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Robby Krieger
“I started surfing at fourteen. There was lots of classical music in my house. My father liked march music. There was a piano at home. I studied trumpet at ten, but nothing came of it. Then I started playing blues on the piano?no lessons though. When I was seventeen, I started playing guitar. I used my friend’s guitar. I didn’t get my own until I was eighteen. It was a Mexican flamenco guitar. I took flamenco lessons for a few months. I switched around from folk to flamenco to blues to rock ‘n’ roll.
“Records got me into the blues. Some of the newer rock ‘n’ roll, such as the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. If it hadn’t been for Butterfield going electric, I probably wouldn’t have gone rock ‘n’ roll.
I didn’t plan on rock ‘n’ roll. I wanted to learn jazz; I got to know some people doing rock ‘n’ roll with jazz, and I thought I could make money playing music. In rock ‘n’ roll you can realize anything that you can in jazz or anything. There’s no limitation other than the beat. You have more freedom than you do in anything except jazz – which is dying – as far as making any money is concerned.
“In The Doors we have both musicians and poets, and both know of each other’s art, so we can effect a synthesis. In the case of Tim Buckley or Dylan you have one man’s ideas. Most groups today aren’t groups. In a true group all the members create the arrangements among themselves.”
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The Doors: Live In Bakersfield August 21, 1970 (2CD)
by Doug Collette
The somewhat checkered history of archival exhumations from the vault of the Doors would no doubt preclude thinking that Live at the Matrix 1967: The Complete Masters (Rhino, 2023) would constitute anything like a 'be all and end all' of such efforts. Still, to see Live in Bakersfield August 21, 1970 issued in such short order (ten weeks) after the aforementioned package is something of a surprise, if for no other reason than its appearance in compact disc ...
read moreThe Doors: Live At The Matrix 1967: The Original Masters
by Doug Collette
With a glossy finish adding to the diaphanous effect, the color filters applied to the images of the Doors inside and outside the package capture the essence of the music inside. In a most practical sense. Reliably sourced from the master tapes this time--in contrast to the 2008 release--Live At The Matrix 1967 : The Original Masters contains thirty- seven tracks from the San Francisco shows and posits the iconic group as a balanced four-man collective prior to the popularity ...
read moreSet The Night On Fire: Living, Dying and Playing Guitar With The Doors
by Doug Collette
Set The Night On Fire: Living, Dying and Playing Guitar with The Doors Robby Krieger with Jeff Alulis 432 pages ISBN: # 978-0316243346 Little, Brown and Company 2021 Reading the memoirs of the Doors' Robby Krieger is like encountering and catching up with an old acquaintance after a protracted period of separation. The stories flow quickly and easily, albeit not always in chronological order (as the author readily admits), and the bemused ...
read moreRobby Krieger: The Ritual Begins At Sundown
by Kyle Simpler
The Doors are one of the most iconic bands in rock music, and people who collect their albums have recently been treated to some special releases. The 50th anniversary release of Morrison Hotel (Elektra Catalog Group, 2020) features a remastered mix along with over an hour of bonus tracks. The latest Record Store Day drop featured a special stripped down reissue of their 1969 album The Soft Parade (Elektra Catalog Group, 2019), with all of the orchestration removed. These classic ...
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