Rare Lost Footage Of Jim Morrison From November 1970 Right Before He Left For Paris 

I saw the Doors at the Whiskey in 1967. Wow. I was and am a huge fan. I was surprised in the '90s when my son told me his favorite guitarist was Robby Krieger. I told him about when I'd seen them play. A few months later I saw that Robby's band was coming to town so I bought tickets for me and my son. The concert was great and I told my son we were going backstage to see Robbie. We got back there fine and Robbie was so nice to my son, showing him things on the guitar. For both Jim's lyrics and the band's fantastic musicality they were my fav band of the '60s. Cream and the Beatles were right up there, too.

For those wondering where these scenes were filmed, and as someone born and raised in the area of Santa Barbara, California, I can see where the footage starts at the La Conchita area on highway 101 north of Ventura, with continued driving up the coastal backcountry. It then picks up at Hearst Castle at San Simeon, with Jim touring the estate like any other sightseer. After that you see him driving the back roads to, and then through Solvang (aka America's little Denmark). Note the tudor style buildings in the background as he drives through town. Finally, you see him in the area just south of Neverland Ranch, near Santa Ynez, then driving past Lake Cachuma, up the back side of the mountains behind Santa Barbara on highway 154.

You know, for the most part, he kept his eyes on the road, his hands upon the wheel. Go figure.

Been listening to him since the beginning. Saw him live, Minneapolis, 1968. 71 now and will not stop playing his music until the end. I am grateful.

Its been 50 years ago this month that he went to the other side, I hope he found the peace he could not find on earth, RIP JIM, cheers 🥂

This is a tired and joyless Jim. And we never saw him again. Thanks for this...it is lovely although sad.

When she got a close up of his face, you can see how young he still was, but beat up at the same time. I lived that life, now I’m paying for it with excruciating nerve damage. While it’s sad he had to leave us, I’m glad he didn’t have to suffer like this. Under the heading “Fates worse than death”. RIP Mr. Mojo Risin

I am 68 and Jim has haunted my thoughts since I was 12 years old. I bought tickets to see the Doors for $5.00, but the concert was canceled due to the accusation that he exposed himself on stage. They did not even refund the ticket price. I have been angry that they cancelled the concert since I wanted to see the so badly.

Jim has turned into a myth, a long lost folk hero. Seeing him at 0:47 kinda made me smile. Just a normal dude enjoying the sites and a bean burrito.

Jim looks sad and a bit depressed not his usual self.. rest in peace Jim ..love you till the day i die

Will never forget first hearing the Doors as a teenager in the 60's. Morrison's voice so powerful, so haunting. Such an amazing talent - a poet at such at young age. Maybe "this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you."

There a real 'End of the Pier' sadness to this as Jim is seeing these places for the last time in his life before he went to Paris, not to return.

His eyes have a look of sadness. Pondering something important almost to the point of depression. He's OK now that he's moved over to a more beautiful place in body mind and soul.

A lot of us still love Jim. I often wonder what Jim would say to things that happen in my day to day life. I never knew him, but I miss him.

I was in seventh grade when he died. I remember the older kids being affected, but it didn’t mean as much to me due to my age. A few years later, I became a big listener of THE DOORS. Music historians often pan Morrison and say that he couldn’t sing. As with everything else, it is in the eye/ear of the beholder. He was really good. That’s why his music and singing still impacts people 50 years later. RIP.

It’s best Jim left the world when he did. Now, he’s almost mythical, forever young and mysterious...never to be understood or figured out.

There's something about the early 70s that feels so nostalgic.

Jim definitely looks spent in a few of these scenes. True legend. Having that much talent in one body is hard to keep together im sure.

He was sad you could see it in his eyes. Saw it in many different situations. May he be a peace now.

Reading his eyes and body language it felt like he knew he was looking at the views for the last time. Just Heartwrenching!!!!

I don’t know why we all mysteriously attached to him 🌻💫what a man 🙏

Jim - away from the spotlight. George Harrison once said words to the effect that - nobody knew his (George's) life. There were only a couple of hundred hours of footage that was his 'artistic' / public life. The rest was lived in private and never seen recorded or seen by anyone. Jim once said "I live an anonymous life in an anonymous city'". Right on.

I'm probably the only one that notices what town he is driving in/by. The town of Solvang, California - A Danish town - is the town he is driving in. The Lake you see at the end of this clip is Lake Cachuma off of Hwy 154, which is the San Marcos Pass. I'm a 100% sure of what I just said because I went to a small boarding school in the Santa Ynez Valley and I know the area very well.

"I live uptown, I live downtown....I live all around" - Jim Morrison

There is something nostalgically - mystical in this beautiful footage ..!!!

