Brian Blade “I play the drums,” says John Densmore, with tangible pride. Senri Kawaguchi Mike Mitchell Tal Bergman Zakir Hussain Mike Johnston Chip Ritter Doors drummer John Densmore: ‘It took me years to forgive Jim Morrison’, John Densmore … ‘I hated his self-destruction …’, t took the Doors’ drummer, John Densmore, three years to visit the grave of his bandmate. So what if we have one less album? Dennis Chambers Morgan Agren “Well, you know, it didn’t really happen. Danny Carey Louis Hayes Gerry Brown Lars Ulrich He took up meditation, he says, because he couldn’t take acid all the time and liked the “separate reality” meditation offered. Kenny Wollesen In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Aaron Comess When he was at the centre of the US counterculture, he lived in terror of his bandmate. Aaron Spears Jeremy Stacey Volkan Oektem Share. Phil Ehart Jonathan Joseph Gergo Borlai Buddy Rich Harvey Mason “When we took LSD, it was legal. Born in Los Angeles on December 1, 1944, Densmore grew up playing piano and later took up drums/percussion for the marching band at his school. Paco Séry Jon Hiseman Chad Wackerman JoJo Mayer Chad Sexton Thomas Pridgen Jim Gordon Doug Clifford Jake Hanna Aaron Thier “I was really young,” he says. Danny Gottlieb Jimmy DeGrasso Joe Morello Brian Tichy Steve White Pete Wilhoit Christian Vander I am John Densmore, drummer for the Doors, AMA Hi All, John Densmore here, drummer for The Doors (which is permanently etched across my forehead)! Jimmy DeGrasso George Wettling Day of the Drum by John Densmore / Founding member of The Doors – We drummers all know that our mother’s heartbeat was the first instrument we heard. Not to mention he Also was able to throw theatrics in His Drumming … Greg Clark Mike Clark Bobby Colomby Eddie Bayers "The kids tore down the fences…and they demanded that [the festival] be free," Densmore remembers. Rich Redmond Raul Rekow Larrie Londin Hakim Ludin Ian Thomas Roger Hawkins “No. Joel Taylor "It was kind of like the last pop festival." Marcel Bach Manolo Badrena Aquiles Priester Shelly Manne Warren "Baby" Dodds Nasheet Waits Yet after the singer’s death, he fought ferociously to protect his legacy. Bernie Dresel Aynsley Dunbar Sly Dunbar Don Lamond Anika Nilles Nick Smith He is proud he has found another career after music. Watch later. Richard Spaven “Adolescence!” he laughs. Ben Riley Wed 8 Jan 2020 05.00 EST 2,103 1,088 I t took the Doors’ drummer, John Densmore, three years to visit the grave of his bandmate Jim Morrison after he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971. Susie Ibarra At times, he was envious of the attention Morrison got – particularly from women. “I gotta pace myself. “I guess I believe in the institution,” he laughs. James Gadson Jason Sutter Panama Francis Bill Bruford David Stanoch Zak Starkey Ed Thigpen Jon Christensen John Densmore. Daniel Adair Benny Greb Fontana Zach Danziger Bobby Previte Dafnis Prieto Abe Laboriel, jr. Questlove Shannon Forrest Densmore is fluent in the language of the 60s elder: on the one hand, he talks of peace rainbows and pots of gold filled with love, despairing at the rise of “separatists and populists and borderline racists” running the US. I’d been a teenage drummer with acne. Daniel Glass Terri Lyne Carrington Gene Jackson Bobby Rondinelli “I thought that if I did it, too, it would somehow make it better – atone for not saving him.”, “My sister got angry at me for writing about it,” he says. Info. He may be belaboring the obvious, considering that, as the rhythmic engine of The Doors, he’s responsible for some of the most famous beats in rock history. Richie Hayward Which is not to say that the Doors’ drummer is without a steady beat — this is a man determined to drive home his message about the corrosive effects of greed. The Doors’ John Densmore - Modern Drummer Magazine The Doors’ John Densmore With the Doors he helped kick rock ’n’ roll into the future, contributing greatly to the soundtrack of history’s most challenging and successful youth movement. Dannie Richmond Jim Black Cindy Blackman He wasn’t the film-school/literary type. Tommy Igoe Andy Gillmann Kyle Maclachlan, Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon and Val Kilmer in Oliver Stone’s The Doors. Ari Hoenig I mean, I don’t think he … Well, yeah … See, I’m at a loss for words. I’ve got a new book out called "The Doors:Unhinged" which delves into the topic of art vs greed as well as other issues that has confronted me as a … Duduka Da Fonseca Francis Panama Heroin tried to make you forget everything. He wrote a book about the