BTE FAQ
Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison
~ SPOILERS AHEAD ~
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK VIA THE TENUOUS GRASP OF SUBJECTIVE REALITY… *
Q: How can I experience the 3-part documystery, Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison currently streams in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia via Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, and YouTube TV. Before the End also is available worldwide via Vimeo with subtitles in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Additional translations coming soon. Plans also are in the works for a dual DVD release and limited-edition DVD box set. Stay tuned…
Q: Will there be a second streaming season of Before the End?
A: There currently are no plans for a second streaming season of Jeff Finn’s docuseries, Before the End, which will reach its surreal rabbit-hole conclusion via Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded. Stay tuned for publication details…
Q: Who is Jeff Finn, the director of Before the End?
A: Jeff Finn is an audio/visual artist, writer, researcher, and documentary filmmaker, whose DIY investigation into Jim Morrison began at age 18 in October 1985 when he read No One Here Gets Out Alive, the first published Morrison biography. Finn since has logged 39 years of granular research, including a dozen years dedicated to the creation of Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison, via his production company, Z-Machine.
Q: Is Adam Scott an executive producer of Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Not to Jeff Finn’s knowledge, but stranger things have happened.
Q: Is Jeff Finn’s production company, Z-Machine, affiliated with the Estate of Jim Morrison, the Doors, and/or Jampol Artist Management?
A: No. Like Elektra Records in the early days of the Doors’ career, Z-Machine is an independent entity.
Q: Was the Doors’ manager, Jeff Jampol, a showrunner or “shadow” producer on Jeff Finn’s docuseries, Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Absolutely not. The “two Jeffs” couldn't be more distinct. Full-stop.
Back on March 14, 2013, Deadline picked up a story about Before the End [via its early working title, Before the End: Jim Morrison Comes of Age] by way of Rolling Stone. Rather than contact Finn discreetly and professionally via email, Jampol chose to publicly libel Finn in the online comments of the Deadline article, and the insufferable Doors haters and trolls were loosed like proverbial bats from Hell. Finn went out of his way to contact Jampol and, after much cliched runaround, an August 7, 2013 meeting was scheduled. Finn suggested a neutral location [Morrison’s 1960s hangout, Barney’s Beanery], but Jampol, in his entitlement, insisted they meet at his corporate office in West Hollywood.
Thus, a 3-hour meeting was undertaken in which Jampol offered to “come aboard as an executive producer.” Finn asked, “What’s the catch?” Jampol smugly replied, “No catch. It’s just that I’d need complete creative control of your project.” Finn laughed and replied, “Sounds like a catch to me. No thanks.” After the toxic exchange mercifully ended, a former Morrison friend [who butters both sides of their bread] told Finn that had he agreed to Jampol’s offer, “It would’ve been like signing a deal with the Devil.” You can’t make this $hit [sic] up. Well, perhaps you could, were you Edgar Allan Poe in Wonderland, or something equally absurd.
Q: Why are there no full Doors songs featured on the Before the End soundtrack?
A: Before the End is not affiliated with the Doors and their corporate handlers, and Jeff Finn’s independent documystery is neither “Doors doc” nor “rock doc.” Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison is about #JamesDouglasMorrison. The Doors, legendary as they are, were but a part of Morrison’s fascinating, larger-than-death story.
Q: Who performed the original music on the Before the End soundtrack, including the main theme?
A: Before the End director, Jeff Finn, performed all original songs on the BTE soundtrack via the masked alias, S’s. The main theme, “Electric Friends,” is from the digital album, Exploded View of Love, written and performed by S’s in 2014.
Q: Who is the admin of the Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky pages connected to Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Jeff Finn.
Q: Why hasn't Jeff Finn or someone from Z-Machine responded to my email, public comment, or private message about Jim Morrison?
A: Z-Machine is Jeff Finn’s independent production company. Creatively, Finn collaborates with freelancers, but in terms of social-media management, he’s a one-person operation doing his best to reply to voluminous Morrison-related correspondence.
