The Doors’ Robby Krieger Reveals How ‘Riders on the Storm’ Really Began, Says He Doesn’t Listen to Band’s Music Anymore

“I hear a lot of our stuff on the radio all the time anyway.”

Founding Doors guitarist Robby Krieger dropped an interesting bit of info about “Riders on the Storm” while reflecting on what he felt were the band’s strongest releases, and said that he rarely listens to The Doors intentionally these days.

The legendary Los Angeles-born guitarist who once played lead for the equally legendary Los Angeles band may have turned 78 this year, but his passion for playing is still burning as strong as ever. With a newly reformed solo band — Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages — and a self-titled debut album released a few months ago, Krieger seems far away from laying down his Gibson SG and resting on his laurels.

“In some ways it’s more exciting”, the guitarist tells Guitar World about the current stage of his career as opposed to his glory days with The Doors. “I was more in the background. Jim was out front, and John, Ray, and I were in the background, in the shadows. Nowadays, it’s the Robby Krieger Band, and I’m expected to talk to the audience and all that stuff, which is fun, but I kind of wish I was still hidden away”, he adds with a laugh.

The fact that he spends little time reminiscing about days past also shows that Krieger is all about living in the moment. Asked whether he ever listens to The Doors at this point in his life, the guitarist answered:

“No, not really, unless I’m planning to include a song in one of my live shows that I haven’t played for many years. I hear a lot of our stuff on the radio all the time anyway. I think the songs still hold up pretty good.”

“What makes me say that is when I look at the people who come to my live shows and you’ve got original fans, plus a big percentage of younger people who’ve also discovered the band. They really seem to be into what the Doors did.”

That’s not to say that Krieger doesn’t have his favorites when it comes to the six studio LPs released in Jim Morrison’s lifetime. He names the 1967 debut as well as the 1971 “L.A. Woman” as particularly strong releases, while noting how the latter’s legendary album closer began its life as a “surf” tune: