from the New Haven Register April 28, 2003
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7845734&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7573&rfi=8
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| Morrison’s night at the New Haven Arena | ||||||||
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| Blood in the streets? It was more like Mace in the Arena. |
| "Who
could forget it?" Ray Manzarek said. Manzarek, the keyboardist for The Doors, had one of the best vantage points to see New Haven policemen arrest singer Jim Morrison on stage at the old New Haven Arena Dec. 9, 1967. The charge was "performing an indecent and immoral exhibition," breach of peace and resisting arrest. But all Morrison did was recount to the audience his encounter with a police officer backstage. Manzarek reiterated the events that a later generation might have read about in Jerry Hopkins and Daniel Sugerman’s Morrison biography, "No One Here Gets Out Alive" — a Saturday night also recorded in the pages of the Register and old Journal-Courier: A half-hour before the show, Morrison had found a shower room backstage to get acquainted with a Southern Connecticut State College co-ed, when a cop tried to shoo them away. Morrison mouthed off (he reportedly said, "Eat me"), the conversation escalated and the officer sprayed Morrison in the face with Mace. When he realized who he sprayed, he and the band’s crew doused Morrison’s eyes with water. Apologies were exchanged. Shortly after, the show began, and something was amiss. "When we got out on stage, there was a line of cops in front of the stage," Manzarek said two weeks ago. "We asked why and they told us to protect us. From WHAT? From making love to us?" In the instrumental break of "Back Door Man," Morrison said, "I want to tell you about something that happened a few minutes ago right here in New Haven. This is New Haven, isn’t it? New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America?" Soon after, the lights came on and an officer told Morrison he was under arrest. He was taken away by two men in blue. "New Haven is seared in my memory," said Manzarek. "The show-stopping Captain Kelly, the two guys grabbing Jim, Captain Kelly saying the immortal words, ‘You’ve gone too far, young man. You’ve gone too far, young man.’ I thought, ‘Is that a crime? Is there a law about going too far, and how far is too far?’ " (Actually, it wasn’t Captain Kelly; it was Lt. James Kelly, who was head of the NHPD’s Youth Division.) After Morrison’s arrest, a melee broke out in which 13 more people were arrested, including a music critic for the Village Voice, and a photographer and a researcher for Life magazine. The photographer, Tim Page, according to a Journal-Courier story, was arrested while shooting a policeman "roughing up a kid." The arrest of a rock star on stage, combined with the apprehension of members of the national press, ensured widespread coverage of the story. The charges were dropped a month later when Morrison failed to appear in Circuit Court a month later; he forfeited his $1,500 bond, but no re-arrest warrant was issued. Morrison immortalized the Elm City in the song "Peace Frog," on The Doors’ 1970 album "Morrison Hotel" -the song with the line "Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven." When asked if they’ll be playing the song tonight at Oakdale, Manzarek enthused, "Oh, yeah! ‘Peace Frog’ is part of our set." And when told the old Arena site is now the home of New Haven’s FBI building, Manzarek replied, "Isn’t that perfect! What a perfect placement." |
| ©New Haven Register 2003 |
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(thanks, Chris)
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