Quick Facts
Biography
Douglas Lubahn (born December 20, 1946) is a psychedelic rock and jazz rock bassist who has played with internationally famous bands. His work is featured on several albums recorded by The Doors.
Brief history
In 1965, Lubahn was working in a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado, USA as a ski instructor, when he ran across Cass Elliot, who happened to be with group called The Candy Store. As Lubahn and Elliot got to know each other, she tried to encourage Lubahn to travel to Los Angeles, California and try to find a band there (at the time many bands were in need of bassists.)
Musical career
Clear Light
In Los Angeles, 1966, Lubahn was a founding member of the band Clear Light. Clear Light was originally formed by Bud Mathis as The Brain Train. After signing to Elektra Records, The Brain Train was renamed and Mathis was fired. Clear Light was the only album the band created before they split up. Their top song, "Mr. Blue", has been referred to as "long and a bit overbaked, but it does have an odd appeal". A review by Matthew Greenwald stated that they "combined folk, rock, psychedelia, and even a touch of classical to their sound", continuing on to say that "the end result, though, is a little ponderous and pretentious, but strangely listenable".
The Doors
One day, Clear Light's producer, Paul Rothchild, asked Lubahn to work on sessions for The Doors' second album; as the group lacked a bass guitarist, uncredited session bassist Larry Knechtel had doubled Ray Manzarek's keyboard bass lines on select tracks from their debut album. In contrast to Knechtel, Lubahn played on seven of the ten tracks on Strange Days (1967) as a credited contributor. The Doors invited Lubahn to join the group as a full-time member during the Strange Days sessions, using Rothchild as a messenger; however, Lubahn declined the offer for multiple reasons, including his refusal to leave Clear Light. He also played on all but two tracks on Waiting For The Sun (1968) and, albeit less prolifically, on The Soft Parade (1969), an early horn rock opus that showcased the jazzier contributions of Harvey Mandel.
Dreams
Doug Lubahn, with Jeff Kent, created jazz-rock band Dreams. The band evolved from a trio to a more horn-based band. Bassist Will Lee, pianist Don Grolnick, and guitarists Bob Mann and Eddie Vernon later joined the band. Unfortunately, Dreams was short lived, lasting merely a year, with two albums released. Dreams (1969) was produced by producer, composer and audio engineer Fred Weinberg, and Imagine My Surprise (1970).
Pierce Arrow
Lubahn was the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the band Pierce Arrow who issued two albums, Pierce Arrow (1977) and Pity the Rich (1978), on Columbia Records. The band also featured guitarist Werner Fritzsching, whom he would collaborate with again in Riff Raff, and drummer Bobby Chouinard, who would later pull Lubahn into Billy Squier's band.
Riff Raff (USA)
Lubahn was the bassist and lead vocalist for the U.S. rock band Riff Raff whose sole album, Vinyl Futures, was released on Atco Records in 1981. Vinyl Futures features the Lubahn penned song "Treat Me Right", which was a Billboard Top 20 hit for Pat Benatar and helped push her 1980 album Crimes of Passion to quadruple platinum sales in the U.S..
Billy Squire
Lubahn joined Billy Squier on two studio albums, 1982's multi-platinum selling Emotions in Motion and its equally successful 1984 follow-up, Signs of Life, and took part in world tours for both albums.
Ted Nugent
Lubahn played bass on Ted Nugent's 1984 album, Penetrator, which also featured future Bad Company vocalist Brian Howe. That same year one of Lubahn's songs, "Talk to Me", appeared on Warrior, the platinum selling debut album by New York band Scandal.