by Robert Wilkinson
Along with Elvis Presley and David Bowie, January 8 was also the birthday of Doors' guitarist Robbie Krieger.
Robbie Krieger (January 8, 1946) is one of the best known guitarists in the world, and wrote some of the Doors’ best known songs, including “Light My Fire,” “Love Me Two Times,” “Touch Me,” and “Love Her Madly.” (Yes I know the Doors attributed composition to all 4, but realistically, most songs have one or two main writers.) Since the Doors he’s had a career as a jazz-fusion guitarist, and worked with countless major talents while keeping the Doors’ legacy alive with Ray Manzarek until Ray also went through the door to eternity.
Today we have LOTS of live performance videos of Robbie, Jim, Ray, and John doing what only they could do! We begin with their introduction on television to the world.
From January 1, 1967, the Doors live on tv performing the song that introduced them to the world, the electrifying "Break On Through (To the Other Side)." Here's the music video of the Doors doing "Break On Through (To the Other Side)"
From July 1967 on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, here are the Doors performing “The Crystal Ship” and “Light My Fire.”
Live on The Ed Sullivan Show, here’s an audio only clip of the Doors performing “People Are Strange”
From Dec 1967, live on The Jonathan Winter Show, ”Moonlight Drive” and “Light My Fire.”
From 1967, the Doors live in Connecticut in an audio-only performance of “the Crystal Ship”
Some of these are performances, some are set to stills. This is a live March 1967 performance at the Matrix in SF of a bunch of great songs from the Doors' first three albums. First, “Break On Through,” then "Back Door Man," followed by the haunting poetry of "Crystal Ship." From the same show, a live performance of one of my Doors favorites, "My Eyes Have Seen You."
Also from the Matrix, the Doors doing "Light My Fire," the great "Twentieth Century Fox," and “Soul Kitchen”
From the Matrix off their second album, "People Are Strange," followed by the incredible "Moonlight Drive." From the third album, "Summer's Almost Gone." We close this set from the Matrix with "Unhappy Girl," and a 13+ minute performance of "The End."
From 1967, here's the music video of the Doors doing "People Are Strange."
From the same year and album, here’s the music video of “Strange Days” (VERY surrealistic!)
And now for some live concerts! Here are Jim, Ray, Robbie, and John doing what they do best at the Hollywood Bowl in July 1968! It’s the entire 1 hour and 11 video of that legendary Hollywood Bowl live performance! For your enjoyment, the Doors at the Hollywood Bowl 1968
Because the video of the entire show disappears from time to time, here are individual clips from the show! We begin with a dark 13 minute journey via one of my all-time favorite Doors tunes “When The Music’s Over,” followed by "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar) and “Back Door Man"
We move into the heart of the show with a clip that uses footage from several concerts, the ominous “Five to One,” followed by ”Moonlight Drive” and “Spanish Caravan.”
We move into the poetry of the “Horse Latitudes" followed by “Celebration of the Lizard,” and complete this part of the show with a grinding “Hello I Love You” followed by a great 11+ min performance at the Bowl of Jim doing some poetry before busting into the long form of “Light My Fire.”
We’ll complete this set with The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat)” which we'll follow with “The End” and close with “The Unknown Soldier”
Speaking of that last song, the Doors made a truly haunting video at the time which obviously was banned from television, just as the song was banned from many radio stations. Pretty graphic and stark way of looking at the Vietnam (and any) war. If you want a haunting antiwar statement, please take 3:43 to look at this official video of “The Unknown Soldier”
The Doors Live in Europe has disappeared again. This was a fabulous 90 minute offering of that legendary 1968 tour done in 1991, but this year I could only find individual clips totaling about half that time. The first clip with autoload the others. it’s worth a look! The Doors Live in Europe 1968
Here’s an excellent 1 hour 55 audio-only show from Sweden! The Doors in Stockholm 1968
From that show, an audio only clip of “Whiskey Bar” and "Wild Child."
From the Roundhouse in London, here’s a great live 4 minute video of “Five to One”
Here’s the audio only live set from the Roundhouse of “Five to One” “Break on Through” and “When the Music’s Over”
The 28 minute video is gone, but I found this 15 minute video from Danish TV in October, 1968 of The Doors Live in Denmark 1968 (Set list: “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar),” “Back Door Man,” “The WASP (Texas Radio and The Big Beat),” “Love Me Two Times,” and “The Unknown Soldier.” They cut this gem which was played after “Love Me Two Times,” so for your enjoyment, the infinitely powerful “When The Music’s Over.”
Here’s another documentary from that Summer and Autumn tour of Europe and the UK! The footage is from their Roundhouse concert in London.
From the original Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in December 1968, the Doors performing “Wild Child”
From 1968, some very strange footage from the time of “Not to Touch the Earth”
An interesting mishmash of video images from random places set to the studio version of “Waiting For The Sun”
From a 1969 Live at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a very strange video set to their opening tune, “When The Music’s Over” and their second tune in the set was "Break on Through.”
