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It had been quite some time since one of these turned up for sale. These contracts were discussed here previously. One was authenticated by PSA/DNA, but it was later removed from the certification database. Another was examined in person and the contract itself was found to have been produced using a color copier. The signatures appear to have been copied from the authentic 1970 contract shown below.

The seller claims that the contract has been signed by Lawrence Harris, but the signature above his printed name appears to be an attempt at Jac Holzman's signature using the 1970 contract as an example.

The price is $11,900 OBO. Opinions?

Authentic Lawrence Harris signature:

Authentic contract from 1970:


The framed piece as it appears in the eBay auction:

Original October 22, 1968, two-page recording document between Elektra Corp and "The Doors." Signed and initialed by "The Doors," Jim Morrison, Robert Krieger, John Densmore and Ray Manzarek and Lawrence Harris, Elektra Corp

The documents are in excellent condition. Framed.

Purchased personally from Bill Miller in 2002. Certificate of Authenticity by Bill Miller, Odyssey Group

BILL MILLER, President of "Autograph Collector" and Odyssey Publications in 1991, HE also ran the popular "Collecting" magazine, as well two books, "The Celebrity Authentication Guide" and the "Autograph Collector Price Guide".
In 2004, Bill sold his autograph and memorabilia company, OdysseyGroup and publishing company, Odyssey Publications to Heritage Auction, Dallas Texas.. A noted authority onhistorical documents and celebrity memorabilia. Mr. Miller has worked withclients such as Dolly Parton, The White House, Graceland, The CountryMusic Hall of Fame (he appraised and authenticated every single item inthe Hall of Fame collection) Marty Stuart, President Gerald Ford, theEstates of Minnie Pearl and Hank Snow to name just a few.
www.angelfire.com/biz5/puru777/billmiller2.htm

Bill Miller and his wife co-found Icon Entertainment Group in Nashville and established the Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline & Merle Haggard Museums in Nashville.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/253853317257

Tags: Contract, Document, Doors, Gotta, Group, Have, Miller, Morrison, Odyssey, Rock, More…Roll, eBay, ocher2007

Views: 1155

Replies to This Discussion

Someone would need to look at it in person .

It's pretty obvious to me also that the authentic contract was used as the template for the ebay item in question. The Holzman/Harris mistake in itself proves it's a forgery. The biggest tell in the Morrison signature in the fake contract is that the forger connected the second R and the I in the same stroke whereas Jim always separated these two letters as is in the authentic one.

Apparently the forger(s) incorrectly assumed that it was Harris' signature, as Holzman's printed name doesn't appear under his signature on the authentic 1970 contract.

It has what appears to me to be too many starts and stops that are not natural to their signatures. I would avoid the item. 

Do you believe the seller knows its a fake? Some collectors i have no sympathy for they buy these items and it doesn't matter what you say they believe they own a legitimate item.

Yes, some sellers won't even entertain the possibility that an item they believe is worth thousands is actually worth zero. It's too tough a pill to swallow. All the seller would have to do is use Roger Epperson's Quick Opinion service. He's aware of this issue and wouldn't need to examine the contract in person.

I read Roger owns a fake contract .

Agreed. John's signature has a noticeable flaw that also appears in other forged examples of this contract.

Here's one example. This was offered by three different well-known auction houses before it was finally pulled from sale.

Believe it or not, this exact contract is included in the upcoming Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction. They previously offered it at auction in 2012, but it didn’t sell. It was offered shortly thereafter by another auction house, but was pulled from sale after it was determined to be a fake.

https://www.gottahaverockandroll.com/LotDetail.aspx?inventoryid=27448

I've added a couple of images to the OP - The COA included with the contract and an authentic Lawrence Harris signature.

they’ve dropped the price down to 9900, I’m no expert but before Mark mentioned it, you can clearly see it’s not the type of paper they would’ve used a d plus if google search The Doors contract (mark’s pictures below) you can see that they have 2different versions of this contract!

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