A look at John Densmore's Gear (The Doors) with Kurt Ekstrom - EP 208
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- Опубліковано 2 лип 2023
- John Densmore of The Doors is truly a drumming icon of the 1960's and his Ludwig Mod Orange Drum Set is just as important in the history of Rock and Roll. My guest is Kurt Ekstrom who is a diehard fan of Densmore and also extremely passionate and knowledgable about Mod Orange drums. This episode is both a look at John Densmore's life and career with The Doors and a deep dive into his drum gear. We talk various drum kits, cymbals, hardware, heads and everything along the way including Kurts hunt for what happened to the famous Mod Orange drum set!
Did you know John Densmore never changed his Mod Orange floor tom head throughout his entire career!?
Here is Kurts article for Not So Modern Drummer about the hunt for the kit: www.notsomoderndrummer.com/no...
Thanks to GM Designs Cymbals for sponsoring this episode: gmdcymbals.com/
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Hey guys, great episode!
I can say with certainty there's several pictures you showed, especially the 1967 picture of the mod orange kit, where John has a full set of 602s!
Most likely what happened was when he got that kit (probably from the pro drum shop in Hollywood), Bob Yeager either gave him, or sold him a set of 602s!
There's several other pictures later on when you could see he is clearly playing 602s live, but there are also pictures from the same period ('69 and '70), where you can see he is playing Zildjians.
So my educated guess is that he switched back and forth quite a bit and most likely; he used both brands of cymbals in the studio depending on what he had on hand at the time!
Great info Dan! Thanks for the clarification, I am going to pin your comment so folks can see it.
Thank you for the cymbal clarification! I have never been all that great at identifying cymbals that are not clearly marked. You make perfect sense regarding the cymbals being 602's when the Mod Orange was new. I think 1966-67 was the period where Ludwig started distributing Paiste cymbals. It would make sense that Pro Drum would want to push those and likely outfitted John with the works when it came to the set. (If in fact John got the set there). I have a feeling that his jazz roots brought back to Zildjian but if he had the 602's, he could have easily switched depending on the gig or the schedule.
When my band open for the Doors in 1967 he didn't have any sticks I had to give him some. He had the orange Ludwig set.
@@robinsmithdrums8418Yeah I know,The Doors were opening for us at The Whiskey and he didn't even have his snare drum, had to borrow him my snare drum. After the gig I felt sorry for him, he seemed like a homeless guy playing drums, so I autographed my snare drum and donated it to him...... only to see him later playing it on Ed Sullivan, what a freeloading parasitic creeeep.
@@robinsmithdrums8418 Jimmy probably chucked his sticks down a back alley, and told him to play with his hands that night. I can picture that happening. I think John owes you a vintage snare for saving his ass that evening!!!!
I attended a drum clinic in Toronto featuring Tommy Aldridge and his Yamahas around 1988. Gregg Bisonnette played as well. Then they introduced a special guest visitor in then audience - John Densmore. I looked around the auditorium. John was sitting right behind me.
Wow that is awesome. I had something similar happen with Ash Soan right in front of me at PASIC. A nice surprise :)
Thank you to Bart for having me on again and thank you to John Densmore for the inspiration all these years. I also want to thank everyone that watched this. It was a really fun episode and two hours just seemed to fly by when I was doing it.
Thanks Kurt! Great job my friend
Great interview
John is an absolute LEGEND. I’ve always loved his playing
Same here, thanks for watching!
John Densmore’s sister Anne was a member of a health and Tennis club I worked at. I asked her about John as I am a drummer myself. What I recall her saying was that John Jim and the others were basically “just kids” when all the fame and craziness of The Doors happened. I get the feeling she wanted me to realize that Jim Morrison and the others were still just young people trying to navigate life (albeit under exceptional circumstances).
Interesting perspective. She is obviously correct and would know better than most. Thanks for the great input!
This is great stuff! I talked to John a few years ago in Tucson and I'm sure he has been asked before but I asked what ride cymbal he used for riders in the storm and he thought for a second and said he couldn't remember but said the cymbal had rivets and I said it was an amazing sound. He is a really articulate man and alot of fun to talk to.
That is very cool that you got to meet him! Thanks for watching
What a pleasant surprise!! John Densmore was and is a huge influence on me. I got my first drum kit in 1980, at age 14. I started on a snare drum at around 12. So it was the 80’s, and big kits were popular, my single father couldn’t afford a large drum kit, so a little 4 piece MIJ kit was all I had. Densmore and Charlie Watts were my drumming gods because they used only 4 piece kits.
I’ve always included something from his repertoire and kit in my own playing. Sometimes I play without bottom heads.
Cannot wait to watch/listen to this one.
I love a nice small kit - It is always fun and classy looking. Enjoy the episode!
