WEBVTT - The Doors: Robby Krieger and John Densmore 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:23.276 Pushkin. Hey everyone, Today we have a fun follow up 0:00:23.316 --> 0:00:26.476 to last week's episode with Johnny Echoes from the band Love. 0:00:27.276 --> 0:00:30.036 This week we'll hear Rick interview the last two living 0:00:30.076 --> 0:00:34.636 members of The Doors, guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore, 0:00:35.116 --> 0:00:37.876 about coming up in the LA rock scene alongside Love, 0:00:38.236 --> 0:00:42.356 who the Doors idolized and then later eclipsed. The Doors 0:00:42.396 --> 0:00:45.516 formed in nineteen sixty five and burned white hot until 0:00:45.556 --> 0:00:48.316 the death of their larger than life lead singer Jim Morrison. 0:00:48.716 --> 0:00:52.436 They're released six albums in only five years, and then 0:00:52.476 --> 0:00:54.996 that brief time as a band, The Doors quickly became 0:00:55.036 --> 0:00:58.556 one of the biggest acts of the sixties. Their antiflower 0:00:58.596 --> 0:01:02.516 power appeal was accentuated by Jim Morrison's brooding lyrics and 0:01:02.636 --> 0:01:07.236 keyboardist Raymond zeris frenzied organ Lakes. On today's episode, Rick 0:01:07.316 --> 0:01:09.996 Ruban talks to Robbie Krieger and John ends More about 0:01:09.996 --> 0:01:13.676 their tumultuous history with Jim Morrison, who John refers to 0:01:13.836 --> 0:01:17.276 as a Kama Kazi drunk. Both Robbie and John recall 0:01:17.436 --> 0:01:20.276 LSD fueled stories from their early gigs with The Doors 0:01:20.556 --> 0:01:26.636 and the role Acapulco Gold played in Jim Morrison's songwriting process. 0:01:27.796 --> 0:01:30.956 This is broken record liner notes for the Digital Age. 0:01:31.196 --> 0:01:35.356 I'm justin Mitchman. Here's Rick Rubin with doors, guitarist Robbie 0:01:35.396 --> 0:01:39.156 Krieger and drummer John Densmore. Well, thank you so much 0:01:39.196 --> 0:01:42.076 for doing this. I thought it would be interesting to 0:01:42.116 --> 0:01:45.876 talk about the album Love Forever Changes, because I love 0:01:45.956 --> 0:01:50.476 that album and it seems unusual. Yeah. It, first of all, 0:01:50.476 --> 0:01:53.276 it doesn't sound like even Loves other records. The ones 0:01:53.276 --> 0:01:56.556 that earlier were more rock, yeah, and then Forever Changes 0:01:56.676 --> 0:02:01.596 was more acoustic, but classical as well. Yeah. They had 0:02:01.636 --> 0:02:05.156 some good players on that right too. But you could 0:02:05.596 --> 0:02:08.116 I mean that's when they were kind of started fighting 0:02:08.156 --> 0:02:11.996 among them, so right, yeah, you could kind of tell that. 0:02:12.796 --> 0:02:15.436 It's interesting also that the Beatles were sort of not 0:02:15.556 --> 0:02:17.676 in a great place when they made the White album 0:02:17.716 --> 0:02:20.516 with each other, and it's one of the best. There's 0:02:20.556 --> 0:02:24.716 something about when there's friction in the band's something good. 0:02:25.996 --> 0:02:28.316 That's why we are so big. Let me tell you, 0:02:28.836 --> 0:02:31.396 Oh my god, I don't think you guys as having 0:02:31.436 --> 0:02:34.756 friction again. I don't know anything. It was three against 0:02:34.836 --> 0:02:38.156 one the whole time. It is Jim, what is he 0:02:38.236 --> 0:02:43.156 going to do tonight? Oh my god, it's just craziness. Yeah. Yeah. 0:02:43.516 --> 0:02:46.036 Was he being provocative for the sake of being provocative 0:02:46.156 --> 0:02:49.316 or he was just being himself? All of the above, Yeah, 0:02:49.356 --> 0:02:52.116 that was part of it. He liked to, you know, 0:02:52.676 --> 0:02:55.796 get people's goats, but you guys as well or not 0:02:55.876 --> 0:02:59.036 sure he would he would like yeah after a while winding. 0:02:59.236 --> 0:03:01.596 He knew that it wouldn't work after a while with us, 0:03:01.676 --> 0:03:05.356 but it didn't stop him from trying. I remember when 0:03:05.396 --> 0:03:09.076 I met I met his sister, she said, you know, 0:03:09.716 --> 0:03:13.076 my brother growing up was always pressing our buttons. Did 0:03:13.076 --> 0:03:20.396 he do that to you guys? Testing Let's see what boundary? 