How Alice Cooper Inspired the Lyrics of The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues”

In the late 1960s, the band Alice Cooper relocated to Los Angeles. Though ultimately, the group would relocate once again to the Midwest, the group connected with another Los Angeles group there. The Doors became mentors to the young rock group. Alice Cooper’s lead singer, then known as Vincent Furnier, spent time with Jim Morrison and has since described this experience. In 2008, on his Planet Rock radio show, Alice Cooper recounted times he spent with Morrison. Reported through Uncut, Cooper explained, “The thing about Jim was it was sometimes dangerous being around him because there was no such thing as a dare. He would jump out of cars and roll down hills.”

Cooper went on to tell an outrageous story, “At a big party for The Doors at the 6000 building on Sunset, he’s got a bottle of whiskey in each hand, on top of the building, balancing like a high-wire act. One gust of wind and he is over. I’m sitting there going, ‘How come no one is pulling him off the ledge? It’s Jim Morrison!’ And they’re like, ‘If he falls, he falls.’”

How One Thing Said by Alice Cooper Ended up in This Iconic Doors Track

Alice Cooper explained on the Planet Rock radio show, “We were sitting there drinking, and Jim comes in, and he flops down. I said that I had ‘got up this morning and got myself a beer’ and while we’re talking, he just writes that down. So they go in, and they’re doing the song, and the next thing I hear is ‘Woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer,’ and I went, ‘I just said that a second ago!’”

The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” was the opening track of their iconic 1970 album, Morrison Hotel. Though the song famously failed to chart, it became a staple of classic rock radio. The line that Alice Cooper accidentally contributed is one of the most quotable lines of the legendary track.

Jim Morrison is one of the original members of the Hollywood Vampires, a celebrity drinking group formed around Alice Cooper. Other original members of the Hollywood Vampires include John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, and Mickey Dolenz. Alice Cooper would eventually turn the Hollywood Vampires into a tribute group featuring himself alongside Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. The group frequently covers The Doors and other songs from the original Hollywood Vampires members as a tribute to the drinking group.