Q: Why did Jeff Finn close public comments under the Before the End trailers on his Z-Machine YouTube channel?
A: Because, after a dozen years of having endured the insufferable haters and trolls, led by Jim Morrison’s former brother-in-law, the late Alan Graham, the toxic hordes finally ruined it for everyone else. Those are the tangible consequences that follow in a post-human world in which #empathy is nearing extinction, cynicism is binged, and the Golden Rule is dying off.
NEWS FLASH: There’s a revolution going down as you read this. We’re moving through the “World War III” that #MarshallMcLuhan predicted in the 1960s: the fight for your mind. It’s a memetic war that bleeds into every nook and cranny of culture. You’re soaking in it.
Q: Is Jeff Finn a conspiracy theorist regarding Jim Morrison and other conspiracies?
A: Jeff Finn is a critical thinker who quotes the vintage meme: “Conspiracy theorist: nothing more than a derogatory title used to dismiss a critical thinker.” Finn has applied 39 years of independent critical thought to the case of Jim Morrison, but at the same time, he does not believe Elvis Presley is alive in Michigan, or anywhere else on the planet. But on the other hand, like his theory about Morrison, Finn never believed that #AndyKaufman died on May 16, 1984. Like Morrison, Kaufman spoke of faking his death. What for Jim was an act of absolute transcendence, for Andy was the ultimate performance art. Your counter-cultural mileage may vary.
As #DavidLynch said, “Everything is a mystery and we’re all detectives.”
Q: Why on Earth would Jim Morrison have faked his death?
A: It’s well-documented that, among myriad other reasons, which entailed the likelihood of hard prison time via a railroaded court trial in Miami, FL, by 1970, Morrison was beyond burned-out. Jim, actually an introvert by nature, had grown tired of fame, the Doors, Hollywood, sycophants, paternity suits [real and imagined,] outrageous expectations, etc. Then there was the unfinished business of permanently punishing his parents. At the same time, he was maturing, to the point he said, “27 is too old to be a rock star.” Jim Morrison was the antithesis of Mick Jagger, and anything but a rock star for life. Contrasted with his notorious public image, Jim, in actuality, was an introspective poet and film enthusiast who longed for peace. All of the above and more are expanded upon in Jeff Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: Jim Morrison was part of an MKUltra PsyOp perpetrated by the CIA, and his navy-commander father, who ignited the Vietnam war, right?
A: Jim Morrison apparently hated his father and mother, for reasons Jeff Finn explores in Before the End and 127 Fascination. Finn believes the PsyOp argument ends with that hatred.
Q: Is Jim Morrison actually still alive, under the name “Mr. X,” as implied by Jeff Finn in Before the End?
A: “Jim Morrison” is dead. “Mr. X” is alive and well. Jeff Finn will make his final descent down the Morrison rabbit hole via his forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded. Stay tuned…
Q: Is Mr. X the same person as the “Oregon Cowboy” of urban legend from 20 years ago?
A: He most definitely is not, and there is no connection.
Q: Who is “Mr. X” in Before the End, and what is his connection to Jeff Finn?
A: “Mr. X” AKA “Frank X” AKA “Frank Wagner” is a senior gentleman who mirrors the real Jim Morrison to a haunting degree. Nearly a decade ago, Wagner began following Finn via social media, Finn nicknamed him Mr. X, and a unique friendship was formed. Incidentally, Jeff Finn never said Mr. X lived in Syracuse, New York.
Such lazy untruths have been misreported and parroted by entitled members of the mainstream media who, rather than fact-check or interview, greedily grift for click$ [sic]. But that’s what happens to a society whose empathy is eroding while corporate-owned journalism lies in bed with politics and looks the other way.
