Gary James' Interview With A Man Who Believes That Jim Morrison Is Alive
John Ceperich



There's no doubt that the circumstances surrounding the so-called "death" of Jim Morrison are as mysterious as it gets. For the last forty-four years people have debated whether Jim Morrison really died on July 3rd, 1971, or if he faked his death. Now one man has come forward to end that debate. His name is John Ceperich.

Q - John, as we're talking now, and it's November 23rd, 2015, is Jim Morrison alive?

A - Yes. Yes.

Q - Now, how do you know that?

A - I talked to his closest friend. His name is David Logan. I talked to him yesterday and he would've told me if Jim had passed, but he's still alive and kickin'. Yeah. That's the good news.

Q - Have you ever met or talked to Jim Morrison or Bill Loyer as he's known today?

A - Gary, I'm so glad you asked that question. I hope this cuts through a lot of the chase. I spent about three or four days with him. So yes, I know him. I know him well. I spent time with him just as a friend. I'll say quickly too, ever since I first started talking to them (Jim and Marsha, Jim's wife) you always have to be very careful about what subject you bring up, because when he wants to talk about Jim and The Doors and the old days, he will. But don't you dare bring it up because the conversation is over abruptly.

Q - Why would he confide in you? How did he know he could trust you? How did he know that you wouldn't go to some press outlet and say, "Have I got a story for you!"?

A - When I first talked to Jim and Marsha, it was remarkably after I met Gerald (Pitts), which is many years ago. It was pretty much because Gerald and Jim, they still had a relationship. They were hoping this would work. I just came into the picture. Nice guy. Sure, I'll talk to him. Nothing to lose, but again from my first conversation I found if you asked the wrong questions, you got a lot to lose. His past is very sensitive and we think of him as this great Rock 'n' Roller, poet, human extraordinaire, but the fact of the matter is, as big as his contribution, asset, or essence is, the guy is such an incredible disguise master. He's fooled the world for all these years. It's something that takes a while to wrap your mind around, but this is a true master of disguises and knows how to stay under.

Q - Did he say something to you that made you believe this is really Jim Morrison? Is it because Gerald Pitts took you along to meet Jim?

A - When I first started talking to Gerald, I thought it was going to be one of these things where you dial a number and they're going to charge you three bucks a minute. Great, I'm gonna get ripped off, but I had to call. When I found out how naive Gerald was to Rock 'n' Roll, Jim and all this, I mean there's gotta be something to this 'cause this guy dropped everything to pursue something he knows nothing about. So, I went into it with an open mind.

Q - Was there something Jim, or Bill as he's now known, said to you that made you realize this is the real deal?

A - I don't think there was that critical moment ever. It's just a gradual thing where it all makes sense. Now David Logan and Jim are best friends. David Logan's father was good friends with Roy Rogers. Together they covered the first rodeo ever produced in New York City. Paul Harvey did a eulogy on David Logan's father. That's Jim's friend. A really good guy. David Logan's a very everyday guy. He cuts down trees. He's an everyday good guy out of Oregon. That's his buddy. Matter of fact, David probably spent a year living with Jim. So, Marsha and Jim let him stay with them. He became 100% convinced it was Jim. Again, there's such a valve for Jim's privacy. I get little bits and pieces. David Logan knows it's Jim. Jim told him he doesn't know if he paid for rock or bricks or blocks. Something went into that casket that got buried and that was that. He went into hiding.

Q - Do you know if anyone in the Morrison family ever traveled to Paris to investigate Jim's death?

A - I don't. Gary, if you're ready to get some goose pimples and look outside the box, I'll throw a very perplexing question at you which is very personal and a lot of the mystery the smoke might come into play. You've interviewed the rest of The Doors so you know a lot more than I do about Jim and everything. Consider this for a second: What if Jim really wasn't the admiral's son? What if he was adopted? I think there's a good chance for that. Jim had all those other kids. Obviously that's why he faked his death, paternity suits, the drug thing. So, he went into hiding. But it seems like he knew a lot about this adoption process for some reason. He had these kids and some of the The Doors actually raised and paid for their schooling. Others they did not supposedly. So, I just wanted to drop that bomb on you because there might be something to it, maybe there isn't. There's a strange relationship with his family. Even in the movie (Oliver Stone's movie The Doors), he said they were dead, his parents were dead.

Q - As I understand it, his father wasn't too pleased with his musical career. He thought he would've become the first commander of a nuclear submarine.

A - Gary, I just want to tell you this: When I met Jim I actually had some notes of interesting philosophy books for him to read. The way he handled those papers and the way he reads, it's like he immersed himself in it. It's just like he's smiling at the paper and there's a dialogue going on. There's something very special about this guy. Even his wife said, "My husband's a genius." She was kind of joking. But whatever happened, the doctor (Jim's wife Marsha) said he was a bricklayer and that's how she met him. She goes, "He's a genius."

