Post by darkstar on Feb 9, 2005 16:02:45 GMT
MUSIC PREVIEW: DOORS GUITARIST ROBBY KRIEGER PERSEVERES
By: Ed Masley – Post Gazette Pop Music Critic
Post Gazette Magazine
Friday, May 12 2000
As a solo artist, Robby Krieger used to play the songs he’d written in the Doors as instrumentals.
“But then,” he says, “there was always some idiot out there in the audience who thought he could sing like Jim, right? I figured, hell, I could do better than that, you know? So I started singing myself.
His godson, Berry Oakley, Jr. (son of Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley), also takes the mike from time to time in Krieger’s latest touring band, a band that also features Krieger’s own son, Waylon, on guitar.
In addition to cuts from Krieger’s latest jazz-rock album, ‘Cinematix,’ a typical set includes such timeless Woodstock-era hits as ‘Light My Fire,’ ‘People Are Strange,’ ‘Riders On The Storm’ and “Love Me Two Times.’<br>
Last month, Krieger played a Webcast gig with Ray Manzarek of the Doors and guests included Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell and John Doe, whose legendary L.A. Punk band X, had been produced and joined on organ by Manzarek.
Krieger says he sees the other Doors from time to time. Last year, John Densmore sat I on drums with Krieger’s band in Europe. And Manzarek sat in one night last year down in Mexico.
“The hard part,” Krieger says, “is getting all three of us together to play. But that might happen.”<br>
Things are strained for now between the drummer and the organist, which is often the case when folks start writing books about each other.
As Krieger explains it, “Ever since Ray’s book came out, John and Ray haven’t been getting along very well. If you read it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Ray totally puts John down in the book, makes him sound like a fool. John kind of did the same thing, poked a little fun at Ray in his book. And I guess Ray had to get back at him. Very petty.”<br>
Has Krieger though of joining in the literary fray?
“Not really, no,” he says. “There’s been enough books out about The Doors. I don’t think one more book would add much.”<br>
And speaking of setting the record straight, what did he think of the movie?
Val Kilmer was great. And the musical parts of the movie were really good. And the script? It sucked, says Krieger. Still, he didn’t hate it.
The latest tribute to the Doors – an album featuring such Doors – inspired bands as Creed and Smash Mouth (Hey, they’ve got an organ!) – has more involvement from the three surviving members of the band.
After hooking up with Creed to play guitar on their cut for the tribute album, Krieger joined the band on stage at Woodstock ’99.
“That was great, because the Doors never played Woodstock for some reason or other,” he says. “And I figured that I didn’t want to miss it again. But Scott, the singer guy from Creed, was telling me, ‘If you come out on stage, those people are gonna go crazy.’ And I said, ‘No, they’re not.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re not gonna believe it’ And he was right. It was incredible. When I came out, the whole place went crazy.”<br>
It’s pointed out how much the singer guy from Creed has based his singing style on Morrison.
“Yeah, he has,” says Krieger. “He was very much into Jim and the Doors. He was telling me the reason he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, is because Jim was born there. He had Doors posters all over his room. And you can tell by the way that he sings.”<br>
It’s pointed out that for a decade there – the 90’s – there were tons of singers who apparently had posters of the Doors over their rooms, too.
“You’re right,” he says.
One Doors-inspired singer, Eddie Vedder, joined the band on stage in 1993 when the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
“We did three Doors songs,” Krieger says. “And he was pumping me all day about Jim.”<br>
As much as people tend to focus on the charismatic singer and his reptile fetish, the Doors were more than just a sideshow poet’s backing band.
“Jim and I would write the lyrics,” Krieger says, “ and the other guys would help arrange the stuff. I wrote most of the music, but if any one of us had been a different person, it would have sounded totally different. So you’ve gotta say that the way it ended up sounding was a collaborative effort, which is why we always split all our publishing equally. A lot of bands don’t do that. But everything was split four ways with us.”<br>
They did their best to soldier on in the wake of the Lizard King turning up dead in a bathtub in ’71, recording ‘Other Voices’ and ‘Full Circle’ as a three piece. There was even talk of replacing the singer with the even more outlandish Iggy Pop, but really, Krieger says it, “never got as far as actually trying him out.”<br>
He may be doing something on the tribute album, though.
