Does anyone else think Eric Burdon should have been the rock icon that Jim Morrison was? (In my opinion) he was cooler, had a better voice and made better music. I'm sure, I'm in the minority on this among most people.

....Sure , I used to like The Doors. But , we've had Jim Morrisson coming out of our ears since about 1980 - 81. Musically , I would'nt hold them against the original Animals , either , but , that's just me. When I was a kid in the 70's , the only Doors songs I ever heard on the radio were Love Her Madly , Hello , I Love You , and Light My Fire , and only the latter in rotation. I remember hearing Riders on The Storm a lot for a while , but , that would have been right after Morrisson passed away. I knew who they were , and who HE was , by the time I was in Jr. High , but , they really were'nt a big deal at the time. They were'nt popular in the way Jimi Hendrix was popular with younger people....yet. I THINK jIM WAS PROBABLY INFLUENCED , TO A DEGREE , BY ERIC , and The Doors , to some extent , by the classic Animals lineup. Probably . But , EVERYTHING i'D EVER READ ABOUT tHE dOORS , THEY'D SAY that Love was the band to beat. The Seeds' names only started getting dropped , recently.

Nick X said:

Yeah, I think the only reason I compared them is because they both have baritone voices, also because I was drinking gin and tonics and playing "It's my Life" really loud and got caught up in the moment pondering why Eric Burdon's status as a rock icon didn't carry over into today's generation like Jim's Did. In my world it did, ha. Like Kopper said, I was never a massive Doors fan, Jim openly stole riffs from the Kinks and fancied himself some kind of post modern poet. Eric was just a salt of the earth blues singer trapped in a white kids body.

DanyHell2011 said:

They are completely different from each other. It is like compare wine and beer. Maybe you would prefer one or another, but it is a matter of taste and not who is better than the other. 

 

Yeah, I think the only reason I compared them is because they both have baritone voices, also because I was drinking gin and tonics and playing "It's my Life" really loud and got caught up in the moment pondering why Eric Burdon's status as a rock icon didn't carry over into today's generation like Jim's Did. In my world it did, ha. Like Kopper said, I was never a massive Doors fan, Jim openly stole riffs from the Kinks and fancied himself some kind of post modern poet. Eric was just a salt of the earth blues singer trapped in a white kids body.

DanyHell2011 said:

They are completely different from each other. It is like compare wine and beer. Maybe you would prefer one or another, but it is a matter of taste and not who is better than the other. 

 

I don't think Eric Burdon could have been elevated to iconic status the way Jim Morrisson was , about 10 years after his death . He would have only graced magazines like "16" OR "Tiger Beat" when they were REALLY hurting for space filler. Until he started putting on the pounds ,  growing out his beard and , allegedly , introducing Lil' Jim to a Miami audience , Morrisson's looks made him quite the sex symbol in his day, but , everybody knows that. Burdon might not have been such a great looker , by comparison , but , his singing voice was pure "No blobs in the bog" animal sexuality. They were both very different , it's true , but , Burdon , as an early (White) student of The Blues was just as macho in his delivery as Morrisson. Van Morrisson.

Jim Morrisson is an icon , today , partly because he represented danger to a lot of people. And , it's true , he did get himself into a lot of brushes with the law , which he seemed to shrug off. Burdon openly admired , and dated , Black women when that was regarded as extremely dangerous , except maybe in places like France. He was a street - fightin' Geordie , and did'nt take any shit. It does'nt mean they're so alike or dissimilar as singers. Morrisson was a crooner as well as a shouter. Burdon had no time for croonin'.

I'll agree with ya on this one, but that's mainly because I was never a huge Doors fan. Actually, that's not entirely true... I thought the Doors were cool *before* I discovered all of the other great '60s bands, like the Animals, Seeds, Pretty Things, Remains, Shadows of Knight, Electric Prunes, Chocolate Watchband, 13th Floor Elevators, etc. etc. etc.

They are completely different from each other. It is like compare wine and beer. Maybe you would prefer one or another, but it is a matter of taste and not who is better than the other.