Post by darkstar2 on Aug 3, 2008 15:24:37 GMT
INTERVIEW WITH ROBBY KRIEGER
By: Liz Ludown and Jessie Nash
Masters Of Rock Magazine – The Life & Times Of Jim Morrison
Vol. 1 No. 3 – March 1991
Although Jim Morrison was the face and voice of the Doors, guitarist Robby Krieger was responsible for penning many of the group’s most controversial and successful songs. His two most famous were “Light My Fire” and “Hello I Love You.” Moreover, the guitarist’s writings contributions have often been overlooked. In this interview, Robby Krieger discusses his tenure with the Doors.
Tell me the wildest Doors story that you haven’t told anybody else?
Something that I’ve never told anybody else……I got it! (We) were in the (recording) studio, and the night before I get this call at two or three in the morning from Jim and his girlfriend. They were on acid….(laughs)…Anyway, Jim says to me over the phone, “We’re dying over here. You’ve got to come and save us. Please, man!” So I go over there, and they’re freaking out. Finally, I got them together enough to take them over to River Park to cool out. I brought them to the park and said, “Ok, you guys. You hang out here until you feel like you can handle it and, oh yeah we’re recording today. Don’t forget. This is taking place like around six in the morning by this point. So hours pass. It comes time that we’re got to go to the recording studio and Jim doesn’t show up. So it’s like, shit, what do we do? With Jim, he hardly ever missed a date especially when he was supposed to sing. So, we do the track without him. What’s unusual about that is the song is one of those songs which was a real ad lib type of cut. We never did it the same way twice. So when, Jim didn’t make it, we decided that we would do it the way we thought he might do it, if he were here with us. Scary, huh? He could fill in the vocal later. So we did it, and he finally shoed up later and sang the song in one take. The entire song in one take and it went perfectly.
And what song was this?
“Light My Fire,” pretty incredible stuff.
How did you communicate with Jim when it came to working things out musically? Can you describe the working relationship?
Well, you know, when we were working on songs it was great because he was really a normal guy. In fact, that was probably the only time that he was normal. (Laughs)….Jim and I worked out a lot of songs together. We wrote most of the stuff. Usually when we were writing he’d come and stay at my house. Those were by far some of the best times that I ever had with Jim.
Would you say that much of the music written by the Doors was LSD influenced?
Yeah. Especially songs written by or involving Jim. He was taking LSD. That’s a fact. I had taken LSD before the group was together, but by the time the Doors got together I had stopped taking acid.
Why did you stop taking LSD?
Mainly because everything was so crazy. I thought that if I continued to take LSD I would go crazy, too. And with Jim, the rest of the band had to be super straight in order to balance him off. If we were messed up then who would take care of Jim? I’ll admit to you that LSD did influence our music quite a lot. Acid makes you think a lot more, and it makes you think of heavy things and not just stupid love songs. It really stimulates the thought process.
How do you write a song like “Light My Fire” when that’s the first song you ever wrote?
The way it happened was that one day Jim said, ‘Everybody go home and write some songs because we don’t have enough songs.’ So although I thought I couldn’t write, I knew that if I were to write a song for Jim, it had to be pretty heavy because Jim’s songs were very heavy, it had to be about earth, air, fire or water. I tried so many different combinations. Singing things like, ‘Come on baby breathe my air….come on baby share by earth.’ It was pretty embarrassing, until I finally got it to ‘Come on baby light my fire.’ That knocked Jim out. It’s amazing how people write songs in so many different ways. Jim wrote most of his songs when he lived with this guy named Dennis Jacobs. Dennis had this great pot. When he would smoke this pot with Dennis, well, the songs would just pop into Jim’s head. He would write them the way they were on the final record without ever really having to change them. Pretty sensational if you think about it. Most of Jim’s songs made it to the album as first drafts! It’s like the songs were already written and just waiting for someone to use them. It was weird.
Does it agitate you when people overlook your songwriting accomplishments? Many people are not aware that you wrote such Doors classics as ‘Light My Fire and ‘Hello I Love You.”<br>
Yeah, it’s a little depressing sometimes. Listen, to be honest with you, I don’t care if people think that Jim wrote all the songs, but if they think that Jose Feliciano wrote them, well, that really gets me pissed off.