Q - Jim's wife, Marsha, is a medical doctor?

A - Yes.

Q - And Jim was working as a bricklayer?

A - Yeah.

Q - Would a doctor consider dating someone who isn't a professional?

A - (laughs)

Q - I'm just saying, usually professionals date other professionals.

A - Yeah. Absolutely. I guess she was very impressed by the fireplace he put in and by his work and who knows the conversation, but obviously they saw something very special in each other.

Q - Did Jim ever tell you why he felt the need to fake his death? Why not just retire? His contract with Elektra Records had been fulfilled with The Doors' last record.

A - In the Rodeos West videos that Gerald Pitts put out, he said, "It served them right." It was like a prison sentence. I met him (Jim) and we were talking and he told me it was a lot different back in the day when they were playing the music venues. It wasn't corporate. A lot of times it was owned by the mob. He said he went to Paris and it was like the Paris Connection, which I don't really remember. He said it was really like that. So I think some of those drug people might have been after him too. I don't know.

Q - Did Jim's family know he faked his death? Did the other three Doors know he faked his death? Ray Manzarek often gave vague answers about that. He seemed to keep the door open, so to speak. I always thought it's because of the money. The very idea that Jim is alive would increase sales of records and CDs.

A - It's really all about money. If they didn't have Jim dying they might just be very average people. They're living the American dream. They're legends. They get to do what they love, and they got a good alibi because Jim was probably the hardest person in the world to work with. When he got drunk, he got moody. He was ridiculous. So they probably justified it like that. But Jim and Marsha definitely tried to contact The Doors and they would never get anywhere with that. Gerald (Pitts), if he sent a letter to The Doors, certified mail, it'd get returned. If he sent it not certified where they didn't have to sign off of it, they would accept it. They'd never write back, but they would accept it. There's a video where he's asked if Jim is still alive and he smokes a cigarette and says, "Haven't you heard? Yeah. He's a cowboy out in Oregon." I imagine there's a lot of people out there who say "I'm Jim Morrison." They're fakers. Whether it be to get money or to be funny or whatever reason, but this is something we've been working on for about ten, fifteen years. The same guy. Wife's a doctor. Professional letters. Everything's professional. No serious response. How is that possible?

Q - This should be a big story. Jim Morrison is alive? Where is Rolling Stone?

A - I'm not sure why Jim did that. It's shrouded in mystery. Supposedly he took some drugs that made it seem like he died. So the body seemed like it was dead, but then they took his body, the people that revived him, and supposedly he almost did die because he took too much of that stuff, but actually came out of it and went into hiding.

Q - Who told you that? Did he tell you that, or is that what you heard?

A - Gerald told me that. Jim told him.

Q - And what's this story that's been circulating that Jim didn't die in his apartment? He died in a club of a heroin overdose and his body was transported back to the apartment.

A - That was said like the vice-President of Euro Disney. A successful, successful guy said that. I read that too a couple of years ago. So, where the heck did that come from? I don't know. He came out and wrote this paper about Jim. Very mysterious about that one too. A very credible guy I would think.

Q - I've also heard Marianne Faithfull said that Jim died of a heroin overdose in her autobiography. Have you read her book?

A - I did not. I've heard too many times that Jim wouldn't have confused heroin with coke (cocaine). He wasn't that naive. That would've been a big, goofy blunder. Interesting it happened on July 3rd, which the next day is Independence Day. It's like America coming into being, into existence. Jim chose that day to probably show he's independent of being Jim Morrison. In the bathtub too is something from mythology with the water, symbolizing going from one life to another through the water.

Q - I never heard that one before. How did you get interested in this whole subject matter or Jim Morrison being alive?

A - I saw a documentary on Kurt Cobain and when it finished I was about drained. It zapped all my energy and all of a sudden this thing pops up, Jim Morrison Is Alive and it shows like a rodeo or something. It sounds like The Doors' Jim Morrison. That's what it's trying to say. Then I called this number and I got to talk to Gerald. There's no way he could be making this up. I could've made up a better story than he's made up. He's dropping everything, fielding questions 24 / 7 from around the world to try and break out this story.

Q - Why doesn't Jim just hold a press conference and announce to the world he faked his death? What's he got to be concerned about? The Governor of Florida pardoned him over those exposure charges.

A - I was petitioning every Senator I could to not pardon him because the verbiage on that was posthumously and I was trying to tell them I don't think he's dead. That's a disgrace to everything, to pardon a guy who's not even dead. It just shows the government didn't do their homework. It didn't matter. It went through. I must've sent out thirty-eight e-mails to them saying "Hey, please don't do this."

Q - Did Jim give his approval to Gerald Pitts to break the story or was Jim mad at him for doing it?

