The Doors' Ray Manzarek dies at 74

[guitarfool2002]

I heard the news as it broke listening to Andre Gardner on Philly's 102.9 this afternoon in the car, which is fitting because he was like my musical older brother who played all the cool records and Beatles outtakes for me in my younger years. I immediately texted the bad news to two close friends - Doors fans to the core, all of us. RIP Ray.

I didn't even realize Ray was that ill, surely not sick enough to have been living in Germany receiving treatments for his cancer. It was stunning news, not exactly the unexpected kind, but just the news that someone else whose music meant an awful fucking lot to me for years is gone, and will not be around except through his legacy in music and on film and video. He always seemed to be around, you know? He was just in Philly recently, one of those deals where the choice between going to see him in person and waiting for the next time came down to "oh, he'll be back, I'll try to catch him then...", only there is no next time.

I really enjoy reading about and hearing the personal side of this from fellow fans, like what the music meant to them, or how it was a part of their life or represented special moments. I could go on long-winded as usual, but I wanted to share this:

The first CD I ever bought and owned was The Doors, that amazing first album. I used to carry it around in 9th grade, go to the school library, sit at one of those headphone listening stations, and listen over and over to that disc. Very loud.

The first rock band I ever played a live show with in front of people - the first group of musicians my age outside of a formal school band or other organization who asked me to play with them, actually - featured a very Doors-heavy set. The keyboardist could play Ray's parts, which hearing as a teenager blew me away, and could come close to the sounds, too. I had just gotten a vintage Fender blackface amp with the vibrato channel, so I could nail Robby's "Riders On The Storm" tone, and I also saved up some spare dollars to buy the old DOD "Classic Fuzz" pedal to match his fuzztones.

Our set included "Light My Fire", "Riders On The Storm", and "LA Woman". I was living in paradise playing that music with that group, I felt that connection to other musicians playing music we loved for people who were into what we were playing. As a shy kind of 15-16 year old kid that group experience was like a drug for me, I'll never forget that or those Doors songs which helped bring it all together. That Light My Fire intro, damn that is fantastic.

I've only known the Doors in my lifetime as Ray, Robby, and John, and Jim was always the departed legendary frontman. I've enjoyed and played Ray's parts for years, as most of us have, and it's easy to say we'll miss him but that music will live on and continue to inspire as long as we pass it on and share it.

I was thinking of having a Doors listening session tonight in tribute, either albums or the YouTube route, but I do that regularly anyway. Instead I pulled out a guitar arrangement of Ray's keyboard intro, along with Robby's chords and parts, and played it with my last student of the night, as we talked about Ray and The Doors and the music. Like coming here to the board and sharing with other fans, it seemed appropriate to share and pass on the music to a new and younger fan and musician who may in 20 years be doing the same thing.

The Doors, especially Ray and Robby as musicians I wanted to sound like, meant a lot to me and to all those posting in this thread. Pass on one of those tunes to a new fan.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Thanks for sharing those thoughts, guitarfool2002.

[Jay]

Gosh Darn mother fucking sh*t!!!!!   Some people shouldn't be allowed to die.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3171i8Gs8

[Jay]

I just told my mom. She turned her head up and said "Dad's listening to him and Jim". This sucks. 

[rn57]

They used session players on all of their albums, but not on every track. There's some electric bass on the first album that (I think) Larry Knechtel played. From 1967-69 they used Douglass Lubahn, Kerry Magness, Leroy Vinnegar, and Harvey Brooks on bass. On Morrison Hotel they had Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan on bass. On L.A. Woman they had the one and only Jerry Scheff, from Elvis Presley's live band.

I seem to remember reading Scheff came into the LA Woman sessions at the suggestion of Marc Benno who played guitar alongside Robbie on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLAr-WlxMZY

- for the benefit of SS'ers who are a bit on the young side, gives an idea of what The Doors sounded like in peak form. (Worth remembering that Oliver Stone's movie is now closer in time to the band's existence than to the present.)

[SMiLE Brian]

RIP Ray, you were a great one.

[18thofMay]

They used session players on all of their albums, but not on every track. There's some electric bass on the first album that (I think) Larry Knechtel played. From 1967-69 they used Douglass Lubahn, Kerry Magness, Leroy Vinnegar, and Harvey Brooks on bass. On Morrison Hotel they had Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan on bass. On L.A. Woman they had the one and only Jerry Scheff, from Elvis Presley's live band.

I seem to remember reading Scheff came into the LA Woman sessions at the suggestion of Marc Benno who played guitar alongside Robbie on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLAr-WlxMZY

- for the benefit of SS'ers who are a bit on the young side, gives an idea of what The Doors sounded like in peak form. (Worth remembering that Oliver Stone's movie is now closer in time to the band's existence than to the present.)

