John Densmore
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John Densmore (born John Paul Densmore, December 1, 1944, in Los Angeles, California) was the drummer of the rock group The Doors from 1965 to 1973.
He is a drummer and songwriter and attended Santa Monica City College and Cal. State-Northridge.
- "I've been playing for six years. I took piano lessons when I was ten. They tried to get me to play Bach. They tried for two years. When I was in junior high I got my first set of drums. I played symphonic music in high school (tympani, snare drum), then I played jazz for three years. I used to play sessions in Compton and Topanga Canyon."
John Densmore left the world of rock-and-roll in the 1980s, moving to the world of dance as he performed with Bess Snyder and Co., touring the United States for two years.
In 1984, at La Mama Theatre in New York, he made his stage acting debut in Skins, a one-act play he had written. In 1985, he won the L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for music with Methusalem, directed by Tim Robbins. The play, Rounds, which he co-produced, won the NAACP award for theatre in 1987. In 1988, he played a feature role in Band Dreams and Bebop at the Gene Dynarski Theatre. He developed and performed a one-man piece from the short story, The King of Jazz, at the Wallenboyd Theatre in 1989. With Adam Ant, he co-produced Be Bop A Lula at Theatre Theatre in 1992. He has acted in numerous TV shows, most memorably as himself in the show Square Pegs, working as a drummer for Johnny Slash's band Open 24 Hours. His film credits include: Get Crazy with Malcolm McDowell, Dudes directed by Penelope Spheeris, and The Doors directed by Oliver Stone.
John wrote his best-selling autobiography, Riders On The Storm; and as drummer and an influential member of The Doors, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He and Robby Krieger worked as technical advisors on the 1991 film, and while they were impressed with Val Kilmer's singing, they were not happy with the film as a whole. The film questionably depicts Densmore as growing to hate Morrison as Morrison's drug and personal problems begin to overwhelm and dominate his behavior.
According to Ray Manzarek in his book Light My Fire, Morrison did not personally like Densmore. Manzarek theorized that this was because Densmore failed to look Morrison in the eyes when they first met. At one point, Manzarek actually had to talk Morrison out of firing Densmore. Densmore still stayed with the band throughout its life. It is worth noting that Densmore is almost constantly painted in a negative light in Ray Manzarek's book, which would indicate the two were not on good terms when the book was written.
According to Densmore's own book, he quit the band on one occasion in reaction to Morrison's increasingly self-destructive behavior, although he returned the next day. This episode, which occurred during the recording of Waiting For The Sun, was one in a series of incidents over the course of the Doors' career in which Densmore's commitment to the band and their music clashed with his feelings of concern for Morrison's continual deterioration. He felt that the Doors' stage performances had begun to decline and that Morrison's unreliability had become a hindrance. He repeatedly suggested that the band stop touring, but Krieger and Manzarek were resistant to this notion. After the Doors' last performance with Morrison in New Orleans in 1970, the band agreed to cease performing live.
Densmore is the singular surviving member of The Doors who applies the group's democratic founding to veto licensing the band's songs to be used in commercials. Densmore vetoed an offer by Cadillac for 15 million dollars for "Break on Through (To The Other Side)". He has only broken his belief in this once, by allowing "Riders on the Storm" to be used to sell Pirelli Tires, in England only. Densmore later stated that he "heard Jim's voice" in his ears and ended up donating the money earned to charity.
He is reported to be working on a first novel, producing a documentary film, an after-care program for ex-criminal offenders titled Project Return directed by Leslie Neal. When time allows, he lectures in colleges throughout the United States.
John Densmore has an official website. The website contains an internet forum where fans can post questions directly to the drummer.
In 2006, John's new band, Tribaljazz, released their first album of original work. Tribaljazz is world beat jazz engine, fuel injected with the percussion power of several African Master drummers. Tribaljazz brings a provocative and energetic voice to the Jazz and Jamband world. Tribaljazz is an experience - a seductive groove, with driving rhythms, that draws a wide eclectic audience-from Jazz aficionados and classic rockers, to cutting edge jamband followers, without age or cultural limits.
Densmore claims "I've been mouthing off about being a jazz drummer since before I was in The Doors. Here it is 30 years later and I'm finally putting my sticks where my mouth is."
Trivia: John is left handed, though he plays drums right-handed, as evidenced in numerous photographs.
[edit] External links
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| Jim Morrison | Ray Manzarek | Robby Krieger | John Densmore |
| Discography |
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| Albums : The Doors | Strange Days | Waiting for the Sun | The Soft Parade | Morrison Hotel | L.A. Woman | Other Voices | Full Circle | An American Prayer: Jim Morrison |
| Live albums: Absolutely Live | Alive, She Cried | Live at the Hollywood Bowl | In Concert | Live in Hollywood |
| Compilation Albums: Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine | 13 | The Best Of The Doors (2 CDs) | The Doors Greatest Hits | The Best Of The Doors | Legacy: The Absolute Best |
