Post by TheWallsScreamedPoetry on Jan 9, 2005 12:41:37 GMT
Robby Krieger
The Door Opens Up
The 1990s were a busy decade for the Doors. A band that gasped its last breath as an intact unit in 1971 with L.A. Woman sold over a million records last year. The reissues, books and movies have given the band a life well beyond their extremely short career. 1997 saw the release of The Doors Box Set and last year the band released another box set, this time comprising all its studio albums, repackaged, remastered and reborn for the twentieth time. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek also penned his autobiography on the band, taking swipes at drummer John Densmore and furthering the Morrison legacy and myth by countering Densmore’s Riders On The Storm, written in 1990.
Guitarist Robby Krieger has kept silent on most Doors matters, letting his instrument do the talking, until now. The Island Ear caught up with Krieger before a recent performance at the Manhattan’s Wetlands where he performed a mixed bag of Doors favorites and solo instrumentals. The versions were steeped in jazz-fusion, and Krieger delivered a fiery performance to a hungry crowd, many of whom hadn’t even been born when the Doors first broke on through. With a boyish grin and an infectious laugh, Krieger’s eyes lit up like a baby’s when he talked about Jim Morrison and the old days, as if it were yesterday.
The Island Ear: You are categorized as the ex-Doors guitarist. Do you think that label hinders or helps you?
Robbie Krieger: It probably does hurt, but in a way it helps, because you get more people to listen to you from the Doors perspective. But, then again they always want you to sound like the Doors. It is a double-edged sword but I don't mind. I like playing the Doors stuff and I am a Door so I’m not fighting it.
On the current tour, you sing most of the Doors songs. Do you feel comfortable singing them?
Yes, most of them. I don't try to sound like Jim but I do try to sing them correctly with the right phrasing and stuff. I think people would rather see me sing them than some guy who looks like Morrison. If they want to see that they can go see the tribute bands.
What is your opinion of tribute bands like the Soft Parade?
I am getting less and less enthralled with them as time goes on. They make a lot of money and they keep doing it and doing it. If they’re going to do it for maybe a year and that’s it, that's fine, but these guys keep slogging it out. You know they’re doing it just for the money. The problem is, the people who go and see them think that’s how the Doors were and it’s not true at all. Some are better than others. Soft Parade is good but I think they try to look too much like the Doors and it’s almost a camp thing that makes me kind of sick.
What was it like playing Woodstock ‘99 with Creed?
The sound was great. When we were going out there in the bus with Creed, Scott [Stapp, Creed vocalist] was telling me, “When you come out, the place is going to go crazy. It's going to be incredible.” And I said, “You really think so? These people are here to see new groups. What do they know about the Doors?” But he was right; when he introduced me the whole place went nuts, they really did, and it was quite a surprise. We did a couple of Doors songs and then we did one of their songs.
What musical direction are you taking with the new album, Cinematix ?
A high-energy fusion guitar kind of sound. It seems like not many people are doing that any more. The reason I call it Cinematix is because when you hear some instrumental music that’s good, it should make you visualize something in your mind.
A lot of people take Oliver Stone’s film, The Doors, as the real history of the band. How do you feel about that?
Unfortunately, once somebody like Oliver Stone makes a movie, people think that's the truth. But it could be worse. The movie hipped a lot of people to the Doors. The fact that John and Ray and Robbie were hardly portrayed at all in the movie was not a nice thing. Stuff like Jim lighting Pam on fire in the closet never happened.
Do you take offense at how Morrison was portrayed as a party animal in the film?
He was like that, but that wasn't all he was. It just didn't show the whole person, and it couldn't because you don't have enough time in a movie. We knew what it was going to be like. I was hoping that Oliver Stone might be a little bit more creative. I thought Val Kilmer as Morrison was great.
Since you had musical training beforehand and Morrison didn't, did you ever coach him with the melody lines or was that all natural?
I tried to but he would never sing it like I'd tell him to sing it. He would always end up singing it better.
How do you account for his innate musical ability?
I don't know. He must have been meant to do it, because when he first started he surely didn't have that voice; his voice was kind of thin. On the box set you can see the progression from the demos to the early tapes and then later. He just kept getting better.