THAT is a front man!! From about 2.40  in wow!

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I have spent many many hours digging music the great Ray Manzarek played on.  Obviously his keyboard work was central to the Doors sound -- though you could say that about all three of the players in the band.  But Ray was definitely the spiritual springboard for Jim Morrison, from running into him on the beach that fateful day to carrying on his legacy after the fact.

Gonna put on "Morrison Hotel" now....

[zachrwolfe]

‍

[shelter]

I grew up listening to 50s and 60s music as a teen in the early 90s, and then switched to punk and grunge, and The Doors were just the perfect bridge between those two phases. I've loved that band ever since.

A few years ago I saw Manzarek and Krieger live with their new band (I believe they were called Riders on the Storm at the time), they were amazing. They still sounded great and were having a lot of fun. So glad I saw them that time. The last couple of months I've been checking the tour dates on their site to see if they were going to come back, but unfortionately that's not going to happen anymore now.

In a way, Ray Manzarek was one of the most underrated musicians in rock history. People often talk about The Doors like it was Jim Morrison and three other guys, but I dare to say that Manzarek was even more essential for that band than Morrison was. Light My Fire for instance, that's such a great song that few singers could've ruined it. But it would've been nothing without that organ part. And he seemed like a very smart, funny and friendly guy too.

RIP Ray.

[Cabinessenceking]

Only found out today. This is very sad news indeed. Hope he enjoyed life to the very end!
Wonderful musician he was.

[filledeplage]

Ray may have been the only prominent rock keyboardist to be so associated with that Fender keyboard bass, I think what little vintage and collector market there is for that quirky instrument is 99.9% due to fans of Ray and the Doors who want one because of the association.

It is and was a striking visual too, think back to the Ed Sullivan appearance where Ray is playing that Fender keyboard perched atop his regular keyboard rig, whatever it was for any given show. No other band had that, or that sound, as prominent as Ray with The Doors.

It did have limitations, though, but damn Ray made it work beautifully for his band.

The classic Manzarek setup:

Thanks for that photo! Ray's work was amazing on "Riders..." and amazing that a single 4:35 in length got such AM AirPlay. Often the FM stations did the 7:10 album version because they seemed less hemmed-in by commercial constraints. 

Outstanding and legendary truly "soulful" keyboardist.  He helped make big sound come out of the cheapest little record player on vinyl, or pocket-sized transistor radio.  One of the rock world's greats!  RIP.

[donald]

I loved the Doors when they appeared in the 60's.  There was nothing else like it musically at the time.  For those who were around when it was new, you have to recall how very cool the keyboard sounded on Light My Fire.  Or the circus like vibe of Strange Days.   Hard for me to realize that Ray was 74 years old.  In 1967, Ray was pushing 30 years old.
In hindsight, it was probably Ray who was the mature member who actually lead the band and kept it all together.


"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite"

[donald]

I wanted to add, I believe that Ray's sound  was a big influence on the keyboard sound of Wild Honey.

[Heysaboda]

They used session players on all of their albums, but not on every track. There's some electric bass on the first album that (I think) Larry Knechtel played. From 1967-69 they used Douglass Lubahn, Kerry Magness, Leroy Vinnegar, and Harvey Brooks on bass. On Morrison Hotel they had Lonnie Mack and Ray Neapolitan on bass. On L.A. Woman they had the one and only Jerry Scheff, from Elvis Presley's live band.

That was one truly dynamite combination, when they used Jerry Scheff on LA Woman.

You know, last year I spent a lot of time with the "Bright Midnight" sampler, and the word "awesome" is overused, but that thing is AWESOME.  Great music that stangs up today too.

[Heysaboda]

I read this in one of the many bios of The Doors.

There was a concert, I think in 1969, where Jim was too inebriated too continue, even for him.  I believe he passed out and they took him back stage.  Rather than cancel the show, Ray took over the vocals, and did all the songs from memory, without having ever sung most of them before.

[shelter]

I read this in one of the many bios of The Doors.

There was a concert, I think in 1969, where Jim was too inebriated too continue, even for him.  I believe he passed out and they took him back stage.  Rather than cancel the show, Ray took over the vocals, and did all the songs from memory, without having ever sung most of them before.

I think you mean the September 15, 1968 show at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Jim passed out while watching the support act (Jefferson Airplane) and they did the entire show with Manzarek on vocals.

And I believe that was their only Dutch show ever. Fun fact that I just realized: The Beatles and The Doors each played just one concert in The Netherlands, and neither band managed to show up with all four members.