In May 2017, Finn flew to Syracuse, rented a car, and drove to meet Mr. X at an undisclosed location, “The Middle of Nowhere, New York.” Finn and X later met at a second location, “Somewhere in New York,” where Finn conducted X’s exclusive on-camera BTE interview, in which X willingly chose to participate.
Q: How can I view Jeff Finn’s full on-camera interview with Frank X?
A: Again, plans are in the works for a dual DVD release and limited-edition DVD box set. Stay tuned…
Q: Why does the Mr. X, who Jeff Finn interviewed in Before the End, appear much thinner than the Mr. X seen in the Before the End photo with former Doors drummer, John Densmore?
A: The photo of X and Densmore was taken at a Densmore book signing in New York, circa July 2013. By the time Finn met X in May 2017 nearly four years had elapsed since the X/Densmore photo. During that timeframe, X appeared to have lost 40-50 pounds, just as Jim Morrison did in mid-1965.
Q: Why doesn’t Mr. X have a small mole beside his nose on the left side of his face, like Jim Morrison?
A: Be patient and look out beyond the plucking of low-hanging fruit.
Q: Why are Mr. X’s eyes brown? Jim Morrison had blue eyes.
A: Make contact via the abstract vision of low-hanging fruit.
Q: Quick facts online claim Jim Morrison was 5’ 11”. According to Before the End, Mr. X is 5’ 7.5”. What gives?
A: You’ve heard the deadpan expression: “If it’s on the Internet, it must be true.”
During his dozen years of work specific to Before the End, Jeff Finn was told by those who knew Jim Morrison that his natural height encompassed a range from 5’ 7”, via the late Eve Babitz [Mirandi’s sister], who attempted to cut Morrison down to size, up to 6’ 3”, via Gilles Yepremian, Jim’s Paris acquaintance, who apparently wanted to lift him up. That absurd eight-inch discrepancy proves subjective memory embellishes - exaggerates, even - fact. At any rate, as they age, human beings can shrink by as much as four vertical inches. During his interview with Jim’s brother, Andy Morrison, Andy told Jeff that Jim was 5’ 9.”
Q: Why doesn’t Jeff Finn ask Jim Morrison’s brother, Andy Morrison, for DNA evidence to compare with Mr. X?
A: Jeff Finn interviewed Andy Morrison in October 2012, nearly five years before he interviewed Mr. X in May 2017. In the interim, Andy Morrison, along with he and Jim’s sister, Anne Morrison-Chewning, were among two dozen other Morrison insiders who were instructed not to work with Finn. And when Jeff originally interviewed Andy, DNA wasn’t yet a concern. Jeff Finn learned of the proven collusive paper trail via Before the End’s own “Deep Throat,” a vetted source close to the Morrison orbit who requested anonymity.
Q: Why doesn’t Jeff Finn ask Mr. X for his fingerprints, a DNA swab, or a handwriting sample?
A: Jeff Finn already tested Mr. X’s fingerprints years ago via a former FBI forensic examiner, as well as X’s DNA via a professional DNA lab. Both tests proved “inconclusive.” Since then, Finn and X formed a friendship. Given that, Finn no longer wishes for X to endure further forensic testing. Meanwhile, handwriting is analyzed via 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: Did Jeff Finn ask Mr. X to sing “Light My Fire,” or other famous Doors songs to compare his voice to Jim Morrison’s?
A: No. Finn already featured a forensic vocal comparison in Before the End. Plus, hearing X organically intone the main line from “Riders on the Storm,” in addition to having noted how X’s unique speaking voice phased in and out of accent during his BTE interview, was hair-raising.
Q: Jim Morrison is dead. Get over it. Let it go.
A: That’s not a question, and far from polite. Where’s your legal proof? Bill Siddons’s 1971 press release and subsequent 53-year-old controlled narrative? Two private investigators, a forensic analyst, and a judge each told Jeff Finn the “evidence” of Morrison’s “death,” such as it is, would never hold up in a court of law.