The solo on “Light My Fire” still puts me in a trance. Can you remember anything about recording it?
When we recorded it, it was like we did two takes and that was it. We had been playing that song for two years every night, so we pretty much turned on the tape recorder and recorded it. Unfortunately those solos that are on that song are not anywhere near the best ones we could have done. That just happened to be the two we did that night, but they are pretty good. They’ve held up so I can’t complain about them.
How many takes did it take to get “L.A. Woman” down on tape?
One day. I had never heard the song before that day, and we just started playing and we just did it. That was what was so great about the L.A. Woman sessions. A lot of those songs were like that. We just started jamming. For instance on “Riders On The Storm,” I was just fooling around playing “Ghost Riders In The Sky” and out came “Riders On The Storm”.
Whose idea was it to add the rain soundtrack?
I am not sure. If you ask Ray, it was his idea, if you ask Bruce Botnick, it was his idea and if you ask John, it was his idea. It wasn't my idea. I thought it was kind of corny actually at the time, but I like it now.
What do you think of Ray's and John's books on the Doors and will you be writing a book yourself?
Not unless I get really bored. I like both of their books, except for the parts where they put each other down and get personal. I thought that was unnecessary and stupid.
Do you feel you were the band mediator in the sixties and now possibly?
Now, definitely. Not in the sixties. I think Ray was more the mediator.
Is there bad blood between John and Ray now?
Yes, definitely.
Are there any chances of them ever getting together with you and playing music?
Yeah, it won’t last forever. When it comes to playing we always seem to get together and play, even though we haven't played on stage for a long time, since the Eddie Vedder thing at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction.
What do you think about the current state of rock Music? Is rock dead?
It’s getting close to that, but there are always glimpses of brightness. I’m waiting for something new to happen that’s not just rehashed from old stuff. Maybe we need something other than rock that will take over for rock ‘n’ roll. Swing lasted a long time; that was great, but we needed rock ‘n’ roll to take over for that, so then maybe there is something else.
Island Ear Online 1999
by Glyn Emmerson
The Door Opens Up
The 1990s were a busy decade for the Doors. A band that gasped its last breath as an intact unit in 1971 with L.A. Woman sold over a million records last year. The reissues, books and movies have given the band a life well beyond their extremely short career. 1997 saw the release of The Doors Box Set and last year the band released another box set, this time comprising all its studio albums, repackaged, remastered and reborn for the twentieth time. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek also penned his autobiography on the band, taking swipes at drummer John Densmore and furthering the Morrison legacy and myth by countering Densmore’s Riders On The Storm, written in 1990.
Guitarist Robby Krieger has kept silent on most Doors matters, letting his instrument do the talking, until now. The Island Ear caught up with Krieger before a recent performance at the Manhattan’s Wetlands where he performed a mixed bag of Doors favorites and solo instrumentals. The versions were steeped in jazz-fusion, and Krieger delivered a fiery performance to a hungry crowd, many of whom hadn’t even been born when the Doors first broke on through. With a boyish grin and an infectious laugh, Krieger’s eyes lit up like a baby’s when he talked about Jim Morrison and the old days, as if it were yesterday.
The Island Ear: You are categorized as the ex-Doors guitarist. Do you think that label hinders or helps you?
Robbie Krieger: It probably does hurt, but in a way it helps, because you get more people to listen to you from the Doors perspective. But, then again they always want you to sound like the Doors. It is a double-edged sword but I don't mind. I like playing the Doors stuff and I am a Door so I’m not fighting it.
On the current tour, you sing most of the Doors songs. Do you feel comfortable singing them?
Yes, most of them. I don't try to sound like Jim but I do try to sing them correctly with the right phrasing and stuff. I think people would rather see me sing them than some guy who looks like Morrison. If they want to see that they can go see the tribute bands.
What is your opinion of tribute bands like the Soft Parade?
