On this day in rock history (1969), Jim Morrison allegedly exposed himself onstage

[Miles Archer]

Did he or didn't he? The late Doors frontman Jim Morrison was charged with exposing himself before a stunned audience in Florida on March 1, 1969, though he vehemently denied the allegation. Bandmate Robby Krieger still says that no photographic evidences exists to prove it.

Regardless, on Sept. 20, 1970, Morrison was arrested in connection with the incident in Coconut Grove, charged with dropping his pants before some 12,000 fans at a Doors concert. Morrison rejected a proposed plea bargain, and was ultimately sentenced to jail and to pay a fine after being found guilty of indecent exposure and open profanity.

Krieger steadfastly maintained Morrison's innocence, saying: “They were complaining about Jim whipping it out onstage, which he didn’t do: 500 photos were entered as evidence at the trial and not one showed anything of the sort. ... I think it was all very politically motivated. People were running for office, so we were a good target.”

But a reporter for the Miami Herald, Larry Mahoney, told a different story. In an article headlined ‘Rock Group Fails to Stir a Riot,’ he wrote, "Many of the nearly twelve thousand youths said they found the bearded singer’s exhibition disgusting. Included in the audience were hundreds of unescorted junior and senior high school girls. ... Morrison appeared to masturbate in full view of the audience, screamed obscenities, and exposed himself."

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/44-years-ago-jim-morrison-of-the-doors-allegedly-exposes-himself-on-stage/

[Aristus]

1. Every surviving member of The Doors said this was bullshit.

The charges included lewd and lascivious behavior, public drunkeness, and indecent exposure.

He was convicted of exposure and acquitted of the other charges.

The Doors members all commented how ludicrous that was: basically, the jury was saying that he exposed himself, but he didn't do it in a lewd and lascivious way.

And they got everything backward. The convicted him of exposure, for which there was no evidence, and acquitted him of public drunkeness, the evidence for which would have been obvious to anyone.