Jim Morrison. He walked among us...

He was looking pretty tired in this. Still, it's good to see footage like this, wish there was more. It's also hard to believe that this was nearly 50 years ago!

Many years ago, I went to the Whisky for a tribute night on what would have been Jim's 50th birthday. Here we are rolling up on the 50th Anniversary of his death already (July 3). Amazing footage. The shot of him with the taco makes me smile and sad at the same time.

In Jim's time living in Paris, he lost a significant amount of weight and also shaved off the beard. In the last photos of him he looks much younger and in better shape....pretty much the way he looked before this period.

Made my eyes well up with tears. I was born in 74, and always felt a strange kind of longing for the 60s and for the time before my birth. I especially felt that way in the 90s when I was in my 20s. I don’t believe in death. I believe in change. Movement. The opposite of life is stagnancy, not death. So I figure the ‘time’ I long for is the experience I lived before this one. I’ve been sad all my life this time around. I’ll be moving on in the next 10 years. Not meant to stay. I was never meant to stay.

I'm French, just turned 23 Last year, I had the privilege to come into the apartment where Jim died Almost nothing changed through the years When you look through the window that's just in front of the bathtub, you can see the beautiful view of Paris Jim saw right before he passed away

I remember hearing of Morrison’s death on the radio. I was still upset about Jimi Hendrix and Janice a few months earlier, all 27 years old. I loved The Doors and realized that this was the end of the summer of love.

Look at his eyes he is so sad.

He’s a poet who loved cars… Driving up the coast somewhere…. We’re lucky we caught a glimpse of the Man… Love Ya Jim….

Jim was troubled you can see it in his eyes here. Dead man walking shows by his tired lazy steps. No wonder he left for Paris. Sad he is gone but he will remain beautiful and young forever.

The Doors are one of the greatest bands of all time, R.I.P Jim and Ray

You almost feel like he may be trying to get his head straight. Probably not. There's a little bit of retrospection in his eyes. Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison. What if...

I always wonder if Jim would have ever come back from France. I just don't believe he would have willingly turned himself into corrupt Florida authorities so they could teach the hippie rock star a lesson. He was a one of a kind.

For those of you projecting that Jim was just a dead man walking here: he wrote and recorded LA Woman (most of it) after this footage was taken. Many consider LA Woman to be their best record, or second best behind the debut album. The changeling still had plenty in the tank. I’m not denying that he was an alcoholic in need of rehab. Just pointing out that, as a football player once observed, hindsight is 50-50.

It's sad to see such great, impactful artists so troubled.

He does seem sad - or defeated. Not sure but there's a feeling of maybe somber resignation when you watch him here. So profound within the context of his life at that time and what he had been through, and what was ahead. Maybe a new start as was hoped... but the end is always near and perhaps he had a sense of death... or he was ready to make the world believe he was dead. See I think Jim knew everything was fucked. The world. America. The future. Fucked. That is a heavy burden. He was a genius. Fearless Artist. True Visionary. Hated authority due to his strict military upbringing by his parents - so he railed against anything that felt smothering to him. Like he said himself... if his poetry aims to achieve anything, it's to deliver people from the limited ways in which they think and feel. People werent paying fkn attention to what he was sayimg though. Let's face it, the wrong people have power in this world and mankind is lost in a wilderness of pain. He tried to tell us. He screamed it. He lived it. Took it's toll. This sort of profound tragedy happens to great artists and visionaries. Tortured souls with the best of intentions. In a sense, they die for us.

Incredible that Jim was only 27 here. At the end of his life he looked like a war veteran in his 40's. Dude had been through it.

He was aware of being filmed. So he was probably not portraying his normal behavior. Although quite subdued. He did seem very interested in the sights he visited!

0:46 the monk bought lunch!

Definitely recognize all these roads and Hearst Castle. What a trip to be a tourist with him.

He’s more myth than actual man now .....sad everyone thinks they know or has there opinion of what’s the “real” Jim ......I think he was all of those things and that’s what made him so relatable and human

The bits where he’s driving... he look like he is really trying to concentrate just enough to stop crashing the car.

In November 1970 the Doors started production on the LA Woman LP. Morrison left for Paris in early 1971 following completion of the album

He had a cute nose. He seemed like a realistically good human to be around, and I thank whoever captured this, although I could feel the deep sadness through the screen while he was driving. Definitely curious to know what was going through his head. I think the people around him could've done a better job at checking in on him emotionally/mentally, as this was prior to his passing.

Man was gone when I was a kid but sure liked his music 🎵

That’s the jacket he wore at the Isle of Wight festival that August.

