10 Guitarists You've Never Heard Of - Robby Krieger

When you hear or think of The Doors, ‘guitar' probably won't be the first thing that comes to mind. Jim Morrison's maniac persona and Ray Manzarek's swirling organ will usually take the cake, but guitarist Robbie Krieger, proved to be one of the biggest assets to the band - helping write the majority of the group's songs.

Robert Alan Krieger was born on January 8, 1946 in Los Angeles. Krieger grew up loving rock n' roll artists such as Elvis Presley via the radio. When surfing seemed to be taking Krieger's mind off of his studying in teen years, his parents enrolled him in a private school. Each night, the students were forced to study in their rooms for some hours - instead, Krieger used the time to teach himself, to play guitar.

First interested in flamenco his playing style soon expanded into great genres such as: folk, jazz, and the blues. But it was at a Chuck Berry concert which finally convinced Krieger to give rock n' roll a shot, which turned him from a kid in school with his classical guitar, into trading it in for a Gibson SG, an instrument that he would eventually become absolutely synonymous with.

He Studied physics and Indian music at UCLA. Krieger played in bands with friends, and eventually cam upon a drummer he'd met a few years ago, John Densmore. These two began jamming on blues together. Krieger had gone to many meditation classes and it was at one of these meditation classes, that Krieger met keyboardist, Ray Manzarek. Manzarek eventually convinced him to come down, and rehearse with a poet and singer he'd been working with, which he soon learned was, Jim Morrison. Their first rehearsal has said to result in the writing of "Moonlight Drive," but no one is absolutely sure, and after playing several gigs, Krieger convinced Densmore to join them, resulting in the birth of one of the most unbelievable bands in the 60's, The Doors.

Their debut album "The Doors" would become became one of rock's all time classics, as it introduced the wonderful delight, "Light My Fire," a tune entirely written by Krieger himself.

Well, this is it. 10 Guitarists You've Never Heard Of series are finished. If you're at all intrigued by any of these artists, please have a listen. But try to keep in mind that many of these artists have low record sales and a small fan base - in other words, these artists really do deserve for money to becoming in to their bank account. We encourage you to purchase any one of their CD's. And, since some of these bands are less popular, their CD's sell for considerably less than most bands, making the CD's more than worth their sticker price for musical quality. As for the more popular artists, we encourage you to look further into their music than simply taking at face value the image of their collective bands.

Comments

[kapp]

1st. this is wrong. robbie is a known guitarist...

[foolSTAR]

This is exactly what it said. MOST people think of the Doors and instantly think of Morrison.

[sharkeyanti]

Robbie Kreiger is a pretty well known guitarist, I have some friends who don't even like the Doors or anyone from that era, yet they know who he is.

But it was a good summarization of the early part of his career, should've gone deeper into how he played.

[rhcpcure2826]

please say that this is the last one of these.

[RatiugLink]

Wow. Nobody's heard of Krieger, eh? As said above, please say that this is the last one.

[Scorpions]

no guys we must make it to 10 of them! There will not be one guitarist left behind!

[gooseholla]

LOL! Krieger is known, just like Ace was. This series has been okay, not the greatest though.

[#_of_the_beast]

these things are starting to piss me off, ive known every one of these guitarists, next time make it some one no ones ever heard of

[stinger167]

are all of these articles directed at people with no taste?(newfoundglorygoodcharlottecreedmtvh1 etc.)

[jaserino]

the doors are the best ive liked them since i was 5 and there still my favorite band, kreiger has a lot of influence on me

[dangerlives]

I liked the articles, even if I had heard of most (not all) of these guys. Kreiger is obviously not as popular as Morrison, but a solid guitar player. Good articles.

[God of Thunder]

Since when has anyone not heard of Robby Kreiger???

[orcutt989]

Stop doing these, please.

[Shoestick]

Wow, I liked these articles and it must`ve taken alot to write 10 of them without slipping in quality but come on- Robby Krieger? I think there are a few more lesser known guitarists out there.

[SRVGuitarFreak]

seems like there have been about 20 of these, lol but i acually have never heard of this guy, even though I like his playing.

[Shoestick]

Stop doing these, please.

This is just pure ignorance. So you dont like the articles, just dont click on them; you dont have to read them. Then again, you obviously dont read them, considering you asked him to stop doing these even though he clearly stated this is the last. So basically, you clicked on an article you assumed you wouldnt like anyway only to write a negative comment to get the author to stop writing a series of articles that you dont even read. Sounds like a jackass to me.

[white_waltz]

Robby may be known more than some other less known guitarist but he deserved this article about him. He was a great guitarist and whether people like it or not the door were a huge band and kids today still like them. Their music will be ageless as long as there's potheads out there.

