Questlove Supreme: John Densmore

This week's episode of Questlove Supreme pairs Quest and Team Supreme with Rock and Roll royalty, hall of famer and legendary Doors drummer, John Densmore. Listen as John breaks down the creative process of Jim Morrison, life in one of the most rebellious bands of all time and shares his love for Stacey Abrams? You don't want to miss this one!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeart Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's a It's a Steve show. This is a Steam show.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
Brot just I.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Believe our best episodes are when we don't know the guys.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Yeah, everybody calm down because I can't carry that.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm just I go through.

Speaker 4 (00:22):
I know, you know, five to one when I start
talking to take over.

Speaker 5 (00:27):
I know that whole valcuum, like a whole valculum.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
I know, I know, light my fire.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Of course I went the samples. Did anyone sample the doors?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (00:37):
They were.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Okay, here's a drummer too.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
By the way, I know, right, I think that we
have a whole thing about it. We kind of tick
you like we're going to take the sim test today.

Speaker 5 (00:47):
Yeah, okay, I'm at all right, I'm with you.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
All right, here we go, Oh.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Already, let's go.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
How you doing, Hey man, I'm good, good, good to
be here with you.

Speaker 7 (01:05):
I don't know. I don't know if you can see
this my wardrobe.

Speaker 5 (01:09):
I.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Said, thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
He sat in with us.

Speaker 7 (01:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:18):
Man.

Speaker 7 (01:19):
Is it because of COVID that that the roots are
pared down?

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, it's because of COVID.

Speaker 8 (01:26):
We can't state loss says that only uh six people
out of eleven.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Uh, our information, So that's how it is.

Speaker 7 (01:37):
I got Okay, well, I used to love that the
tuba duplicating the baselines that sent me right to New Orleans.

Speaker 8 (01:45):
Nice the lower Yeah, that's cool crap since we already
talking when we start the introduction, Uh, ladies and gentlemen,
this is quest Love Supreme. My name is quest Love.
We have Teams Supreme with us. We gotta fine take
a low. Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Happy New Year.
This is also the time that I'm not pluralizing the

(02:07):
word year.

Speaker 7 (02:08):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (02:08):
I always say happy New Years, and I've been corrected
one too many times.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Sugar Steve, Hello.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Hello, how you doing everybody?

Speaker 5 (02:17):
Hi?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
John?

Speaker 4 (02:18):
It's kind of weird for me to say hello to
you because I see you every day.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
So yeah, I'm pretty sick of you too.

Speaker 8 (02:22):
Let's move on, okay, Yeah, happy.

Speaker 4 (02:28):
Run off and the Sugar Steve really is a live episode.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Ye paid Bill, ye's with us as well. How you
doing good? Hen run off? Day good? Yeah?

Speaker 8 (02:37):
Happy yeah, yeah happy whatever you said day layah just
as well.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
That's right. Happy fiftieth month, my friend.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
Oh you're right with me, there's okay, you're still nineteen yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
No, I mean, I'm not Yes, I'm right with you
as far as our birthdays on the same day, but
it's but you.

Speaker 8 (02:56):
Know what I'm yeah anyway, all right, So our guest today, y'all.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Our guest is huge, Yeah, very huge.

Speaker 8 (03:05):
He's a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and he's literally from one of the most influential
bands of all time. The Doors have sold over one
hundred million records. That's nothing to stuff at. Their music
and their influence still resonates to this day. Yes, I
don't know if you know that, John.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
Those are actual records too, not.

Speaker 7 (03:31):
I better actually check my royalties.

Speaker 9 (03:33):
Yeah, we're on the verge of an answer, you know,
back today. It'd be good for Ton.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Not not to mention.

Speaker 8 (03:39):
Our guest is also an author, actor, playwright, Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Ward Winner recipient, and we are extremely honored to
have him talk shop with us today and his illustrious career.
Please welcome to Course Left Supreme. John Dinsmore, drummer of
The Doors.

Speaker 7 (03:58):
Hey, Hey, yo, thank you, and I'm not dead, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yes, that's a good start.

Speaker 7 (04:05):
Yeah, congratulations, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
That's an ad. We're all right. Now where are you
right now?

Speaker 7 (04:11):
I'm I'm in my office slash rehearsal room, you.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
Know, Okay, I meant like, in what part of the world.

Speaker 7 (04:19):
Oh, I'm in lak where I was born, my mom
was My mom was born here in nineteen oh four.
And but we're not native. The Chumash Indians are the
first People's got to get that, right, You.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
Better credit, you better get it.

Speaker 7 (04:37):
Yeah, So listen, I want to say, I'm really pleased
to be doing this because, you know, Quest and I
are in the same tribe, a tribe called drummers.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, we are, you know, And I just.

Speaker 7 (04:54):
Yeah, I love that. You know, you're the leader of
the roots, and not a lot of drummers their leaders.
And and it makes me think of you and Lionel
Hampton or or Art Blakey and the jazz messengers you
know who I saw many times. Or Chico Hamilton, who
I stole to ride cymbal bell beat from.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
You know, so wait, how did you pull that time out?
Please tell tell our audience who Chico Hamilton is, please,
because nobody ever talks about him.

Speaker 7 (05:24):
He was a wonderful jazz cat in the early sixties
and I saw him as a teenager. I think Charles
Lloyd was playing with him, and uh man, you know,
I heard a real cool thing, and I later I
put it in the end. You know, you steal from
the best.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Right, exactly flattery I was.

Speaker 8 (05:43):
I was going to say, though, you're you told me
at Fallin that your your weapon of choice wasn't initially
the drums. You started out, you said as a piano player.

Speaker 7 (05:54):
Yeah. Yeah, that's in my new book. Uh my mom
is the first chapter, because she encouraged me to play piano,
and I just was crazy for music and I wanted
to play any instrument. And then I got into junior
high and there was no piano in the band or
the orchestra, and I chose clarinet because I thought, you know,

(06:17):
Benny Goodman's cool whatever. And I had braces on my
teeth and they said, no, no, no, you can't do that.
You're trying to push them back and they're going to
come out with that instrument. So drums. Yeah, so I
owe my career to the dentist.

Speaker 8 (06:35):
Oh so you're saying that adults encouraged you to play
the drums, because normally, in my situation, adults drums are
always the last resort of every drum guitar because their
parents don't want them to make noise or anything.

Speaker 7 (06:50):
I got you, now, my parents were okay with it,
but quest did you have one of those black rubber
pads a drum pad you know us back, but they
have no sound And that's what you got to do
when you're too.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Loud, right exactly?

Speaker 8 (07:08):
Well even that, I'll say, like my first two years
of taking drum lessons, you know, my teacher had like
this this shiny Ludwig drum set and also a practice
pad next to that drum set, and we would just
walk to the practice pad and I would ask him like, wait,

(07:30):
when do I get to play the post? And he's like,
you're not ready yet. So like for two years I
had to play on that practice pad, almost like it
was like torture for you know, to sit there in
front of that drum set and not even touch it
for the first two years.

Speaker 7 (07:45):
Yeah, no, same deal with me. I was told if
I took private lessons, I'd get better, and so I did,
and I was surrounded by drum sets on the damn
practice pad with the teacher.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
So who's your like, who's your north star?

Speaker 8 (08:03):
As far as drumming was concerned, like, you know, because
I mean you were the rock era, the modern rock era,
so it wasn't like you have tales of seeing anyone
that modern musicians see now. So who was your north star?
As far as like like who would have been your
beatles on Sullivan Movement? As far as like that's what

(08:24):
I want to do for a living?

