Less than two weeks after the State of Florida granted him a posthumous pardon for the notorious Miami dick flashing incident the remaining members of The Doors and representatives of his family have rejected it. In a statement, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore have said that they don’t feel he needs to be pardoned for anything. They say accounts of what happened on the night in question vary, and that “His performance in Miami that night was certainly provocative, and entirely in the insurrectionary spirit of The Doors’ music and message.
Whatever took place that night ended with The Doors sharing beers and laughter in the dressing room with the Miami police, who acted as security at the venue that evening. No arrests were made. The next day we flew off to Jamaica for a few days’ vacation before our planned 20-city tour of America. That tour never materialised. Four days later, warrants were issued in Miami for the arrest of Morrison on trumped-up charges of indecency, public obscenity, and general rock-and-roll revelry,” says the statement.
“Every city The Doors were booked into cancelled their engagement. A circus of fire-and-brimstone ‘decency’ rallies, grand jury investigations and apocalyptic editorials followed – not to mention allegations ranging from the unsubstantiated (he exposed himself) to the fantastic (The Doors were ‘inciting a riot’ but also ‘hypnotising’ the crowd). The charges against him were largely an opportunity for grandstanding by ambitious politicians – not to mention an affront to free speech and a massive waste of time and taxpayer dollars.”
Who said rock stars get soft in their old age?
