RIP Ray Manzarek

[Ecstatic]

This is very sad indeed. I love Ray and just saw him and Robbie in concert (with a Morrison look-and-sound-alike singer) last September. His last two CDs with Roy Rogers were brilliant (Ballads Before the Rain and Translucent Blues). He was not only a brilliant organist and pianist, he was also a great writer and a fine blues singer who subbed for Jim at concerts where Jim was too wasted to perform. The Doors never had a bassist because Ray played the bass parts on his organ. A wonderful performer and icon of the 60s. RIP Ray you will be missed

For more: http://music-mix.ew.com/2013/05/20/ray-manzarek-dead-doors/

[Corran]

Very sad indeed. I was listening to the Doors and Beatles while the neighborhood kids were listening to whatever the top 10 pop crap was when I was a young'un.

[Merkurie]

Ray Manzarek The best organ solo ever. Boston 1970 (edit) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XzHotB5-To)

[Dino Velvet]

I'm not a big fan of music from the 1960's but The Doors are one of the exceptions. RIP Ray Manzarek. Now you can play battling keyboards with Jon Lord.

[nysprod]

Fuck me, damn, that sucks...this guy contributed so much to the history of rock music...how many hours did I spend practicing the opening organ riffs to Light My Fire, all so that I could do a show at the high school and impress the girls...good times.

Wow.

[CORVETTEDUDE]

I AM from the 60s, did "Doors" tunes in my band. Even had the opportunity to be 'local warm up' at a Doors concert in Alexandria, VA in 1967, which also included Jefferson Airplane. I'm a huge Doors fan and this is a sad loss. Rest Easy Ray, Break on through to the other side!!!

[RyderMonroe]

Damn R.I.P. :(

[danthepoetman]

I always felt his music was as important to The Doors as Morrison's voice and personality. I've listen to this music enough to completely use up these old vinyl records, back when... It was a bit of a shock to me when I heard the news on tv. Sad. But I'm sure he had a great life. RIP, Ray Manzarek.

When The Music's Over - The Doors - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSMAWh6vnXo)

[robertlouis]

The first time I heard the full 7 minute version of Light My Fire I was sold for life on the Doors, for Manzarek's swirling organ and Robbie Krieger's daring (for then) jazzy guitar stylings. Seminal music. Thanks for the music, Mr Manzarek.

[Idt20082008"]

He was a critical element to the success of The Doors, and an absolutely underrated musician in general. Rest easy Ray, your legacy is secure

[flabbybody]

Light My Fire is the song of my youth. Ray is with Jim in Heaven now, performing for God.

[robertlouis]

Light My Fire is the song of my youth. Ray is with Jim in Heaven now, performing for God.

If Jim Morrison is in heaven, god must have a big heart!

[danthepoetman]

Call me a cynic if you want, Robert Louis, but I suspect He would be tremendously generous to take any of us... :)

[maxpower]

This is such sad news. I've been a Doors fan since I first heard them when I was in junior high in 1980. My friend played me the Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine double LP and I was hooked. I got every album within the year. Ray was a driving force in the band, and his combination of organ and bass organ was a big part of The Doors' unique sound. Robertlouis is right, the instrumental break in the full version of "Light My Fire" is amazing, and I think the full version of "Riders on the Storm" also really showcases his talent. RIP to a legendary musician.


Riders On The Storm - The Doors - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dNtmM8jrV8)

[danthepoetman]

Always loved the organ solo on this one...
The Doors - Take It As It Comes - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp_tjYszBmQ)

[Prospero]

The darkest most Dionysian band of the 1960s - in deep polarity to the sunnier climes and optimism of the bulk of Acid rock. We can change the world? Yeah right... these guys knew a deeper reality.

The poles of Morrison and Manzarek created a swirling musical place that still haunts now.

Wonderful stuff.

The Doors-The End [FULL] - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmAmJFUvzM)

[robertlouis]

The darkest most Dionysian band of the 1960s - in deep polarity to the sunnier climes and optimism of the bulk of Acid rock. We can change the world? Yeah right... these guys knew a deeper reality.

