MR. MOJO RISIN'

Incandescent rock star Jim Morrison doused his own fire by drowning, drugged, in a Paris bathtub 20 years ago. Here, on the heels of The Doors, Oliver Stone's major new film about Morrison, are two heavily illustrated, brief biographies of the singer- composer. In very different ways, each does a good job of re- creating Morrison's life. Jones, London correspondent for Rolling Stone, takes the more objective approach, presenting in clear, solid prose Morrison's rise and fall, relying on a wealth of interviews with those who knew the star; Dalton, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, writes with poetic fervor that mimics Morrison's woozy, manic intensity even as it adulates. For instance, in describing Morrison's notorious performance at the 1969 Miami concert that got him busted for indecent exposure, Jones writes, 'Here was the vulgar poet in all his drunk and disorderly glory...belching, grabbing his crotch, gobbling the microphone like it was rapidly melting ice cream'; Dalton writes, '...today—now!— he could see the future...The thinnest of membranes separates us from it. Morrison would rip it open...wherefore wouldst thou concern thyself with such matters as personal safety, O my brothers, at this the eleventh hour?' Sixty-five color and 65 b&w photos boost the Jones; the 40 color and 75 b&w photos that accompany the Dylan were not seen.