0:03:20.516 --> 0:03:23.196 Where the boundaries are or whatever? What would be an 0:03:23.236 --> 0:03:26.556 example of something that would happen that would you would 0:03:26.556 --> 0:03:31.876 find questionable. Let's see, he didn't have a phone, he 0:03:31.956 --> 0:03:36.356 didn't have a car, so I had a car sometimes adventure, 0:03:37.516 --> 0:03:41.756 but remember we crash it. We got an apartment, had 0:03:41.796 --> 0:03:43.916 a place upstairs so he could be there, so we 0:03:43.956 --> 0:03:47.716 could mind next door because he was on a rooftop 0:03:47.716 --> 0:03:50.676 in Venice and we just have to drive down there 0:03:50.676 --> 0:03:52.556 to get him, you know. And he would just stay 0:03:52.556 --> 0:03:55.636 with different girlfriends every night, so you never knew where 0:03:55.636 --> 0:03:59.596 he was. But finally we got this place there and 0:03:59.636 --> 0:04:01.676 there was a place for him right next door that 0:04:01.796 --> 0:04:06.196 he wasn't around there much. What's interesting also is that 0:04:06.436 --> 0:04:10.876 both of your bands essentially had lead poets as opposed 0:04:10.916 --> 0:04:17.436 to lead singers, which is unusual. Yeah. Yeah, I'm trying 0:04:17.436 --> 0:04:21.596 to recollect when I first saw love and I think 0:04:21.716 --> 0:04:25.916 it was at Beato Lados and did we go together? Yeah? Yeah, 0:04:25.956 --> 0:04:30.196 so what year was that, approximately sixty five sixty four? 0:04:30.836 --> 0:04:33.836 Had they already put out records at that time or no, no, no, no, 0:04:34.516 --> 0:04:39.076 we were rehearsing. Maybe we would just starting, maybe not 0:04:39.236 --> 0:04:43.116 even with the doors yet. Maybe it was with Psychedelic 0:04:43.236 --> 0:04:46.636 Rangers or something. Yeah, but we went out to this 0:04:46.716 --> 0:04:48.756 club and it was cool because it was you didn't 0:04:48.756 --> 0:04:50.676 have to be twenty one, because we could never get 0:04:50.716 --> 0:04:52.836 in anywhere because we weren't twenty one. How old were 0:04:52.876 --> 0:04:55.196 you at the time, You remember about the eighteen, eighteen, 0:04:55.476 --> 0:04:59.636 seventeen or eighteen. So anyway, we walk in and their 0:04:59.716 --> 0:05:03.876 playing and I had never heard a loud band before. 0:05:03.916 --> 0:05:06.316 These were the loudest band I've ever heard. I mean 0:05:06.356 --> 0:05:09.916 they had the big amps and shit, and before that 0:05:10.036 --> 0:05:13.476 I'd only been to folk music, you know, Budding Travis, 0:05:14.036 --> 0:05:19.116 Josh White Blues, you know, muddy water stuff. I had 0:05:19.196 --> 0:05:21.916 never heard anything like this. I mean it was fucked, 0:05:21.996 --> 0:05:25.516 you know, it was cranking and uh that just blew 0:05:25.556 --> 0:05:29.476 me away. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Was it obvious when you 0:05:29.516 --> 0:05:33.116 saw them what their influences were. It was a culture 0:05:33.156 --> 0:05:38.836 shock because here's this black lead singer who he's wearing 0:05:39.716 --> 0:05:44.556 granny glasses like Roger mcgunn from the Birds psychedelic but 0:05:44.716 --> 0:05:49.196 at the time, you know Afros and funk, you know, 0:05:49.316 --> 0:05:54.276 so they're they're electrified folk rock with a black lead 0:05:54.316 --> 0:06:01.876 singer singing this way out psychedelic reincarnation. It was mind 0:06:01.916 --> 0:06:05.196 blowing anyway, So you know, this this world we walked 0:06:05.196 --> 0:06:09.796 into and went wow, Johnny Johnny eccles had this double 0:06:09.876 --> 0:06:13.116 neck guitar, which I'd never seen one of those before. Yeah, 0:06:13.316 --> 0:06:17.276 that was incredible too. Well, you know, Okay, so we're 0:06:17.316 --> 0:06:20.836 playing the London Fog a few doors down from the Whiskey, 0:06:20.916 --> 0:06:25.596 This Dump and Love is at Whiskey