Q: Did Marianne Faithfull tell the truth when she claimed Jean de Breteuil, the drug-dealing lover she and Pamela Courson shared, murdered Jim with his heroin?
A: Faithfull came out of the rotting woodwork with her claim in August 2014, mere weeks before the release of her first record in years. Her statement was part of her album’s PR campaign. Do the cynical math.
Q: Jim Morrison works at a KFC in Michigan with Amelia Earhart, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, James Dean, Kurt Cobain, and Tupac. Or the across-the-pond equivalent: “I saw Morrison down the chips shop [sic] with Paul McCartney, Brian Jones, Marc Bolan, Sid Vicious, Ian Curtis, and Richey Edwards.”
A: Those are not questions. And those joke are so old, they’re not even remotely funny to today’s TikTok teens. Time to grow and evolve, dear reader.
Q: If Jim Morrison really is alive, he’d still be performing because he needed to be in the spotlight.
A: That’s also not a question. It’s a projection. And as Mr. X said in Before the End, “I don’t think he [Jim] needed the adulation.”
Q: If he’s really still alive, Jim Morrison would be a Trump/Musk supporter.
A: Again, that’s not a question, but yet another projection. FYI: Morrison despised Nixon and Reagan, and Mr. X abhors Trump and Musk. Get to know your hollow idols.
Q: Leave Frank X alone. He’s an old man.
A: Still not a question. FYI: Mr. Frank X is a compassionate, brilliant, and humorous scamp, as was Jim Morrison, and X chose to be interviewed on-camera by Jeff Finn in Before the End. And that was after he encouraged Finn to find him via social media. Finn and X have since formed a genuine friendship. No one twisted X’s arm, and he’s gotten a huge kick out of the endless mystery behind it all, which is doubly-ironic.
Q: You fucking suck. I hope you die.
A: Once more, with feeling. Still not a question. Jeff Finn has no problem with you disliking his work and/or him, but if you can’t communicate via courtesy, you’ll be blocked. And if you gaslight or knee-jerk reply with a childish mocking/laughing emoji? Blocked. Full-stop. Meanwhile, instead of hating and trolling Finn because “his” Jim Morrison doesn’t dovetail with “your” Jim Morrison, put your energy to good use, and create your own Morrison documentary. No one’s stopping you, but you.
Just as Morrison endured his own haters, there are viewers who “love to hate” Before the End, which calls insensitivity to mind, as many human beings lack the emotional intelligence necessary to process empathy.
Q: What is the ultimate purpose of Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Essentially, to bring, via empathy, a fresh and deeper understanding to James Douglas Morrison, the person, in contrast with Jim Morrison, the persona. And that includes all aspects of Jim’s life, from birth to alleged death.
#FloodTheChip *
Q: Why does Before the End feature x-ray imagery, psychedelic colors, and black-and-white interviews?
A: Before the End director, Jeff Finn, didn’t want his independent documystery to resemble traditional “talking-head” documentaries. The psychedelic tones were a tribute to the mind-expanding spirit of the 1960s, particularly Jim Morrison’s sociological experiments with reality, while the x-ray transitions were symbolic of Finn’s nearly-40 years of DIY research down the Morrison rabbit hole. The black-and-white interviews were a nod to The Third Man, the classic 1949 film noir.
Q: Has Mr. X seen Before the End? If so, what did he think?
A: Yes. X described Before the End as “enticing” and “brilliant.” He’s enjoyed seeing what’s evolving, in real-time, into a world-wide, inclusive virtual-reality experience, which Jeff Finn calls, in honor of Jim Morrison’s philosophy, the #UniversalMindGame. *
#PassTheHash
Q: How is Frank X connected to certain insiders who knew Jim Morrison?