Being a new drum student in 1971, I sent away for the Ludwig percussion aid pak. Tons of stuff including that Awesome catalog. Loved the sparkling champagne Hollywood with the Atlas hardware. 45 years later, I found the whole set. Minty with a Supra and all hardware. Just super cool!
You commenting on the wrong vid or something?
Thanks, Bart and Kurt for a refreshingly interesting discussion and of course John Densmore, for inspiring drummers worldwide!
Thank you for watching!!
Densmore was an innovator. Love the Doors his drumming. Great podcast, thx gentlemen.
Totally agree - thanks for watching!
I've waited my entire life for this! Incredible job.
John probably toured with Zildjians, back then Pastie 602 range was innovative but was prone to crack edge-to-bell with not much effort. So maybe saving those for the studio. Thanks for another great episode.
Another compelling episode.
Thank you!
If u traveled on the cheap to gain gigs & later on big shows, it made sense to pack the drums without bottom heads so all u needed was a couple box size cases
That is a great point. Bonus perk in addition to getting the dead sound he liked
My bad, Riders on the storm! Underrated great player!
Great episode! Thanks for such great information. There isn´t much serious data about Densmore´s gear so this episode it`s really precious. Thank You!
Thanks for watching!
Cymbal rag. The stand was probably just missing the felt and washer. I read an article where John said that he loved old, rancid drum heads. Felt they were warmer. He hated changing heads with new ones. Cool, cost savings tip from JD!
That makes a lot of sense about the felt/washer. Nothing beats an old "well loved" drumhead!
@@DrumHistoryPodcast I remember seeing Billy Fica the drummer with the punk band Television at CBGB’s in the mid 1970’s and he also had a rag hanging underneath the ride cymbal. I remember it was a old blue sparkle kit. Somebody told me they thought it was a old Leedy kit so seeing this photo of John having a rag under his ride was the second time I’ve seen that. Thanks for all your great interviews
Fun fact, Pete Townshend’s observation of Jim Morrison’s behavior towards the female fan at the Singer Bowl concert (mentioned in this interview) in 1968 inspired the song “Sally Simpson” from “Tommy”
Interesting!
John started using that red satin Pearl kit by the early 80s and probably from the mid 70s.
Saw the American tour Ray sang every song...he was great. White pearl kit.
Portland Paramount
Love this podcast Bart! Great shirt bu the way!!!! 😁😁😎
Thanks Brent!
I had a Gretsch/Slingerland kit and a stand similar stand set up for snare and it worked great.
Awesome!
Phenomenal interview!
New FAVORITE Podcast!!!
My first influence, what a giant
If you look closely at the picture from the Smothers Bros. not only are claws missing from the front bass hoop but the batter hoop as well. @1:23:16
In reference to 21:00 mark, Sonor also had an internal bass drum muffler in their 50's tear drops.
Interesting, thanks for the info!
Yep, I have a sixties beech sonor 3 piece teardrop, built in dampers on all drums, floor tom is 16 by 15 deep, 13 by 7 tom, kinda unique sizes but sonor standards. I always wanted a JD club date orange kit but this sonor is the closest vintage I've come across in Ireland yet, it has a gold sparkle wrap not original but the original wrap was hideous blue swirl!
#20 by 16 bass drum I think, Tom's have thin shell with rerinforced rings inside.
Nice job Guy's !
Thank you!
wow. learned a lot. thanks. crazy "career". lucky to have a 1/4th cut. his drumming is one of my favorites. having many..... overlooked, you could say, but i guess lucky (in a way) to drum for a talent like jim. but the truth is A GREAT BAND ALWAYS HAS A GREAT DRUMMER. i bet his young life was an exercise in patience.
Phil Rudd's Drum Gear
I need to find the right expert for it! It would be a good one
Crack pipe
He’s using the rag as a cymbal felt .
Makes sense!
I’ve seen countless examples of drums that someone or other has claimed were used at particular shows and there are glaring inconsistencies with sizes, hardware etc. It shouldn’t irritate any rational person particularly in view of what else is happening elsewhere in the world right now, but there it is.
Yeah that happens all the time and I agree that it is irritating!
'Krut' reminds me of Joe Jackson's biography 'A Cure For Gravity' , in which he's talking about one of his first bands and their drummer not sounding all that great because of using just a set of cheap 'Krut' cymbals. Eventually, and after a lot of persuasion from his band mates, he did upgrade his cymbals; Everybody thought he'd bring some Zildjians or Paistes to the next band practice - but then they were actually 'Super Krut' ones 😄
As an aside ? I am younger(given the topic- not young in reality !), but have talked to many an older person about music from this era.
The Doors were considered to be a "dangerous" band back then, maybe even thought of as "biker" music.
One guy said he had a shot of going to a Doors show in Asbury Park & refused it....