and during the 0:06:25.636 --> 0:06:28.796 break I go down there and stand outside and just 0:06:28.996 --> 0:06:33.436 drool over being in that band, and I'm thinking I'm 0:06:33.476 --> 0:06:38.636 better than that drummer. I think he's a sweet guyop Snoopy, 0:06:39.036 --> 0:06:43.236 Yeah Snoopy, you know. And actually, eventually on Forever Changes 0:06:43.876 --> 0:06:47.316 they had studio I think just for one or two songs, 0:06:47.396 --> 0:06:50.956 because at least there's one one version of the story 0:06:51.276 --> 0:06:56.076 where I think how Blaine played on just two songs. Yeah, 0:06:56.996 --> 0:07:00.116 and then the band kind of decided we better get 0:07:00.156 --> 0:07:04.236 serious otherwise we're not going to play again. I don't 0:07:04.276 --> 0:07:08.636 know that that's the lords don't correct, that's correct, right? Yeah? 0:07:08.756 --> 0:07:12.516 And Carol Kay played bass on on a couple too. Wow. Yeah, 0:07:12.556 --> 0:07:16.396 you know. Dennis Wilson, he didn't mind how playing on 0:07:16.516 --> 0:07:19.916 the stuff. He was cool with it, of course, yeah, 0:07:19.956 --> 0:07:21.516 you know. And I was thinking, I'm as good as 0:07:21.516 --> 0:07:25.476 these studio guys. Why am I not in love? Yeah? 0:07:25.556 --> 0:07:29.316 And then Arthur, you know, told the head of Electra, 0:07:29.476 --> 0:07:32.756 Jack Holsman, to see us, which was such a gracious 0:07:32.796 --> 0:07:35.156 thing to do. And it was it Arthur or Ronnie 0:07:35.196 --> 0:07:37.516 because Ronnie Harron always says it was her well that 0:07:37.676 --> 0:07:42.276 she managed him. So and then we skyrocketed past the band. 0:07:42.636 --> 0:07:47.756 Sorry guys, but that was so they were our idols. Yeah, 0:07:47.796 --> 0:07:50.316 it's it's it's the reason I wanted to talk to you, guys, 0:07:50.396 --> 0:07:53.876 is because most people know your band and many people 0:07:53.956 --> 0:07:56.436 don't know them, and I thought it would be interesting 0:07:56.556 --> 0:07:58.796 for you to talk about it, and it just gives 0:07:58.876 --> 0:08:01.836 it gives people an understanding of what you guys saw 0:08:02.676 --> 0:08:05.156 and the fact that you traveled the world and spread 0:08:05.196 --> 0:08:07.836 the message of the doors everywhere whereas Love didn't really 0:08:07.876 --> 0:08:11.356 do that for Love. I don't understand the details, but 0:08:11.436 --> 0:08:13.796 I understand that Arthur didn't want to really leave Los 0:08:13.836 --> 0:08:17.156 Angeles very much. I'll give you some details. He chained 0:08:17.276 --> 0:08:23.156 smoke dope and forever. Changes was just huge in England. 0:08:23.396 --> 0:08:26.516 It was like Sergeant Pepper time. And he would not 0:08:26.636 --> 0:08:29.516 get on a plane across They did go over there 0:08:29.556 --> 0:08:33.716 or one did they think later? I think Mayle, I 0:08:33.756 --> 0:08:36.076 think when, maybe even when the band broke, may have 0:08:36.156 --> 0:08:38.356 broken up by that. I think you're right, he might 0:08:38.396 --> 0:08:40.636 have been doing the hard stuff too by that time. 0:08:40.836 --> 0:08:44.236 I was afraid to go on the airplane. Yeah, yeah, 0:08:44.276 --> 0:08:47.436 so yeah, his reluctance didn't help at all. When did 0:08:47.436 --> 0:08:51.756 you first meet those guys? It's probably I mean, I 0:08:51.796 --> 0:08:55.396 think I met Brian earlier, but mainly it was at 0:08:55.436 --> 0:08:57.476 the Whiskey when we finally got the job at the 0:08:57.476 --> 0:09:00.756 whiskey and they, Yeah, they used to have They were 0:09:00.756 --> 0:09:04.196 the headline and every other group you ever heard of. 0:09:04.676 --> 0:09:07.276 So how did that work? What does the house band 0:09:07.316 --> 0:09:09.636 mean and what does the headliner mean? So we don't 0:09:09.636 --> 0:09:12.996 have that anymore. We were. We would start off the night, 0:09:13.156 --> 0:09:15.516 you know, eight o'clock when the place was half full. 0:09:15.876 --> 0:09:20.356 So you played there every night or six nights, yea. Yeah, 0:09:20.436 --> 0:09:23.836 we had to join the union. Remember, I think it 0:09:23.916 --> 0:09:28.316 was nine. We started at nine, played the first set, 0:09:28.356 --> 0:09:32.156 then the headliner played, then we played again, then they closed. 