I am getting less and less enthralled with them as time goes on. They make a lot of money and they keep doing it and doing it. If they’re going to do it for maybe a year and that’s it, that's fine, but these guys keep slogging it out. You know they’re doing it just for the money. The problem is, the people who go and see them think that’s how the Doors were and it’s not true at all. Some are better than others. Soft Parade is good but I think they try to look too much like the Doors and it’s almost a camp thing that makes me kind of sick.
What was it like playing Woodstock ‘99 with Creed?
The sound was great. When we were going out there in the bus with Creed, Scott [Stapp, Creed vocalist] was telling me, “When you come out, the place is going to go crazy. It's going to be incredible.” And I said, “You really think so? These people are here to see new groups. What do they know about the Doors?” But he was right; when he introduced me the whole place went nuts, they really did, and it was quite a surprise. We did a couple of Doors songs and then we did one of their songs.
What musical direction are you taking with the new album, Cinematix ?
A high-energy fusion guitar kind of sound. It seems like not many people are doing that any more. The reason I call it Cinematix is because when you hear some instrumental music that’s good, it should make you visualize something in your mind.
A lot of people take Oliver Stone’s film, The Doors, as the real history of the band. How do you feel about that?
Unfortunately, once somebody like Oliver Stone makes a movie, people think that's the truth. But it could be worse. The movie hipped a lot of people to the Doors. The fact that John and Ray and Robbie were hardly portrayed at all in the movie was not a nice thing. Stuff like Jim lighting Pam on fire in the closet never happened.
Do you take offense at how Morrison was portrayed as a party animal in the film?
He was like that, but that wasn't all he was. It just didn't show the whole person, and it couldn't because you don't have enough time in a movie. We knew what it was going to be like. I was hoping that Oliver Stone might be a little bit more creative. I thought Val Kilmer as Morrison was great.
Since you had musical training beforehand and Morrison didn't, did you ever coach him with the melody lines or was that all natural?
I tried to but he would never sing it like I'd tell him to sing it. He would always end up singing it better.
How do you account for his innate musical ability?
I don't know. He must have been meant to do it, because when he first started he surely didn't have that voice; his voice was kind of thin. On the box set you can see the progression from the demos to the early tapes and then later. He just kept getting better.
The solo on “Light My Fire” still puts me in a trance. Can you remember anything about recording it?
When we recorded it, it was like we did two takes and that was it. We had been playing that song for two years every night, so we pretty much turned on the tape recorder and recorded it. Unfortunately those solos that are on that song are not anywhere near the best ones we could have done. That just happened to be the two we did that night, but they are pretty good. They’ve held up so I can’t complain about them.
How many takes did it take to get “L.A. Woman” down on tape?
One day. I had never heard the song before that day, and we just started playing and we just did it. That was what was so great about the L.A. Woman sessions. A lot of those songs were like that. We just started jamming. For instance on “Riders On The Storm,” I was just fooling around playing “Ghost Riders In The Sky” and out came “Riders On The Storm”.
Whose idea was it to add the rain soundtrack?
I am not sure. If you ask Ray, it was his idea, if you ask Bruce Botnick, it was his idea and if you ask John, it was his idea. It wasn't my idea. I thought it was kind of corny actually at the time, but I like it now.
What do you think of Ray's and John's books on the Doors and will you be writing a book yourself?
Not unless I get really bored. I like both of their books, except for the parts where they put each other down and get personal. I thought that was unnecessary and stupid.
Do you feel you were the band mediator in the sixties and now possibly?
Now, definitely. Not in the sixties. I think Ray was more the mediator.
Is there bad blood between John and Ray now?
Yes, definitely.
Are there any chances of them ever getting together with you and playing music?
Yeah, it won’t last forever. When it comes to playing we always seem to get together and play, even though we haven't played on stage for a long time, since the Eddie Vedder thing at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction.
What do you think about the current state of rock Music? Is rock dead?
It’s getting close to that, but there are always glimpses of brightness. I’m waiting for something new to happen that’s not just rehashed from old stuff. Maybe we need something other than rock that will take over for rock ‘n’ roll. Swing lasted a long time; that was great, but we needed rock ‘n’ roll to take over for that, so then maybe there is something else.
Island Ear Online 1999
by Glyn Emmerson