The same could be said for Ray Manzarek. Without his underrated touch on keyboards, helping keep the rhythm on the bass pedals, and his meeting up with Morrison at UCLA, The Doors' sound could have never been the same.
The Doors gave it their best shot without Morrison, recording two albums after he died in July of 1971. Manzarek didn't stop there, not by a long shot, even coming up with the Doors of the 21st Century in 2002. The magic came in its original form.
When word of Manzarek's death from a battle with bile duct cancer came on Monday, many people didn't want to believe it. A hoax had already made the rounds in the days before. This time, though, it was no hoax. Manzarek was gone at age 74.
The vital cog in the existence of The Doors is gone. The music remains.
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| Ray Manzarek |
John, you should check out Terry Gross' interview with Manzarek on NPR's Fresh Air. It was an older interview they replayed after Manzarek's passing. I always had an inkling he was the "musical director" of The Doors, but I never realized how much and how talented he truly was.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/2013/05/24/185827139/remembering-ray-manzarek-keyboardist-for-the-doors