Robby Krieger

(Original Elektra Records bio, 1967 , excerpted from "The Doors The Illustrated
History" by Danny Sugerman)

Robert Alan Krieger, born January 8, 1946, in Los Angeles.
Guitarist, performer, attended UCLA.
The first music I heard that I liked was "Peter and the Wolf". I
accidentally sat and broke the record (I was about seven). Then I
listened to rock'n'roll -- I listenedto the radio a lot -- Fats Domino,
Elvis, The Platters...
I started surfing at fourteen. There was lots of classical music in
my house. My father liked march music. There was a piano at
home. I studied trumpet at ten, but nothing came of it. Then I
started playing blues on the piano -- no lessons though. When I
was seventeen, I started playing guitar. I used my friend's guitar.
I didn't get my own until I was eighteen. It was a Mexican
flamenco guitar. I took flamenco lessons for a few months. I
switched around from folk to flamenco to blues to rock'n'roll.
Records got me into the blues. Some of the newer rock'n'roll,
such as the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. If it hadn't been for
Butterfield going electric, I probably wouldn't have gone
rock'n'roll.
I didn't plan on rock'n'roll. I wanted to learn jazz; I got to know
some people doing rock'n'roll with jazz, and I thought I could
make money playing music.
In rock'n'roll you can realize anything that you can in jazz or
anything. There's no limitation other than the beat. You have
more freedom than you do in anything except jazz -- which is
dying -- as far as making any money is concerned.
In The Doors we have both musicians and poets, and both know
of each other's art, so we can effect a synthesis. In the case of
Tim Buckley or Dylan you have one man's ideas. Most groups
today aren't groups. In a true group all the members create the
arrangements among themselves.