Set the Night on Fire

Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar with the Doors

By: Robby Krieger, Jeff Alulis

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

In his first book ever, legendary Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”, opens up about The Doors’ meteoric career, his own darkest moments, and the most famous black eye in rock ‘n’ roll.

Few bands are as shrouded in the murky haze of rock mythology as The Doors, and parsing fact from fiction has been a virtually impossible task. But now, after 50 years, The Doors’ notoriously quiet guitarist is finally breaking his silence to set the record straight.

Through a series of vignettes, Robby Krieger takes listeners back to where it all happened: the pawn shop where he bought his first guitar; the jail cell he was tossed into after a teenage drug bust; his parents’ living room where his first songwriting sessions with Jim Morrison took place; the empty bars and backyard parties where The Doors played their first awkward gigs; the studios where their iconic songs were recorded; and the many concert venues that erupted into historic riots. Set the Night on Fire is packed with never-before-told stories from The Doors’ most vital years, and offers a fresh perspective on the most infamous moments of the band’s career.

Krieger also goes into heartbreaking detail about his life’s most difficult struggles, ranging from drug addiction to cancer, but he balances out the sorrow with humorous anecdotes about run-ins with unstable fans, famous musicians, and one really angry monk. Set the Night on Fire is at once an insightful time capsule of the ‘60s counterculture, a moving reflection on what it means to find oneself as a musician, and a touching tale of a life lived non-traditionally. It’s not only a must-listen for Doors fans, but an essential volume of American pop culture history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Robby Krieger (P)2021 Little, Brown & Company

Critic Reviews

“Doors guitarist Krieger riffs melodiously through the discordant and harmonious measures of his life and times with the band in this galloping, episodic debut.” (Publishers Weekly)

Highly Entertaining. Humorous Narration.

A fantastic story made extraordinary by a gifted narrator. I love the Doors! Wonderful!

Well worth it

The narration is absolutely top notch. Robby is both entertaining and insightful into the life of a special musician. Thoroughly enjoyable

Truly a gift

Reader Dennis Boutsikaris gave a wonderful reading of this remarkable book. Author Robby Krieger certainly chose his co-writer (Jeff Alulis) very well, because, despite the presence of two writers, the authorial voice is clear, and there is no sense of Krieger being over-shadowed by his writing partner.

How do you tell a story marked by the death of legend like Jim Morrison? In this book, it is a story told with much thought and reflection. I had to stop many times during some of the sadder parts--and that is praise. The book was emotionally powerful. It was also interesting, as so many rock band histories are, because they tell the story of a band before it exists, and the band simply believing that something good might happen, and then the miracle of continued success, and of course the new traps that come with success. A very good book.

A Blast To Listen To, Thank You Robby

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. I've been a Doors fan for a long time, they were basically the first real band that I fell in love with I think once I started enjoying music as a teenager (I'm 26 now). I bought all their albums on CD over the course of a couple years, and have listened to their live records and all the three albums they did after Jim died.

This was a really great book to get more information about the doors from an inside perspective. I have grown a lot of respect for Robby from this book, I think that he is the most down to earth and chill Doors member, also, I've come to decide, the most believable, since I do think that Ray Manzarek was a little bit of a showman when telling stories, after having read some of his book (I'm currently going through it).

I love that aspect about Ray also, he's a great storyteller, but I do think that he may have bent the truth sometimes to make for a better story (Or at least at other times, simply used too many hippie words like "Dionysian" and referring to various chakras for my taste haha).

I think Robby set out to write this as truthfully as possible, even where it might have been somewhat painful to be so honest.

I'm truly thankful that Robby wrote this. He's not getting any younger, and we've already lost Ray (and Jim of course), so there was a chance we could've missed out on getting this.

Also, this book is just a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Robby (and the great narrator) had me laughing out loud quite a few times throughout this book. Robby is the most soft-spoken guy in the world (if he was any mellower he would fall off the face of the earth), but I think he's quite a good writer, and perhaps his personality shines through better in this medium than through speaking.

I really appreciate the honesty and the effort he went through to make this book.

And also, I just wanna give props to the narrator, because he was really good, and he got the humor very good each time it was called for, and was able to be emotional and convey the text quite well.

Long live The Doors.

Loved every minute of it!

The narrator was fab. The story was great!
it had a Doors music flow to it.

I really enjoyed this.

Really well written. Great narration. RK is very funny and humble. I have always been a Doors fan but didn’t really know too much about RK’s background. I have a great impression of him now. Really glad I tried this one.

Ball end no string

Well they certainly do all have their own versions. ‘Not sure why this book was written, or why as a Doors fan i felt so obligated, but i did give it my full attention. Robbie strikes me as someone who misses a lot that takes place right in front of him, at all times - a common trait of the privileged. Perhaps he put this book out to apologize to John, and others in his story before he goes out - in hope he’s reincarnated as something more than a ball end without the rest of the string.

Beautiful

Robby seems like a pretty cool and legit guy. His book is heartfelt and sincere and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Last Word

I’m glad Robby waited until now to write his autobiography. In doing so he gets a chance to provide his side of the story - and he doesn’t mince any words. I especially enjoyed getting his perspective on the various embellishments Oliver Stone (and others) made while making the Doors movie, and putting to rest certain falsehoods about Jim Morrison. I also liked how the book jumps back and forth to different time periods, which is atypical to other authors who write linearly and in chronological order, which is boring. I’m just amazed he had the patience to wait this long to provide his side of the story, and so happy it was Robby Krieger who got the last word.

Great Book

If you're a fan of The doors or music biographies then you'll love this. The doors were my favorite classic rock band when I was a teenager. And I couldn't get enough of the stories/legends/myths. This book helps clear everything up as best it can be.