0:09:32.276 --> 0:09:35.716 So it was like being an opening you'd be the 0:09:35.756 --> 0:09:38.116 opening act, but you'd be the opening act for everybody 0:09:38.156 --> 0:09:42.276 all the time. Yeah. For for about a year for 0:09:42.436 --> 0:09:46.596 it was you just name them Captain Beefheart, the Birds, 0:09:47.396 --> 0:09:52.396 Van Morrison, Frank and the first one we did was 0:09:52.476 --> 0:09:57.156 them Van Morrison's band when he first had Gloria, and 0:09:57.716 --> 0:10:00.036 we got to be friends with them, and last night 0:10:00.036 --> 0:10:02.516 we got to play Gloria with them on stage, all 0:10:02.516 --> 0:10:06.756 of us. Yeah, we left some pictures of that, and 0:10:06.836 --> 0:10:09.436 that's when I thought his voice was the best ever. 0:10:10.116 --> 0:10:15.036 You know, just man, Gloria, come on, wow. And then 0:10:15.116 --> 0:10:17.236 you know when he came over him and played at 0:10:17.236 --> 0:10:19.756 the whiskey. We got to know him, and he was 0:10:19.796 --> 0:10:23.276 so shy. Man, he was like worse than Jim, you know. 0:10:23.796 --> 0:10:27.076 And then one night at a party he came and 0:10:27.156 --> 0:10:30.196 he was doing some of his new stuff and he 0:10:30.276 --> 0:10:33.276 did a Brown Eyed Girl, remember, just him and a guitar. 0:10:34.876 --> 0:10:40.396 He did snippets of astral Weeks too. I was thinking, 0:10:40.476 --> 0:10:43.556 he's so shy, he can't even talk, but then he 0:10:43.596 --> 0:10:47.556 grabs a guitar and wow. I would imagine by playing 0:10:47.596 --> 0:10:51.716 every night the residency probably made you guys really good, 0:10:52.156 --> 0:10:55.516 Like when you play together, you just get better. Yeah, 0:10:55.516 --> 0:10:57.796 I was there, and in New York we did the 0:10:57.876 --> 0:11:01.596 same thing at a place called on Dean's Club. Yeah, 0:11:01.716 --> 0:11:05.636 fifty nine Street Bridge every night from ninetel two. And yeah, 0:11:05.836 --> 0:11:09.716 Andy Warhol and all those giant people came later. They 0:11:09.796 --> 0:11:12.836 remember we started eleven and we go till five whatever, 0:11:13.836 --> 0:11:17.196 just five sets tonight. Amazing. Yeah, you get good. The 0:11:17.356 --> 0:11:20.076 thing about practice, it really does go. Oh that's the 0:11:20.156 --> 0:11:23.436 thing about today groups. They're lucky to get a gig 0:11:23.476 --> 0:11:26.276 on a weekend. Yes, you know, how can you get 0:11:26.316 --> 0:11:29.596 good like that? And it's also different practicing in front 0:11:29.596 --> 0:11:32.596 of people versus playing in a room. It's a whole 0:11:32.596 --> 0:11:36.116 different thing in front of people. Sure. Yeah, Well, then 0:11:36.156 --> 0:11:41.236 there's electronics, Jim said a long time ago. Maybe in 0:11:41.276 --> 0:11:44.316 the future music will be dismade by one guy with 0:11:44.356 --> 0:11:47.196 a bunch of machines. Did you say that? Yeah? Incredible, 0:11:47.396 --> 0:11:49.876 there it is. Yeah. And then Stevie Wondered came out 0:11:49.876 --> 0:11:52.236 with Talking Book a couple of years later, and yeah, 0:11:52.276 --> 0:11:54.996 and he played the drums on that as well as 0:11:54.996 --> 0:11:58.596 other shit, Oh my god, amazing. Yeah, those were the 0:11:58.876 --> 0:12:03.156 days at that time. Will you playing your own material? 