Colors!A night out with Pamela Courson
Information from the great site: Pam and Jim Morrison: A Place Where The Creatures Meet
“Strictly From Hunger!” a memoir of musician John Morton’s experiences as one of the hottest bands in L.A.
One of our songs, “Colors”, came about because we met Pam Courson at The Whisky. She came back stage and I just figured she was a groupie wanting a piece of the band. She said her name was Valerie Sunshine (this may not have been unusual for Pam in an article about her boutique, Themis, Pam used the pseudonym Pamela Roselilly). She told us she wasn’t interested in sex but she had some LSD she wanted to share and go down to Santa Monica beach. Mike Lane and I said, “What the hell! Why not!” We were done with our set and it wasn’t the first time we spent late hours with chicks getting high.
Me, Valerie, and Mike walked on the beach in Santa Monica. The night was perfect on the beach, full moon and turquoise ocean with beautiful waves rolling in. In the distance you could see the lights on the pier. Valerie was like a goddess in a white lace see through blouse and an airy short white skirt with long red hair. She was running and skipping on the sand like a carefree child. She just breezed through the air, floating like a leaf, a beautiful white leaf. Valerie had that magical quality that just drew you in, it was her night. We were all high on Blue Owsley one of the strongest mind altering acid you could take. Some people experienced peace and calm, others experienced wild and frantic abandonment. If we had been with anybody else it would probably have been the later. Valerie was just this innocent soul who wanted to share herself. At least that’s how I was envisioning her as an angel passing through time that just so happened to catch the attention of two wiley musicians. She was magical. All of sudden the intensity of colors just emerged from nowhere. She smiled and said: "can you see how fantastic the world is?” She looked at Mike and me and said, “Create me a song!” We looked over at the pier and flashed on the beautiful lights and colors and watched the waves roll in simultaneously from the turquoise sea under a bright moonlit sky and Mike Lane sang: “lights flashing, images before my eyes, people turning finally/all the colors in the world have come from me.” How profound in that moment, I finished with: “try and realize what life is worth if you don’t have a disguise.” At that moment there was a full orchestra at my command and the music just flowed in, the violins and strings just resounded as if I was conducting the song. Valerie said “Bravo! You did not let me down!” Valerie Sunshine had made an unforgettable night! Who would have thought we would of experienced something greater than sex? It was as orgasmic as it gets. She then became the mad hatter and said “I’m late! I’m late for a very important date.” We drove back to The Whisky and Valerie said as she got out of the van, “in the real world my name is Pam—Pam Courson.” Then she disappeared into the crowd.
The next day as we were rehearsing we put together our new song “Colors”. It just came together seamlessly, guitars, keyboard and vocals. The song instantly became part of our set list. I didn’t put two and two together till years later that Pam Courson was Jim Morrison’s girlfriend. That night in 1968 I’ll always remember her as Valerie Sunshine.
