Late Doors frontman Jim Morrison was known for his impulsive and sometimes volatile personality. The band’s drummer, John Densmore, revealed in his 2020 memoir, The Seekers: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (And Other Artists), that Morrison’s unpredictable behavior led to an awkward encounter with one of the great all-time singer-songwriters.
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The incident occurred when The Doors had been tapped to open for Simon & Garfunkel in August 1967 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, New York. According to Densmore, Paul Simon had gone backstage to wish The Doors good luck before their set. While there, the drummer said that Morrison “hadn’t done anything specific to Paul, but he had exuded bad vibes.”
Densmore also wrote about a meeting he had with Simon about 50 years later at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. In the book, he reveals that he and Paul talked about the Forest Hills incident.
In a recent interview with the Classic Album Review YouTube channel, Densmore discussed both encounters with Simon.
“We were very excited to play Forest Hills … second billed to Simon & Garfunkel, a huge group,” John told Classic Album Review host Barry Robinson.
Densmore met Simon again when Paul played the famed Ryman Auditorium in 2016.
As he told Robinson, “I went backstage and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, listen. I know it’s 50 years later or whatever, but I want to apologize for Jim being such an a–hole to you before we went on. And I know you came back to compliment the band or encourage us, and Jim was kind of rude. And I thought our career was ruined.’ And Paul laughed and he said, ‘I remember that.’”
Densmore Talked a Bit More About Morrison’s Behavior With Simon
Densmore then explained that he and Simon contemplated why Morrison acted the way he did with Paul.
“Both of us kind of [went], ‘Well, maybe he was nervous. Maybe he was shy,’” John recalled. “It was a huge outdoor auditorium. [The Doors hadn’t] played that much big concerts, and maybe out of his insecurity, he kind of was a jerk.”
In his memoir The Seekers, Densmore recalled that Simon had asked him at the Ryman, “So what was going on with [Jim]?” to which he responded, “Jim was always in the stratosphere.”
John added, “I’m sure that at the time Paul was thinking, Who is this upstart? Opening for Simon and Garfunkel had been one of our first big concerts, but even someone who eventually became a giant icon could have had cold feet.”
Recent Densmore News
As previously reported, Densmore has teamed up with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D in a new project called doPE. The duo will release their debut album, No Country For Old Men, as a limited-edition vinyl LP on April 18 for the Record Store Day 2026 event.
(Photo by Jack Rosen/Getty Images; Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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