[Hostile87]

This is sad if my own generation doesnt even know Robby Krieger was in the Doors

[no_quarter05]

man, the doors are shiznit. i hope people knew who Robby was.

[Joey .G]

I think most people have heard of him cause he's awesome.

[TwistedLogic]

This whole series has been a joke. Sorry to who ever wrote this but you gotta be more precise about what it is that you are setting out to do. Yea, maybe you have given some interesting info about the guitarists that we might not have known but the whole premise was supposed to be these great "unknown guitarists". Mission not accomplished. I guess you blew up after ten seconds.

[Matty Ramone]

I think the only problem is you chould have changed the title to top ten underrated guitarists because they are actualy good articles but come on, robby krieger my god well at least your educating all the kids out there which isnt a bad thing

[gregstrong]

Spanish Caravan :

[strumntheguitar]

Stop doing these, please.

stop reading them or stop whining about them....

[PARASITE 5150]

You have to be kidding me. The Ace Frehley thread gets 2 stars because he's a well-known guitarist and this one gets five and he's equally known?

[preist rule]

alright how do u now know who the doors are?

[Psykotik]

I want a Chuck Schuldiner article!

[Radray990]

high fives to the writer of this article. robbie is awesome. his solo's were never very flashy, but always tasteful. listen to spanish caravan for some crazy ass flamenco. incredible....

[Breakneck]

I read all of your articles and liked every single one. I'm appreciative you wrote on Robby Krieger, I never heard of this guy until a few years ago, but you nailed his accomplishments spot on. Good job.

[funkyplayer]

The Doors are a great band and whether or not people are aware of who their guitarist was it shoudln't matter as long as they're into and support the band. who cares if hes well known or not? although he already was well known by many b4 this was written...

[washbrnxb105]

he is a member of the doors......HE'S KNOWN!

[Diceman42]

#_of_the_beast:
these things are starting to piss me off, ive known every one of these guitarists, next time make it some one no ones ever heard of

hey f*cktard, and this goes out to all of you who have said anything along the lines of "ive heard of him, this is stupid and im gay" MOST people have not heard of these guitarists, and if they have they do not know their ACCOMPLISHMENTS, which is what the author(s) wnat to bring out most of all. Then again, most ppl aren't gay, so i guess youre one of those special few.
(note: im only using homophobic insults as those who post said comments will most likely be offended)

[Whstripesrox]

HE IS SO KNOWN THAT IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY!

[buckethead101]

The Doors rules but they're dead

[buckethead101]

How about Dimebag instead of Krieger? I'm sure everybody's waiting

[punks-not-dead]

GO robby yea he rocks

[Metalology]

dude everyone as heard of rob

[Metalology]

pretty soon it's gonna be Jimmy Page

[metallicacdc]

everyone knows who this guy is

[L.A. Woman]

yeah finally something about The Doors! though i must agree that Krieger is pretty well known. *and i don't say that cause i'm a big Doors fan* he wrote some pretty good songs *but the best are from Morrison ofcourse *

[FakePlsticTrees]

do justin king, or alejandro silva (technically and musically the best guitarrist on latin america, this being said by the musicians association of latin america)

[Rock 101]

This list is a peice of shit.Everyone know who Krieger is, his work just isn't apreciated against the Doors focus on keyboards and Morrisons amazing lyrics

[Rock 101]

Whoever wrote this list is a comlete ass

[Arkane]

dude, your articles funkin blow

[crazysnake]

this was a good article, but the doors suck and i h8 morrison

[bAllzOUT420]

crazysnake obviously has no taste in music

[Big Show1]

Everyone's heard of Robby numbnuts
someone played his character in a movie called "The Doors"
And for his famous guitar solo on "Light my Fire"

[totenkopf]

Who are you, you dumbass????

I think a lot of these are guitarists are pretty well
known.

[yeller56]

Who really cares here?, its not your going to go and kill yourself because you had known the guy.

[theused101]

uhh..whoever wrote this should ask around cuz robby is one of my favorite guitarists

[da_loyde]

Robby krieger is awsome man hes soo underated

[lambo202]

"pretty good, pretty neat"

[avril_hansen]

I liked the articles, but i cant understand why so many are wasting their precious time writing "i knew him" and "he's well known"! Of course you might know some of these guys - after all this is a guitar forum with a lot of guitarists!

I new Robbie Krieger to, but that dosn't mean that there sholdn't be an article about him. 90 % of my friends doesn't know him and thats a fact. The articles vere good. People who can only write "i knew him" are unfortunately not blessed with eneough brain.

If the article makes you angry - then simply dont read it. After all... if you knew the guitarist, dont read the article!

