Posted on 05/20/2013 3:23:21 PM PDT by the scotsman
'Ray Manzarek, a founding member of 1960s rock group The Doors has died at the age of 74, the group's manager Tom Vitorino has said.
Keyboardist Manzarek died in Rosenheim, Germany, following a battle with bile duct cancer, the band said in a statement.
Singer Jim Morrison and Manzarek formed The Doors in 1965 after a chance meeting at Los Angeles' Venice Beach, and Manzarek's keyboard work would go on to be a touchstone of hits like "Break On Through to the Other Side" and "Light My Fire."
"I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today," The 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."'
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
RIP, Ray.
Or “Break On Through to the Other Side”
Met him once at a Warren Zevon concert.
Nice guy.
Awwwwww. Truly one of the most original keyboardists of our time. Sad to see him go..
I hate to hear this and know he is, now, in a better place - probably getting high with JM. I saw him not more than 15 years ago at UCA in Conway AR. I’m starting to feel old...
No one here gets out alive. Great music from the doors.RIP
I know some bass players who are probably taking an inappropriate amount of glee in this.
Manzarek was The Doors. He played bass and keyboards simultaneously and either wrote or fleshed-out most of Morrison’s ideas for songs
Morrison was preening, pretentious, troubled, artsy drug-addict necessary for most successful 60’s and 70’s rock bands.
The keyboard music on “L.A. Woman” was great. I saw a documentary on the Doors that described how they did it. Very interesting. Another bit of Doors trivia, Jim Morrison’s father Rear Admiral Steve Morrison lived in Coronado, CA until he died in November 2008.Admiral Morrison was senior officer present aboard the U.S.S. Constellation at the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964. RIP.
I just hope they don't play L'America at the funeral, the song sounds great, but kind of creepy and evil.
As far as I was concerned, the first US superband
The Doors lacked a bassist, so Manzarek usually played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes piano. His signature sound is that of the Vox Continental combo organ, an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era. He later used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo combo organ (which looks like a Farfisa) because the Continental's plastic keys frequently broke, according to Manzarek.
“Out here we is stoned - immaculate.”
If I ever had to sing a song live it would be to LA Woman.
Excellent comment. Manzarek also took over the vocals at concerts where Morrison was too incapacitated to perform. I was always amazed at how he could play the bass and keyboard parts simultaneously.
Or “When the Music’s Over”...turn out the lights.
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