Ray Manzarek dubbed him “The Fifth Door” and he was offered a full-time gig with the iconic ensemble which he turned down in favor to anchor an ensemble wherein he had more of a creative input: Clear Light. Encouraged by Mama Cass Elliott to migrate to the City of Angels in the mid-1960s, the late Doug Lubahn was a prolific sideman / session cat, producer, composer, and author whose career spanned two generations of classic rock .

On Doors’ record dates, Doug deftly approximated and further embellished Manzarek’s left-hand keyboard figures. Doug contributed to significantly to the band’s hallowed canon, performing on Strange Days (1967), Waiting for the Sun (1968) and Soft Parade (1969) on seminal tracks including “Moonlight Drive,” “Love Me Two Times,” “People are Strange,” “Hello I Love You,” and “Wishful Sinful,” among others.

Dig Doug with The Doors:

“Moonlight Drive” https://youtu.be/iNilmUzcB0s

“Wishful Sinful” https://youtu.be/siU2inT0OuI

A watershed ensemble which incorporated jazz, folk, prog, psychedelic and pop – go figure why Clear Light did not scale the commercial heights they so richly deserved.

Produced and engineered by Paul Rothchild and Bruce Botnick of Doors fame,dig Doug with Clear Light:

“Mr. Blue: https://youtu.be/h4hpd4lcwpo

“Black Roses” https://youtu.be/IvkYzF3xmLs

In 1970 Doug was a founding member of jazz rock pioneers Dreams, featuring Randy and Michael Brecker, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie.

Dig Doug with Dreams: “

“New York” https://youtu.be/nSRl55V2OiQ

“Dream Suite” https://youtu.be/dEJdIh_Mjgg

An accomplished vocalist, Doug also toured and/or recorded with Billy Squire (Emotions In Motion / 1982), The Monkees, and Ted Nugent, among others.

Dig Doug in the MTV era with Billy Squire with “Emotions in Motion” which featured a killer bass motif: https://youtu.be/ATE3m3HOmMw

Coda: Doug also authored a fine memoir: My Days with The Doors and Other Stories.