Monday, June 10, 2013

Ray Manzarek, 1939-2013, R.I.P.


Last Friday, while accessing an online obituary for Esther Williams, I learned of yet another death, one which had escaped my notice for two weeks! And so...

Ray Manzarek, best known as the keyboard player for The Doors, died on May 20th of this year. He was 74.

I was and am a huge fan of The Doors. Some of my readers, not so much. So I'm going to keep today's post relatively short and not regale you with all the reasons I appreciate that group! Suffice it to say that, in the years following Jim Morrison's death, I've enjoyed seeing Ray do whatever he could to keep the legend alive... and to keep the dollars rolling in as well!

Ray Manzarek in 2009

And now, for the personal slant I like to add to these tributes:

Before The Doors, Manzarek played in a group called Rick and the Ravens (Rick being Ray's brother). Manzarek was the vocalist, "Screamin' Ray Daniels"... which came from his birth name of Raymond Daniel Manczarek (note the "C"), Jr.


Rick and the Ravens only produced a very few 45s... and I owned the one pictured below -- a promotional copy, no less -- until fairly recently!


Below: A tribute from the Whiskey a Go Go. Before they made it big, The Doors were the house band at the Whiskey.

 

Thanks for your time.

16 comments:

  1. Now them i know at your show and knew he passed too, as I saw it at another zoo. One step ahead of the fox, must have been too busy trying to find his socks lol

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  2. The socks, I can find. Keys, not always.

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    1. I seem to recall a story about you loosing your socks in a gazebo. Was that true or a fantasy? lol...

      I haven't been able to find my spare set of keys to my jeep in over a year!

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    2. The "socks" story was fantasy, although if I remember correctly, quite a good one. Ha.

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  3. I knew about Ray, and felt sad. I'm very fond of The Doors. I knew someone who saw them at The Whisky A Go Go.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Wow, that person's even older than I am!

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    2. Older by a few years. He was quite the wanderer. He partied with Ken Kesey and some other interesting people.

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    3. That must have been fascinating!

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  4. saw this just the other day....they were running a documentary on the doors the other night...they are a bit of my history as well...pretty big on the doors as a kid...

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    1. I actually got really interested in The Doors when I read "No One Here Gets Out Alive." I liked their stuff as a kid, but never knew that much about the band and its members.

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  5. The Doors. You either loved 'em or didn't. Not much equivocation there. They are a part of the extensive musical quilt of my teens. I loved them. They were an LA band, 180 degrees in style from the Beach Boys. So much great music in the 60s & early to mid 70s. Everything I recall doing has a song or record album associated with it. It's how I remember details and amaze my friends.

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    1. Yeah, I know what you mean. I hear old songs and remember girls I dated, comic books I was reading... all sorts of connections.

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  6. I remember well The doors but I never knew this guy and yes I think all the special music we love make us remember things of all type .

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  7. So...why don't you still have that 45rpm record? Did you sell it? Is there a mystery surrounding your loss of this Rick and The Ravens 45?

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    1. No, no mystery. It wasn't in the best of shape, so I decided to sell it a couple of years ago. I only got $25 for it, IIRC.

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