Frank Sinatra wanted to take out Jim Morrison: “We ought to let that guy have an accident”
As beloved as Jim Morrison and The Doors have always been as a frontman and band combination, there were certainly a number of fierce detractors of the band while they were active in the 1960s and ‘70s.
There was always a sense of arrogance and bravado about Morrison’s stage presence, and understandably, having such a confrontational way of performing was something that was always bound to both attract people and simultaneously rub a fair few people up the wrong way.
On top of this, there was the fact that The Doors made meandering psychedelic music, which was a relatively new idea at the time when the band emerged with their self-titled debut album in 1967. Those who were inclined to look for something new and progressive lapped this up, but equally, some people weren’t willing to shift so dramatically from within their comfort zone, meaning that what the band were creating wasn’t to everyone’s tastes.
This psychedelic style also led to them forming a strong association with drug culture, which was further enforced by Morrison’s liberal attitude towards drug use. As much as he was considered to be a genius when it came to producing poetry to accompany the compositions of the band, his lyricism wasn’t always subtle when it came to addressing this topic, and that overt references further stirred controversy.
When the band made their television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967, their song choice, ‘Light My Fire’, couldn’t have been less appropriate, with its sprawling runtime being one stumbling block, and the very suggestive references to the taboo subjects of sex and drugs weren’t something that Sullivan himself wasn’t entirely comfortable.
He even protested to Morrison prior to the performance that he redacted the line; “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” and substitute it with something a little more family-friendly, but with Morrison being Morrison, he chose to ignore the request, causing Sullivan to indefinitely bar them from performing on the show ever again.
He may have turned one would-be fan into a mortal enemy through this, but it wasn’t the drug-fuelled antics or the attitude of Morrison that irked others, and one of his most high-profile detractors was none other than Frank Sinatra, who thought he was being mimicked by Morrison in his performances.
Morrison has always openly acknowledged that Sinatra’s liberally swung vocal style was a major influence for the way he stumbled over his words on songs such as ‘Light My Fire’, but even though he was lovingly trying to pay tribute to one of the great vocalists whose work he had grown up listening to, Sinatra wasn’t so impressed with his impersonation of his style.
When asked what he thought of the track, Sinatra bluntly declared his truth, stating: “We ought to let that guy have an accident.”
Clearly unaware of the significance of why Morrison had opted to sing in this manner, Sinatra remained steadfast in his opposition to him and his band, and even though Morrison had intended for it to be seen as a loving tribute to an icon, Sinatra evidently didn’t want any level of association with him.
