Skip to main content

Ravi Shankar was an incredibl...

Ravi Shankar was an incredible teacher. I sat on stage with Robby Krieger and studied at his school of Indian music here in L.A., so at Royce Hall we were sitting next to him watching his hands bleed while he got possessed. This is the highest level you can get.

John Densmore 11 quotes

When I was 15, we settled in ...

When I was 15, we settled in Santa Monica, in a beige suburban ranch house. By then, my father, Ray, was an architect at Welton Becket's firm. He was handy with a pencil and pen. His figurative drawings were very good, and his talent was intimidating.

John Densmore 11 quotes

You know, another jazz drumme...

You know, another jazz drummer, Ed Thigpen, who played with Oscar Peterson way back - it was the first time I ever heard rivets in a cymbal. And then I heard that Chico Hamilton had them too, and I went, 'Oh, that's it. I'm taking that for my sound.' And it worked well on 'Riders On The Storm,' so that's one thing.

John Densmore 11 quotes

In the 1950s, my family first...

In the 1950s, my family first lived in West Los Angeles. Dad was studying architecture at USC and we didn't have a lot of money. He'd buy crumbling fixer-uppers, make repairs and sell them for a small profit. Then we'd move on. My early childhood image of him is standing on a ladder and sanding the front door.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Pete Townshend keeps fooling ...

Pete Townshend keeps fooling us again, selling Who songs to yuppies hungry for SUVs.

John Densmore 11 quotes

I had the first XJ6 and then ...

I had the first XJ6 and then they became real popular with lawyers so I had to move on. The only problem with Jaguar is that you have to go to the gas station every couple blocks, and a mechanic once told me that if you don't have the right attitude when you walk up to a Jag, it won't start.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Jim had melodies as well as w...

Jim had melodies as well as words. He didn't know how to play a chord on any instrument, but he had melodies in his head. To remember the lyrics he would think of melodies and then they would stay in his head. He had melodies and lyrics in his head, and he would sing them a cappella, and we would eke out the arrangements.

John Densmore 11 quotes

You hear a Willie Nelson solo...

You hear a Willie Nelson solo, he doesn't play real fast, but it's so melodic and beautiful. It's kind of, to be human is to have space and not show all your stuff all the time.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Bass players and drummers are...

Bass players and drummers are like brothers, working in the basement, cooking up the groove. If they don't lock together with the feel, the ensemble will suck.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Ray grew up in Chicago so he ...

Ray grew up in Chicago so he had the blues, Muddy Waters and all that. He also had classical training. That was pretty cool. That was invoked in the intro to 'Light My Fire,' which was very kind of Bach-like.

John Densmore 11 quotes

We all liked Elektra because ...

We all liked Elektra because it was a boutique label. 'Oh, my God, we can be on the same label as Paul Butterfield!'

John Densmore 11 quotes

Robby had a flamenco and folk...

Robby had a flamenco and folk music background. I was so enamored with watching Robby's fingers crawl across the flamenco guitar strings like a crab.

John Densmore 11 quotes

If I had been the drummer for...

If I had been the drummer for the Grassroots, it probably wouldn't have cut me to the core when I heard John Lennon's 'Revolution' selling tennis shoes... and Nikes, to boot! That song was the soundtrack to part of my youth, when the streets were filled with passionate citizens expressing their First Amendment right to free speech.

John Densmore 11 quotes

I'm not the fastest drummer i...

I'm not the fastest drummer in the world, but I'm very into dynamics and knowing that there's space in between the notes and you got to breathe.

John Densmore 11 quotes

We used to build our cities a...

We used to build our cities and towns around churches. Now banks are at the centers of our densely populated areas.

John Densmore 11 quotes

I like connecting new synapse...

I like connecting new synapses. Like Jim Morrison did.

John Densmore 11 quotes

In the '60s, the Sunset Strip...

In the '60s, the Sunset Strip became insane. The sidewalks and the traffic were jammed. It was a renaissance.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Jim Morrison wrote the words ...

Jim Morrison wrote the words for 'Hello, I Love You' when we were still in a band called Rick & the Ravens.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Money is like fertiliser. Whe...

Money is like fertiliser. When spread around, things grow; when it's hoarded, it stinks.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Eddie Vedder? My God, there's...

Eddie Vedder? My God, there's a singer.

John Densmore 11 quotes

Добрые, щедрые, великодушные: 6 советских актеров, которые были всеобщими любимчиками

23

Советских актёров часто ставят в пример как образец духовной силы, национальной гордости и внутренней красоты. Они стали символами эпохи, носителями культуры и нравственности. Но, как известно, за кул...

Десять кинозвезд, которые отлично поют

83

Актеры — люди творческие, но кто бы мог подумать, что некоторые из них скрывают прекрасный голос. В эпоху раннего Голливуда актеров с музыкальными способностями было немало — это считалось скорее норм...

Мэрилин Монро, Ким Кардашьян и другие

115

Неузнаваемая Ким Кардашьян в объективе фотографа Маркуса Клинко, 2009 год. Памела Андерсон в самой первой съёмке для журнала «Playboy», 1990. На фото голливудская актриса Dorothy Lamour и шимпанзе Джи...

Что стало с детьми-звездами: Рэдклифф и компания спустя годы

219

Расскажем, как сложилась судьба актеров, которые начинали сниматься еще в детстве.
Остаться на вершине в Голливуде удаётся не каждому, особенно если путь начался в детстве. Одни актёры теряются из-за...

Жизнь за границей: как изменились судьбы 7 уехавших телеведущих

541

Два года назад отечественное телевидение столкнулось с беспрецедентной кадровой тектоникой — целая группа ярких и узнаваемых ведущих стремительно исчезла с экранов федеральных каналов. Эти лица долгие...

Кира Найтли, Деми Мур и другие

165

Кира Найтли на страницах журнала к выходу фильма «Пиджак», 2005. Следы динозавра, раскопанные в русле реки Палакси. Техас. США. 1952г. Самая большая женщина рядом с самым маленьким мужчиной, 1922 год....