Speaker 7 (08:25):
Elvin Jones, Wow, great. I got my fake ID in
Tijuana and went to Shelley's man Hall, which the door
man looked at and said, this is fake, but come
on in, you know, and I saw Coltrane many times.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
Oh my god, I want to say that your fake ID,
said Elvin Jones on it.

Speaker 8 (08:51):
What was that like to see people that we take
for granted? I don't think we've ever had a guest
on the show that.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
I saw Coltrane?

Speaker 8 (09:00):
Yeah, that seem like gods and you knew they were
gods then? So what was that like for you to see?

Speaker 7 (09:06):
All right? Well you can read all about it in
my new book. The second or third chapter is on Elvin.
So you know, I knew there was magic. I mean
I didn't know that I was seeing iconic that people
were going to be just legendary, you know, but I
sensed just I don't know, there was fire and energy,

(09:29):
Like I couldn't believe the conversation Elvin would have with Coltrane.
They'd just be you know, he'd keep the groove, but
he'd be riffing off him all the time. And you know,
it gave me a little courage now and then to
riff off Jim Morrison, you know, fuck around with what
he's saying and you know, keep the groove. But you know, Elvin,
he's my man. And so after Coltrane died, I saw Elvin. Well,

(09:54):
let me back up, all right. So my my idols
are in the dressing room at the As Club, and
the bathroom is right next to the jazz club, next
to the uh my brain. It's one of the musicians
hang out in the greenroom green room, and so I
went to the bathroom a lot because they were right

(10:18):
around the corner, you know. And I was afraid to
say anything. But later, after Coltrane died, I I introduced
myself to Elvin and then I had I have three
self centered memoirs, and the first one, Riders on the Storm,

(10:38):
I gave to Elvin, and I quickly said Hey man,
I wrote in here you gave me my hands, you know,
worried that he would be condescending, this jazz giant, and
he was so warm and friendly, and I saw him
many more times and I took his symbol bag to
the car towards the end of his life. So we're
talking to real mentor you.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
Know, what was it about his playing?

Speaker 10 (11:02):
Because a lot of homies I went to school with
that were in the jazz department, they all like just
swore by Elvin Jones. So if you could explain to
kind of a layperson on what was it about his
drumming technique that just made him so amazing?

Speaker 7 (11:17):
I think they called it poly rhythms, you know. I
mean he'd have the pocket. You have to have the pocket,
of course, but he was continually playing triplets and all
this shit all going on all the time, like churning
up an rhythmic egg beater, and it sounded like he
was going to fall into his kit.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
He was. It was just but he didn't, you know, Yeah.

Speaker 7 (11:41):
I don't know. That's how I describe it, you know.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
That's what's up.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Can I ask a question, so, with with your clear
love for jazz, did you ever actually play jazz in
a in a serious way.

Speaker 8 (11:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (11:57):
A few years back I had a group called Tribal Jazz,
which was jazz quartet or quintet with two African drummers,
which was really fun because you know, I'm trying to
integrate Senegalese rhythms into a drum kit, you know, so
it rearranged some brain cells.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
That was good.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
And what about back when you were younger, did you
play any jazz then?

Speaker 7 (12:25):
Well, as a kid like crazy, and then I stumbled
into this rock band.

Speaker 10 (12:33):
I say it worked out pretty good.

Speaker 8 (12:36):
Well, let me let me ask because yeah, like was
there music musical snobbery uh in the in the sixties
to the level of where you know, like it was
a big deal for like Leonard Cohen to say, like
I actually like the Beatles like that.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Sort of thing.

Speaker 8 (12:54):
Oh, I see, was it was it a struggle back
then to win respect?

Speaker 4 (12:59):
Like did you care as much or just were you unaware?

Speaker 7 (13:03):
Uh? Back then the whole country was polarized into four
and against the Vietnam War, kind of like today's kind
of polarized, you know, and uh, you know rock and
roll was against the war and any sort of liberal
bent and so you were either for that or you know,

(13:26):
I would say that country music kind of represented the
other side. But the last chapter I got in this
book is on Willie Nelson, And you know, I'm looking
for the soul in any genre. You know, I can
get fed by if you're if you're saying something truthful,
and if it's in a simplistic form, it doesn't matter. Man.

(13:49):
In fact, in my old age, I've learned that if
I put the right symbol crash in the exact right spot,
it can be as powerful as you know, in my
twenties when I showed all my shit or when I
had more chops, you know what I mean?

Speaker 8 (14:09):
What was the what was the modern music scene like
in Los Angeles in the mid sixties before yeah, before
you guys really got established, Like was Whiskey a go
go a thing sort of before you guys came along,
or like what was Yeah, it was just a modern scene.

Speaker 7 (14:27):
Like exactly, No, the Whiskey was mecca and we were
playing in a little club a block down from the
Whiskey the night we were fired because there was a fight,
which we did not cause, but they blamed it on
the band. The booker from the Whiskey dropped in and
saw us, and she hired us as the house band
at the Whiskey, and it was heaven. I mean every

(14:53):
night the streets were packed with hippies and music freaks
and every band that came in, I don't know, let's
see Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Van Morrison, et cetera, et cetera,
the Birds all. You know, they had to deal with
the opening act. Wow, I don't mean to well that

(15:17):
sounds a little self serving, but we were we were different.
We you know, we were the undeclared Vietnam War. We
were not singing about peace and love. We were singing
about this is the end, beautiful friend man. Things are
there's a lot of lying going on, and so you know,
we played light my Fire and everybody dance and that

(15:39):
was really cool. And then we play the end and
it got very quiet and then people had to follow that,
the other bands, which I mean, we were friends with
them all. But it was a really cool scene.

Speaker 8 (15:55):
Were what were your thoughts on like the postmod kind
of movement of music, like people that weren't that political,
more poppy, like I guess I still want to know,
like where they're different tribes or different clicks of did
you guys mess together at all?

Speaker 2 (16:15):
You know?

Speaker 7 (16:15):
The British invasion was kind of poppy, you know, but
then then we all started experimenting with then legal psychedelics
and the Beatles' music got a little darker like ours.

Speaker 8 (16:29):
Yeah, did you appreciate it at the time, Well, appreciate
their contribution at the time.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
You know, it's it's from from a person from my generation.

Speaker 8 (16:41):
We'll be quick to lump like anyone that came from
the mid to late sixties in the same bowl, you know,
whereas I'm certain that three four decades from now, you know,
somebody will look at my band or Fonte's band and

(17:01):
you know just think like, oh, okay, well you know,
Kanye West outcast, you guys are all the same where
we've talked much shit about each other and that sort
of thing.

Speaker 4 (17:13):
So like, you know, were you.

Speaker 8 (17:17):
Your thoughts on your contemporaries at the time, like Zones, Yeah,
the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks.

Speaker 7 (17:23):
Let me break it down. You know, in the beginning,
I I was a jazz snob, but I was certainly
aware of the roots of rock and roll. Chuck Berry
and Little Richard and all and and Elvis and whatever.
Then I saw these four mop tops on Ed Sullivan
and I thought, wow, man, what are they gay?

Speaker 2 (17:42):
What is this?

Speaker 6 (17:42):
You know?

Speaker 7 (17:43):
And uh then I noticed I noticed their melodies. I thought, wow,
you know, because melodies, man, are they key? I don't
I don't care if it's heavy metal or country. If
you got a beautif for melody with a with a
cool lyric, they gotta be wetted together. Wow, you got

(18:05):
great songs. So you know, I knew the Beatles had
great songs.

Speaker 6 (18:09):
And we.

Speaker 7 (18:10):
Looked up to the Stones and like that van.

Speaker 8 (18:15):
Were they of an older generation to you? Because even
in my world, like someone that came out four or
five years ago, I'll see that as in hip hop terms,
like someone that made their debut in two thousand and
ten even is kind of old. Even even though they're

(18:38):
not old school, they're considered old school. So, you know,
because of the of the years between you guys them
starting in sixty one sixty two, was it still the
same fraternity or were they seeing as older statesmen? Not
older statesmen, but that's what I'm assing.

Speaker 7 (18:58):
No, they were just a few years old, so they
weren't an entirely different genre, you know, you know, and
then as you go along, can you keep making records
that are important? And a lot of folks followed by
the wayside, and we managed to do okay, even though Jim,

(19:18):
you know, he started drinking so much that it got
quite difficult, you know, Like I got a chapter in
this new book on Jim, and one on janis two
cautionary Janice Choplin two cautionary tales. You know, self destruction

(19:38):
and creativity coming the same package with them, but not
with everybody.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
We're we're really good friends with Shep Gordon.

Speaker 8 (19:54):
Oh yeah, told us a lot about the scene in
La especially at the hotel.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
I forget the hotel and sunset where yeah.

Speaker 8 (20:06):
Every yeah, everyone yeah, well yeah, everyone just hungt and whatnot.
Like the book of the group love and and all
those things. Were you directly like a part of that scene,
like off stage where you guys sort.

Speaker 7 (20:22):
Of not quite that scene. I'm trying to think of
the hotel too. But but but once you played the whiskey,
Mario the door guy let anybody in, so we would
all go see each other when we were not playing,
and so was it fraternity, you know? And we love
for example, man, they were really like them a lot.

(20:44):
They were so different. Forever Changes is it masterpiece of
that album?

Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yeah, Forever Change, Forever Changes is masterpiece. It's you know,
the that's from the Summer I love too. I mean
there was there's just like there's a few there's a
few albums from from that era that are just Yeah.

Speaker 7 (21:03):
I want to get on the soapbox for a second.
Get pissed off when people dissed the sixties as a failure.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
Wait, who.

Speaker 7 (21:15):
Good?

Speaker 8 (21:15):
Okay, life based on everything from the sixties.

Speaker 5 (21:21):
There's a progress without the sixties.

Speaker 7 (21:23):
I never mind what I was going to say.

Speaker 2 (21:26):
I want to hear it.

Speaker 5 (21:28):
It's feeling that way, so glad I talks about it.

Speaker 8 (21:31):
Well, there there is a perception that like post sixty nine,
that there was not not diminished returns per se, but
everything was over and everything that that was fought for
and built.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Was sort of just washed away. So well, what were
you were saying?

Speaker 7 (21:48):
Well, yeah, the seeds of civil rights, the peace movement,
feminism all were planted in the sixties, and maybe these
seeds like a long time fifty hundred years for full fruition.
So don't dis you know, we're on the shoulders of

(22:09):
all folks before and so you know, yeah, progress is
not as fast as we wanted, you know, like uh,
ge Obama got elected, so there's no more racism. Yeah
right right, you know so. But anyway, and speaking of which,

(22:31):
I was hoping, uh, sometime during this podcast, I could
do a five minute poem for Stacy Abrams. Oh, because
because I've been thinking about Jesus all right now I'm
going to approve it. I'm going to approve I'm the drummer,
not the singer. I've been thinking about Jojo Jojia, no

(22:55):
piece f fun.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
You're on my mind.

Speaker 7 (22:59):
Then they're voting.

Speaker 8 (23:02):
Yeah, so everybody, man, I want to do by the
time this area as we'll have the results that we want.

Speaker 7 (23:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (23:08):
Yeah, but we're going to get that poem too, because
I want to get that old stay.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yes, I was.

Speaker 10 (23:15):
Curious to know, man, do you have to give us
kind of a parallel the band that The Doors and
kind of what you guys represented, Uh when you guys
came out, who would you say is probably the closest
modern day contemporary And by modern day, I mean it
could be anyone from the last you know, twenty years whatever.
But uh, that you think kind of embodies the spirit

(23:36):
of what you guys were about.

Speaker 7 (23:39):
Oh, putting me on the spot here, I.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Mean Nirvana would be my guess. Really. Yeah, it's weird.

Speaker 8 (23:46):
Though I always thought the Doors were doors are really
kind of I feel like the Doors are hip hop
as far as they were concerned.

Speaker 7 (23:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good. That's good. Okay, let me
let me tell you something. Way back, Jay Z asked.

Speaker 4 (24:01):
For five to one.

Speaker 7 (24:05):
Five to one, yeah, you know, and I was just
coming on board. I didn't know what was happening, and
I went, wait a minute, you know what, huh, it's
all bitches and hoes. No, you can't have it.

Speaker 3 (24:15):
And he he.

Speaker 7 (24:18):
Writes me a letter, and he sends me a Team
Rock jersey, and he breaks it down for me and said, man,
you know, we're doing what you're doing, fighting the establishment,
going for truth. And and then I got it, Believe me,
I got it.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Along those lines.

Speaker 9 (24:37):
The Doors is one of the only bands that I
can think of that didn't have a bass player. And
while Ray played bass in his left hand, it is
one of the few bands that didn't have like a
legit bass player. Can you talk about what that was like,
because yeah, it's not a thing.

Speaker 7 (24:52):
It's not enrmaluh A lot of work. I mean usually
the bass player and the drummer or the rhythm section,
you know, holding holding down the groove in the basement.
And it was me and Ray's left hand, and uh,
but but but he he he played simplified sort of

(25:14):
boogie woogie bass lines with his left hand, which turned
out to be gold like dome, don't, don't do, don't
just hooky stuff. And so fortunately we felt the same pocket. Actually,
the first tune we played together ever was All Blues
by Miles Davis, Yeah, which is in three, you know.

(25:35):
And then I knew Ray, I knew Ray knew some ship.
So uh, we played the blues and we were sort
of laying back on the groove as you do with
the blues. And then we started writing our own stuff
and then we kind of found our pocket.

Speaker 10 (25:49):
But so were you and Ray the kind of the beginning,
the start of the doors, were you to primary songwriters
or how the well.

Speaker 7 (25:58):
Jim had all these words and melodies and couldn't play
one chord on any instrument. We're talking gifted here, So
he would sing a cappella and you know, roadhouse blues,
which we played with what I played with you guys,
you know is blues. That's not too difficult. But he

(26:20):
would sing these complicated before you slip into unconsciousness, I'd
like to have another kiss, Like, wait a minute, f sharp,
what the hell? You know? He just had to ship
in his head so wow.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
You know, So what were those songwriting sessions?

Speaker 8 (26:39):
Like, like he would just would it start with him
and his words first, you guys, figure out where he's
going with it.

Speaker 7 (26:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'd figure out the groove. Then we'd
stop and change chords or say, oh man, we need
a bridge or a solo here or whatever. So that's
why he said, Hey, let's credit all the songs written
by the Doors, not lyrics by me, you know, wow,
and let's split all the dough really WOWO.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
Can I ask a question because you met, you talked
about this and you touched on it. But I gotta
know you said you were kind of like in your
own snobby sense when you were an early musician, and
somehow you met him and he convinced you to go
to this route, because it sounds like you weren't even
trying to go this rock and roll route, like you
had this this jazz mind. So what was that moment
that he convinced you?

Speaker 7 (27:28):
You know, I was passionate for music, but I never
thought i'd make a living at it, you know what
I mean?

Speaker 2 (27:34):
What did you do in the club? You know how?

Speaker 7 (27:37):
And then when when the doors got going, Oh god, man,
you know, if we can pay the rent for a decade,
wouldn't that be a miracle. Well let's see. Yeah, I'm
seventy six, and that's wow. Fifty years later, I'm still
talking about this damn band.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
But you know, was it a conversation that you had
that that convinced you that I'm gonna ride this ride
because I know that this is going somewhere or was
it something that he sang or something?

Speaker 7 (28:03):
Yeah? Yeah, good, good, good good. All right. So after
we play all blues and I'm noticing this guy in
the corner, and Ray says, Jim, this is Jim the singer.
He's never sung before, and he can't play any instrument,
but look at these lyrics. And he hands me a
crumpled piece of paper and on the paper it says,

(28:23):
day destroys, the night, night divides, the day, tried to run,
tried to hide, break on through to the other side.
Oh okay, right right away, right rhythmic stuff starts. That's
that pulled me in immediately, you know.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
So was I always wanted to know?

Speaker 8 (28:42):
Was that song somewhat and influenced from ray Charles?

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Is what I say?

Speaker 7 (28:51):
Oh wow, it's funny, man sat Oh it's good. No,
you know I used to play that, uh what I say,
Only I couldn't do it with one hand. I had
to have both hands on the bell of the ride
symbol didn't have the chops yet. Anyway, what was going

(29:12):
on was Bosa Nova was coming up from Brazil big time,
big time, and so this little U and I'm digging
the groove. It's real light. Okay, I'm gonna make it
stiffer and harder and faster. And so I copped the

(29:35):
whole thing and made it rock and roll, but break
on through. It's kind of a rock and Bosan Nova
rock or whatever rock boser rock.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
And I asked a question getting back to it, what
Bill asked you about playing with with Raymond's eric and
him playing the bass with his left hand.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
So that's that's that's the main that's the doors sound basically.
But on later albums, you did use uh, actual electric
bass players on certain on certain things.

Speaker 7 (30:10):
Really really good question, Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Just I mean my question is, actually, you know, as
the drummer, from the drummers perspective, what's the difference in being,
you know, part half of the rhythm section with somebody
who's playing it on the organ and somebody who's playing
it with the guitar.

Speaker 7 (30:30):
Well, first of all, when we played live, when Ray
would take a solo on organ, he'd get excited and
the bass player would speed up.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
Holy moly, there's no more frustrating that happening.

Speaker 7 (30:47):
I got to pull the reins back. Okay. So this
was before Moog synthesizers were even invented. So we knew
that the keyboard bass, he had a Fender Roads keyboard
basic kind of kind of was mushy, yeh, and it
needed a little more punch. And so even on the

(31:07):
first record we had Larry Neckt old studio bass player
over dub on Fender electric bass Ray's exact bass lines
to give it the pluck of the string. Gave it
the punch we needed, you know. And then later we
did have bass players and you know, God, Harvey Brooks

(31:28):
was on Soft Parade. Great bass player played with Dylan
and the Electric Flag and so that was a lot
of fun for me. You know, Elvis's bass player played
on La Woman Jerry Chef, and that was cool. He
even said that he put a little line from the
La Woman do do Do Do Do Do Do Do

(31:50):
Do do do? He stuck a little bit of it
in an Elvis recording session.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
So that's good. So we can just finish up this
thought that playing play with Ray versus playing with Harvey Brooks,
you know, from a rhythm section.

Speaker 7 (32:05):
Yes, yeah, well, I mean I could almost play one handed,
because when there's a separate bass player plucking and concentrating
on the groove, you know, he's helped, he's your brother helping.
It's it's easier, you know, and you play off each
other and whatever. And Ray was playing sort of simplistic lines,

(32:26):
but it kind of gave space. There was more air
and openness in the sound, which was quite cool and unique.
You know, we auditioned bass players way back. We even
had a girl for a minute there, but we felt
like we sound like another white blues band, the Rolling

(32:48):
Stones or something. And then we discovered this keyboard base
went oh Man and the guy who made all the
LSD in San Francisco. I can't think of his name.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
He can't think of his name, of course, well I can't.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
What was your.

Speaker 7 (33:06):
He We're playing one of the psychedelic ballrooms. He comes back, Owsley,
that's his name, Owsley. He comes backstage and says, hey, man,
you guys, you're great. You got a hole in your sound, though,
you need a bass player. He leaves, and I turned
to Ray and I said, Wow, we're making the acid

(33:28):
King nervous. I think we're on the right track here.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
I have a question of I can't think of another.

Speaker 8 (33:37):
Besides besides the Look of Love, I believe that Light.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
My Fire, the most covered song, is probably No, No, No.

Speaker 8 (33:48):
Even more than that, I feel like Light my Fire
is probably the only song in which you cannot drop
the ball as far as covering is concerned, and billions
of people have covered it. Do you have a preference
of of of the many covers that good of that

(34:09):
of that song?

Speaker 7 (34:10):
First of all, quest thanks for putting Light My Fire
in the same category as the Look of Love.

Speaker 8 (34:17):
Who's saying I never found who never found a bad
cover of Light My Fire? Never found a back cover
look of Love, like it's impossible to drop the ball
in that song?

Speaker 7 (34:29):
Who sang look a Love?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
The original was God? Who was the original?

Speaker 3 (34:39):
Probably know?

Speaker 2 (34:40):
It's bird back.

Speaker 7 (34:42):
Right right, right right? Okay? So what what's cool is
somebody covers your song and finds a new way to
interpret it. That's really cool. I mean, it's cool to
get any song covered, even if they copy your arrangement,
because you get the writer's share.

Speaker 2 (35:02):
But facts.

Speaker 7 (35:05):
But jose Feliciano takes my fire, it makes it a
ballad and we all went, oh, that is beautiful.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
What did you think of Al Green's version? Man? I
think that's probably my favorite one.

Speaker 7 (35:20):
I bet I can't. I didn't hear it? Give it
to me that really? He did it?

Speaker 2 (35:25):
Were you never version? Can we play? Oh my god?
This is fair use?

Speaker 7 (35:33):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, fair use.

Speaker 5 (35:35):
We talk about charistic yeah, even.

Speaker 2 (35:38):
The spoken part the right right have his version?

Speaker 10 (35:43):
And have you, uh, John, have you ever heard the
Free Design?

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Have you ever heard their version of Jesus Christ? Yeah?
Free Design? They they just they like the Mamas and
napapas on LSD.

Speaker 8 (35:57):
They takes chraumatic like Ninth Harmony chorts to another place.
I'll say the free Design is probably my go to version,
even though I love the Al's version. And actually it's
funny you mentioned Jose, Jose actually doubles down because even
on many Ripperton's version, Jose shows up and does his

(36:24):
riffing at the end.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
Light of fire, right right, exactly exactly.

Speaker 8 (36:32):
So okay, I I gotta know this because the one
thing that I know that you're a big one, which
you know, it's it's it's weird because even though with
the rebellion of the first wave of modern rock, not
modern rock, but you know, the the sixties rock cats

(36:55):
and hip hop cats, is this rebellious spirit to the system.
But somehow I will say that in hip hop terms,
our relationship with capitalism slightly different from the sixties rock generation.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
How is that?

Speaker 8 (37:19):
Yeah, you know, licensing songs and commercial uses. You know,
rappers about that all day a commercial whereas you know,
I often hear the sixties generations sort of like I'm
not selling out and da da da da d. So
you're world famous for your thumbs down on which you know,

(37:45):
I'm like, that must be nice, but.

Speaker 7 (37:47):
Uh, I see it from all sides. I mean, you know,
Tavis Smiley said to me you're you're you're either really
great or you're crazy.

Speaker 3 (37:57):
You know about that.

Speaker 7 (38:00):
But you know, what, can I say it? If you're
trying to pay the rent and you get to do
it commercial paid, you do it. Man, It's hard enough
out there. What happened was that we got this offer,
come on Buick, Light my Fire and no.

Speaker 2 (38:26):
Yeah, and you know the article that's not on the Google.
Like if the Google said that, it would be a
very different things.

Speaker 10 (38:34):
Everyone would understand why you tell Yeah.

Speaker 7 (38:38):
So Jim was out of town. It was a lot
of dough and we were kind of drooling, and he
came back and he said, yeah, let's do it. And
I got a really good idea for a TV ad.
I'll smash a Buick on television with a sledgehammer. That's idea, okay,

(39:00):
And that's on fire, that's a no. And so all right,
Jim wrote one line in Light my Fire. Robbie Krieger
wrote all the lyrics, and Jim added, our love become
a funeral Pyre Morrison esque. And so this guy is

(39:23):
so upset about a song he didn't write. I'm like, wow,
he cares about the whole catalog, everything we're doing. And
you know I'm a little hard ass, but he's passed.
He's my ancestor, so I'm trying to stick to what
he wanted. But I mean, you know, I get hey,

(39:46):
you know, I get hip hoppers doing. I get it.
You know, it's just we're different. And it was back aways,
and I don't know, set.

Speaker 3 (39:56):
In a modern context, if they might offer you a
lot more money now for something than you were offered
for the buick ad and it would be kind of
a no brainer to take the money.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
I mean, and also too, to be fair, I think
now it may be. I think now you have people
in position who understand kind of the spirit of what
you guys are about, and would do it in a
very tasteful way as opposed to a cheesy way like
you know, like my view or whatever the hell you know.
I think now you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 8 (40:25):
Actually, I would like to see someone set of going fire.

Speaker 7 (40:33):
All right, let's see break on tudor a new deodorant.

Speaker 8 (40:36):
No, right, But the thing is is that I think
the common denominator for the average creator is avoiding a rasure.
And yes, the music of the doors I feel is

(40:59):
you know that at least the ripple effect and the
resonance of it all. I have no doubt that the
songs you know, Writers of the Storm still stand. Every
time I play it people, you know, oh my god,
what is that? Like it's brand new or something, so
you know it's it's timeless. But does it ever do

(41:24):
you ever have thoughts that you know one day because
you know, I will say that when songs are placed
in and this is me as a DJ speaking, when
songs are placed in a movie or placed on a
television show or in a commercial, it just extends the
life of it just a little bit more. So I'm

(41:47):
one of those guys. And again, as a DJ who
mainly uses his DJ sets to educate people and stuff,
it kind of makes my job easier, even though I
have to you know, correct them, like, no, this isn't
just the song that you heard in the blah blah
blah movie, like this is where it comes from. But
do you ever have thoughts of like if you clutch

(42:10):
too tight to the pearls, that there's a possibility of erasure.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
I know the Beastie Boys are going.

Speaker 8 (42:16):
Through that right now, like they just recently kind of
loosen the reins a little bit to allow one of
their songs to get licensed for a commercial, even though
they took this.

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Hard stance like we will never ever do that integrity.

Speaker 7 (42:35):
Yeah, I gotcha. I mean, you know, Bob Dylan certainly
making me nervous.

Speaker 10 (42:39):
Man. Yeah, he sold all his ship while right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Take it with him, so you might as well just
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (42:48):
Yeah, like, okay, So first of all, I don't we okay, movies,
TV shows. It's just a specific products selling, which makes
me twitch a little, I mean, like, and also we
are pretty established, and there's a lot of people who

(43:10):
say to us, oh, man, you know I was in Vietnam.
You guys helped me the first time I made love,
the first time I had a joint, whatever. And so
it's sort of like the soundtrack to people's lives, and
so I kind of well Vietnam. For example, recently, Robbie
told me, I didn't know this that the lyric loved

(43:31):
Me two times? He wrote, he goes love me two
times because I'm going away. He was thinking going away
to Vietnam. That's not in the lyric. And so how
about love me two times because I just took viagra.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
It's true some commercials have seriously ruined certain songs forever,
you know, where they're known more for the commercial than
from the original album or from.

Speaker 8 (43:59):
Yeah, hot Chocolate's use Sexy Thing is definitely ruined Viagra.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
Yes, yeah, but.

Speaker 7 (44:07):
You're you're right. You know, I'm going to be erased,
I don't know in the next twenty years or so anyway,
So I got to think about this.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
No, stick to your guns. I've vote stick to your guns.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Yeah, stick to your guns how I want to.

Speaker 10 (44:24):
I was on to know how accurate or what were
your thoughts on Oliver Stones filmed The Doors.

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Yeah he was in it.

Speaker 7 (44:33):
Yeah, no, no, yeah, I wasn't it for a second there, No,
I liked it now it was it was primarily about
a tortured artist, and Oliver, you know, kind of fits
that category. Brilliant and kind of out there, and uh,

(44:54):
I wished it had been a little more about the
sixties and then the climate of the time. Times. There
was a documentary called When You're Strange that Johnny Depp narrated,
and that has that has more of of that, and
I think the two of them together really represent our
whole career. But I gotta say, Val Kilmer man, he

(45:18):
gave me the creeps. I thought Jim was back ya gas.

Speaker 5 (45:22):
He looked just like me, sounded just like it was.
I mean, I didn't know him like you did, but
it gave me the creeps watching him play that role.

Speaker 7 (45:29):
These actors are amazing the way they transformed their bodies
and everything.

Speaker 3 (45:32):
Yeah, yeah, I got a question.

Speaker 9 (45:35):
Can we uh, can we talk about like drummers from
your era and and the the African influence, the Ginger
Bakers and the and like things like that. I feel
like like I got that bug when I was a kid,
but I was I'm not the same thing, but like,
was it the same?

Speaker 6 (45:51):
Was it?

Speaker 9 (45:52):
My experience was? It's like everything sort of began there.
So it made sense to figure out that ship and
how to bring it into your own thing, like what
was why did you get into it? And how did
you apply it to the doors or whatever?

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Else? Are you doing.

Speaker 7 (46:04):
Well with the African stuff? I primarily got into later,
but I will say that we were recording Hello, I
Love You and we're struggling with the arrangement, and Robbie
the guitar player, said, why don't you turn the beat
around like Ginger does in Sunshiny or love you know,

(46:28):
and so I go, okay, uh hello, I love you.
So I copped a couple of bars of ginger, and.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
Here we are coping and ginger coping.

Speaker 8 (46:49):
I was going to ask, the recording of that particular
song has such a distinctive like modern made for FM
radios sort of recording technique to it. Were you guys
aware of that as far as like, because there's a
clear difference sonically between the recording that particular album and

(47:12):
what came before it.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
So, were you.

Speaker 8 (47:15):
Guys aware of the sort of transforming of AM radio.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Am radio being the.

Speaker 8 (47:23):
I guess the destination point of most music had been
slowly morphing into f M radio at the time, because
there's just such a clarity to it that sounds super modern,
Like even if you listen to it now, with the
synth work and even the way that your drums are

(47:44):
tuned on that song, like a.

Speaker 2 (47:47):
A deeper sound.

Speaker 7 (47:48):
Yeah, you're right about that.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
It could have.

Speaker 8 (47:50):
Like it's almost like the you hear the seeds of
what talking heads like Devo's second record, even Gary Numan's
like first record, you hear the seeds of that in there.

