Doors co-founder and keyboardist Ray Manzarek died today in Rosenheim,
Germany after a long battle with bile duct cancer. He was 74.
Manzarek grew up in Chicago, then
moved to Los Angeles in 1962 to study film at UCLA. It was there he first met
Doors singer Jim Morrison, though they didn't talk about forming a band until
they bumped into each other on a beach in Venice, California in the summer of
1965 and Morrison told Manzarek that he had been working on some music.
They quickly teamed up with drummer John Densmore and
guitarist Robby Krieger and began playing gigs around Los Angeles. About a year
later, the Doors recorded their debut album for Elektra Records. "We knew
once people heard us, we'd be unstoppable," Manzarek wrote in his memoir.
"We knew what the people wanted: the same thing the Doors wanted.
Freedom."
The Doors didn't have a bassist, so Manzarek often played
the bass parts on his Fender Rhodes piano. He also played a Vox Continental
organ, which can be heard on the famous intro to "Light My Fire" and
numerous other Doors classics. The group shared credit on most songs and split
all profits evenly.
The group carried on for two more
albums after Jim Morrison died in July of 1971, but they split in 1973.
Manzarek remained extremely busy, producing albums for X and playing with Iggy
Pop, Echo and the Bunnymen and others.
"I was deeply
saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek
today," Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement. "I'm
just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last
decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."
RIP, Ray.
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He was multi-talented. All the good musicians are of course.
ReplyDeleteI had not known he had cancer, so this was a bit of a surprise. Oh well...the way of things, I guess.
Delete*sigh* Yeah, my brother sent me a text this evening. I had yet to hear this news.
ReplyDeleteRay was always so positive in every interview I saw him do. He was always smiling and laughing. It looks as if he lived life to the fullest and enjoyed what he did. I hope so.
I was set to listen to the new Jamie Cullum cd tonight, but had to change plans and listen to The Doors instead.
He and The Lizard King must be having one hell of a reunion tonight, huh?
-Jimmy
Jimmy-
DeleteFrom my vantage point (almost 52), 74 does not seem very old, but Ray certainly lived a full life.
Sharing a room with my oldest brother, The Doors were one of my earliest exposures to music.
He did an album last year with a blues guitarist that was quite good-I believe they completed another one early this year.