0:12:03.236 --> 0:12:06.916 Where you playing covers? Both in the London fog, We 0:12:07.756 --> 0:12:12.316 learned Willie and Gloria and crap to get by, and 0:12:12.396 --> 0:12:15.516 we'd sneak in our own stuff and if the whiskey, 0:12:15.956 --> 0:12:18.676 i'd say, remember the first set when nobody was there, 0:12:18.716 --> 0:12:22.116 we'd just do what we call it Latin bullshit number 0:12:22.116 --> 0:12:26.636 two and we just jam on some Latin stuff and 0:12:26.676 --> 0:12:30.996 then as people started coming in, we'd lay on them. Unfortunately, 0:12:31.076 --> 0:12:34.236 the times had changed and you didn't have to do 0:12:35.156 --> 0:12:38.076 rock hits and you could do your own stuff and 0:12:38.076 --> 0:12:40.796 then we'd smack them with the end. Did you end 0:12:40.836 --> 0:12:43.596 with the end every day? Yeah? Pretty much, wouldn't or 0:12:43.676 --> 0:12:47.076 light my fire would end light my fire. Everybody be dancing, 0:12:47.196 --> 0:12:49.716 and then the encore would be the end and people 0:12:49.756 --> 0:12:58.596 would file out quietly, no applause. Holy shit, they were bludgeoned. 0:12:58.996 --> 0:13:02.276 So great, so great, But you know, I want to 0:13:02.356 --> 0:13:05.156 jump for a second. I'm thinking of the parallel between 0:13:05.316 --> 0:13:09.076 Arthur and Jim. I have this theory that a great 0:13:09.436 --> 0:13:13.156 song it is a wedding between the way the lyrics 0:13:13.276 --> 0:13:17.836 fit with the melody. And damn, those two guys not 0:13:17.996 --> 0:13:23.876 only had these incredible words, they're they're stitched to gorgeous melodies. Yes, 0:13:24.756 --> 0:13:28.236 you know Arthur and Jim. And Jim couldn't play a 0:13:28.316 --> 0:13:32.596 chord on any instrument, but had he said he thought 0:13:32.596 --> 0:13:36.916 of melodies to remember the words, Oh my God? And 0:13:37.156 --> 0:13:40.916 you know roadhouse blues, that's not a difficult melody. But 0:13:41.836 --> 0:13:43.716 now I'm going to prove why I'm the drummer and 0:13:43.796 --> 0:13:50.836 not the singer. Before you slip into unconsciousness. That's some 0:13:51.036 --> 0:13:54.916 hard chord changes. That's not you know, it's like Jazzy 0:13:55.116 --> 0:13:59.316 and he had it in his head, gifted, yeah, and 0:13:59.516 --> 0:14:02.676 and he just you know, it's not like he sat 0:14:02.716 --> 0:14:05.516 down at the piano and picked out the notes. He 0:14:05.716 --> 0:14:10.836 actually would do a little capoolko gold, and he said 0:14:10.876 --> 0:14:13.596 he heard a concert in his head. Wow, all he 0:14:13.596 --> 0:14:16.476 had to do is remember it. Wow. And would those 0:14:16.556 --> 0:14:19.636 would those melodies always come after hearing the music, or 0:14:19.756 --> 0:14:21.836 might he sing you a melody and then you'd figure 0:14:21.836 --> 0:14:25.236 out what the song was? Well, in those early days, 0:14:25.316 --> 0:14:27.996 it was, you know, he would have the melody in 0:14:28.076 --> 0:14:31.476 his head, and before I was even in the band, 0:14:31.676 --> 0:14:35.676 Ray would help him, you know, pick out the drive 0:14:36.316 --> 0:14:39.556 kind of was etched out before yea, even Hello I 0:14:39.596 --> 0:14:41.676 Love You was kind of like but when Robbie came 0:14:41.716 --> 0:14:45.516 along with the band was formed, and then Jim would 0:14:45.556 --> 0:14:49.756 just sing a cappella and we'd wait, wait, hold it 0:14:50.436 --> 0:14:53.756 f sharp, okay, go on. And even in the songs 0:14:53.756 --> 0:14:58.036 that I wrote, he would often change that melody. He couldn't, 0:14:58.156 --> 0:15:00.116 you know. I would say, okay, sing it like this, 0:15:00.196 --> 0:15:01.836 you know, and he couldn't do it. You know, he 0:15:01.916 --> 0:15:04.276 wasn't a musician, so he would do something a little 0:15:04.276 --> 0:15:06.836 different and it was usually better than what I had 0:15:06.836 --> 0:15:10.116 thought of. He just naturally had a s and yeah, yeah, 0:15:10.556 --> 0:15:13.436 like on light my Fire, you know, my my first 0:15:13.516 --> 0:15:17.476 melody was more like, uh, you know that it will be, 0:15:20.876 --> 0:15:23.796 but he, you know, he simplified it a little bit 0:15:23.836 --> 0:15:27.196 and it actually was better. Amazing, And you know, in 0:15:27.276 --> 0:15:30.156 the very beginning he didn't have that deep baritone. He 0:15:30.196 --> 0:15:35.436 was so shy, wouldn't face the audience. But eventually, Wow, 0:15:36.196 --> 0:15:40.636 And you think about other singers who blew their chords 0:15:40.676 --> 0:15:44.036 and had to have operations and stuff. And Jim could 0:15:44.596 --> 0:15:49.516 scream from the bowels like he was ripping his throat out. Yeah, 0:15:49.556 --> 0:15:51.756 but he never had. He did it for five years. 