THE DOORS Riders On The Storm By: John Densmore By: Jake Stohl

Table of Contents Title Page Table of Contents Early Years of John Densmore The Doors Are Born continued Jim Dies And The DOORS With Him Some pictures I Didn’t Get To Show

Early Years of John Densmore He always loved music even at an early age. Family was catholic and always went to church. Was the Bass Drummer of the 8 th Grade orchestra. He then was in the marching band of his high school. Playing as a first snare drummer he got a good sense of beat. He bounced around on several small “garage” bands in High School.

The Doors Are Born 1964 These are the early years of the band. John met up with Ray Manzarek in High School and they were in a few bands together. Well they really stunk so they wanted to hook up with an old guitarist that they new named Robby Kreiger. They met with his band and practiced a little, and in the back of the garage where they were was Jim Morrison.

The Doors didn’t really have the name yet that came in late They started practicing more and more to get better and taking small gigs until they got a good solid one at The Whiskey Bar. The name came to Jim one day and just threw it out into the air, he got it from Huxley Books The Doors Of Perception. They liked it so there name became The Doors. The war in Vietnam had started, and the draft was out. And one by one they skipped the draft and got to stay and play music.

continued They kept playing at The Whiskey Bar, and kept sending tapes to record companies until Columbia Records signed them on. They flew to New York for there first professional gig. They started to go on tour over America. They ended up back in L.A. for there first record recording. And during this time they were all getting wasted on ACID. By the end of 68, Ray and John studied new instruments.

1969 This was the Doors in there prime. In the beginning of 1969 the biggest gig the had ever done was about to take place. At Madison Square Garden. At this time in there career they could do no wrong they were that famous. They toured clear through 69. Jim was starting to get restless and bored a lot, taking more and more drugs. And John and his girlfriend pregnant by late 69. In August The Doors went to Woodstock, they rocked the place.

1970 The DOORS were still at an all time high. In October of 1970, John and Julia exchanged wedding rings. By this time the had made five albums. Jim went back to Miami of that year and was sentenced on three counts of indecent exposure. The judge knocked his sentence down to a $500 fine. Jim was getting more and more restless, he now was even scolding the audience for no reason. John said that he was a tormented soul taking it out on his fans. Jim was really bad, he was feeling down, really down.

1973 Jim Dies And The DOORS With Him A few years after Woodstock and Madison Square Garden, Jim was found dead in a motel bathtub. The doctor had said it was because of heart failure, it might have been because all the pressure of fame got to him. After that the rest of The DOORS wrote and produced but it wasn’t the same with out Jim. Eventually they broke up. But to this day you can ask anyone The DOORS will live on forever.

Some Pictures I Didn’t Get To Show This is Jim. This is Ray with his guitar.

Here is Robby in his usual state. And last John Densmore the drummer of The Doors.