A: All rabbit-hole nuances will be revealed via Jeff Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: Did Jeff Finn interview Mary Werbelow, Tandy Martin, Anne Morrison-Chewing, Pearl or Judy Courson, Alain Ronay, Agnes Varda, Robin Wertle, Herve Muller, Michael McClure, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Paul Rothchild, Bruce Botnick, Bill Siddons, Cheri Siddons, Patricia Kennealy, Val Kilmer, Oliver Stone, Jerry Hopkins, Danny Sugerman, Babe Hill, Paul Ferrara, or Frank Lisciandro as part of his work in creating Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison?
A: Werbelow, Martin, and Morrison-Chewning each consented to individual consultations, but none agreed to a formal interview. The late Werbelow cited failing health, while Martin agreed to an on-camera cameo, and Morrison-Chewning kindly gifted Finn with photos for inclusion in Before the End.
Jeff Finn reached out to Pearl and Judy Courson early on, even via signature-required letter, but neither responded. Pearl Courson passed away in 2014. Judy Courson passed in 2018.
Finn was in recurring contact with Ronay, which resulted in their sharing a 9.5-hour day in December 2013, the night before Jim Morrison’s 70th birthday. Ronay kindly declined a formal on-camera interview as he cited having “been burned by the media too often.” Varda and Finn shared a brief email correspondence, in which she, too, kindly declined an on-camera interview, and ended by stating she believed Morrison’s death “should remain a mystery.” Muller and Finn finally communicated after Finn endured a half-decade of unanswered messages, and that breakthrough came thanks to Frank X, who instantly facilitated the connection. Muller, unfortunately, had been in ill health and passed away in 2021 before an interview could take place.
Jeff Finn attempted to reach Michael McClure, but McClure never responded. He passed in 2020.
Early in the process, Finn reached out to Manzarek, Densmore, and Krieger via phone and email. Shortly afterward, Manzarek passed in 2013. Krieger’s wife, Lynn, told Finn her husband would “love” to talk, but Krieger and Densmore immediately were revealed to have been pawns in a larger collusive effort that extended to nearly two dozen others, which has long-been corroborated by the aforementioned “Deep Throat,” a vetted source who requested anonymity.
Paul Rothchild passed away in 1995. He and Jeff Finn never met.
Jeff Finn was in friendly contact with Bruce Botnick, to the point Botnick gave Finn his home address regarding an on-camera interview, but Botnick suddenly went radio-silent, just like so many other Morrison insiders.
Jeff Finn was in friendly individual contact with Bill and Cheri Siddons, when both suddenly went dark, just like the aforementioned others via proven Hollywood collusion.
Finn wasn’t interested in interviewing Kilmer, Stone, or Kennealy, as they’d experienced more than their fair share of the Morrison spotlight, and he wanted to give the silent shadows who knew Morrison, the man and boy, a chance to finally be seen and heard.
Finn and Hopkins were in touch, and Hopkins offered encouragement regarding Before the End. An interview was loosely planned, but unfortunately did not to come to fruition by the time Hopkins passed away in 2018. Sugerman passed in 2005, long before Before the End broke ground in 2012.
Jeff Finn reached out to Hill via email, but didn’t received a reply, and later learned Hill had passed. Finn connected with Ferrara via email early in the process, but Ferrara declined an interview request. In October 2012, Finn flew to meet Lisciandro, and conducted an hours-long interview with him, but Lisciandro proved to be the only one among 100+ on-camera interviewees who immediately refused to sign a release form. Lisciandro continues to work alongside both Doors corporate management and the Morrison Estate.
Q: Can Jeff Finn/Z-Machine put me in touch with Jim Morrison’s family or friends?
A: No. Z-Machine is Jeff Finn’s indie production company, not a rock star-related referral service. Please respect the privacy of those connected to Jim Morrison. If you choose to reach out to someone, do so with respect, patience, and discretion.
Q: Did Jeff Finn really find Linda Ashcroft alive after he was told she was dead?
A: Does the pope shit in the woods?
Q: Who is Robin Wertle?
