Robby Krieger

Robby Krieger
Krieger in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Robert Alan Krieger
Born	(1946-01-08) January 8, 1946 (age 75) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Rock jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Elektra Records
Associated acts	The Doors Butts Band Manzarek–Krieger
Website	robbykrieger.com

Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946)^[1] is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as the guitarist of the rock band the Doors; as such he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me", and "Love Her Madly". After the Doors disbanded, Krieger continued his performing and recording career with other musicians including former Doors bandmates John Densmore and Ray Manzarek. He was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.^[2][3]

Early life and education[]

Krieger was born in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family.^[4] His father, an engineer, was a fan of classical music, while his mother enjoyed "Frank Sinatra and stuff like that".^[5] Peter and the Wolf was the first record that captivated him. When he broke it, he started listening to other records. The radio introduced him to the likes of Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, and the Platters. At the age of 10, he tried the trumpet but found it was not for him. He began playing the blues on his parents' piano with much more success than the trumpet. At 13, he enjoyed playing a friend's guitar.

While Krieger was a boarding student at a private school called Menlo School in Menlo Park, California, there was study time at night that allowed him to teach himself to play the guitar. He began by first de-tuning a ukulele to the bottom four strings of a guitar and mimicking a record he had. Later, in the mid-1960s, scholar Frank Chin taught Krieger how to play the flamenco guitar.^[6] During a Christmas break, Krieger and two classmates took a vacation to Puerto Vallarta where he purchased a peg-tuned Ramírez guitar and took lessons for a few months. He bounced around genres, including flamenco, folk, blues, and jazz and played in a jug band—the Back Bay Chamber Pot Terriers—at Menlo.

After high school, Krieger attended the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[7][8] Krieger listed guitarists Wes Montgomery, Albert King, and Larry Carlton among the biggest influences on his style.^[9] Krieger's flamenco guitar playing can be found present in the song "Spanish Caravan".

The Doors[]

Krieger became a member of the Doors in 1965, joining keyboard player Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore and vocalist Jim Morrison, after Manzarek's brothers left the group. At an early Doors rehearsal Morrison heard Krieger playing bottleneck guitar and initially wanted the technique featured on every song on the first album.^[10] Krieger's fingerstyle approach to the electric guitar, broad musical tastes, and songwriting helped establish the Doors as a successful rock band in the 1960s.^[11] Together with Densmore,^[12] he studied under Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar at the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles.^[13][14]

Krieger occasionally sang lead vocal with the Doors. He can be heard on the song "Runnin' Blue".^[15] He also sang on the last two Doors albums, recorded after Morrison's death, Other Voices and Full Circle.

After Morrison's death in 1971, Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore carried on as a trio. They released two more albums as the Doors before disbanding in 1973, though they did reconvene a few years later to create music for poetry that Morrison had recorded shortly before his death, released as the 1978 album An American Prayer.^[16]

Later career[]

Krieger performing in 2006

After the Doors disbanded in 1973, Krieger formed the Butts Band with Densmore. He enjoyed some success as a jazz-fusion guitarist, recording a handful of albums in the 1970s and 1980s, including Versions (1982), Robby Krieger (1985), and No Habla (1989). For his first solo release in 1977, Robbie Krieger & Friends, Krieger worked with rock artist Jim Evans to create a painting that became the album package.^{[citation needed]}

In 1982, Krieger appeared on four tracks of the album Panic Station by the Los Angeles group The Acid Casualties ("Shadow Street," "Solid Sound," "Armies of the Sun," and "She's a Lost Soul").^[17]

In the early 90s, Krieger formed a trio called the 'Robby Krieger Organization' featuring Skip Van Winkle (electric organ, organ pedal bass) and Dale Alexander (drums, backing vocals).^{[citation needed]} In 1991, Krieger formed a new band simply known as the Robby Krieger Band, which featured his son Waylon Krieger (guitar), Berry Oakley Jr. (bass, backing vocals), Dale Alexander (keyboards) and Ray Mehlbaum (drums).^[18] The band performed shows in North America and Europe between 1991 and 1998.^{[citation needed]} In 2000, Krieger released Cinematix, an entirely instrumental fusion album, with guest appearances from Billy Cobham and Edgar Winter.