Great footage. Btw, it wasn't "right before" he left for Paris, it was about 4 months, as he left the States in March 1971. It was, however, right before he did his last two shows with The Doors, in Dallas and New Orleans, in Dec. 1970. Thanks for this.

I can relate to this video on so many levels. The overwhelming vibes are plain to see 😟

It was worth watching. He seems like a regular person just going for a drive.

I think a lot of people are misdiagnosing Jim's emotional state. I don't think he is showing signs of being depressed at all. At this point in his life, he was making major steps to step back from the limelight and just be quietly functioning in the background. He was actually quite a quiet, shy and humble guy within his own private life. You can clearly see the point I'm making at this point in his artistic career that by the actions he took to grow a beard, walk behind people in an unassuming way, being very quiet around other people, not trying to stand out, and especially on the L.A. Woman album - he made a special effort to slump lower then his band members on that Album cover. No, divorced from his public persona, Jim was truly a respectful, quiet, reflective, humble man.

The doors were really peeking before he died. Think of all the great albums that were never made because of his death

The Good Old Days Jim Morrison was alive and Lake Cachuma was full

In case you're wondering, the song is by: Picklebacks & Blow - 'A song for chicky'

Over the past 30 years I have seen a number of, Jim Morrison lost footage or lost recordings. Most of them often have one thing in common. He is drunk. In this one he pleasantly did not appear to be drunk.

Amazing footage.

Our granddaughter is a huge Doors fan

Jim's female companion on this trip was Charlotte Stewart. Something like 30 books have been written about Jim and none of them mentions Charlotte. Its always Pam. It makes wonder how accurate those books are.

He was young yet moved with such a world-weary air, like somebody who has seen it all. But clearly he was brooding upon the Miami trial, the thought of imprisonment would have weighed heavily on him. Like Oscar Wilde he sought flight ✈️ to Paris and seek sweet oblivion in its comforting arms and an eternal bed in the Perelachaise in the City of Lights 🇫🇷❤️🇫🇷

Although the music could have been better this footage is priceless. Morrison looked like a nice guy with issues. An oddball with his own internal world.

He looked like his soul was gone

Proves one thing several months before he left for Paris (Pam being in Paris at the time)he did interview with Canadian radio station, sounded humbled, intuitive, knowledgeable and intelligent about question's asked 🤔 I'll just say seems to me he had his thoughts in the right place but you always stay surrounded by friends and family when you decide to start writing poetry and books 🙏R.I.P. Jim and Pam Morrison 😎 Love and miss you 😔

He has the perfect face, cant even hide his beauty in that beard.

thanx for posting this, I think Jim was interesting and very intelligent, some of the most unique music I have ever enjoyed. we miss you Jim.

Jim, R.I.P. The "Doors" is Forever!❤

All I can say is WOW...I was around Dennis Wilson quite a bit in the months leading up to his drowning at the marina and he had almost the exact same look, demeanor and depression as Morrison shows in this video. The two also looked very similar with the beards and being such handsome guys that every teenage girl on the face of the planet adored. What a tragedy that two of the greatest rock artists and really sensitive souls would meet such horrible fates so young...RIP Jim and Dennis....

Talk about being in a zombie like state. Jim is obviously not altogether, in this footage. I mean he seems very depressed, can tell even by the way he walks in slow motion, not chattering like you would normally see him. He was an engaging person but seems like he is very withdrawn, like he was at Isle of Wight.

He could've been happy. If people had just respected his space and his privacy, and let him be to write his poetry, he might still be alive. But Jim was running away from the successful career he never wanted. A fascinating, intelligent, misunderstood, and beautiful man, the Machine was too much for him. He was done trying to make everyone else happy because it took everything out of him. The record company wanted another "hit" and the rest of The Doors couldn't function without him. The pressure must have been on an unfathomable level, and his natural talents just couldn't keep up. He was, after all, just a man of flesh and blood. Jim was an enigma who kept putting forth the riddles, wrapped in a mystery. And the legacy of music and most importantly, the words he left for us, is timeless. No one ever did it like Jim Morrison.

While driving he was thinking.. I was doing time In the universal mind I was feeling fine I was turning keys I was setting people free I was doing all right Then you came along With a suitcase and a song Turned my head around Now I'm so alone Just looking for a home In every place I see I'm the freedom man I'm the freedom man I'm the freedom man That's how lucky I am I was doing time In the universal mind I was feeling fine I was turning keys I was setting people free I was doing all right Then you came along With a suitcase and a song Turned my head around Now I'm so alone Just looking for a home In every place I see I'm the freedom man That’s how lucky I am.

This footage reminds me of the video posted on here of jim being interviewed in may 1970 where the interviewer said to 26 year old jim how he's young, and he said "nah, i'm over the hill". This footage certainly backs that up. Probably felt like a tired old man who'd lived many lifetimes. "Well, I'm an old blues man, and I think that you understand. I've been singing the blues ever since the world began".

Look into his eyes that jim see further than the road 🤧🤧🤟🏻🤟🏻🇨🇦

are we not going to discuss how fire this beat is lol

He has the look of an exhausted,tired young man I would think by this point in his life,the band, music,touring,drugs, alcohol had really put him thru the wringer. I don't think he had much time in the previous years to do any film making or art,and for an artist not to keep moving, being obligated to stay in a rut and expected to do the same thing over and over can cause a suicide of the mind if changes are not made. Just thinking out loud about Jim Morrison.

Thanks for the clip. The future is never certain but the end is always near!

God Bless you May you RIP Beautiful Sweet and Talented Jim Morrison. 🙏🙏🙏🙏💗💗💗💗

I think he left for Paris in March 1971 , cause he and the Doors did two U.S. concerts in December 1970 and in February 1971, Jim Morrison was interviewed by Ben Fong , his last interview.

He definitely seems melancholy. Miami would have been weighing on his mind. Jim had no intention of doing time. Paris would be his escape route. Like Rimbaud escaping to Africa. Did he genuinely want to make it a writer in Paris or did he know he would die there ? Only Jim would know that. And he still is in Paris after half a century now ?❤

I believe this footage was taken by actress Charlotte Stewart, who played Miss Beadle on Little House on the Prairie.

YES !!!! HE WAS ANXIOUS AND DEPRESSED !!!! FROM BIRTH , IT SEEMS ' LIKE !!!! I NEVER SEEN HIM SMILE TO MUCH !!!!!!!! MAYBE IF HE WAS DRUNK !!!! 💯

The doors for me are the best band that came from USA there music was unreal glad they didn't get a replacement singer that's wot makes them immortal Jim voice was brilliant America should put them a the top not grateful dead and others

Man I love that Jacket. I wonder what became of a lot of his belongings

Wow! I have never viewed this video before! Jim driving up the 101 right into my neighborhood! Slo county.. I not only visited Pere Lechaise in 96 but definitely walked those very steps at " The old man's castle". Rest In Peace Jim.

First time seeing film footage of him where he wasn't joking around. laughing or smiling. He looked subdued.

Driving his Lost 68 Mustang GT ... if you find that car you just got rich, people have been searching for it since his death some say he left it smashed into a tree on Hollywood Blvd and some say he left it at long term parking at the LA airport when he left for France .. it has never been found and is worth a fortune to collectors.

The public may not be aware, but Morrison was considering opening up a drivers school, and this must be some of the test footage. He was very considerate and skillful behind the wheel. Seriously.

I was opening act for Robbie on most of the 90's gigs. He had his son, Waylon, and famed Motown guitarist, Wah-Wah Watson in his band then. I had known Robbie in Laurel Canyon in the 70's. We played Trancas, maybe House Of Blues, McCabe's. We did some venues in NY, as well.

I wonder if we are seeing THE CRYSTAL SHIP in the background in the opening moments. Legend has it that the Ship is an islandlike oil rig, with blast furnaces, parked of the California coast.

Have loved Jim since I was 15. His face was beautiful before the alcohol took over. I also believe fame can destroy people. They never can enjoy life by themselves which all people need and deserve it. 27 ! He could've had so much more !!! I miss him and know that his spirit is happy somewhere in some form of energy.

This is the greatest footage of the doors front man Jim Morrison

Someone commented he wore that jacket at the Isle of Wight concert in august. This footage is from right before he left to Paris. There's a picture of him and Pam on a Parisian terrace having fries and a beer. In that picture Jim wears the blouse he has on in this footage. I remember because I thought why would he wear a pink blouse tucked in with a sweater hanging over his shoulders? It's a little like those pictures of a movie star sporting a track suit. You forget they're just like you and I when they lead their private lives.

Too much Fame too soon Jim was a unique talent

I want Jim Morrison to be an old man right now, alive and kicking. Some of you who actually say it is best he died then because he was just too talented and not for this world blah blah? He was afraid. He was person. He wanted to live to an old age, if you actually listened to him you would know that and be praying for his Soul. I've been a fan since I was 9, I am 44. I never liked that he died.

This is great. It looks like they went up to tour the amazing Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA (Xanadu in "Citizen Kane"), then traveled back down the gorgeous coastline into Solvang which is the cool little Dutch town shown briefly driving through. Then they continued back through the scenic San Ynez valley...it's a great California drive if you've never been.

I see Jim driving up Alisal Rd in Solvang. I go there often. Great town.

I loved him .... someone darker than me

Always loved his music ! 😀❤️✌️