0:15:52.316 --> 0:15:57.316 If he had continued, I'm sure he never did while 0:15:57.356 --> 0:16:00.836 we were with him. Never, never, He never lost his choice. 0:16:01.716 --> 0:16:04.796 I've had so many singers that I've played with over 0:16:04.836 --> 0:16:07.916 the years who you know, couldn't make it through a 0:16:07.996 --> 0:16:12.356 whole show. Yeah, especially Doors songs, the keys they're in, 0:16:12.716 --> 0:16:16.956 they're meant for Jim's his octave range was incredible. It's 0:16:16.996 --> 0:16:21.036 an interesting thing about there are certain bands, like the Beatles. 0:16:21.836 --> 0:16:24.756 A lot of people cover Beatles songs. Not a lot 0:16:24.756 --> 0:16:27.396 of people covered Doors songs so much. But I think 0:16:27.396 --> 0:16:30.956 it has to do with the nature of the band 0:16:31.236 --> 0:16:35.196 is so unique that the sound of it is as 0:16:35.236 --> 0:16:39.076 important as the song. It's like the whole thing is 0:16:39.156 --> 0:16:43.076 one and if you take you guys out of it, 0:16:43.756 --> 0:16:47.476 the song doesn't have the same life. Yeah, if you 0:16:47.556 --> 0:16:53.076 go see these doors cover bands I've never done, that's interest. Well, 0:16:53.116 --> 0:16:58.116 it's it's it's intimidating filling Jim's leather pants. No, I mean, 0:16:58.636 --> 0:17:03.036 I mean, okay, so I did La Woman with the 0:17:03.156 --> 0:17:07.916 La Philharmonic and Chris Martin from cole Play. Yes, and 0:17:07.996 --> 0:17:10.996 he was He said to me, oh, man, how can 0:17:11.036 --> 0:17:15.556 I feel Jim's vocal cords? And I don't, don't try 0:17:16.716 --> 0:17:20.476 or whatever. Yeah, isn't that amazing that he you know, 0:17:20.476 --> 0:17:25.556 no vocal coaching, nothing, it never sung before us, never 0:17:25.596 --> 0:17:28.196 wrote a song before us. Yeah, I mean he had 0:17:28.236 --> 0:17:36.836 the most incredible vocal range and he was always on pitch. Yeah, 0:17:37.076 --> 0:17:40.556 never had to wait, never sharp or flat. Do you 0:17:40.596 --> 0:17:43.076 know what singers he liked? Like? Who would you say? 0:17:43.116 --> 0:17:47.276 He was inspired? Man? Like Delve Like Sinatra? That makes 0:17:47.276 --> 0:17:50.356 sense though, Like he sings more like Sinatra than most 0:17:50.476 --> 0:17:53.876 rock singers. You know, he really sang in that the 0:17:53.996 --> 0:17:58.636 crooner Yeah, the crooner style. Yeah. And you know like 0:17:58.716 --> 0:18:01.676 Willie Nelson has it too. Yeah, there's a sense of 0:18:01.796 --> 0:18:06.436 phrasing where you sense the singer is so relaxed and 0:18:06.476 --> 0:18:10.796 it's effortless, and it is Willie's obsessed with Frank as well. Sure, 0:18:11.276 --> 0:18:16.236 and it's so identifiable. You hear two bars of Willie 0:18:16.396 --> 0:18:20.076 or Merle or Jim and you go, that's them. It's 0:18:20.116 --> 0:18:25.516 nobody else. Now, what was Arthur's influences? Yeah, that's a 0:18:25.556 --> 0:18:29.916 good any ideas, I don't know. Well, he must have 0:18:29.956 --> 0:18:33.916 liked the birds because of the glasses things. Arthur was 0:18:33.956 --> 0:18:39.036 still here, Yeah, and Brian and Jim. Do you know 0:18:39.076 --> 0:18:42.716 anything about what their relationship was like? Uh? It was 0:18:43.556 --> 0:18:46.876 got more strange, yes, as time went on. I think, yeah, 0:18:47.636 --> 0:18:52.036 a songwriter competition kind of thing. Brian had the big hit, 0:18:52.636 --> 0:18:56.996 but Arthur had all this gorgeous deep stuff, and I 0:18:57.036 --> 0:19:02.036 think there was some jealousy. They were sure unique group. 0:19:02.556 --> 0:19:04.516 How the hell did they get together? I wonder how 0:19:04.516 --> 0:19:09.676 God knows? And they call themselves love incredible. Isn't that beautiful? 