Butts Band was a British and American group formed by ex-Doors members John Densmore and Robby Krieger that was active from 1973 to 1975. The band released two albums and with the exception of Krieger and Densmore, they consisted of different band personnel on each.
History
Butts Band came about as a consequence of the Doors trying to find a replacement for lead singerJim Morrison who died in July 1971. The three remaining Doors had released two albums with Ray Manzarek and Krieger sharing vocals. Unable to recruit a singer in the US, the three Doors were in London in 1973 looking for an experienced lead singer and auditioned several British singers including Howard Werth, Kevin Coyne and Jess Roden. Howard Werth rehearsed with the band for a week with a view to stepping into Morrison's shoes. Elektra records founder Jac Holzman favoured Werth as he had at one stage foreseen Audience taking over the Doors' spot on Elektra – but Audience had fallen apart and he now saw Howard and the Doors merging as the 'new Doors'. However, the three remaining Doors felt that adding a new singer wasn't working out and decided to call time on The Doors. With Manzarek returning to Los Angeles, Krieger and Densmore began looking for a new project, linking up with Roden, Phil Chen and Roy Davies to form the Butts Band. The band signed with Blue Thumb and began working on their first album with long-time Doors' sound engineer/co-producer Bruce Botnick taking the producer role. Recording was split between studios in London on their way home to California. Their debut, the self-titled albumButts Band was released in 1973. Krieger was quoted as saying, "It's not 'head music', it's 'heart music'. It's 'up music'. It's music you can dance to." Following the album's release the band appeared on The Midnight Special and the Old Grey Whistle Test. Following the pressure of having two members living in California and three in London, this incarnation of the band split up. The former British musicians were replaced by musicians from the LA-area: Michael Stull, Alex Richman, Karl Rucker, Bobbi Hall and an additional drummer, Mike Berkowitz. This line-up released Hear and Now in 1975. The Butts Band then split completely after the second album, Krieger and Densmore going off to do solo projects. In 1978, the three remaining Doors reunited for the first time working on An American Prayer.