Speaker 7 (48:02):
Well, you know, our first single was break on through
and it was too sophisticated. You know. It got to
number thirteen or something. That was due to us calling
up the station saying, hey, this is Fred Schwartz. Will
you play this and wait break going Through.

Speaker 4 (48:19):
It was not a top ten hit, no.

Speaker 7 (48:22):
But later it became just you know, everybody just as
crazy for it. So okay, yeah, Light my Fire was
six minutes, you know, we had that long jam and
then we cut it to three minutes, and then it
became a hit. But then FM radio started bragging about

(48:43):
playing the long version, which was really cool. So you know,
we had some hits. I guess people are strange. I
think was the next hit. And then in the studio
we were struggling and Paul Rothschild, our producer, pressed us
on hello, I love you. He said, Man, to make
this a hit. And fuzz tones that just came in

(49:03):
on guitar, you know, fuzzboxes.

Speaker 6 (49:05):
And we just worked on that and worked on it,
and frankly, I thought it turned out a little too
poppy for me, but that's just for me personally.

Speaker 7 (49:19):
But I always was just absolutely crazy for Jim's lyrics.
Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
Oh and what about Bruce Bonnik The engineer. What was
his special sauce? He did all your.

Speaker 7 (49:32):
Albums, Yeah, he did all of them. And he he
worked at Sunset Sound and all the great studios as
a teenager with the Supremes and Phil Spector, and he knew,
he knew what he was doing. And each time, you know,
CDs streaming, whatever it is, he he keeps us up

(49:52):
to date sonically. You know, he's on it. Yeah, he's
the fifth door.

Speaker 8 (49:57):
You know, I see there's you know, a lot has
been made. Most will say that, of course, you know,
when you when you think of historic concerts and events,

(50:18):
everyone of course makes a big deal of woodstock. However,
I feel like enough has not been made of enough.
The isle of right, I think is of right. ISLI
of Whight Festival that you guys did in nineteen seventy,
Do you have any particular memories of that, you know,

(50:39):
because the lineup was yeh to me just as crazy
that that year it was Hendrix, Joni Mitchell.

Speaker 3 (50:49):
Who.

Speaker 8 (50:51):
Moody Blues, Silent, the family Stone ten years after Chicago. Usually,
you know, I know that for a lot of artists,
this for a lot of fans, this is always a
disappointing question because you know, the the festivals are a spectator.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Thing, and usually artists are.

Speaker 8 (51:13):
Just getting in doing the gig, leaving really not soaking
in the atmosphere. Were you able to really soak in
the festival at the time or was it just like
you showed up and did your thing and left.

Speaker 7 (51:24):
Yeah. I took a hit off of Roger Daltrey's pepperminte
snaps bottle.

Speaker 3 (51:30):
You know.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
Oh yeah. First, I think.

Speaker 7 (51:42):
The Isle of Wight. We were under a lot of
stress because Jim was on trial in Miami for supposedly
exposing himself, which he did not do, but he but
he was drunk, and he got real political and said
you're and then shove your faces in the ship of
the world, wake up. And that didn't go over well.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
So that's crazy how he translated it today.

Speaker 7 (52:11):
Well, I got the climate at the time was this
polarized country and and we were, you know, the hippies
and we were the dirty doors, and so Jim was targeted.
There was a rally for decency at the Orange Bowl.
Thirty thousand people showed up. Nixon sent a letter and

(52:34):
then Nita Bryant presided and it was because of us,
you know. Yeah, Well, back to the Isle of White,
the Isle of White, so so Jim was kind of
subdued in his performance. I was trying to make up
for it playing really strong, but it's pretty good. But

(52:54):
the whole festival had the feeling of the end of
the the end of Woodstock. There was some dispute about
the ticket prices and they busted down the fences and
people came in, which, you know, it was all right.
It was just kind of a chaotic festival. It had
incredible lineup, like you said, but it kind of didn't

(53:16):
get the attention because it was sort of the crumbling
of the outdoor hippie festivals being the ultimate you know.

Speaker 5 (53:24):
And just for clarification for nobody people who don't know
the concert and the cituative venue, this is an island
right close to London where they exclusively have this big festival.
They've been doing this for like the last forty fifty years, right.

Speaker 7 (53:37):
Yeah, correct, right.

Speaker 3 (53:38):
Yeah, yeah yeah. Are you more of a touring person
or a studio studio person either one?

Speaker 7 (53:46):
Either one. I mean at first I was frustrated. I
didn't understand it's kind of cool to muffle the drumheads
in the studio.

Speaker 6 (53:55):
You know.

Speaker 7 (53:55):
I thought you just play live and make a record, right,
and so it was a learning curve. I like both.

Speaker 2 (54:06):
Where was your weapon of choice?

Speaker 8 (54:07):
Uh in in the early part of your career, What
what drums were you using?

Speaker 7 (54:13):
Oh? My first set was Gretch and then I Ludwick.
I went crazy for Ludwig and Ludwig silver snare drum
and yeah, I always kept kept a little kit. I
I had rivets in my symbol. I saw Oscar Peterson's
drummer ed thigpen. He had a lot of rivets, and

(54:34):
I went, oh, man, I'm that's good. You can hear
that on riders. There's kind of rivet sound in the right.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
It rings forever.

Speaker 7 (54:41):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 8 (54:42):
Do you have you kept a majority of your drum
sets or like the sort of iconic.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Your career.

Speaker 8 (54:52):
Yeah, I'll be taking them over, thank you.

Speaker 7 (54:55):
Some not enough, damn it? Like like like the floor Tom. Uh,
it's the floor Tom that's barking back in the Hello
I Love you, but it a bow boom boom bum boom.
I like it when the heads are tired and rancid,
and then when they break, I have to get a
new one, and I hate it because I like the

(55:16):
personality of it talking back.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
You know, I see you still have that time time.

Speaker 8 (55:22):
No, oh, okay, that's what I was asking.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
Ye collection, you have a collection too.

Speaker 5 (55:36):
Is this a dumb drummer question? Y'all can tell me
if not, if it is or not. But my father's
a drummer. He always used to say that he likes
he prefers playing with brushes. Is that a thing where
you have a certain kind of stick that you prefer,
like mallet versus just regular stick versus brushes versus whatever
else is around these days? Because I haven't been checking
in the latest.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Not a dumb question.

Speaker 7 (55:54):
No, that's a really good question.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
You want don't play with brushes. That's a true statu
you know what, you know what, you know.

Speaker 4 (56:04):
It's weird.

Speaker 8 (56:07):
So when I was working on uh Welcome to Detroit
up in uh uh in Studio A where Dilla was,
he only played with mallets, And at the time I thought,
all right.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
That's dumb.

Speaker 8 (56:26):
Like not that's dumb, because by then anything he did
I declared like this, I'm sorry, it's it's my my my.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Elvin Jones is a producer from Detroit. His name is
Jay Diller.

Speaker 7 (56:39):
Oh yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, I just can't. I just
can't hear at my age, you know, Okay.

Speaker 2 (56:46):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 4 (56:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (56:48):
J Diller is a actually to bring it back to
five to one the Okay, I won't say that I
know the original producer, but he would. I'd ask him like,
why are you using mallets instead of traditional traditional drumsticks?

(57:11):
And he just wanted a different texture than that of
what when sticks hit the skins? So I think at
the time I scoffed like that's whatever, and then I
caught myself doing it a lot, so I actually like
the texture of it.

Speaker 7 (57:29):
I'm curious, what what size sticks do you use here?

Speaker 2 (57:38):
It is I'm a seven eight guy.