“So who knows?” Krieger says, “Maybe it’ll finally happen.”<br>
www.post-gazette.com/magazine/2000512Krieger5.asp
By: Ed Masley – Post Gazette Pop Music Critic
Post Gazette Magazine
Friday, May 12 2000
As a solo artist, Robby Krieger used to play the songs he’d written in the Doors as instrumentals.
“But then,” he says, “there was always some idiot out there in the audience who thought he could sing like Jim, right? I figured, hell, I could do better than that, you know? So I started singing myself.
His godson, Berry Oakley, Jr. (son of Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley), also takes the mike from time to time in Krieger’s latest touring band, a band that also features Krieger’s own son, Waylon, on guitar.
In addition to cuts from Krieger’s latest jazz-rock album, ‘Cinematix,’ a typical set includes such timeless Woodstock-era hits as ‘Light My Fire,’ ‘People Are Strange,’ ‘Riders On The Storm’ and “Love Me Two Times.’<br>
Last month, Krieger played a Webcast gig with Ray Manzarek of the Doors and guests included Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell and John Doe, whose legendary L.A. Punk band X, had been produced and joined on organ by Manzarek.
Krieger says he sees the other Doors from time to time. Last year, John Densmore sat I on drums with Krieger’s band in Europe. And Manzarek sat in one night last year down in Mexico.
“The hard part,” Krieger says, “is getting all three of us together to play. But that might happen.”<br>
Things are strained for now between the drummer and the organist, which is often the case when folks start writing books about each other.
As Krieger explains it, “Ever since Ray’s book came out, John and Ray haven’t been getting along very well. If you read it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Ray totally puts John down in the book, makes him sound like a fool. John kind of did the same thing, poked a little fun at Ray in his book. And I guess Ray had to get back at him. Very petty.”<br>
Has Krieger though of joining in the literary fray?
“Not really, no,” he says. “There’s been enough books out about The Doors. I don’t think one more book would add much.”<br>
And speaking of setting the record straight, what did he think of the movie?
Val Kilmer was great. And the musical parts of the movie were really good. And the script? It sucked, says Krieger. Still, he didn’t hate it.
The latest tribute to the Doors – an album featuring such Doors – inspired bands as Creed and Smash Mouth (Hey, they’ve got an organ!) – has more involvement from the three surviving members of the band.
After hooking up with Creed to play guitar on their cut for the tribute album, Krieger joined the band on stage at Woodstock ’99.
“That was great, because the Doors never played Woodstock for some reason or other,” he says. “And I figured that I didn’t want to miss it again. But Scott, the singer guy from Creed, was telling me, ‘If you come out on stage, those people are gonna go crazy.’ And I said, ‘No, they’re not.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re not gonna believe it’ And he was right. It was incredible. When I came out, the whole place went crazy.”<br>
It’s pointed out how much the singer guy from Creed has based his singing style on Morrison.
“Yeah, he has,” says Krieger. “He was very much into Jim and the Doors. He was telling me the reason he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, is because Jim was born there. He had Doors posters all over his room. And you can tell by the way that he sings.”<br>
It’s pointed out that for a decade there – the 90’s – there were tons of singers who apparently had posters of the Doors over their rooms, too.
“You’re right,” he says.
One Doors-inspired singer, Eddie Vedder, joined the band on stage in 1993 when the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
“We did three Doors songs,” Krieger says. “And he was pumping me all day about Jim.”<br>
As much as people tend to focus on the charismatic singer and his reptile fetish, the Doors were more than just a sideshow poet’s backing band.
“Jim and I would write the lyrics,” Krieger says, “ and the other guys would help arrange the stuff. I wrote most of the music, but if any one of us had been a different person, it would have sounded totally different. So you’ve gotta say that the way it ended up sounding was a collaborative effort, which is why we always split all our publishing equally. A lot of bands don’t do that. But everything was split four ways with us.”<br>
They did their best to soldier on in the wake of the Lizard King turning up dead in a bathtub in ’71, recording ‘Other Voices’ and ‘Full Circle’ as a three piece. There was even talk of replacing the singer with the even more outlandish Iggy Pop, but really, Krieger says it, “never got as far as actually trying him out.”<br>
He may be doing something on the tribute album, though.
“So who knows?” Krieger says, “Maybe it’ll finally happen.”<br>
www.post-gazette.com/magazine/2000512Krieger5.asp