I found 14 minutes of the audio from the show, set to strange videos eventually becoming a fragment of the performance. “Light My Fire”
Here’s the audio-only full 56 minute set! "The Doors Live at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival – 1969
While they were in Toronto, and went on a sound stage for this magnificent performance. This is the song from their first album that usually closed their performances which shows how electrifying they were when they exploded on the LA scene in the mid-60s. This is seriously explosive musical power! Welcome to “The End.” And in a real treat, here are Ray, Robbie, and John talking about how the song came to be. This was before “Light My Fire” was a hit. The Doors – Live in the Studio in Toronto.
From 1969, three great live performances on PBS of the Doors!
From 1969, here's all 40 minutes of the PBS special. The Doors PBS Soft Parade Television Concert
Live in 1969 at the Aquarius Theater, the rehearsals of “Build Me A Woman” and “Peace Frog” and “Blue Sunday”
Here’s the studio version set to various footage! “Wishful Sinful”
Here’s the title track from the album “The Soft Parade”
We’ll take a brief side trip into the original studio versions of one of their first hits, the darkly poetic “Crystal Ship” and one of their last hits, “Love Her Madly”
From 1969, the 1 hour and 4 legendary Rock is Dead studio session! The Doors Rock is Dead session
Here’s the audio-only The Doors - “Without A Safety Net”
From 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami, here's an audio-only “infamous” live performance of the Doors doing their menacing "call to arms" from their third album, "Five to One."
Here’s a full 56 minute audio-only cd mash up of a bunch of songs from the Miami show and Jim’s as drunk as ever. These events were probably about as weird as a show can get. The Doors in Miami 1969
Here’s a great live performance set to video footage from 1970 in Honolulu of the harrowing “Five to One”
From the Felt Forum in 1970, second show, set to stills of the Doors doing “Peace Frog,” “Alabama Song,” “Back Door Man,” and the harrowing “Five to One.” They closed their show with "Gloria" and "My Eyes Have Seen You."
From the early show, “Who Do You Love”
This year I found a clip with 90 links to their multiple Felt Forum shows! Enjoy the Doors at their peak! The Doors at the Felt Forum – Jan 17/18, 1970
Here’s one last live performance video from the legendary 1970 Isle of Wight Festival! “The End”
Two years ago I had a 38 minute documentary on the Doors called Feast of Friends but the whole thing can’t be found this year. However, I did find this!
The Doors – Feast of Friends Pt 1 (9+ min)
The Doors – Feast of Friends Pt 2 (10+ min)
The Doors – Feast of Friends Pt 3 (10+ min)
The Doors – Feast of Friends Pt 4 (8+ min)
Here’s the 12+ minute The Road of Excess – A Documentary on the Doors
For your enjoyment, VH1 Legends – The Doors pt. 1 (10 min) and VH1 Legends – The Doors pt. 2 (10 min)
The hour plus clips of this have disappeared. Instead, here a link which will take you to various segments of VH1 Storytellers – The Doors (features various lead singers backed by the surviving Doors)
I found it again! Here’s an interesting 42 minute documentary titled Doorstown – Jim Morrison and the Doors
The outstanding Doors documentary When You’re Strange – The Documentary appears and disappears. It’s an hour and 21 narrated by Johnny Depp, but it’s nowhere to be found this year. So instead, I found this 41 minutes which I think is the first half. When You’re Strange – The Documentary
I found this 55 minute gem titled The Story of the Doors
As a fitting close to this birthday tribute, I found Jim's last performance. Broadcast on Australian TV from LA, 1971, it’s rehearsal footage of The Doors doing "Crawling King Snake." (And yes, it does sound like “Back Door Man.”)
And now, his post-Doors career! First, his 36 minute jazz fusion album done in 1985! Robbie Krieger
Great live footage from October 1992, with Robbie with the Ramones doing "Take It As It Comes."
Here are three live performance videos of one of my favorite Doors’ songs! First, Robbie solo on a chair giving us a beautiful performance of "Spanish Caravan." Second, with the LA Philharmonic Quartet in June 2015, an exquisite live performance of "Spanish Caravan," and from April of that year, here's a great live version in Huntington, NY, of "Spanish Caravan." (The audience is almost as obnoxious, but I suppose people have always gone crazy at any show any of the Doors have played at.)
From the Live from Daryl’s House television show, we have three great ones! First, Robbie with Ray Manzarek and Daryl Hall doing a faithful version of “People Are Strange” (Daryl’s not Jim, but that’s just the way it is....)
The host and his guests then crank out a ripping version of “Roadhouse Blues,” and we close this brief set with “Break On Through (To the Other Side)”
Here's Robbie with the Virginia Symphony doing a live performance of "Roadhouse Blues," and we'll close today with a live performance in LA in 2010 of the Robbie Krieger Band doing "Let It Slide."
For the encore, his newest, another jazz fusion album inspired by Frank Zappa and released in 2020 titled What Was That? (The Ritual Begins At Sundown)
Here’s 8 minutes where Robbie gets personal telling us how he came to the electric guitar and explaining the origins of “Light My Fire” and “Peace Frog.” Song Stories - Robby Krieger on the Origin of "Peace Frog" & "Light My Fire." He explains how their producer took his jazz chords for "Light My Fire" and got Ray to put a Bach organ riff over them, creating that masterpiece. He ends the clip with his lead from “My Eyes Have Seen You.”
Happy Birthday, Robbie! Thanks for giving us all the guitar weaving the very strange music of the Doors, and keeping the sound alive after so many years. Your playing is truly unique.
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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