The Strange Deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin

The Strange Deaths of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin

Is it just a coincidence that three of the biggest names in rock - Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin - should all die within a year? Director / writer Larry Buchanan doesn't think so. He believes Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were murdered and Jim Morrison faked his own death. Mr. Buchanan wrote and directed the film "Beyond The Doors" which explores the mysterious deaths of the three superstars. And, when it comes to movie-making, Larry Buchanan is no slouch. He's been in the business for 30 years now. Most of his work was done for American International Pictures. He gave Morgan Fairchild her first job in a picture - with Fabian. He also gave Steve McQueen his first job in a film, on a short subject, called "The Cowboy". Mr. Buchanan also knew Marilyn Monroe. In the history of rock 'n roll only three names - Morrison, Hendrix, and Joplin - stand alongside of Elvis and The Beatles. Did the music of Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin get them killed? If so, why? And how did it happen? Let filmmaker Larry Buchanan take you on an exploration of the seamier side of rock 'n roll - a world "Beyond The Doors".

Q - How did you first become interested in the lives of Jim, Jimi, and Janis?

A - Too many things started to line up like ducks in a row on the three rock stars. The only one I knew was Janis. We were making these films in Dallas. One of her last concerts was in Lewisville, which is just north of Dallas, near Lake Dallas. We shot movies all around there. And so, my unit went out to do this on their own. They were just being paid to shoot the concert. So, I went out. I started talking to her and some things just started to match up with what I'd heard about Morrison and Hendrix. That is, that all three of them were under surveillance and being tapped. At that time, Nixon was desperately afraid of not being re-elected. There was legislation ready for passage, which it did pass, where 18-year-olds were to get to vote. Well, these were the King and Queen of Rock and the Heir Apparent to Rock - Morrison. Hendrix, Morrison, and Janis could actually make a difference-on an 18-year-old vote, with Nixon being out of the White House. It was that simple. So, they were to be followed and discredited. They started gathering stuff on them. Their excesses with sex, their excesses with drugs. Their income tax problems. Everything you could think of. They started building up folders on these people. It got so desperate that the word came down - Exterminate with Extreme Prejudice. In other words, these people are to be, the word they used, is neutralized. Neutralized means get rid of them. And the word quote is this: "They must go in the way they are expected to go." For example, Janis must take vodka with orange juice loaded with poison. She took one of those in the motel and went on the floor. Hendrix choked on his own vomit in an ambulance on the way to a hospital. Now remember, these people are not idiots. They had dealt with drugs all their lives. The idea of Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix overdosing - they did not overdose on anything. They were fixed. They were worked through this thing. In other words, it looks so simple. All we get is a cable from London - Jimi Hendrix, overdosed on drugs, dead. Janis Joplin, overdosed on drugs, dead. That's all you hear. You start peeking into it and you find it just doesn't add up. They didn't get Morrison. He escaped. He got through the tunnel. It had to be the work of the 'Thirty-Nine Steps.' These are ex-F.B.I., ex-NSA, and ex-C.I.A. They are funded for the rest of this century. They were originally funded by Jack Kennedy's father. A very wealthy man, and a very sinister person, to make sure his boys made it. Nothing could stand in the way. These are power mad people. Like Lyndon Johnson, who was successor to the throne of the Kennedys in power. So these people had to be eliminated. And that's what happened.

Q - And Morrison?

A - My wife and I went to Paris, to visit the Pere La Chaise cemetery. Now this is where Balzac is buried, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and Jim Morrison. The man who let us in did not want to talk to us, but because we had a friend with us, he confirmed a story about Ray Manzarek (Doors keyboard player). Manzarek has been recorded in several books as having stood on that grave and said, 'Jim is not here.' Now that is an actual quote. I didn't hear him. I'm only telling you I've seen it in print. This man told me that's true. 
© Gary James