Remembering Ray Manzarek: 1939-2013

There are not many individuals that have truly changed the course of music as we know it, so few who are such an integral part of any band as Ray Manzarek was to The Doors. Together with Jim Morrison, John Densmore and Robby Krieger, he helped to change the sound of the sixties and left behind a wonderful catalogue of music that is not likely to fade away.

I remember the first time I heard the Doors, my guitar player Nick and I were sitting in his room, he put on the L.A. Woman Vinyl and we smoked some shwag weed and that record blew our fuckin minds. I mean, here is a guy who played rock n roll with so much soul that the record practically was dripping wet with it. From then on, we spent our days interpreting the Doors works and doing our best renditions of the all songs from that album.

Until I heard that album, I had never known blues music could be so dynamic. One thing that was so unique about The Doors was the fact that they completely omitted the role of the bass player throughout most of their career.  Even so, Ray Manzareck almost single handedly influenced how I approach bass guitar. Before I ever knew he played all the bass lines on his Fender Rhoads with his left hand, I remember trying to copy those riffs on my old Washburn. His Coltrane inspired work on Light my fire, his haunting bass riff on Riders on the Storm, the way his melody lines and tight rhythms tied everything together like the Dudes rug, I was even trying to mimic his organ sounds on my guitar , albeit unsuccessfully at the time. By opening the doors of musical perception, their self-applied moniker was to be more prophetic and appropriate than they could have known.

Underneath the mysticism and mysterious veneer, was the music that captures the soul of the beatnik poets and blended it with the peace and love ethics of the hippie movement. While Jim Morrison may have been the face of The Doors, Manzarek was the sound. Ray embodied so much of what made the Doors so unique. Baroque, classical, jazz, blues, Cabaret, Chamber music- all of this is heard in his style. Blend that with Jim Morrison’s LSD induced poetry and Robby Krieger’s jazz and blues laden guitar riffs, add a healthy dose of John Densmore on percussion and you get the sound of the Venice Beach summer in California in 1965 and with that sound, they changed the world of music forever. 

Together, they accomplished a sound and feel that had never before been accomplished or since replicated. And to think none of it would have happened if not for one chance encounter in Venice Beach between Morrison and Manzareck in the summer of ’65 in which Jim remarked he had been writing songs. Manzarek heard Jim sing an a capella version Moonlight Drive and that was it. They put a band together. The rest is history.

Looking back in reflection I realize I don’t have the adequate words to describe the man and his music. Ray Manzareck was perhaps most innovative creators of rock in the mid to late 60’s and his melodies are forever with us. The man inspired legions of musicians and added a distinct sound that helped to define the 1960’s.  Even now, my grief unfolds and I realize how intimately I knew the man through his unique music. Thank you for creating my summers and letting me know what music can be when we are fearless in pursuit of our muse.

Ray Manzarek died after a long battle with Bile Duct cancer Sunday night at 9:15 pm in Germany. If there is comfort to be found, it’s that he no longer suffers firm that horrible disease. He was 72 years of age. HE is survived by his wife Dorothy and his son Pablo.