A - Jim wanted it to be a respectable thing. He didn't want to come out and be on Saturday Night Live and be the butt of jokes. He wanted it to be a very formal, respectable thing. Gerald was kind of promising him anything and everything. So, I guess they actually got a fellow from A Current Affair TV show. He showed up in a helicopter. It was a big deal and Gerald said some stuff and the guy just walked away. "This is ridiculous. We're not going to work together." That's when everything really went sour. Jim and Marsha were like, "Gerald, you have no idea what you're doing. You're just trying to manipulate this whole situation. We want nothing to do with you."

Q - So, Gerald Pitts is on the outs with Jim Morrison and his wife Marsha today?

A - Yes.

Q - Jim is still friends with you, isn't he?

A - To be honest, I haven't talked to him in a couple of years, but I'm friends with David Logan and what keeps me going is Logan always tells me Jim still likes me a lot. Jim told me face up, and Logan told me too, that Jim approved of everything I was doing and he's very appreciative of my efforts.

Q - This film that Gerald Pitts put out, is that really Jim Morrison in the film?

A - Yes, it is. It's on Youtube. You can match his voice with the old one. That's how scientists are saying Cliff Morrison (Jim Morrison's son) matches remarkably with Jim's. Cliff told me he was basically raised by his Aunt Annie, who is Jim's sister. Cliff Morrison was in a band with Waylon Krieger, Robbie Krieger's son. How does that happen? That's why I'm thinking Cliff probably was Jim's son because that's remarkable he would be in the same band. Getting to the chase here, maybe spill the beans, but I went to go visit Jim. Before that, Cliff came out with an album, a very good album. It won the Album Of The Year For New Artists. Cliff insisted that I do not send one to Jim. And I never did. I sent him a copy of the cover, but I never sent him a copy of the album. Anyway, I got there and just between you and me and the world, Jim had a copy of this CD. It said something like, "To The Old Man. Love. Cliff Morrison." Why would he send it to Jim? And again, Cliff's had his own very luxurious life, but it's because he was friends with the Morrison family. Cliff is now in prison. I've written him several times. We talked a lot in 2013, but again I haven't heard from him in about a year. So, I wish all the best for him. A really nice guy. He had a problem with drugs.

Q - Hate to hear that. That's not good.

A - I want to get into the good, the bad and the ugly 'cause I think you'll be interested in this. The good is Dr. Hales. Dr. Hales is a forensic expert, a dentist. He's a chief dental consultant to the Dallas, Texas Community Medical Chapter. Sound reputable?

Q - Sure does.

A - Dr. Hales has invested thousands and thousands of dollars into this with David Logan and he says it's greater that 99% sure that the dental records that Jim and David Logan provided him are Jim Morrison's. So that's a big one. Logan's been mentioning Hales to me for a couple of years. The last years of testing he did greater than 99% certainly. That's the good. The bad is we do have some professionals trying to make this into a documentary. Their names are Duncan Burns and Tip McPartind. They just made a show called Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine through a company TKD Divisions. McPartind did a lot with National Lampoon, making documentaries. He's been out there for a long time in California. I've talked to McPartind a lot. A nice, nice guy. He just has no idea what he's getting into, the kind of backlash there's going to be if this breaks out. I said to Jim, "You'll be living in a helicopter because this whole world is going to be chasing you no matter where you go. That's how I see it." These are guys that have created shows, done things, been on this for about three or four years, trying to make a documentary on it. One step forward, two steps back. So, good intentions, but they don't have quite the resources. They have some, but I think this going to turn into Godzilla by the time it's all said and done. Ugly is Larry Garrison. He wrote a best seller called Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story Of Natalie Holloway, Corruption In Paradise. Larry Garrison also wrote a book called The Most Notorious Con Artist In America and it won an Edger Award in 2002. He's acting like he's the financier of this whole project. There's only a handful of information on who this guy really is. To me, he's just been dragging this down for the last couple years. I don't know anything good about him. It's always like an excuse. I don't think he's contributed nothing. Jim's talked to him. David's talked to him. Jim had a contract with him. Nothing's getting done. That's the ugly. I haven't liked this guy since Day One. Maybe I'm missing something here Gary, but he's contributed nothing to this. And now he wants the DNA swab and all that. If he's got these resources he should be feeding this project all along. He should have a time table. Things should be getting done. They're not.

Q - Does Jim Morrison really need these people? Again, why not call a press conference?

A - I've contacted news. You know Mancow, the radio show?

Q - Haven't heard of it.

A - Very big in Chicago and L.A. I believe. I spent a whole day in Chicago on his show being ridiculed. A few callers called and they were interested and they were kind of sincere. But until the man flips the light switch, the truth is as they say it is. But people are not going to break away. Again, you have to remember everybody's in it for themselves. So they don't really want attention on Jim, they want it on YouTube or All Access or whoever.

© Gary James. All rights reserved.

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