jim ... Oh ... No!" ... So, he started drinking on the airplane. Had a few drinks to wash it down you know ... We got to Amsterdam and he was no doubt feeling the effects of it by then ... And had a few more drinks at the hotel and was starting to get really out there ... We went to the auditorium and Jefferson Airplane was playing ... we were gonna go on second and then they were gonna go an again and we would go on again. It was two sets for each group ... By the time Jim got to the auditorium he was just blitzed ... absolutely gone ... Went on stage with the Jefferson Airplane ... Started dancing around in the middle of their set. He started singing with Grace Slick and hugging her ... I think he pinched her on the bottom or tried to do some obscene gesture with Grace Slick ... And then he finally sort of ... after five minutes ... danced off the stage. Went back into the dressing room and passed out cold ... Everyone tried to revive him, "Jim ... Jim!". Jefferson Airplane finished up their set, "Jim ... Jim!". The equipment is being changed ... Our equipment is ready to go and they've called the paramedics. The ambulance people come and take one look at him and say, "Listen, there's no way this guy's gonna go on. Are you kidding ... He can't go on and sing. We're taking him to hospital" ... They put him on a stretcher. They wrapped him up in a rubber sheet. They put an oxygen mask on his face ... I walked into the dressing room ... five minutes before it's time to go on stage ... And I walk in going, "Jim ... It's time to ..." And there goes Jim being carried out by two people. They put him into an ambulance, hit the siren and drove off. John and Robbie and I look at each other and go, "Wait a minute we're supposed to go on in two minutes" ... Our roadie is saying, "C'mon ... c'mon ... we're ready" ... "We're ready" ... What will we do.We've got two sets to do tonight ... And our manager said, "You can't cancel ... Just go out there and do it. You guys go out there" ... "Us ... well, we know the songs" ... And I said, "Okay Vince ... Give me a vocal mike". Put a mike on a boom - put it over the keyboards. "Give Robbie a vocal mike and we'll just go out and hope that everyone accepts the fact that Jim Morrison's not here ... Let's not say anything about it. Let's just go out and start to play ... Hopefully they won't really notice" ... And we got through it. They didn't notice. Nobody said, "Hey where's Morrison".
(Source : http://forum.johndensmore.com/index.php?showtopic=1062)

Ray Manzarek (keyboards, The Doors] : What a show that was. I'll never forget seeing Jim Morrison carried out on a stretcher. It's an interesting story. We were in Germany and we were playing with Canned Heat, and Canned Heat was doing a lot of hash.

"The Bear" had given Jim this large chunk of hash at the airport ... and we're about to cross a border. And a rock and roll band and a bunch of "long-hairs", you know we're gonna get searched. So, our manager came up to us and said, "If anyone's got any dope then for God's sake, get rid of it. We're going into Holland, Europe. Get rid of it. We're not gonna cross a border with anyone carrying anything"

So Jim reached into his coat pocket and "Woops, I've got this ball of hash. Well, I guess I'll get rid of it ...gulp!"... And he shoved it into his mouth before any of us could do anything. We all went, "Jim! Oh, No!" So, he started drinking on the airplane. Had a few drinks to wash it down, you know. We got to Amsterdam and he was no doubt feeling the effects of it by then, and had a few more drinks at the hotel and was starting to get really out there.

We went to the auditorium and Jefferson Airplane was playing. We were gonna go on second and then they were gonna go on again and we would go on again. It was two sets for each group. By the time Jim got to the auditorium he was just blitzed. Absolutely gone.

Went on stage with the Jefferson Airplane. Started dancing around in the middle of their set. He started singing with Grace Slick and hugging her. I think he pinched her on the bottom or tried to do some obscene gesture with Grace Slick. And then he finally sort of, after five minutes, danced off the stage. Went back into the dressing room and passed out cold.

Everyone tried to revive him, "Jim! Jim!". Jefferson Airplane finished up their set, "Jim! Jim!". The equipment is being changed. Our equipment is ready to go and they've called the paramedics. The ambulance people come and take one look at him and say, "Listen, there's no way this guy's gonna go on. Are you kidding? He can't go on and sing. We're taking him to hospital." They put him on a stretcher. They wrapped him up in a rubber sheet. They put an oxygen mask on his face. I walked into the dressing room, five minutes before it's time to go on stage, and I walk in going, "Jim, It's time to ..." And there goes Jim being carried out by two people.

They put him into an ambulance, hit the siren and drove off. John and Robbie and I look at each other and go, "Wait a minute we're supposed to go on in two minutes." Our roadie is saying, "C'mon, c'mon, we're ready. We're ready." What will we do? We've got two sets to do tonight.

And our manager said, "You can't cancel. Just go out there and do it. You guys go out there.Us? Well, we know the songs." And I said, "Okay, Vince, give me a vocal mike. Put a mike on a boom - put it over the keyboards. Give Robbie a vocal mike and we'll just go out and hope that everyone accepts the fact that Jim Morrison's not here.

So we told them. Well, that's probably why they were so nice about it and said, "Well, okay, just go ahead and play some Doors' songs." You know, they didn't really care as long as they got to hear Light My Fire, and they did. So everything worked out very nicely, but it was the hardest night of The Doors' career.
(Source : not known)