[n9inchnails]

youre gay

[Partyboy2k05]

Why is everyone so mad about these articles. I had heard of every band these guitarist were in, but did not know who the guitarist were, so these were very helpfull to me. Thanks for the articles. And if i get s*** for not knowing these guitarist, i dont care, i'm 17 and have been playing for two years. I mainly learn scales and such and mainly write my own stuff.

[Axl_Duff_Izzy]

wanker

[MarkWantPieNow]

aah another insightful comment.

[avril_hansen]

Axl_Duff_Izzy and n9inchnails are clearly rocketscientists and thay just like to relax in their spare time by writing intelligent things... really makes sense!

[joshsirjoshules]

even if they say he is an unheard of guitar player, i still like hearing about robby because i love the way he plays guitar, and i still dont think the doors would have been complete without him. im kinda glad they didnt have a bass player, that was original.

[Roadkill_1]

Axl_Duff_Izzy and n9inchnails are clearly rocketscientists and thay just like to relax in their spare time by writing intelligent things

I think the next two should be about them. They are clearly nobody guitarists.

[scumfuc_69]

OK, how can UG let this guy keep writing columns about
"guitarists we've never heard of" when most of us have,
or- on top of that- are very familiar with them?!?!?!
This is a waste of time for both UG and visitors to
this site

[scumfuc_69]

^^^WHAT?!?!?!
Where do you get that they didn't have a bass player?!?! You havent heard them if you think that!
There are basslines in all their songs and the bassist is given credits in each record. And by records I mean the big round things that spin around....

[avril_hansen]

scumfuc_69. I actually think they are pretty good articles. Putting a focus on some guitarists that are quite annonymus is a good thing. Maybe you failed to read the title "guitarists we've never heard of"... There is no reason at all why you should waste your precious time reading about these guitar players if you already know them. The one wasting his time is you... If think its a waste of time to read it, why on earth are you reading it then!?

By the way, i dont really know it, but i read a book about The Doors once and i think the baseline was played on the organ at the live shows (pedals maybe)... im not shure...

[box_car_racer51]

I was born on January 08 too! good for me

[mrbassman]

i've heard of him

[ForestHeart]

the number 1 unknown guitarist is defineltiley brian tatler of diamond head. they are a NWOBHM band and tatler has some amazing riffs and is an excellent songwriter. pick up diamond nights, u will love it.

[TheLizardKing36]

^^^WHAT?!?!?!
Where do you get that they didn't have a bass player?!?! You havent heard them if you think that!
There are basslines in all their songs and the bassist is given credits in each record. And by records I mean the big round things that spin around....

ummm...actually..i think Ray Manzarek had an extra organ that he used for the bass lines...the doors didnt have a bass player...go check some concert footage out...

[cosmosandwich]

of course some of you know the guys. but the purpose i think is to drive more appreciation from us. nice articles by the way.

[gmsje]

The information on Krieger studying flamenco helped me understand the instumentation of Spanish Caravan. I always thought someone uncredited did that bit. Still have my original vinyl of Waiting for the Sun from '68. A lot of non-musicians think Morrison wrote all of The Doors stuff.

[SoftParade]

Actually one verse of Light My Fire are Jims words -?No time to hesitate is trough, no time to wallow in the mire, try now we can only lose and our love become funeral pyre?
The rest is written by Robby, the melody and text, it?s a Robby song.
I have to say that the information of Robby?s flamenco studies has also answered one of my questions about Spanish Caravan. That song really sticks in the Doors music!

[SoftParade]

"Sticks out" I mean, sorry!

[thrashing moles]

i have to heard of robby krieger

[matthew123]

not unknown at all

[Phrozac]

dude krieger is a pretty well known guitarist

[Tombi]

A couple of mistakes here. Densmore joined The Doors BEFORE Krieger. And Light My Fire IS NOT entirely written by Krieger.

And no, they DID NOT have a bass player, Ray Manzarek played the basslines with his Fender Rhodes piano bass. But occasionally they did use a bass player on albums.

[Hckey#]

So If I listen to The Doors, I am automaticly a pothead?
Even if I don't smoke cigarettes, and work out alot?
Hey dude, your a fudging idiot! Go smoke crack.

Robby may be known more than some other less known guitarist but he deserved this article about him. He was a great guitarist and whether people like it or not the door were a huge band and kids today still like them. Their music will be ageless as long as there's potheads out there

[GuitarPlayerZen]

Robby really is a talented player, but when you are talking about the best guitarists you have never heard of, you should check out GuitarPlayerZen.com's Featured Artist of the Week's. Every Weds a new amazing guitar player is profiled and interviewed!

[Picklelerner]

god people of course you know who they are, ur all interested in guitar, its the majority of the population theyre talking about. barely anybody i kno personally knows who he is. and besides, this is all for under-appreciated arists.