0:19:10.396 --> 0:19:14.556 Really a collectic group of people, you know, And it 0:19:14.596 --> 0:19:18.316 wasn't a stereotype then you know, the peace sign and 0:19:18.556 --> 0:19:21.556 love and it was before it was the real deal. 0:19:22.996 --> 0:19:25.276 You know, it was so ahead of the curve. The 0:19:25.316 --> 0:19:28.716 people are still catching up. Yeah, you know, like we 0:19:28.716 --> 0:19:31.516 were on the shoulders of the beat Nicks and then 0:19:31.596 --> 0:19:35.036 the punks are on the shoulders of the hippies and 0:19:35.116 --> 0:19:38.396 the Grunges on the shoulders of the punks. So I 0:19:38.396 --> 0:19:40.316 mean you could say love was a little bit punk, 0:19:40.756 --> 0:19:43.516 a little you know, you'd also makes sense when you 0:19:43.556 --> 0:19:45.596 say that you were on the shoulders of the beat 0:19:45.636 --> 0:19:49.716 Nicks and that both bands had poets. Yeah, that makes sense, 0:19:50.276 --> 0:19:52.556 like if we keep in mind that the Beatnick era 0:19:52.756 --> 0:19:55.116 was just sort of what was what had just been 0:19:55.156 --> 0:19:58.756 going on in the culture. Yeah, so you know, you 0:19:58.876 --> 0:20:03.196 sense a new wave and and I think Jim said 0:20:03.316 --> 0:20:06.156 each generation wants to be different from the one before. 0:20:07.036 --> 0:20:10.476 And so the punks came along and dissed us for 0:20:10.636 --> 0:20:14.916 burning out, and they were right, but the message was there, 0:20:15.156 --> 0:20:19.276 the love thing, you know, so I get pissed off 0:20:19.316 --> 0:20:23.316 one night. You know, people dissed the sixties is failing hold. 0:20:24.436 --> 0:20:29.356 Civil rights, peace movement, feminism are all seeds planted in 0:20:29.396 --> 0:20:34.396 the sixties. They're big seeds, so maybe they take hundreds 0:20:34.436 --> 0:20:37.436 of years for full fruition. So shut up and get 0:20:37.476 --> 0:20:41.996 out your watering can. And also the soap box. Clearly 0:20:42.236 --> 0:20:44.716 the world is a different place than it was before 0:20:44.716 --> 0:20:48.756 the sixties, Like, yeah, that was the turning point. You 0:20:48.796 --> 0:20:50.796 can you can say what you want about the sixties, 0:20:50.796 --> 0:20:55.676 not accomplishing all that it meant to do. Yet the 0:20:55.796 --> 0:20:59.636 world was transformed in the sixties. There's no question we 0:20:59.676 --> 0:21:02.636 live in a different culture that was all the seeds 0:21:02.636 --> 0:21:07.436 of the sixties, right, like a renaissance time like the 0:21:07.516 --> 0:21:10.276 twenties or what I would saying, as you'd think we 0:21:10.316 --> 0:21:16.516 would have learned. We need another sixties right now, So yeah, 0:21:16.516 --> 0:21:20.836 it may happen. Yeah, because music is the only thing 0:21:20.876 --> 0:21:25.356 that we all agree on. Yeah, I love so let's 0:21:25.436 --> 0:21:31.916 use it to try to patch this mess up. Huh. 0:21:32.876 --> 0:21:34.996 Going to pause for a quick break, but we'll be 0:21:35.036 --> 0:21:42.516 back with the doors. Robbie Krieger and John Densmore. We're 0:21:42.516 --> 0:21:46.596 back with Rick Rubens. Conversation with Robbie Krieger and John Densmore. 0:21:46.916 --> 0:21:49.156 What was the first gig that you did where you 0:21:49.196 --> 0:21:52.596 were in the band? Your first gig, first gig was 0:21:52.636 --> 0:22:02.076 that Hughes Aircraft. It was don't remember Ray's mom worked 0:22:02.396 --> 0:22:05.716 at Hughes Aircraft or his dad. So they needed a 0:22:05.716 --> 0:22:10.076 band for some Okay, you know, so well together and 0:22:10.756 --> 0:22:13.396 we we I can't remember the bass player, but he 0:22:13.476 --> 0:22:17.796 only had one string on his back. And then Ray 0:22:17.956 --> 0:22:21.356 was on acid and totally freaked out. He was on 0:22:21.396 --> 0:22:24.116 a bummer acid trip. I don't know how he even played. 