The Doors

Background:

Musician, songwriter, author and actor John Densmore is probably best known as the original and founding member of The Doors, a celebrated rock band of the 1960s. He was the group's drummer from 1965 to 1973 and co-produced and wrote their eight gold albums. His autobiography, “Riders on the Storm,” became a New York Times' Bestseller in 1991. Densmore was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of The Doors. More recently, he returned to his roots as a jazz drummer for the group Tribaljazz, which launched their first album of original work in 2006.

As an actor, Densmore has acted in several plays, films and TV shows. In “The Doors” (1991), Oliver Stones' take on the rock band and its lead singer and composer Jim Morrison, who tragically died in 1971, Densmore is portrayed by actor Kevin Dillon. In the movie, Densmore appeared as an engineer and performed on some of the songs. Densmore has also written and produced several plays. He won a 1985 L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for his music on Tim Robbins' “Methusalem” and a 1988 NAACP award for his producing effort on “Rounds.”

Outside the limelight, Densmore was a supporter of Amnesty International in the 1970s. He funds a scholarship for minority students at UCLA and became an honorary member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota for establishing a fuel fund after 1997’s bitter winter weather.

Santa Monica

Childhood and Family:

John Paul Densmore was born on December 1, 1944, in Santa Monica, California. He was educated at Santa Monica City College and Cal. State-Northridge. He married Leslie Neale on November 11, 1990, and has a child with her. The couple has reportedly filed for divorce. John suffers from tinnitus.

Soundtracks

Career:

“I took piano when I was eight and I loved it. I liked improvising on songs I had learned, rather than learning new ones. I got turned on by the piano. My teacher would give me songs to play, simplified classical and pop, and I got off on it.”

John Densmore developed a love for music at an early age. After taking piano lessons, he tried to learn to play the clarinet. Due to medical reasons, however, he was not allowed to touch reed instruments. He later turned his attention to the drums, an instrument that would make him famous throughout the world.

As a teenager, Densmore was smitten with jazz and became a fan of drummer Elvin Jones with the John Coltrane band. He also became a regular of the club scene in Los Angeles. Densmore then hooked up with guitarist Robby Krieger and they began writing and playing together in a band named Psychedelic Rangers. Next, Densmore met keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who at the time was playing in a group called Rick and the Ravens with his brothers and Jim Morrison. After Manzarek's brothers left the group, the four boys united and formed the rock group The Doors in 1965.

Densmore found huge success with The Doors. During the group's successful years between their album debut in 1967 to Morrison's tragic death in 1971, The Doors emerged as one of the most important bands in the history of rock. The group released eight gold albums, which Densmore also co-produced and wrote, and performed in extensive live acts in the United States and around the world.

After Morrison's death, Densmore performed with The Doors until the group broke up in 1973. In the meantime, in the early 1970s, he also pursued a new passion, reggae, before the genre had created a big impact in the U.S. With Krieger, he collaborated with a band called The Butts Band. In the late 1970s, the three surviving members of The Doors worked together on “An American Prayer,” an album of new music designed to record the poetry of Morrison. However, by the early 1980s, Densmore had decided to leave the world of rock-and-roll to begin a career in theater.

After touring as a dancer with Bess Snyder and Co. for two years, in 1984 Densmore made his stage acting debut in “Skins,” a play he wrote, at the La Mama Theatre in New York. He went on to perform with Tim Robbins' group, The Actors' Gang, and in 1985 took home a L.A. Weekly Theater Award for the music he wrote for “Methusalem,” which was directed by Robbins. Densmore also produced the play “Rounds,” which won a NAACP award for theatre in 1987. He had a small part in “Band Dreams and Bebop” at the Gene Dynarski Theatre in 1988 and then developed and starred in a show from the short story “The King of Jazz” at the Wallenboyd Theatre the following year. 1992 saw Densmore and Adam Ant share producing credits for “Be Bop A Lula.” He has also acted in a number of TV shows, like “Square Pegs” in 1982, and appeared in the movies “Get Crazy” (1983), Penelope Spheeri's “Dudes” (1987) and Oliver Stone's biopic “The Doors” (1991). In 1993, Densmore and the rest of The Doors members were rejoined for The Door's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Since then, Densmore, who authored “Riders on the Storm: My Life With Jim Morrison and The Doors,” an autobiography published in 1990 that was described by The New York Times as “well-written and touching,” has written articles for The Nation, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Utne. He has also tried his hand at making documentary films, including the acclaimed “Juvies and Road to Return.” In addition, Densmore and his new band Tribaljazz have released their first album of original work.

Awards:

• NAACP: “Rounds,” 1987

• L.A. Weekly Theater: “Methusalem,” 1985