Let's face it- they COULD be unsettling, for sure.
Given that era ? I can see where The Doors were taboo for many....
Open up your local paper circa 1970 & see that The Guess Who, Cannonball Adderly Quintet, The Kinks & The Doors are in town ?- at one of the few places brave enough to book them ? Hmmm....
In a few folks' minds ? They are skipping The Doors right outta the gate.
John had a persistent rash for a reason, eh ?
Band was WAAAYYY ahead of the curve, to be sure !!!!
🚬😎👍
Jimmy Pratt was His name,
Bass drum head says Professional Drum Shop Hollywood Calif. That's a calf skin head.
I want one of the New Ludwig John Densmore signature MoD Orange 🍊 drum kits in the worse way. I like the smaller size drums 20”,14”,12” and if at all possible a 4”x13” snare those Vintage Ludwig 4”x13” jazz fest snares are killers 🔥🔥🔥 I would use my cheap 99$ Pearl piccolo snare 3.5x13” and be just as happy. IMO the drum shines in higher tunings, it’s got a hell of a crack to it
Any drummer who is any body just used a small drumkit. 5 piece? 4 piece? Elvin Jones, Max Roach. Philly Joe. Kenny Clarke. Billy Cobham. I could go on. Big drumkits smacked of showbiz. They look good under lights. That big grinding machine vibe. Max Roach got as much, if not more out of a small drumkit than Niel P and Terry Bozzio combined. Buddy Rich. Same thing. And no, I am not knockin Neil or Terry Bozzio or any of those guys.
Small kits definitely have a very cool vibe and are very classic 👍 Thanks for wathcing
Billy Cobham played on monster set ups too. I play a 4 or 5 piece. To each their own. Tony Williams played on larger sets later in his life as well. More sound color options.
The comment about the Ludwig Standard he used without lugs on the bottom is actually a little different. The wrap is not inside the shell. What they did in Ludwig Standard series was to spray a granite protection inside the shells probably because it was a cheaper ply used and that would hide imperfections. I have a Ludwig Standard at home and you can read in their catalogues about the application of this granite spray.
I agree with you on regular standard drums as they used that granitone paint. For the single six, the did actually put the wrap into the shell. It was the only standard set they did this with. I had no idea why and some keen observer replied to this video stating that they did that as the drums were intended to nest into each other for easy travel. I had not thought of that and that makes perfect sense now. Thank you again to whoever it was that pointed that out.
@@wflkurt wow! Whoever has a kit like that today should be sitting in a rare set. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting how they missed out on Monterey because of management, Cream had on the same issue
How cool would that have been to see the Doors still pretty hungry and a new band in color footage? John was still playing the Gretsch set then too.
John place his wallet on snare for the perfect sound. Left it by mistake at times, oops.
The wallet is a great trick. Thanks for watching!
i like how the year before the Doors, Jim Morrison was in military school.
His daddy was involved in the Gulf of Tonkin false flag.
@@thedadyouneverhadchannel3544 At least someone here is not STILL in the Doors trance :D
You ever read or listen to Dave McGowan's investigative journalism on Laurel Canyon?
Yeah i saw a black panther hollywood on ebay a while back, wished i wasn't BROKE at the time ! would settle for a red psychadelic also...
I think John did an amazing job. And keeping his patients with Jim. I know he did about quit a couple times.. but just couldn't give up his art or on the band. You know he really cared about Jim and just hated seeing the destruction. I bet it was a scary thing to watch and can't do nothing about!?
That is a good point. It must have been very hard to watch it all unfold right in front of him. Thank you for watching
Pigs Knuckle Arkansas....priceless
SUUUEY!!!!!!!! Oink!!!! Oink!!!!
That was fun! I love your shows.
Good ole johnny d bone!
Thanks for watching!
When I first heard the Doors track Shamans Blues I knew Mr Densmore was not your conventional rock drummer.
absolutely - one of a kind!
2 hours?
Too short? :)
Zildjian was the ONLY Pro Cymbals in the day , unless you went to Western Europe.
Psychopath?
I was born in 1955, I bought 100’s of rock lp’s, Mitch Mitchell, Micheal Shrieve, Ginger Baker we’re my favorites. Never bought one record by the Doors, I couldn’t stand Jim Morrison and that cheesy organ they used. Densmore liked elvin but he was no Mitch Mitchell, period! Never bought a record by the WHO either, bunch of worthless posers.
You took time out of your day to write THIS? 🙄
@@glengamble526opinions are free
A John Densmore Ludwig kit cost $500 in 1967 which in today’s money would be around $4500. They’re expensive but worth it.
Yeah that is definitely not cheap - but great drums!
What ever happened to the orange mod kit 🔍🤔
I just put Absolutely Live on my stereo..lol