John Densmore

Drummer John Densmore, born on December 1, 1944 in Santa Monica, California, was far more than just the rhythmic engine of The Doors. Strongly influenced by jazz drummers such as Elvin Jones and the smooth rhythms of the Brazilian wave, he brought a keen sense of dynamics, structure and musicality to his beats.

Born in Los Angeles, Densmore was drawn to music as a child and honed his sense of dynamics on the drums. drums in the marching band at his school. In the 60s, he joined guitarist Robby Krieger in the band Psychedelic Rangers, followed shortly afterwards by keyboardist Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison joined them, and an explosive chapter in the development of rock’n’roll began. Groundbreaking recordings and epoch-making live performances followed.

Morrison’s death in 1971 marked the end of an era, even though the surviving trio recorded two more albums of songs and provided instrumental accompaniment to the late singer’s recorded poems.

The versatile musician has explored the following projects reggae and jazz, wrote books and articles and became active in the adventurous Los Angeles theater scene. He received an L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for the music he composed for the play Methuselah, directed by Tim Robbins. He also produced the play Rounds, which won the 1987 NAACP Award for Theatre.

Densmore’s autobiography “Riders on the Storm: My Life With Jim Morrison and The Doors” was published in 1991 and was a New York Times bestseller. He has written articles and essays for Rolling Stone, the London Guardian, The Nation and many national newspapers.