After hearing about the passing of Ray Manzarek, I started to get a little introspective. The Doors were an important part of my musical upbringing that I don’t often talk about. They were the first band of real substance that I fell into heavily. Before that I was listening to Kiss and a lot of other 80’s hair metal stuff because of what was being played on MTV when MTV was still a channel that played music videos.
In 1991 my parents too me to see Oliver Stone’s movie, “The Doors”, in the theater. What followed was 1-2 years of being completely obsessed with them. Odd for an 11-12 year old boy in the early 90’s? Maybe. I’d heard some of their music throughout my entire life. It didnt resonate with me until I saw the film. Shortly after that, I read Danny Sugarman’s “No One Here Gets Out Alive” which really blew everything open. I bought all of their records and read about them as much as I could. As many people initially listening to the Doors, I was fascinated with Jim Morrison’s persona. What’s not to be fascinated with? Sex, Drugs, arrests, and Wiccan Weddings. It was fascinating to me. I bought his books of poetry and for the first time in my life started to appreciate that medium, and for that I am eternally grateful. Think what you will of what history has made of Jim Morrison, but he was a very interesting deep thinker. Unfortunately over time and with people’s fascination (mine too) with celebrity and excess, people tend to look past that inside that alcohol soaked brain was an artist.
That same year (maybe a few months later) I got to meet John Densmore. He was giving a talk at the Learning Annex in NYC and my stepfather (who has had more to do with my musical upbringing and appreciation than anyone else on earth) too me to see him speak. My stepdad isnt much of a Doors fan. He always gotten behind anything I did, especially musical things. Even if that meant dragging him to see Kiss when I was 8. This was different. A little bit more his speed. Densmore was promoting his new memoir, “Riders on the Storm”. An interesting look at a first hand perspective by someone who lived it. He spoke for a while and then he did a signing. When it was my turn, I was awestruck. He asked me my name and he misheard it as Bryan. He started signing and then I corrected him. He said “Ryan? Oh shit. I’m sorry man” and crossed it out and resigned. I was freaking the fuck out! It was a great moment that I will never forget.
As I got older and moved on to different types of music, I never let the Doors get too far away. It wasnt until my late teens and early 20’s when I started playing more music semi-professionally that I realized how groundbreaking their music actually was. There is no other band that sounds anything like the Doors. There are plenty of incredible bands from the 60’s who have influenced thousands of others, and often you can hear it. How many bands can you think of that sound alarmingly like the Beatles? The Stones? The Dead? Shitloads. How many bands can you think of that sound anything like the Doors? Not fucking many, if any. Everyone always says the Cult, but the Cult sounds nothing like the Doors. Ray Manzarek had a whole lot to do with that. Just think about the instrumentation of the Doors for a moment. Vocals, drums, guitar and a keyboard player who played melodies with his right hand and bass guitar lines with his left. I was always fascinated with watching Ray Manzarek play. He always looked like he was steering the musical ship, probably because he was. He was an innovator, and am integral part of one of the greatest and most important bands that rock and roll has ever produced. When I started playing in bands with keyboard players, he was the benchmark that few people could hit. Like Morrison, he too was extraordinarily expressive. I always loved watching interviews with him, because it always felt like he was living in the moment and had a lot to say about it. He is a person I have and had a tremendous amount of respect for.
Last night I got home and I saw that Ray Manzarek was dead. Today I am sad, but extraordinarily thankful for his influence on my life. Musically and otherwise. Thank you, Ray. You will be missed.
What Brings us Together 