Krieger and Manzarek reformed as the "Doors of the 21st Century" in 2002 with vocalist Ian Astbury of the Cult. (Astbury had also performed a solo cover of "Touch Me" and a cover of "Wild Child" with the Cult on the tribute album Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors). Following a dispute with Densmore over the Doors name, the band then became known as "Riders on the Storm", "Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors", and finally, "Manzarek–Krieger".^{[citation needed]} For a brief period, the reformed band also included Police drummer Stewart Copeland.^{[citation needed]}

Krieger played guitar on a few tracks by Blue Öyster Cult and has worked on a number of tribute projects organized by Billy Sherwood.^{[citation needed]} Krieger has made some guest appearances with the band Particle and appears on the album Transformations Live.^{[citation needed]} In June 2008, ZYX Studio released his concert with Eric Burdon, called Live at the Ventura Beach California. They also played "Back Door Man" and "Roadhouse Blues".

In April 2009, Krieger and Ray Manzarek appeared as special guests for Daryl Hall's monthly concert webcast Live From Daryl's House.^{[citation needed]} They performed several Doors tunes ("People Are Strange", "The Crystal Ship", "Roadhouse Blues" and "Break On Through"), with Hall providing lead vocals. Krieger has participated in the "Experience Hendrix" series of concerts, joining a number of high-profile guitar players paying tribute to the musicianship and songwriting of Jimi Hendrix.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2012, Robby Krieger toured with the Roadhouse Rebels, a trio side-project consisting of founding members Particle's (and Rich Robinson's keyboardist) Steve Molitz (hammond organ, keyboards) and Oingo Boingo/Mutaytor's John Avila (bass), only this time with two additional musicians, the Black Crowes's Rich Robinson (guitar/vocals) and Rich Robinson's drummer Joe Magistro. The shows' setlists featured a range of material, including Doors standards, classic soul and rock 'n' roll covers from the '60s and '70s, and material from Robinson's new Through a Crooked Sun album. The group performed on May 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, on May 26, 2012 at the Bella Fiore Music Festival at Harmony Park Music Garden in Clarks Grove, Minnesota, and on May 27, 2012 at the Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado.^[19]

Krieger is featured on the Fuel album Puppet Strings.^{[citation needed]} On December 31, 2013, Krieger supported Southern rock band Gov't Mule at the Beacon Theatre (New York City).^[20] In July 2017, Krieger tossed out the first pitch at a Dodgers game in Los Angeles.

On August 29, 2018, Krieger joined Alice in Chains onstage at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles to close out their sold-out concert with a performance of their hit song "Rooster".^[21] On August 14, 2020, Krieger released his solo album, The Ritual Begins At Sundown. On September 10, 2020, Krieger was announced as a headliner featuring Maki Mae in the Asian Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Krieger began uploading guitar tutorials for various Doors songs to the band's official YouTube channel, which have cumulatively gained hundreds of thousands of views by December of that year.^[22]

Guitars used[]

Krieger performing live at Roundhouse in London September 1968. Krieger used various guitar models, most notably Gibson SG models.

Robby used a variety of guitars during his time with the Doors:^[23]

• 1964 Gibson SG Special
• 1958 National 'Town & Country' (Model 1104)
• 1967 Gibson SG Special
• 1968 Gibson SG Standard
• 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom ('Black Beauty')
• Black Gibson SG Standard

Discography[]

The Doors[]

Butts Band[]

• Butts Band (1974)
• Hear and Now (1975)

Solo[]

• Robbie Krieger & Friends (1977)
• Versions (1982)
• Robby Krieger (1985)
• No Habla (1989)
• Cinematix (2000)
• Singularity (2010)
• The Ritual Begins At Sundown (2020)

With poet Michael C. Ford[]

• Look Each Other in the Ears. Hen House Studio Album includes the Doors—Robby Krieger, John Densmore, and Ray Manzarek. 2014

Other appearances[]

• "Puppet Strings" on Puppet Strings, by Fuel (2014)
• "ZUN - Burial Sunrise" (2016, Small Stone Records) Electric Sitar on 'Nothing Farther'
• "All the Time in the World" on Alphabetland (2020) and "Strange Life" on Xtras (2021), Alphabetland outtakes), by X

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robby Krieger.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Robby Krieger

• Official website
• Robby Krieger discography at Discogs
• The Doors official website
• Robby Krieger interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
• NAMM Oral History Interview with Robby Krieger January 25, 2014