case, published in 2013, and donated the profits to the Occupy movement. Lee Pearson Wolfgang Haffner Lil John Roberts Maison Guidry In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Marcus Baylor Frank Beard Johnny Vidacovich Copy link. Billy Higgins Steve Houghton Daniel Humair Karl Perazzo Ronald Bruner Jr. Neil Peart Mel Lewis Rick Marotta Jimmy Cobb Ken K. Mary Jon Bermuda Schwartz Dave Elitch Paul Elliott Bill Kreutzmann “My knees were shaking pretty strong when they upped the offer of $5m (£3.8m) to $15m. Pete Ray Biggin Narada Dino Danelli Amir Bresler Jason Bonham Mike Mangini Rashid Williams Manzarek’s relationship with Densmore was not smooth either. Carlos Vega Leon Parker “I know. Frankie Dunlop Mario Duplantier John Marshall Tris Imboden Al Jackson Robby Ameen Alan White Poncho Sanchez Mongo Santamaria Nana Vasconcelos “What can I say? “Actually, not for life – as I said, he was a kamikaze who went out at 27. Art Blakey I sued my bandmates – am I CRAZY? I do sort of feel as if I’m channelling his passion for life.” He stops. Antonio Sanchez André Ceccarelli Dave Grohl “And now I miss him so much for his artistry.”, Next month, a documentary about another of his bandmates, the keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who died in 2013, will be released. At California State, he studied ethnic music under Fred Katz. Keith Moon Karen Carpenter Carl Palmer Stan Levey He couldn’t understand Morrison’s obsession with Nietzsche (“Why would anyone want to read a whole book of such double talk?” he wrote); when Manzarek suggested he watch the François Truffaut film The 400 Blows, he ran out and got it, thinking it was The 400 Blowjobs. Curt Bisquera Joey Baron Format: HDCD, Year: 2009, Label: Audio Fidelity (AFZ 037), Barcode: 780014203726, Length: 45:31 To anyone who has read Densmore’s 1990 memoir – a book he says was “written in blood” – this may come as a surprise; later the book would form the basis for Oliver Stone’s (dreadful) Doors biopic. I experimented with cocaine during the 70s and 80s. Eric Fischer Mick Fleetwood Carmine Appice In the first installment of this interview series with Doors drummer John Densmore, we covered Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, Densmore’s late former band mates, and what it … Now I’ve changed my mind. Walfredo Reyes No Other Drummer could have done that. Matt Chamberlain Brann Dailor I guess he was taking painkillers and brown powder, too. That’s odd, I say, because Stone creates a scene out of it in his film. Manu Katché Narada Michael Walden Russ Miller He was also called Jim; he also died at the age of 27. Densmore wuchs in Los Angeles auf und lernte schon früh das Klavierspielen. Roy Burns Big Sid Catlett Trilok Gurtu Pete LaRoca Sims Chico Hamilton Darüber hinaus nahm er Unterricht in Schlagzeug und Perkussion-Instrumenten. (Scott Mitchell Photography / Courtesy photo) “That’s when,” Densmore said, “I made the very difficult decision to sue my bandmates for running off with the name. I just felt like I needed to get out of there.” Would he have acted differently if it happened today? Chris Layton Peter Erskine Eric Singer Zutty Singleton Bertram Engel Andy Newmark Jost Nickel He was a gifted drummer from an early age, starting out in the high school marching band (an activity that in those days “ranked next to having leprosy” he once wrote). Dave DiCenso Stewart Copeland Martin Drew Jonathan Mover Marvin "Smitty" Smith “But life is messy.” It is true – if you have lived as many lives as Densmore, seen generations change and shift, there is no doubt that what was acceptable 50 years ago is no longer so. Cliff Almond Adam Nussbaum © 1993 - 2020 drummerworld.com - Bernhard Castiglioni - Switzerland - all rights reserved. Vinnie Colaiuta Don Alias Carl Allen Denzil Best While growing up, Densmore learned to play the piano and later took drum lessons for his school marching band, and also played in an orchestra using the timpani. Papa Jo Jones Philly Joe Jones Rashied Ali “I just ache losing him.” He pauses. Bill Ward Kiko Freitas Mitch Mitchell Abe Cunningham Mickey Curry Gene Hoglan Sonny Emory Tito Puente Rufus "Speedy" Jones Chris "Daddy" Dave It will go from his time learning to play the tabla with Ravi Shankar to his adoration for Patti Smith to the time he met Bob Marley. Roger Biwandu Cozy Cole Grady Tate Art Taylor Lenny White Marco Minnemann 87 likes. Tico Torres Joe La BarberaDanny BarcelonaTravis Barker Find out more at thedoorsfilm.com. Marko Djordjevic I said I was sorry. Sandy Nelson Ash Soan Glen Sobel He describes going to visit him, finding him heavily