0:22:25.156 --> 0:22:27.596 I don't remember the gig. You don't remember, no, you 0:22:27.716 --> 0:22:32.796 black remember? I remember the big warehouse. Yeah, yeah, well 0:22:32.876 --> 0:22:37.316 the gig was was pretty weird. We played some mingus 0:22:37.356 --> 0:22:42.316 I think, uh, and Jim tried to sing a couple 0:22:42.316 --> 0:22:45.316 of things he didn't. We didn't really have any songs 0:22:45.436 --> 0:22:48.476 worked up, you know, so Jim and I both took speed. 0:22:48.556 --> 0:22:54.236 I remember that, Oh my god, drug addict. Really the 0:22:54.316 --> 0:22:57.516 London fog was the first. No, no, no, remember the 0:22:58.036 --> 0:23:00.996 party were played at my parents, so there was party, 0:23:01.356 --> 0:23:05.956 but still that counts. Yeah, it's fun of people party 0:23:05.956 --> 0:23:12.516 at the Isaacson's house near UCLA, and we actually played 0:23:12.556 --> 0:23:16.636 a set and that was pretty good. Were you on 0:23:16.756 --> 0:23:21.116 that gig that gay house boat party out of Marina 0:23:21.236 --> 0:23:23.956 or someone pedrew? I think? And I know on the 0:23:23.996 --> 0:23:28.116 invitation it said, uh, please remember the band is not 0:23:28.276 --> 0:23:32.116 part of our group. Don't come onto the band and 0:23:32.236 --> 0:23:36.836 we're playing and uh, I remember we got the nerve 0:23:36.916 --> 0:23:40.356 to play a ballad and then everybody started kind of 0:23:40.596 --> 0:23:43.876 getting close and there was a lot of shuffling down 0:23:43.876 --> 0:23:47.116 below in the boat, and I remember Ray daring me 0:23:47.196 --> 0:23:53.116 to go downstairs. Early Doris gigs. Yeah, and then we 0:23:53.276 --> 0:23:57.636 played a gig for Moonfire. Remember what's Moonfire a gig? Yeah, 0:23:57.716 --> 0:24:00.316 we played a gig. He had a party down right 0:24:00.436 --> 0:24:04.276 near where you live, and the uplifters. Well, no, he 0:24:04.356 --> 0:24:06.316 was up to pag I know he was. But he 0:24:06.396 --> 0:24:12.156 rented this place right near your house. Moon Fire. Was 0:24:12.196 --> 0:24:15.956 this heir to something. Yeah, he had a lot of 0:24:15.956 --> 0:24:18.796 money and he had a huge place up into Panga 0:24:18.956 --> 0:24:21.836 and he let all the hippies stay there and hang 0:24:21.876 --> 0:24:25.436 out and stuff. And he was a militant vegetarian. And 0:24:25.556 --> 0:24:29.876 when we played Miami over right, he brought a lamb 0:24:29.956 --> 0:24:33.996 on stage, a little little cute little lamb lam and 0:24:34.196 --> 0:24:37.116 gave it to Jim. Gave it and Jim Jim said, 0:24:38.716 --> 0:24:42.996 he said, if it weren't so young, I fuck it. Oh. 0:24:43.036 --> 0:24:45.116 I was gonna say, don't say that, Robbie, but go 0:24:45.396 --> 0:24:47.876 he did, okay? Or did he really say that or 0:24:47.956 --> 0:24:50.516 was that just in the movie a joke? Yeah, it 0:24:50.556 --> 0:24:52.436 was a joke. It's not in the movie. He would 0:24:52.436 --> 0:24:53.996 say that. I think it is in the movie. I 0:24:54.116 --> 0:24:57.556 believe me he would really. Wasn't it in the movie. 0:24:57.716 --> 0:24:59.796 I don't think so. I've seen the movie and I 0:24:59.796 --> 0:25:04.156 don't remember that line. Well, it's a real quick line, 0:25:04.156 --> 0:25:07.116 and yeah, if you go check it out again, you 0:25:07.356 --> 0:25:11.116 hear it. A lot of it's entric folk around. What 0:25:11.156 --> 0:25:13.956 was the idea of bringing the lamb on stage? Was 0:25:13.996 --> 0:25:17.476 so cute? Don't eat meat? Yeah? Yeah, he was a vegetarian. 0:25:18.716 --> 0:25:23.116 Wait before vegetarian? Is it's cool? Yeah? It was kind 0:25:23.156 --> 0:25:26.876 of a cool guy. Anyway, We played a party for him, 0:25:26.916 --> 0:25:28.996 and that was pretty early. That was one of our 0:25:28.996 --> 0:25:32.796 first gigs. I remember having to drag my big standale 0:25:32.916 --> 0:25:37.636 amp up there. Yeah, we had a VW bus, we 0:25:38.236 --> 0:25:41.516 slept all the stuff, so we would just get gigs 0:25:41.516 --> 0:25:43.156 however we could get them, you know. I mean we 0:25:43.236 --> 0:25:46.436 used to go to all the clubs and beg them 0:25:46.556 --> 0:25:50.956