In 1967, the Doors played often at Steve Paul’s The Scene nighclub which attracted many of music’s hottest performers at the time.
Don’t mention Steve Paul. It depresses me, because in 1967 I think the most depressing place was playing The Scene. I hated that place. It was underground, and it was always hot as hell down there. Too many people, no air conditioning. The sound system sucked. Never enough room on stage, I mean, yeah, a lot of great sessions came out of there and all, but I personally hated the place. I guess the main reason I had a bad feeling about it was because when ‘Light My Fire’ was number one in the country we were booked at Steve Paul’s Scene. Because if that we couldn’t do Monterey Pop (Festival). He wouldn’t let is out of the contract to do that show. So, we missed a part of rock ‘n’ roll history because of Steve Paul. We were never officially invited, but I know if we were in LA that we would have performed. The main thing was: here we were with the number one song in the country and we’re stuck playing this shitty little club.
On the subject of gigs, what do you think was the most fantastic gig the Doors ever did?
For me it was probably the first time we played San Francisco. We played the Fillmore in 1966, and it was incredible. Probably because we had never been there, and just seeing everything that was going on in that city. It was just a mind blowing type of gig, especially the light shows. We hadn’t seen that. Everybody was love, peace and love generation and all that.
What about the whole era the Doors sort of oversaw? The sixties era. How did you fit into it, because you weren’t a love and peace kind of band?
Yeah, it was kind of weird. We didn’t fit in, really. Of course we found acceptance. There are two sides to any coin, and we represented the darker side of what as going on. On the outside it was all peace, love and flowers, in reality, the Vietnam war was happening. Kennedy was killed, and the bullshit of the Nixon administration was going on. So, it wasn’t all flowers and peace.
So, you’ say you represented the other side of that political coin?
Well, I mean we didn’t go out of our way to say, ‘Ok, were going to be the opposite of everything.’ It’s just how it was. “Light My Fire” was number one while Detroit and Chicago were burning. They were burning those places down to the ground. I’m not saying that “Light My Fire” had anything to do with it. On the other hand, other people would think that the song was about love and lighting a joint. It wasn’t about all that.
The Doors have made some of the greatest music in rock history. Many people don’t realize, I think, how much of a group effort there was, and how much of a cohesive whole the Doors really were. There was a lot of attention focused on Jim. How did the rest of the band feel about that?
It was kind of an oversight on people’s part. Real Doors fans who listened to the music knew that it was a four-person thing not just some lead singer and some other guys. So, that didn’t really bother me that much.
Jim was the front man and the guy who got all the flack. I didn’t want that anyway. I could always step back, and sort of hide in the background….but still be part of it.
What was the first thing that went through your mind when you heard Jim was dead?
Oh, well I didn’t believe it. There were so many times when something like that happened to Jim. Jim had that reputation of doing weird things. So, I didn’t believe it….until much later when we finally sent our manager, Bill Siddons over to Paris to find out what was happening.
Is there one lesson that sticks in your mind that you’ve learned from your experiences playing with the Doors and from your involvement in the music industry in general?
Well, you have to make up your mind from the very beginning and me committed to whatever it is that you do with your life. Jim was committed to burning out everything and to blowing out all the candles. He basically said, ‘Who cares what the fuck happens.’ But he paid the price. He also had a hell of a lot of fun, too. I feel that his approach to life is more destructive than it is positive. It’s not necessary. You can be committed to something and still achieve your goals and take care of yourself at the same time. (You can), plan for the future and make sure you’ve got something left for later on. Being a guitar player allows for that. Look at Les Paul. He’s 74 and he’s still burning. So many people in other professions can’t (have long careers) football players and any other kind of athlete, really. So as a guitarist, I’m really lucky. And that just says to me that it’s not necessary to fuck yourself up with drugs and stuff to get your point across. I’m lucky to be alive and still be playing my instrument. Take notice and learn from a guy like Jim Morrison. He’s a legend but he’s dead and gone. You can make a mark on this life and be around to enjoy it. Learn from this.
