Quick: Name All the People Who Played Bass in The Doors
“Aha!” you say, “Trick question! The Doors never had a bass player in their lineup! All the bass parts were played by Ray Manzaerk on his keyboards!”
Well, yes and no. While The Doors never had a bass player as a full time member, a bass can clearly be heard on a lot of their recordings. Ergo, someone must have been playing bass. But who? Glad you asked.
The following people were known to thump the four-string for Doors recordings:
- Patty Sullivan (later Patty Hansen)–yes, a woman–on Rick & the Ravens recordings. This was the band that evolved into The Doors
- Larry Knechtel, part of the famous Wrecking Crew of studio players.
- Doug Lubahn: Bass on much of the second, third and fourth albums
- Kerry Magness: An ex-member of the Kingsmen
- Leroy Vinnegar: Acoustic bass on a couple of tracks.
- Harvey Brooks: Six tracks on The Soft Parade including “Touch Me.”
- Ray Neopolitan: Joe Cocker’s bass man
- Lonnie Mach: Blues player that can be heard on “Roadhouse Blues”
More on all these guys at Ultimate Classic Rock.
Love your blog! My husband and I starting our own music blog too! Keep up the good work. We love seeing others with the same passion as us for music!
How could you miss Jerry Scheff on L.A. Woman? Credited right on the album.
How could you not credit Jerry Scheff? He literally did more recordings than all of them combined. Not to mention the entire LA Woman album
Yes indeed Jerry Scheff on LA Woman. Doug Lubahun excellent bass on the song Strange Days. Leroy Vinnegar tracks on Soft Parade I believe. Thanks for listing the others I didn’t know about.
Lou
Through The Doors
Was there an electric bass put over Ray’s key bass on Break On Through?