The Doors (1965) were the first punk band. That was my thought.

My friend was Jim Morrison’s best friend, and made all his leather!

NO I MEAN REALLY. We’ll get to all that, and I’ll defer to Iggy, frankly, but The Doors were the first punk band and my friend made his leather.

Iggy Pop with The Stooges should be considered such, and he recorded with The Doors (WELlll this is Iggy with Ray at the Whiskey in ’74, so, ya know. BUT, did you know Ray Manzarek produced about 3 of the punk band “X”‘s albums?):

and they were a huge influence, appearing in his wikipedia no less than 5 times. Actually… he was offered the role of replacing Jim. The 1st Stooges album was 1969. Prior to that? “After Morrison’s death, the Doors became aware of Iggy Pop and his ability to start riots”. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/06/08/why-iggy-pop-declined-joining-the-doors-as-a-replacement-for-jim-morrison/

Iggy didn’t want to be Jim’s ghost, apparently. He does, after all, have a lust for life. I’ll admit although a “legit” website with legitimate fact checking rules, that story is apocryphal. I will say the influence is huge, and without Iggy there’d really be no Sex Pistols, no Nirvana. That link is about “The Doors’ Disaster in Michigan” that inspired Iggy. A stellar read. As is this:

Also, Marilyn Manson wrote an article on The Doors and how he considered them the first punk band.

AND? I only know that from researching my own opinion. Garbage. So in interest of fairness…

100% Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd (1965) and The Residents (1965) are in contention. Maybe Zappa & the Mothers of Invention (1965). Now I’m off the rails. But holy crap, what a great year for bands. The Dead were that year as well, The Doors, oh MYyyy.

But searching what your opinion already is? Confirmation Bias is a hell of a drug.

I bet you it’s Link Ray. 3 chords as hell. Anyhoo! This post is about music history. First things first…

I was loosely related to this guy, and it’s sad to see him go. He was Roy Orbison’s best friend: https://variety.com/2021/music/obituaries-people-news/jonas-cash-dead-radio-promotion-pioneer-1234951855/

That being said, it’s really weird to be able to talk to people like the above, and the below. I was at Lauren’s sister’s wedding in Virginia, and here is Jonas Cash. We’re talking throughout the weekend, but night of the wedding, we notice a pinky ring. I was next to a dear friend who said “oh, that pinky ring, is that really Julius Caesar? And he said “Yes. My wife gave it to me as a gift to remind me that the people closest to you might betray you”

THAT REALLY HAPPENED.

On to January!

So I dunno if you guys remember, but I opened https://cavallopoint.com in 2008, after being the sole employee on the historic site from 2005-2007 AND IT WAS SCARY. I’d walk out to bobcats and coyotes and 30 deer at any given time. It’s a damned national park.

I’ve a universe of stories around it. One is that I met my wife, started secretly dating her after St. Patrick’s Day 2008, then proposed to her *SIX WEEKS LATER* on May 1st whilst in a suit, soaking wet, with two plungers in my hands, surrounded by 70 pre-1958 cars worth a total of approx 100 Million dollars. It was likely more. Another story is meeting Martin Swig… his life advice was darling and welcome. All this is a true fact. AND… it is 13 years later and wife is still here and putting up with me. Wild!

But another story is that my Michelin starred bestie chef (who eventually left F&B b/c it’s no fun) brought his entire brigade with him to our restaurant when we opened. “Brigade” just meaning the team, french term? He’s now basically working on concepts and cooking for his wife… who happens to be the human who developed the weird eyeball hand guy for Pan’s Labyrinth, and also was the person who helped the CGI digital artists & physicists effectively communicate to create Interstellar by Nolan. YEAH. Yeah, this story is American GODDAMNED MAGIC.

So, one of the cooks he brought was his brother, and with his brother was January. At first he just reminded me of the old timers… grey hair, brittle skinny, and smoking like he’s racing to meet death. I drove by him smoking on my way out of a long workday, more than I talked to him, in the process of opening and managing this hotel in 2008. Then we became pretty close friends. His wife worked in a tangential way to my wife’s career, and I’d stop and chat with him, and we realized we had music, food and beverage, and being just a generally existential creatures in common. He never bragged about his history or his time, and you sorta had to pull the crank to get him going and telling stories, but man the stories. His ladyfriend would sort of act exasperated, punch him in the arm, and so “oh here we go” with her raspy voice.

He said about Jim “He wanted to push anything to the limit. Just like when he was walking on the edge of the ledge. He wanted to see how far far was”. That’s from the below book link, vs stories he told me. The book is fantastic (link below). January basically made the leather for Jim and the band, but interrupted fan delivered drugs from getting to Jim so Jim could actually play the goddamned show. They were best friends, and you could tell by the way he talked about his long lost friend when he knit his brow to tell an anecdote. Doors aside, I just sorta miss his dinner parties with his love (I said wife, but not really sure).

https://smile.amazon.com/Morrison-Feast-Friends-Frank-Lisciandro/dp/0446392766

He was a committed smoker, and it ended the pain of existence quite early, at around 68 or so with emphysema. We still have drinks with his wife whenever (pandemic and all that). She’s a travel agent and can help you at any time, and will prolly tell his stories. But I found some other stuff… it gets blue!

I’ll need to note, as editor… different time, and although we do not condone the behaviors, it would be problematic to erase historic truth in lieu of sensitivities such that we will never live in this manner again:

January Jansen was Morrison’s best friend and the guy who designed his leather outfits. Jansen shared that since they looked so much alike, they decided to create a code when they got bored with their own woman. Their hotel rooms were often next to each other, and when one leaves and slams the door twice, it’s a sign to the other that they need to switch rooms and therefore, swap their women too.

More: https://societyofrock.com/the-most-insane-things-jim-morrison-did/

And this is where he is literally at Cavallo Point and talking about Jim. Crazy. I helped build and design the place (with 100s of other real professionals… I’m not boasting) and remember the conversation on picking out the ticking of the banquette. It was a “thing”. LOL =)