Hard to imagine that such a larger than life icon like Jim Morrison was just another transfer student to UCLA before he formed the Doors. Attending the school starting in '64, he studied film although it seems music was more his thing. A professor who taught one of his film classes described him as "a loner" and "narcissistic." She also said his student film lacked any narrative. By chance he ran into a UCLA alum with a Masters in Film, Ray Manzarek, and they joined to form the Doors because neither one was doing jack with their degree. If there was ever a good example of how doing something different than what you graduated with is a good thing, I think this is it.

We don't know what was really going on in Morrison's head, but I liked trying to piece it together. The immortality of his words, the mystery of his existence appealed to my sense of fantasy.

Morrison's voice was a beautiful pond for anything to drown in. Whatever he sang became as deep as he was. He had the unnameable thing that people will always be drawn to. I've always thought of the Doors as the first punk band, even more than the Stooges or the Ramones. They didn't sound anything like punk rock, but Morrison outshined everyone else when it came to rebellion and not playing by anyone's rules. There are a lot of bands that seem to want to sound like the Doors filtered through grunge or neogrunge -- whatever it is. But it's all just ideas pasted on ideas, faded copies of copies. If you want to be like Jim Morrison, you can't be anything like Jim Morrison. It's about finding your own place in the world.