Speaker 7 (57:40):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 8 (57:42):
However, however, my sticks are a little bit unusual because.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
I learned through well Steve.

Speaker 8 (57:53):
Steve is like one of my longtime music engineers, so
I had to I learned about twenty years ago that
the softer, at least for my purposes, the softer that
you play, the better the mixing options are. Because I
use a lot of old ribbon mics. So I used
to like power play, like in my mind, you think

(58:14):
like take like like Bonzo, like John Bonham from Zeppelin,
like you know, everyone thinks that they have to play
like Animal from the Muppets, and you know, and that
really destroys the sound because the compression and the microphones
like it just it just crutches. It's not good. So
I learned the softer you play, the better it is.

(58:35):
So I when I got my deal with Vic Firth,
I told them to make me seven eight drumsticks, but
I made.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
Mine two inches longer.

Speaker 8 (58:44):
Oh, so that way I could put my wrists on
my legs and not move my hands at all like
a traditional seven A you'd have to, like, you know,
most non drummers look at.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Uh, what is what of your arms at all?

Speaker 2 (59:02):
Right? Yeah, move your.

Speaker 8 (59:07):
Arms, yes, yes, like most most most non drummers would
look at uh uh what's the name of Foo Fighters. Yeah,
they'll look at David grol and like smells like teen
Spirit and think like that's how I should be German
like like modern Animal. And for me, I get the
best results when I when I do the least, just beautiful.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
The quietest.

Speaker 8 (59:31):
So yeah, drumsticks two inches longer so that I don't
have to move my arms at all.

Speaker 7 (59:38):
That's what I was saying about, Uh, playing the right
beat in the right spot is as much power as
all that animal ship. But you know what's so beautiful
about your playing is what you sit. You know, you
don't slump over the kit, and you see relaxed. You know,
it's just beautiful.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
A little too relax time.

Speaker 5 (01:00:02):
You didn't answer that question for yourself.

Speaker 7 (01:00:04):
Yes, no, it's no seven A seven A. They're they're thin.
They're thin sticks, so I can play faster, but they
break all the time if you're playing a big concert,
you know, so you know you just throw them in
the audience and grab some more.

Speaker 8 (01:00:19):
You know, speaking of the audience, you think that's speaking Yeah,
speaking of throwing them in the audience, what did this
mean you to watch Keith Moon destroy a kit occasionally?

Speaker 7 (01:00:36):
Like?

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Is that blasphemous to you?

Speaker 7 (01:00:39):
It was over the top. I understood the anger because
you know, we were pissed off about the establishment and
everything's going on. I get it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:48):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:00:48):
He was bizarre. He was the most unusual drummer I've
ever seen. I watched him on stage right at the
isle of White, stood next to him. You know, he
the way he hit the sticks, he's like conducting or something.
I don't know what it is. Yeah, But speaking of brushes.
This is what this is what I'm gonna accompany myself

(01:01:10):
with on that.

Speaker 3 (01:01:13):
Yeah, what I would want to ask you is not
not which Doors album is your favorite or not which
one you think is the best, but which one do
you think you're playing the best on? Oh, that's a
good question, all of them. That's why you gotta start

(01:01:36):
with your head, because you know, I'm just trying to
make a point. I think, like the first Doors album
was recorded in just a few days or a couple
of weeks or something like that, and other albums later
down the line probably took longer. And yeah, but you
may think that you're playing on light my fire, is
your is your absolute pinnacle or something?

Speaker 7 (01:01:56):
A good question, all right. So first album, we're trying
to learn how to make records, you know, and we
only did a few takes. But you know, it's second album,
we're getting more relaxed in the studio, like using the
studio as a as another door and fooling around with
backward tracks and ship and having fun experimenting. But then

(01:02:18):
you know, we have to make our own Sergeant Pepper,
So we get to soft parade and put strings, strings
and horns and all this ship and it was fun
and people got angry with us changing our sound. Uh
but touch Me was number one, then then Morrison Hotel

(01:02:43):
and then finally La Woman. We get back to the
garage and the blues and La Woman is I like
it a lot. It's just a few takes. I said
to Ray. You know, Miles live at Carnegie Hall. There
was a terrible trumpet note at the beginning of So What,

(01:03:06):
and the engineer said to Miles, I can fix that,
and he said, no, it feels good. See there it is.
That's the that's the key to La Woman. It's the
first punk album. We're gonna fuck the mistakes. We're gonna
go for it in a few takes, put as much
passion as we can.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
See. There you go.

Speaker 3 (01:03:23):
It's like a jazz album. I mean, that's how a
jazz album is recorded.

Speaker 2 (01:03:28):
Well you kind of pre answered. I was going to
say that.

Speaker 8 (01:03:33):
With with the Soft Parade, was was there a pressure
two suddenly deliver like the highest art? I mean based
on the the the kind of atmosphere that brought upon
like pet Sounds and Sergeant Peppers and even with their

(01:03:57):
satanic Majesty's request and all that stuff. Well, I know,
people laugh at that, but I feel like one day
some generation is really going to hold No, I'm telling you,
thanks for playing, though, I believe. I believe that there's

(01:04:20):
going to be a Look. I'm a guy who love uh.
I know, critics hated Black, Black and Blues by the Stones,
and that's one of my favorite records. So I feel
like somebody's going to find the wrong record and make
it their record.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
But what I was asking was what the Salt Parade
was that the.

Speaker 8 (01:04:43):
Intent to show that we're just as artistic and just
as experimental as our contemporaries.

Speaker 7 (01:04:50):
Yeah, no, thank you. We Ray and I had talked
about before recording the first album, man, someday if we
could ever have some like horn solos, tenor sacks and

(01:05:12):
you know, that'd be cool, some jazz stuff, and so
we finally got to that by Soft Parade. Actually, I
think Sergeant Pepper and pet Sounds they were out kind
of around Strange Days our second album, and that's when
we were like, wow, man, we who this is a challenge,

(01:05:35):
you know, but but turn on too.

Speaker 6 (01:05:37):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:05:38):
The thing about the Doors though, is like I never
I never think about them in comparison to other bands
because they have this their own world. You know, they
created one of these few bands or artists that can
create their own sonic universe, and you did. It's like
pointless to compare them to to other bands.

Speaker 7 (01:05:58):
Almost well, keep keep talking. I feel helium rising.

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
In my.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Skill.

Speaker 3 (01:06:04):
It wasn't a compliment. I'm saying you're weird.

Speaker 7 (01:06:10):
Oh, you guys are amazing.

Speaker 2 (01:06:13):
You know, we try. Thank you.

Speaker 8 (01:06:17):
I do have to ask for our listeners and for
myself as well, Like what was how long did it
take you guys to come to grips after Marson's death
on whether or not you should continue or not continue?

(01:06:37):
And the creative direction? First of all, I mean, is
the idea of a group really kind of an illusion
that's not real? Like is it really everyone gets their
equals say, and if one doesn't agree and it's not unanimous,
then we don't do it.

Speaker 7 (01:06:54):
Well that's how we were.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
But okay, so absolutely everyone.

Speaker 7 (01:07:00):
Lot of groups have singer songwriters Lennon McCartney, Keith Richards
and Mick and and they're kind of the dominant force,
whereas Jim not being able to you know, how do
we write songs? But I got all these words and
melodies we were really more equal because of that, you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
Know, you always translated almost.

Speaker 7 (01:07:24):
Yeah, beautiful, that's it.

Speaker 3 (01:07:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:07:28):
So yeah, the as far as the meeting with you
guys in what direction to take his work? Well yeah,
I mean, can you just talk about that period of
the decision to continue on?