END.
By: Liz Ludown and Jessie Nash
Masters Of Rock Magazine – The Life & Times Of Jim Morrison
Vol. 1 No. 3 – March 1991
Although Jim Morrison was the face and voice of the Doors, guitarist Robby Krieger was responsible for penning many of the group’s most controversial and successful songs. His two most famous were “Light My Fire” and “Hello I Love You.” Moreover, the guitarist’s writings contributions have often been overlooked. In this interview, Robby Krieger discusses his tenure with the Doors.
Tell me the wildest Doors story that you haven’t told anybody else?
Something that I’ve never told anybody else……I got it! (We) were in the (recording) studio, and the night before I get this call at two or three in the morning from Jim and his girlfriend. They were on acid….(laughs)…Anyway, Jim says to me over the phone, “We’re dying over here. You’ve got to come and save us. Please, man!” So I go over there, and they’re freaking out. Finally, I got them together enough to take them over to River Park to cool out. I brought them to the park and said, “Ok, you guys. You hang out here until you feel like you can handle it and, oh yeah we’re recording today. Don’t forget. This is taking place like around six in the morning by this point. So hours pass. It comes time that we’re got to go to the recording studio and Jim doesn’t show up. So it’s like, shit, what do we do? With Jim, he hardly ever missed a date especially when he was supposed to sing. So, we do the track without him. What’s unusual about that is the song is one of those songs which was a real ad lib type of cut. We never did it the same way twice. So when, Jim didn’t make it, we decided that we would do it the way we thought he might do it, if he were here with us. Scary, huh? He could fill in the vocal later. So we did it, and he finally shoed up later and sang the song in one take. The entire song in one take and it went perfectly.
And what song was this?
“Light My Fire,” pretty incredible stuff.
How did you communicate with Jim when it came to working things out musically? Can you describe the working relationship?
Well, you know, when we were working on songs it was great because he was really a normal guy. In fact, that was probably the only time that he was normal. (Laughs)….Jim and I worked out a lot of songs together. We wrote most of the stuff. Usually when we were writing he’d come and stay at my house. Those were by far some of the best times that I ever had with Jim.
Would you say that much of the music written by the Doors was LSD influenced?
Yeah. Especially songs written by or involving Jim. He was taking LSD. That’s a fact. I had taken LSD before the group was together, but by the time the Doors got together I had stopped taking acid.
Why did you stop taking LSD?
Mainly because everything was so crazy. I thought that if I continued to take LSD I would go crazy, too. And with Jim, the rest of the band had to be super straight in order to balance him off. If we were messed up then who would take care of Jim? I’ll admit to you that LSD did influence our music quite a lot. Acid makes you think a lot more, and it makes you think of heavy things and not just stupid love songs. It really stimulates the thought process.
How do you write a song like “Light My Fire” when that’s the first song you ever wrote?
The way it happened was that one day Jim said, ‘Everybody go home and write some songs because we don’t have enough songs.’ So although I thought I couldn’t write, I knew that if I were to write a song for Jim, it had to be pretty heavy because Jim’s songs were very heavy, it had to be about earth, air, fire or water. I tried so many different combinations. Singing things like, ‘Come on baby breathe my air….come on baby share by earth.’ It was pretty embarrassing, until I finally got it to ‘Come on baby light my fire.’ That knocked Jim out. It’s amazing how people write songs in so many different ways. Jim wrote most of his songs when he lived with this guy named Dennis Jacobs. Dennis had this great pot. When he would smoke this pot with Dennis, well, the songs would just pop into Jim’s head. He would write them the way they were on the final record without ever really having to change them. Pretty sensational if you think about it. Most of Jim’s songs made it to the album as first drafts! It’s like the songs were already written and just waiting for someone to use them. It was weird.
Does it agitate you when people overlook your songwriting accomplishments? Many people are not aware that you wrote such Doors classics as ‘Light My Fire and ‘Hello I Love You.”<br>
Yeah, it’s a little depressing sometimes. Listen, to be honest with you, I don’t care if people think that Jim wrote all the songs, but if they think that Jose Feliciano wrote them, well, that really gets me pissed off.
