Ray Manzarek Dead: But The Doors Will Live On

The man who added the haunting keyboards to Jim Morrison's dreary and macabre lyrics has passed at the age of 74.

Together, along with John Densmore and Robbie Krieger, formed The Doors.

Much like The Beatles their lifespan was quite short but their influence and impact runs deep. That's what happens when you come up with a unique sound with a good looking but troubled front man.

You get one of the all-time American rock bands with a fanatical (almost cult-like) fan base.

Land Ho!

Love me two times/Texas Radio and the big beat (from Alive! She Cried one of my all-time favorite albums)

Or as a mathematically inclined buddy once called it in one of his less sober moments: Love me 112.2 times.

L.A. Woman holds a special place for me because of it brings back a time when we drove back to Montreal after a long night partying in Quebec City. Actually we headed for the small town of Lorraine 30 minutes north of Montreal for a 10am soccer match. After the game we were exhausted and running on nothing but adrenalin. Did we surround ourselves with lavender in the car? Did we sip some tisane to calm us down? Did play soft 'sounds of the oceans or forests' music?

Nope.

We played L.A. Woman  - and sang it all the way back home. The last pit stop we made was at a gas station. The car by that point was bouncing as we sang. I could barely gas up as I laughed uncontrollably.

His sister later on ran into the house telling him about the psychos she had just seen at the gas station. "You won't believe what I just saw! People were wondering if they should call the police!"

"Oh" he replied.

"Must have been Pat."

"Know what? Come to think of it, one of the guys did look like Pat! Wait a second...what car does T.C. drive?"

Rock on.

***

Often we have the discussion of why the British have so many legendary rock bands. Howard Stern asked Rod Stewart why that was so and his answer was simple- and one I've observed and mentioned in the past: "We're just playing back your music."

As any rock enthusiast knows, the British were influenced by American rhythm and blues (Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and an endless stream of both legendary and forgotten bluesmen). 1950s rock from Elvis to Diddley to Little Richard (to name a precious few) and even Motown in the late 1960s. The base root of British rock is American.