Speaker 7 (01:07:42):
Oh yeah, that's good man. You don't let me off
the hook, all right? No, no, no, it's good. Okay.
So Jim dies and we're working on stuff, and we
first entertained replacing him, and I said, excuse me, who's
going to fill Jim's leather pants? You know, I mean

(01:08:06):
that's a tall order. Uh So then Ray and Robbie
tried to sing. We made two albums because we had
this material and we were tight. And after those couple
of albums, we realized, wait a minute, this is ridiculous.
Our focal point is gone, and let's do you know,

(01:08:26):
we wanted to do individual stuff, and so it naturally
kind of fell away. We went our own ways. We
came back later and we did a poetry album. It
was pretty cool American prayer way out there Jim's words,
you know, he had died, and we wrote all this
music and that was fun.

Speaker 5 (01:08:46):
I wonder if you think that Queen pulled it off,
since I was trying to think of another man who
actually has done that with their lead singer who's passed, and.

Speaker 7 (01:08:55):
Yeah, pretty close. I don't know, uh.

Speaker 8 (01:09:00):
Uh for nostalgia's sake, I mean, you know Lambert.

Speaker 7 (01:09:07):
Is yeah, yeah, yes, huge. You know, like my second
book was called The Doors Unhinged. It was about my
struggle with Ray and Robbie playing and I love their playing,
but they were going out as the Doors. Well wait,

(01:09:30):
you know, Ian Askesberry from the Cult. It's fine, but
but it's like the police without sting the come on,
call it, call it founding members of the Doors or whatever.
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
But Maurice, well that's how it is.

Speaker 7 (01:09:50):
I know. Yeah, I mean I understand people want to
hear and hear them play like and hear Queen and
earth Wind and Fire.

Speaker 3 (01:09:59):
I get it, you know, I get yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:10:01):
So now, well before I wrap, I do want to
know where we where we are today? Does it does
it irk you a little bit that somehow not only
do we wind back at square one, we're kind of
way pre like damn near Neanderthal times that we took

(01:10:25):
forty eight steps backwards, like just as just as a
person who had ideas in the sixties to you know,
to fight against this corrupt system and push us forward.

Speaker 2 (01:10:39):
Just to see us come back to.

Speaker 8 (01:10:42):
The place where we now have to struggle all over
again like it was the sixties.

Speaker 2 (01:10:46):
Like does that this may you like? Was it? Like?
Was your work for naught?

Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
Oh? Man, love you promised us? Bro's the peace and
love you.

Speaker 7 (01:10:59):
Say? There it is? Oh my god, big questions, you know.
I mean, uh, this country was founded on racism, and
so you know, I got a piece of rolling stone
asking Obama to pardon Leonard Peltier, native American who's been

(01:11:21):
in jail frigging fifty years. You know, there was a
shootout and FBI guy died and nobody knows who did it,
but they had to nail somebody and whatever. So in
that article, I also said, oh god, you know, it
wouldn't be a bad thing if if we could apologize
to the first people's the genocide, and then we can

(01:11:42):
move on. And there's a that's how you go forward,
admit ship you.

Speaker 2 (01:11:47):
Know, a long time admitting an apologize doesn't.

Speaker 7 (01:11:50):
Know, I know, but I guess I'm an eternal optimist.
I mean, we got a gin orange out or any
minute now, right.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
Yes, he's out.

Speaker 5 (01:12:07):
According to this recording.

Speaker 7 (01:12:08):
He's out.

Speaker 2 (01:12:09):
Yes.

Speaker 7 (01:12:10):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
We're just waiting to see what George is doing. We're
just waiting on Georgia now.

Speaker 7 (01:12:13):
And you know, between you and me and and and
your zillions of listeners, you know, Biden is.

Speaker 3 (01:12:21):
He's like me.

Speaker 7 (01:12:22):
He's another old white guy. But but he wish he
like you though.

Speaker 5 (01:12:27):
We hope that he's like you.

Speaker 7 (01:12:29):
Well, hey, hey, you know what. Okay, here it is
Hillary loses, and I go, God, damn it, I'm going
to see a woman president before I die. And I'm
up there and now I'm like, whoa wait a minute,
I might see a black woman president. Yeah, and I

(01:12:53):
you know, and she's I love her, but you know,
I don't want to. I can't idealize her like Biden either.
You know, she was a prosecutor. Holy oh my god,
you know, John, she's a beautiful you know, she threw
me in jail, but she's a beautiful woman. So it

(01:13:16):
was our job, you know, I mean, but I still ah,
we're just uh, it's slow, it's slow, but we're going forward. Here.
It is Leonard Cohen. Democracy is coming to the U.
S A it's not here. We're working on it, you know.

(01:13:38):
So there it is.

Speaker 3 (01:13:43):
Poem.

Speaker 8 (01:13:43):
Yeah, I was I was going to say before before
you close this out with this poem. That's also one
of her reminder listeners that you're The Secrets is your
third book, correct, correct? Okay, Yeah, The Secrets Meetings with
Remarkable Musicians is available. Came out late twenty twenty and

(01:14:03):
it's you exploring the creative process of modern artist.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:14:11):
Yeah, we want to thank you for doing this. So
could you please bless us with this poem in closing?

Speaker 7 (01:14:22):
Okay, so, uh yeah, this goes out to Stacy Abrams
and uh, I'm going to play it. I'm going to
play my jazz brushes on my dunes on my doom back,
which is crazy, but so what and what can I say?
All Right? This is a poem by Ethridge Knight, African

(01:14:43):
American poet who I think he won the National Book
Award or was nominated and Gwendolyn Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer poet,
was his mentor. Yes, and so uh, Ethridge wrote this
for his daughter when she he was fourteen. Now I'm
going to move this mic down in the front of

(01:15:03):
my face. So I won't drown out the vocal. We'll
see if this works. It's called circling the daughter. You

(01:15:31):
came to be in the month of Malcolm, and the
rain fell with a fierce gentleness like a martyr's tears
on the streets of Manhattan, when your light was lit
and the city sang you welcome. Now I sit trembling

(01:15:54):
in your presence. Fourteen years have brought the moon, blood,
the roundness, the girl giggles, the grand leaps. We are touched,
tender and our fears. You break my eyes with your
beauty lit Baby, I love you.

Speaker 2 (01:16:12):
Okay. It is ladies and gentlemen with the brushes.

Speaker 8 (01:16:19):
That is the legend. John Dinsmore Orn brushes poetry. Yeah,
Quest Supreme.

Speaker 2 (01:16:27):
Yo, man, I was watching.

Speaker 10 (01:16:28):
I was thinking they need to get John Dinsmore and
cast you as Joe Biden on s n L.

Speaker 2 (01:16:36):
That's funny. I think.

Speaker 5 (01:16:40):
Jim Carrey can't do what you could do.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
There you go.

Speaker 7 (01:16:43):
You know, if this damn virus gets better, maybe next
year my paper back will be out and I'll get
to sit in with the roots again.

Speaker 8 (01:16:51):
So, ladies and gentlemen, this is quest Love Supreme. We
like to think John Dinsmore for blessing us with this interview.
Very informative the performance. You gotta bring the performance back.
Go on behalf of Team Supreme. Mont takeolo on pay Bill.
Sugar Steve and Laia, this is Quest Love. We will
see you on the next Goren.

Speaker 2 (01:17:12):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:17:14):
Hey, this is Sugar Steve.

Speaker 2 (01:17:15):
Make sure you keep up.

Speaker 3 (01:17:16):
With us on Instagram at QLs and let us know
what you think and who should be next to sit
down with us. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:17:30):
Much Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. For more
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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.