In 1967, the Doors played often at Steve Paul’s The Scene nighclub which attracted many of music’s hottest performers at the time.
Don’t mention Steve Paul. It depresses me, because in 1967 I think the most depressing place was playing The Scene. I hated that place. It was underground, and it was always hot as hell down there. Too many people, no air conditioning. The sound system sucked. Never enough room on stage, I mean, yeah, a lot of great sessions came out of there and all, but I personally hated the place. I guess the main reason I had a bad feeling about it was because when ‘Light My Fire’ was number one in the country we were booked at Steve Paul’s Scene. Because if that we couldn’t do Monterey Pop (Festival). He wouldn’t let is out of the contract to do that show. So, we missed a part of rock ‘n’ roll history because of Steve Paul. We were never officially invited, but I know if we were in LA that we would have performed. The main thing was: here we were with the number one song in the country and we’re stuck playing this shitty little club.
On the subject of gigs, what do you think was the most fantastic gig the Doors ever did?
For me it was probably the first time we played San Francisco. We played the Fillmore in 1966, and it was incredible. Probably because we had never been there, and just seeing everything that was going on in that city. It was just a mind blowing type of gig, especially the light shows. We hadn’t seen that. Everybody was love, peace and love generation and all that.
What about the whole era the Doors sort of oversaw? The sixties era. How did you fit into it, because you weren’t a love and peace kind of band?
Yeah, it was kind of weird. We didn’t fit in, really. Of course we found acceptance. There are two sides to any coin, and we represented the darker side of what as going on. On the outside it was all peace, love and flowers, in reality, the Vietnam war was happening. Kennedy was killed, and the bullshit of the Nixon administration was going on. So, it wasn’t all flowers and peace.
So, you’ say you represented the other side of that political coin?
Well, I mean we didn’t go out of our way to say, ‘Ok, were going to be the opposite of everything.’ It’s just how it was. “Light My Fire” was number one while Detroit and Chicago were burning. They were burning those places down to the ground. I’m not saying that “Light My Fire” had anything to do with it. On the other hand, other people would think that the song was about love and lighting a joint. It wasn’t about all that.
The Doors have made some of the greatest music in rock history. Many people don’t realize, I think, how much of a group effort there was, and how much of a cohesive whole the Doors really were. There was a lot of attention focused on Jim. How did the rest of the band feel about that?
It was kind of an oversight on people’s part. Real Doors fans who listened to the music knew that it was a four-person thing not just some lead singer and some other guys. So, that didn’t really bother me that much.
Jim was the front man and the guy who got all the flack. I didn’t want that anyway. I could always step back, and sort of hide in the background….but still be part of it.
What was the first thing that went through your mind when you heard Jim was dead?
Oh, well I didn’t believe it. There were so many times when something like that happened to Jim. Jim had that reputation of doing weird things. So, I didn’t believe it….until much later when we finally sent our manager, Bill Siddons over to Paris to find out what was happening.
Is there one lesson that sticks in your mind that you’ve learned from your experiences playing with the Doors and from your involvement in the music industry in general?
Well, you have to make up your mind from the very beginning and me committed to whatever it is that you do with your life. Jim was committed to burning out everything and to blowing out all the candles. He basically said, ‘Who cares what the fuck happens.’ But he paid the price. He also had a hell of a lot of fun, too. I feel that his approach to life is more destructive than it is positive. It’s not necessary. You can be committed to something and still achieve your goals and take care of yourself at the same time. (You can), plan for the future and make sure you’ve got something left for later on. Being a guitar player allows for that. Look at Les Paul. He’s 74 and he’s still burning. So many people in other professions can’t (have long careers) football players and any other kind of athlete, really. So as a guitarist, I’m really lucky. And that just says to me that it’s not necessary to fuck yourself up with drugs and stuff to get your point across. I’m lucky to be alive and still be playing my instrument. Take notice and learn from a guy like Jim Morrison. He’s a legend but he’s dead and gone. You can make a mark on this life and be around to enjoy it. Learn from this.
END.