The poles of Morrison and Manzarek created a swirling musical place that still haunts now.

Wonderful stuff.

The Doors-The End [FULL] - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGmAmJFUvzM)

I always felt that Love caught the darkness and dread at the tail of the hippy dream too, best expressed by the great songs on Forever Changes.

[Prospero]

Arthur Lee was way too LSD addled for coherence though. For me The Doors utter us into a darkness that is and has always een there. Echoes of Baudelaire in the balance between Morrison's sometimes ludicrous words and that swirl of sound created by Manzarek and Krieger and the drummer.

[robertlouis]

Arthur Lee was way too LSD addled for coherence though. For me The Doors utter us into a darkness that is and has always een there. Echoes of Baudelaire in the balance between Morrison's sometimes ludicrous words and that swirl of sound created by Manzarek and Krieger and the drummer.

This is what "jumping the shark" was coined for. Probably too much EVEN FOR DINO!!!

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ44AsjlVyk

[Prospero]

That was almost certainly their worst ever track. (Though Morrison's album long poem released posthumously ruins it a close second)

[GroobySteven]

Remove all of Morrison's self-indulgent poetry and The Doors had some amazing tracks. I remember seeing a documentary about Ray, allegedly when Jim Morrison was too wasted to sing, Ray would be on keyboards singly "Light My Fire" into a microphone and nobody realized it wasn't Morrison singing.

[Prospero]

Morrison was a total fuck-up its true - but had an indefinable charisma.
His myth was such that I recall sitting behind some kids on a bus about 20 years after he died and one proclaimed to the other that "Jim Morrison. That dude isn't dead, man.He is simply hiding and planning his return." They must have been toddlers when he perished. So just like Jesus and a few other messiahs he was clearly an inspiration to the deluded.

His grave in Pere Lachaise in Paris still attracts regular throngs of mourners.

[Ecstatic]

Unlike many of his peers, Morrison was a poet, albeit often a bad poet. What I mean is he understood the mythic power of words, he understood metaphor, he understood symbolism, meter, juxtaposition, cadence and all in a very deep and consistent manner which was integral to the cohesion of the Doors' mythos over five years. That he was also self-indulgent, clichéd, and derivative is also true, which is what keeps him from the poetic reaches of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Dick Farina, and others who were also true poets as opposed to merely clever lyricists. Morrison provided the metaphorical and symbolic core of the Doors' unique vision, just as Manzarek provided the sinuous, ethereal, haunting musical core, along with Krieger's inventive guitar stylings, including being the first to bring flamenco to rock and incorporating jazz elements to his fingerstyle artistry. These three were unlike any other three in rock (Densmore was also a decent drummer, but I never found his work as original or essential to the Doors as the other three).

[maxpower]

After The Doors' breakup, in addition to his own musical projects, Ray Manzarek also worked as a record producer, perhaps most notably with the seminal Los Angeles punk band X. He produced their first four albums, as well as playing on some of the tracks. He would also often play with them at L.A. area shows. On their first album, Los Angeles, X covered The Doors' "Soul Kitchen" and Ray can be heard at the keyboards on "The World's a Mess; It's in My Kiss."


X - Soul Kitchen - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5ikNYY0JgQ)


The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss - X - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-U6dXK4Mig)

[EZWind]

Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer
...when I heard this sad news

The future's uncertain, and the end is always near
Let it roll, baby, roll
Let it roll, baby, roll
....these guys were my first live rock n roll concert experience...fall of 67
...haven't been the same since....and all the better for it

[moonunit7]

Those of us that grew up with Zep, Purple, the doors, etc... have to concede that all of our rock influences are heading out the door in a hurry.
I've been struggling with ways of coping with this, but the bottom line is these guys (and gals) are irreplaceable and the current zeitgeist points to a very different method of entertainment.

