(Gibson) On November 11, 1969, Jim Morrison and Tom Baker (a bohemian actor buddy who had previously starred in the Andy Warhol movie I, A Man in 1967) were traveling from Los Angeles to Phoenix to attend a Rolling Stones concert along with Doors publicist Leon Barnard and friend Frank Lisciandro.The Stones were playing at Veterans Coliseum in Phoenix, a venue that had given Morrison a permanent ban. Morrison was already headed in a downward spiral of excess and insanity and dealing none too well with the looming obscenity charge from a Miami concert where he flashed the audience. Baker, out of control and a serious drinker, was hardly the best companion for Morrison at this point in his troubled life, as events in the air would prove.
The flight to Phoenix was delayed and the unraveling rock star and his entourage began to become unruly. Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugarman describe the scene in No One Gets Out of Here Alive: "If your name is Riva," Baker called out, "then your old man must be called Old Man Riva." Jim and Leon and Frank joined Tom in a chorus of the song: "That old man Riva, he just keep rolling
" The hi-jinks and harassment of the stewardess continued until the plane's captain announced, "If you young men don't change your attitude, we'll turn this ship around and return to Los Angeles, where you'll be arrested, all four of you." - more on this story
