Robby Krieger

Robby Krieger
Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. 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". When the Doors disbanded following the death of lead singer Jim Morrison, Krieger continued to perform and record with other musicians including former Doors bandmates John Densmore and Ray Manzarek. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doors and is listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2023, Krieger was listed as the 248th greatest guitarist by Rolling Stone.
Early life and education
Krieger was born January 8, 1946, in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. His father, an engineer, was a fan of classical music, while his mother enjoyed "Frank Sinatra and stuff like that".
Krieger attended a Hebrew school with his twin brother Ronny. While Krieger was a boarding student at a private school called Menlo School in Atherton, 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.
After graduating from high school, Krieger attended the University of California, Santa Barbara. His musical development included listening to guitarists Wes Montgomery, Albert King, and Larry Carlton who influenced his style. Krieger's flamenco guitar playing can be heard 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. 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. Together with Densmore, he studied under Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar at the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles.
Krieger occasionally sang lead vocal with the Doors. He can be heard on the song "Runnin' Blue". 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.
Later career
After the Doors disbanded in 1973, Krieger formed the Butts Band with Densmore. He almost 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). His first solo release was Robbie Krieger & Friends in 1977.
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").
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). 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).
Krieger played guitar on a few tracks by Blue Öyster Cult. 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 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 in Denver.
On December 31, 2013, Krieger played alongside Southern rock band Gov't Mule at the Beacon Theatre (New York City). 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". 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.
On October 12, 2021, Krieger released a memoir Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors, cowritten with author and musician Jeff Penalty Alulis.
Personal life
Krieger is married to Lynn Krieger and has one child: Waylon Krieger.
In 2022, Krieger's custom-built home in Bel-Air, California was put up for sale by its current owner for $13.9 million. The property features 1.4 acres of land, a pool, spa and 6,600 square feet of living space. At one time it had been owned by Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst.
Guitars used
Krieger used a variety of electric guitars models during his time with the Doors, most notably the following ones:
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
with The Doors
The Doors (1967)
Strange Days (1967)
Waiting for the Sun (1968)
The Soft Parade (1969)
Morrison Hotel (1970)
L.A. Woman (1971); last album to feature singer Jim Morrison before his death
Other Voices (1971)
Full Circle (1972)
An American Prayer (1978)
with Butts Band
Butts Band (1974)
Hear and Now (1975)
with Red Shift
Red Shift (album) (1979)
Shifting On Strong (album) (1980)
Solo
Robbie Krieger & Friends (1977)
Versions (1982)
Robby Krieger (1985)
No Habla (1989)
Door Jams (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
Guest appearances
"Puppet Strings" on Puppet Strings, by Fuel (2014)
"ZUN – Burial Sunrise" (2016, Small Stone Records) Electric Sitar on 'Nothing Farther'
"Forest Full of Trees" and "Stagger Lee" on Rock 'N' Roll Animals (2016) and "Big Brown Dog" w/ Brant Bjork on Bunny Rumble (2018) by Bunny Racket
"All the Time in the World" on Alphabetland (2020) and "Strange Life" on Xtras (2021), Alphabetland outtakes), by X
In fiction
For Director Oliver Stone's movie The Doors (1991), Krieger had a small Cameo as a backstage patron at the London Fog, while his younger self was portrayed by Frank Whaley, who also worked with Stone on Born on the Fourth of July (1989), JFK (1991) and World Trade Center (2006).
References
External links
The Doors official website
Robby Krieger Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (January 25, 2014)
1946 births
20th-century American guitarists
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American male guitarists
American rock guitarists
Guitarists from Los Angeles
Lead guitarists
Living people
Jewish American musicians
Jewish rock musicians
People from Atherton, California
Pupils of Ravi Shankar
Songwriters from California
The Doors members
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
University High School (Los Angeles) alumni