Ray was great. Jon Lord and Richard Wright were awesome. They're all dropping like flies. This really sucks.

[misskylee]

sad news :( rip

[jamesb121]

The Doors - One of the best bands ever.

Ray - You gave me the soundtrack to every roadtrip i've ever done.

You'll be missed.

[robertlouis]

Unlike many of his peers, Morrison was a poet, albeit often a bad poet. What I mean is he understood the mythic power of words, he understood metaphor, he understood symbolism, meter, juxtaposition, cadence and all in a very deep and consistent manner which was integral to the cohesion of the Doors' mythos over five years. That he was also self-indulgent, clichéd, and derivative is also true, which is what keeps him from the poetic reaches of Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Dick Farina, and others who were also true poets as opposed to merely clever lyricists. Morrison provided the metaphorical and symbolic core of the Doors' unique vision, just as Manzarek provided the sinuous, ethereal, haunting musical core, along with Krieger's inventive guitar stylings, including being the first to bring flamenco to rock and incorporating jazz elements to his fingerstyle artistry. These three were unlike any other three in rock (Densmore was also a decent drummer, but I never found his work as original or essential to the Doors as the other three).

Thank goodness someone else remembers him. Wonderful songs like Reno Nevada and Bold Marauder, both of which I used to cover in my live sets. And together with Mimi, sister of Joan Baez, he made mid-60s albums of acoustic power which were quite like anything else before or since.

[Dino Velvet]

If Jim Morrison is in heaven, god must have a big heart!

I feel sorry for God having to hang out like bros with Jim Morrison. Imagine a road trip. That would test Divine Patience for sure.

This guy is less annoying.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma9t8pL8Vs1rb2jqfo1_500.gif

[Ecstatic]

Thank goodness someone else remembers him. Wonderful songs like Reno Nevada and Bold Marauder, both of which I used to cover in my live sets. And together with Mimi, sister of Joan Baez, he made mid-60s albums of acoustic power which were quite like anything else before or since.

Absolutely. Talk about taken away too soon, Dick was killed in a motorcycle accident following the party celebrating the publication of his novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (a title borrowed by Jim Morrison not long afterwards, and a novel equal to the works of Richard Brautigan and Farina's college roommate Thomas Pynchon). He was 29 years old, but had only been writing and recording music with Mimi for a couple of years. He was every bit Dylan's equal, and a finer poet to boot with an unrivaled (in popular music) sense of metaphor and imagery. Consider A Swallow Song, Raven Girl, Children of Darkness, and Pack Up Your Sorrows, to name but four more. So you would play Reno Nevada and Bold Marauder? That's awesome.

[Jimmy W]

Max Power beat me to it. The fact that he was so 'instrumental' in getting my favorite band ever - 'X' from Los Angeles to my radio in upstate New York when I was a kid means I owe him something I sill need to figure out how to repay.

[robertlouis]

Absolutely. Talk about taken away too soon, Dick was killed in a motorcycle accident following the party celebrating the publication of his novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (a title borrowed by Jim Morrison not long afterwards, and a novel equal to the works of Richard Brautigan and Farina's college roommate Thomas Pynchon). He was 29 years old, but had only been writing and recording music with Mimi for a couple of years. He was every bit Dylan's equal, and a finer poet to boot with an unrivaled (in popular music) sense of metaphor and imagery. Consider A Swallow Song, Raven Girl, Children of Darkness, and Pack Up Your Sorrows, to name but four more. So you would play Reno Nevada and Bold Marauder? That's awesome.

Still could if I brushed them up. So few people know his songs nowadays that they come up even fresher. And Bold Marauder sounds wonderful on a twelve-string with a good fiddler backing up.

In fact, now I know what to use for an encore in future!

[Prospero]

I had the two albums Richard and mimi Farina made - and they're both gems. Forgotten talents really - except by those who seek them out. Glad to see them getting a namecheck here. I will maybe post a couple of their tracks in the what are you listening to now strand as this thread is about the great Manzarek.