Douglas Killmer

Douglas "Doug" Killmer (July 18, 1947 – August 29, 2005) was an American blues and rock bass guitarist active from the 1960s to the late 1990s. He is sometimes credited as Douglas Kilmer or Doug Kilmer. He is best remembered for playing the bass line on Norman Greenbaum's 1970 hit "Spirit in the Sky" (number 333 on Rolling Stone 's list of 500 greatest songs of all time). In addition to this, he played on the Otis Rush Grammy Award-nominated 1976 song "Right Place, Wrong Time," and Rita Abrams' Grammy Award winning song "Mill Valley." He was active in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for over three decades.

Early years

He was born in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after his birth his family moved to Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands where his father was stationed as part of the American occupation force. After his father left the military the family moved to India and Turkey as part of his father's job in the United States Foreign Service. During his early travels he learned to speak Japanese, Hindustani, and German.