sedated, and wondering how sleeping for 17 hours a day could possibly help his schizophrenia – a point that will be familiar even now to anyone who has had to endure acute mental illness. “Each chapter is about a different artist who has fed me artistically,” he says. Carter Beauford ...but the resemblance is intentional. Charly Antolini Stanley Randolph As a race, we’ve all been trying to get back to that womb. Tony Royster Jr. Jonathan Moffett Clayton Cameron Jim Chapin Will Kennedy Tommy Campbell But it wasn’t my drug of choice. Lenny Castro Paulinho Da Costa The pair became friends during the court case – Petty’s song Money Becomes King, about a singer he once idolised who was selling his songs for a light beer advert, struck home with Densmore. “The Dionysian madman,” Densmore has called him – a “psychopath”, a “lunatic” and “the voice that struck terror in me”. Bobby Jarzombek Elvin Jones Harold Jones Roger Taylor John Tempesta Ndugu Chancler The Official Facebook Page Of John Densmore Robert Sput Searight Donny Gruendler Tre Cool Duduka Da Fonseca Jeff Hamilton Stanton Moore It scared me. Saved by \rhythmstick/ Ludwig Drums Music Instruments Drummers Doors London Musical Instruments London England Gate. Don Brewer Gary Novak Hannah Ford Welton Tony Coleman Phil Collins “Money is like fertiliser,” he says. But, he says, he still regrets not calling out Morrison on his abusive relationships with women, Last modified on Tue 21 Jan 2020 15.46 GMT, It took the Doors’ drummer, John Densmore, three years to visit the grave of his bandmate Jim Morrison after he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971. No disrespect to Jim and his 27 years, but I’ve been in it for the long run.” He will also get married this year “for the hundredth time” (it is his fourth time), to his partner of 13 years, the painter and photographer Ildiko Von Somogyi. Dave Tough “Did I hate Jim?” Densmore pauses, although he is not obviously alarmed by the question. Bun E. Carlos Stephen Perkins Airto “Yeah, I would say: ‘What the fuck are you guys doing? Rodney Holmes George Spanky McCurdy Jason McGerr Russ McKinnon Marvin McQuitty Giovanni Hidalgo Nick D'Virgilio Cora Coleman-Dunham Pete Zeldman Tim Alexander Sam Woodyard Pete York Zoro. Denny Seiwell Pete Lockett Jeff Sipe Jim Riley Sonny Payne Gary Chaffee Brian "Brain" Mantia I mean, it sounds horrible, but at least you rode the train all the way to the end – you never checked out early.”, Densmore grew up in the west LA suburbs. Nick Mason Pete LaRoca Sims Derek Roddy Victor Lewis Posted on October 29, 2014 by scottkfish. Ricky Lawson The Drummers job is to keep the Band in Time. Karriem Riggins Dirk Brand Rick Latham “It took me years to forgive Jim,” Densmore says. Fredy Studer Kenny Aronoff Mick Avory Many bassists played on tracks of many if not all their albums. John Blackwell Vadrum Thomas Lang If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Tommy Lee Terreon Gully Teddy Campbell Billy Hart I hated it. Larry Finn “I couldn’t figure out whether they were lovers, friends or enemies. Ranjit Barot Julio Barreto Andrew Cyrille Nick D'Virgilio In einem ungewöhnlich offenen und phasenweise Tap to unmute. But my head was saying: Break on Through for a gas-guzzling SUV? Pete LaRoca Sims Pedrito Martinez “Maybe it’s more noble to die in a friggin’ hospital with a bunch of tubes up your arm. Joey Castillo Dave Black James Black “I’m a little nervous that I’ve said stupid things,” he says. John Densmore hat es geschafft. Gerry Hemingway Don Henley Sammy Figueroa Max Weinberg Lewis Nash Joe McCarthy Alan Dawson Eric Moore Armando Peraza Matt Abts Omar Hakim While he may not have been the centrepiece of the group, there is no doubt Densmore was pivotal to the band’s sound. Adam Deitch Hal Blaine Brian Frasier-Moore John Densmore talks drumming, classic tracks and his book The Doors Unhinged A year after releasing his second memoir, The Doors Unhinged, drummer John Densmore is still on the book store circuit signing copies of his engrossing and oftentimes harrowing account of the battle he waged for The Doors name and the lawsuit he brought against his two former band mates, keyboardist Ray … John Densmore: Random Thoughts on Drumming. Clyde Stubblefield John Densmore had to keep Ray Manzareks Keyboards, Robbie Kriegers Flamenco Guitar and Jim Morrisons Insanity in time. Daru Jones Klaus Weiss Claus Hessler His brother had several stints in a psychiatric hospital. Bruce Becker But as he toured the world with the Doors, Densmore’s family life became more unsteady. 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