Ray Manzarek

Raymond Daniel Manzarek or Manczarek (b. February 12, 1939, Chicago, Illinois) is an American musician, singer, producer, movie director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, and the Doors of the 21st Century (renamed Riders On The Storm) since 2001.

Early life and career

Ray Manzarek is of Polish descent, and because of the Catholic upbringing, Manzarek attended St. Rita High School in Chicago and majored in economics at DePaul University. In 1962-65, he studied in the Department of Cinematography at UCLA, where that he met another film student named Jim Morrison. Forty days after finishing film school, thinking they had gone their separate ways, they met by chance. Morrison said he had written some songs, and Manzarek expressed an interest in hearing them, whereupon Morrison then sang a rough version of "Moonlight Drive."

In January 1966, The Doors became the house band at a club called The London Fog. According to Manzarek, "Nobody ever came in the place...an occasional sailor or two on leave, a few drunks. All in all it was a very depressing experience, but it gave us time to really get the music together." The same day The Doors were fired from The London Fog, they were hired to be the house band of the Whisky a Go Go.

The Doors' first contract was with Columbia Records. After a few months of inactivity, they learned they were on Columbia's drop list. At that point they asked to be released from their contract. After a few months of live gigs, Jack Holzman "rediscovered" the Doors and signed them to Elektra Records.

Manzarek's playing with The Doors made him one of the most influential rock keyboardists ever, raising the level of virtuosity a keyboardist is expected to have. The Doors lacked a bassist, so Manzarek usually played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass. His signature sound is that of the Vox Continental organ, an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era. He later used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo (which looks like a Farsifa) because the Italian Continental keys "sticked" and remained "down" without pushing it.

Manzarek occasionally sang for The Doors, with a voice more bluesy than rock, including the live recordings off "Close To You," "Who Do You Love," and "Tightrope Ride." He also sang on the last two Doors albums, recorded after Morrison's death, Other Voices and Full Circle.

Later career and influence

Manzarek recorded a rock adaptation of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with Philip Glass, produced Echo and the Bunnymen and Los Angeles band X, played with Iggy Pop and backed San Francisco poet Michael McClure's poetry readings. Ray also worked extensively with "Hearts of Fire" screenwriter and former Stooges front man Scott Richardson on a series of spoken word and blues recordings entitled "Tornado Souvenirs".

His memoir, Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors, was published in 1998. The Poet in Exile (2001) is a novel exploring the urban legend that Jim Morrison may have faked his death. Manzarek's second novel, Snake Moon, released in April 2006, is a Civil War ghost story.

After living many years in Beverly Hills, Manzarek resides in Napa, California in a house he remodelled extensively.

Trivia

His birth name was Raymond Daniel Manczarek. The c was dropped in 1966 when he, Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore signed with Elektra as The Doors.

Ray wore (and still wears) glasses that are typical of the 1960s.

In Oliver Stone's biopic The Doors, Manzarek was played by Kyle MacLachlan. MacLachlan's performance was the only good thing Manzarek had to say about the film.

The first Doors album included a cover of "Alabama Song," from a 1930s German opera called The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. This cover resulted from Manzarek's playing a record of that opera, sung by Lotte Lenya, to Jim Morrison, and suggesting that The Doors do a rock version of the song.

The solos in "Light My Fire" are based on John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things". Other examples: a Thelonious Monk line from "Straight, No Chaser" appears in "We Could Be So Good Together", the opening organ passage of "When The Music's Over" is inspired by Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man", and finally the organ solo in "Take It As It Comes" is inspired by Bach. During a May 2006 public performance, Manzarek named Erik Satie as an influence.

He is known for playing the keyboard while shaking his head and not looking at the keys.

In a televised interview, Manzarek advised listeners to "open the doors of consciousness... but stay away from white powder!"

Books

Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors (1998) ISBN 0-425-17045-4
The Poet in Exile (2001) Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002 paperback: ISBN 1-56025-447-5
Snake Moon (2006) ISBN 1-59780-041-4

External links