[Sheriff John Stone]

Tonight, VH1 Classic is playing Live At The Hollywood Bowl and Classic Albums:The Doors. At each commercial it has a couple of seconds of a picture of Ray and the caption: In Memory of Ray Manzarek 1939-2013. That Classic Albums:The Doors documentary is excellent. There's some good interviews with Ray, Robby, and John, and also Jack Holzman and Bill Siddons.

I've been reading a lot of the internet articles and tributes to Ray. He was a really a nice man who, as Robby mentions, always saw the good in people, even when others didn't. And, as Robby notes, Ray really came into his own AFTER Jim died. I know that's hard for some people to believe considering his work with The Doors, but, Ray did some creative stuff and some really good work post-Morrison, too. 

I was thinking about Dorothy and Pablo a lot. Ray met Dorothy at U.C.L.A. and married in December 1967 (Jim was the Best Man) and they stayed together all those years. And, one of the reasons Ray left The Doors when he did was to be with Dorothy when she was pregnant with Pablo.

I always held out hope that Ray, Robby, and John would get back together and record one more album. I didn't really care about the vocals and who sang them, I just loved to hear the musical chemistry that those three created when they got together and played. Who knows, there might be some recorded stuff in the vaults somewhere...

[Jay]

Here's the man himself talking about Riders On The Storm. This put shivers down my spine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoRFAbdmKD4

[guitarfool2002]

If you're a musician like Weird Al Yankovic, and you've written a parody with the Doors' sound in mind, who would you have called to play keyboards on it? For all the talk of the music and the sounds and all of that, it was also about Ray himself, and how that certain magic happened when he got behind the keyboards. It's *that sound* in all the clips similar to this, but I thought this one was pretty damned special to watch, I don't believe it has been released before and Al just posted it this week.

Ray Manzarek recording his keyboard parts for the Doors tribute-parody "Craigslist", by Weird Al Yankovic. Not on a vintage organ, or piano bass, but on a modern Nord keyboard...

*that sound*   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5x88C0yQY



 

[Jay]

After giving it some thought over the last few days, I have come to the conclusion That Ray was more important to The Doors as a whole than even Jim was.

[Aum Bop Diddit]

After giving it some thought over the last few days, I have come to the conclusion That Ray was more important to The Doors as a whole than even Jim was.

There was a quote somewhere where Morrison points towards Manzarek and says, "that guy IS the Doors."

[guitarfool2002]

After giving it some thought over the last few days, I have come to the conclusion That Ray was more important to The Doors as a whole than even Jim was.

It was ultimately Ray's band, they say, but The Doors at their peak were four musicians who were equally as important to their sound and the musical background each of them brought to the table. From jazz, to blues, to flamenco, to rock, it was a true band in every sense of the word when they created music, especially on those first two albums.

I understand the point, but maybe the wording isn't what I'd use because to make those classic songs each member was equally as important and subtracting or replacing one of them would have altered the sound immeasurably.

I'd say the media hype naturally focused on Jim because he was the drama and the good copy when he was alive, and the tragedy and legend after his death. And for people who don't go beyond that surface image of the Doors fueled by media and other hype, that's what they see and hear in the music. But the focus on Ray and the Doors in general has indeed shifted in the more recent decades so people see more of the big picture, and hear what the others brought into the fold removed from Jim's aura and legend, therefore I think "The Doors" will be more of a legacy than the image of "Jim Morrison and The Doors".

From watching various Doors films these past few days, I think Ray would have disagreed with the notion of anyone's importance to the band in favor of what each guy added to the mix when they got together to make music.

And Ray is and was a humble guy, which is refreshing in light of a few specific artists who think they and their image are more important to if not better than the music itself...those who shall remain nameless outside their recent Saturday Night Live performances.

[Jay]

Perhaps I was a little quick with my wording. I know that each indivigual person had a hand in making each song what it was. But there are so many Doors songs where to me the organ is the key part. But I consider Ray to be the greatest keyboard player in rock, so I may be biased. 

[Jason]

I think the best description of the band and how the members complimented each other is the story of the band playing a gig in early '67 when the promoter announced the band as "Jim Morrison and the Doors", to which Jim promptly replied, "no, we're called the Doors."

It's telling that Jim never went solo. As much as he was the figurehead so to speak, he needed Ray, Robby, and John behind him and vice versa. The four of them had an almost kinetic energy around them, almost an extra-sensory perception. You can hear it on live recordings. They could work around Jim even in the most drunk of states. That's a band that was clearly more than one member, or even all of them.