Posted in: Rock by JohnKing on June 22, 2009 | 4 Comments
Morrison was reknown as a showman, but was it all an act? This article is regarding two theories about his falling down in the middle of concerts.
It has been speculated in a book I read that Jim Morrison may have suffered from petit mal epilepsy. According to Stephen Davis, a Morrison biographer this may have been the cause of his blackouts on stage. If this were so, then it may also explain several other things as well. In school, Morrison was known for passing out in hallways, later in life he was known to pass out in the middle of concerts.
I have to say that it is possible, but then there is also another possibility. According to Tandy Martin, Jim had started drinking by their junior year in High School. Therefore it is possible his blackouts may well have been alcohol induced and not the result of illness at all.
In the years of research I have done, I have found a balanced amount of evidence supporting both theories. I personally subscribe to the possibility that it was a combination of the two, Jim began having blackouts as early as fourteen so unless he was already drinking by then I think the petit mal theory is likely plausible and that the later alcoholism compounded the problem.
Was he ill? or was his life just ill fated due to his personal choices? We may never really know.
It’s always sad when young talents pass through this world too soon though.
to Phil June 23rd, 2009 at 3:50 pm
hey phil, read Jim Morrison:Life,Death,Legend, that’s the one John’s talking about, it’s from Stephen Davis
John June 23rd, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Hey Phil how are you? Thanks for reading….Morrison was no angel,but then who is?
c shillings July 27th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
what epilepsy? He was high in most of his videos, it was the drugs that made him pass out stupid people
JohnKing July 28th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hello C., the Epilepsy theory came from Stephen Davis, and there is no need to call people “stupid”. I am fully aware that Morrison did a lot of drugs, but he began passing out as early as 14 years old, it is believed that he had an undiagnosed case of petit mal epilepsy, which is characterized by loss of consciousness, not seizures. I thoroughly researched this before writing the article.
Rather than call people names, why not read the book by Stephen Davis, you’ll learn something.