Ray Manzarek- RIP

[bassman]

Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek died of cancer at age 73. I'm an old fart & saw The Doors live in 1970. I also saw & met Manzarek several times when he did solo shows. He would play & sing Doors classic (Ray had a great voice) as well as jazz & classical compositions. He's also answer questions from the audience. Before each solo show you could find Ray in the parking lot, chatting with fans. No security, no attitude. RIP to a fine musiican & nice guy.

[Colt45]

I think he was probably the driving force behind the Doors - rest peacefully......

[Habanos2000]

I was never a Doors fan, but Ray's talent and musical signature is indelible with American 60's rock.

RIP

[Bartolomeo]

I agree, I made a post about him on my FB page, I love the Doors....

[PaulP]

Godspeed Mr. Manzarek

[kuzi16]

jim may have been the face but Ray made the doors who they were. it was his sound that shaped it.

[CanuckSARTech]

jim may have been the face but Ray made the doors who they were. it was his sound that shaped it.

Very well put. Similar to Ross' post above.

I never had the chance to meet him or attend a live show (sounds AWESOME, bassman), but I definitely enjoyed his music and continuing influence. A definite loss.

[jpn]

The Doors are one of my favorites and Ray always struck me as the quiet leader.

[laficion]

May he rest in peace.

[Guest rob]

It's weird.... This last few months I went on an all out Doors bender... Listened to them nearly every day. Also been watching heaps of old concerts and docos..... Very sad, people always think Morrison when they think Doors - I think of Mazarek's shredding up the keyboard. Those solos were epic!

Watching old interviews, he was clearly the driving force and inspiration.

[Guest rob]

Listen to the album version (not cut radio version) of Light My Fire for a display of ahead of its time Mazarek awesomeness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbFxzb-YIxE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[bassman]

Ray, like Jon Lord of Deep Purple who also recently passed, was classically trained. During the infamous 1968 European tour where The Doors were cobilled with Jefferson Airplane, Ray sang a couple shows where Morrison was too high to go on.

[Bartolomeo]

During the infamous 1968 European tour where The Doors were cobilled with Jefferson Airplane, Ray sang a couple shows where Morrison was too high to go on.

I remember Oasis doing that a couple of times where Noel took over for Liam when Liam was "sick".....

[Blakes]

The doors were almost like religion to me at one point. Such a unique band. R.I.P

http://youtu.be/jLAr-WlxMZY

[dan5974]

I heard this on the way to work today and was kind of saddened by the news even though I've never seen him perform live.I always said he was the driving force behind The Doors.

Bassman you are lucky to have seen The Doors live.I am so jealous.If I could see any music act from history it would definetly been The Doors.Unfortunatly I wasn't born until 1974.

[zappaFREAK]

He was an incredible musician as were the rest of the band. It was and still is very rare to have an organ driving the music but that along with Morrison's poetry and voice seemed to ignite the band. This band had a great deal of influence in my life and miss them dearly. There is a great reunited duo in heaven cranking. just imagine the jamming that goes on up there!!

[bassman]

And I of all people hate to mention it, but the Doors did not have a bassist. Manzarek played the organ fills with his right hand & played the bass line on the lower notes of the organ with his left hand.

One advantage of being old is I saw a lot of great bands. First concert was PInk Floyd in 1968!