The Doors-Riders on the Storm (isolated electric piano)

This is a rerelease of my original Riders on the Storm video. This version has a much better piano sound and slightly more accurate notes.

Riders on the Storm was recorded in late December 1970 into early January 1971. This song was a collaboration between all the Doors. The song started off as a jam of the song Ghost Riders in the Sky. Jim mentioned that he had lyrics to that song. Ray reminded him that they couldn’t just use Ghost Riders for the music and he got to work reworking the song. He gave it a dark jazz feel and John Densmore added to that jazz element. Robby kept some of that western feel from Ghost Riders. The moment the band thought of adding rain effects to the song is recorded. You can hear it on Take 10 of the song or the extended version of Riders on Apple Music. This was pretty much Jim’s song that he recorded as he recorded his whisper vocals in January of 1971.

Ray’s part is very iconic and memorable. He used a Fender Rhodes electric piano. Listening to it isolated, I’ve noticed that he turns the tremolo depth up and down throughout the song. In the intro and the “rain” section of the song he engages the sustain. When playing the song, you can note that Ray does NOT play the bass line until the second verse of the song. Ray’s part during the verse and chorus is very simple. The intro and solo is what people stumble on. The intro he does not play the bass line so that makes it a little easier to execute but he does play the bass line throughout the solo which makes that much harder to do. It all just takes much practice and it is definitely worth it. It is one of the most memorable does songs and one of Ray’s most iconic parts.