A: “Robin Wertle” doesn’t exist. That was a typo, conscious or not, repeated from the 1980 publication of No One Here Gets Out Alive onward, until 2016 when Jeff Finn, finally, after having searched for her since 1996, found Robyn Wurtele, Jim Morrison’s personal assistant during his brief Paris era, March-July 1971. Following months of communication, Wurtele agreed to be a part of Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison. The exclusive knowledge Wurtele imparted to Finn blows the hinges off the “official” story of Morrison’s “death.”
Q: Why is Jim Morrison’s surname listed as “Morrision” [sic] in the data base that shows his social security number as still active in Before the End?
A: All final puzzle pieces will be put in place via Jeff Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: Is Pamela Courson’s signature on a death-related Paris document featured in Before the End signed in Jim Morrison’s own hand?
A: All final nuances will be dialed into full focus via Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: As per Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison and its Facebook page, is Pamela Courson, the woman Jeff Finn nicknamed “Pixie,” still alive?
A: All highways lead to the end of the night via Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: Why did Frank X quote Jim Morrison’s lyric, “I can’t seem to find the right lie,” to Jeff Finn as depicted in Before the End?
A: Finn considers Jim Morrison and Frank X as twin white rabbits down the rabbit hole, until the end of the true rumor, or the true rumor in the end, whichever comes first via Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded. Stay tuned…
Q: Was Jim Morrison really kicked out of his own band, the Doors, as Before the End claims?
A: Yes. That exclusive information came courtesy of former Doors roadie, the late Gareth Blyth, who worked the final Doors show in New Orleans on December 12, 1970.
Q: What became of Jim Morrison’s 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang, which he nicknamed the Blue Lady?
A: Jeff Finn solved the “Mystery of the Blue Lady” over a decade go, the result of which appears in the Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison “extended preview” from 2021. The mystery and its attendant solution are detailed in 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded.
Q: What became of Jim Morrison’s silver concho belt?
A: See Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127F.
Q: Who’s buried in Jim Morrison’s tomb?
A: Is that a trick question? At this absurd point in human history, the Morrison grave in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, one of the top-three tourist attractions in Paris, alongside the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, may be occupied by the wind-blown remains of Ulysses S. Grant for all we know, but Jeff Finn’s money is on the revenant, James Phoenix.
Q: Who is James Phoenix?
A: James Phoenix is one of a number of pseudonyms Jim Morrison utilized in leaving his unique impression on the collective unconscious of humanity. Jeff Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded, reveals the last layer of the ashen rabbit hole.
Q: Who?
A: This doesn’t concern The Who, and only has so much to do with The Doors. And it’s not so much “who,” but “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” ~ #JimMorrison
Q: What is the meaning behind the term, “127 Fascination”?
A: “127 Fascination” was a cryptic phrase apparently affixed to a metal strongbox Jim Morrison’s life partner, Pamela Courson, reportedly transported from Paris to Los Angeles after Morrison’s alleged July 3, 1971 death. The box was said to have contained rare Morrison artifacts and, like James Douglas Morrison himself, largely remains a mystery. Jeff Finn ultimately learned one of Mr. X’s multiple social security numbers began with the numeric sequence: 127. Finn’s forthcoming memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded, not only provides the conclusion to Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison, but also accesses the deepest portal in the Morrison rabbit hole.
Q: When will Jeff Finn’s memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded, be released?
A: The book is scheduled for release later in 2025. No other information is available at this time. Stay tuned…
Q: Is Jeff Finn available for an interview via my podcast, radio show, fanzine, blog, magazine, newspaper, VR hang, etc?
A: Possibly, but if you’re angling for yet another cliched, dashed-off, non-fact-checked, click-bait hot take lazily riddled with sloppy misquotes, kindly take your business elsewhere. Otherwise, make your intentions known via the contact tab.
Q: Where?
A: It’s not so much “where,” but when.
Q: Where and when can I find post-Before the End answers in the interim until Jeff Finn’s memoir, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded, is published?
A: Macrodata Refinement. *
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