1896 Jaybird Coleman*
1931 Blind Bud Spires*
1944 Joe Cocker*
1985 Johnny Fuller+
1993 Clarence Edwards+
2001 Willie Foster+
2003 Joe Guitar Hughes+
2013 Ray Manzarek+
Happy Birthday
Blind Bud Spires *20.05.1931
Bud's the big guy in the bright red shirt, sitting next to his friend Jack Owens
Bud Spires is the son of Arthur “Big Boy” Spires who recorded for Chess Records during the 1950′s & 60′s. Bud was born May 20th, 1931 just north of Bentonia in Anding, MS. Not much more than a wide place in the road, Anding is located just off Highway 49 in Yazoo County. Says he got his first harp from Santa Clause and started playing at 5 years old. At around 12 remembers hearing Cornelius Bright and Bud Slater playing in a juke joint and loved it. He wanted a guitar but settled for a harmonica. Quote Roger Stolle in Blues Revue: “Back that long, they had them high-priced guitars. He (his father) said, ‘No, boy, I’ll give you a harp. I ain’t going to give you a guitar.’ [Laughs.] Back then, for a harp, you didn’t pay but 25 cents.”
Bud wasn’t born blind. It came on slow, likely due to exposure to cotton pesticide. Once while chopping cotton with his mother he was unable to see an airplane overhead. The bossman said he could go see and eye doctor when a rainy day came. But when a rainy day did come he’d have something else for him to do. Vision got progressively worse until he couldn’t drive a tractor and went to work in the gin. Eventually he couldn’t work at all.
Jaybird Coleman *20.05.1896
Burl C. „Jaybird“ Coleman (* 20. Mai 1896 in Gainesville, Alabama; † 28. Januar 1950 in Tuskegee, Alabama) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmundharmonikaspieler, -gitarrist und -sänger. Obwohl sein Mundharmonikaspiel nicht richtungsweisend war, ist er doch ein gutes Beispiel für den Sound der Mundharmonika im Country Blues der frühen 1930er Jahre.[1]
Coleman war das Kind einer Pächterfamilie und arbeitete und wuchs auf der Farm seiner Eltern auf, die neben ihm noch drei weitere Kinder aufzogen. Im Alter von zwölf Jahren begann er mit dem Mundharmonikaspiel. Er spielte auf Partys für seine Familie und seine Freunde. Mit dem Blues wurde er während seiner Dienstzeit in der US-Army bekannt, wo er im Ersten Weltkrieg in der Truppenbetreuung beschäftigt war. Nach seiner Entlassung übersiedelte er nach Birmingham, Alabama wo er an Straßenecken auftrat und manchmal auch bei der Birmingham Jug Band mitspielte. Seine erste Platte nahm er 1927 auf, seine Aufnahmekarriere endete aber bereits 1930. In den 1930er und 1940er Jahren spielte er als Straßenmusikant in ganz Alabama.
Er starb 1950 an Krebs. 1993 veröffentlichte Document Records seine Werke.[2] Seine Werke sind auch auf vielen verschiedenen Zusammenstellungen von Country Blues vertreten.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaybird_Coleman
Burl C. "Jaybird" Coleman (May 20, 1896 – January 28, 1950) was an American country blues harmonica player, guitarist and singer.
Born in Gainesville, Alabama, United States, the son of sharecroppers and one of four children. He was born, raised and worked on a farm, and picked up and learned the harmonica at 12 years of age. Coleman began performing the blues as an entertainer for American soldiers while serving in the United States Army. It was during this period that he was given the nickname "Jaybird" due to his independent manner.[1][2] In the early 1920s, he teamed with fellow bluesman Big Joe Williams as a performer in the Birmingham Jug Band which toured through the American South.[1]
Coleman made his first recordings as a solo artist in 1927. His career as a recording artist lasted only until 1930, after which he performed mostly on street corners throughout Alabama.[2]
He died of cancer at the age of 53 in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1950.Burl C. "Jaybird" Coleman (May 20, 1896 – January 28, 1950) was an American country blues harmonica player, guitarist and singer.
Born in Gainesville, Alabama, United States, the son of sharecroppers and one of four children. He was born, raised and worked on a farm, and picked up and learned the harmonica at 12 years of age. Coleman began performing the blues as an entertainer for American soldiers while serving in the United States Army. It was during this period that he was given the nickname "Jaybird" due to his independent manner.[1][2] In the early 1920s, he teamed with fellow bluesman Big Joe Williams as a performer in the Birmingham Jug Band which toured through the American South.[1]
Coleman made his first recordings as a solo artist in 1927. His career as a recording artist lasted only until 1930, after which he performed mostly on street corners throughout Alabama.[2]
He died of cancer at the age of 53 in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1950.
Born in Gainesville, Alabama, United States, the son of sharecroppers and one of four children. He was born, raised and worked on a farm, and picked up and learned the harmonica at 12 years of age. Coleman began performing the blues as an entertainer for American soldiers while serving in the United States Army. It was during this period that he was given the nickname "Jaybird" due to his independent manner.[1][2] In the early 1920s, he teamed with fellow bluesman Big Joe Williams as a performer in the Birmingham Jug Band which toured through the American South.[1]
Coleman made his first recordings as a solo artist in 1927. His career as a recording artist lasted only until 1930, after which he performed mostly on street corners throughout Alabama.[2]
He died of cancer at the age of 53 in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1950.Burl C. "Jaybird" Coleman (May 20, 1896 – January 28, 1950) was an American country blues harmonica player, guitarist and singer.
Born in Gainesville, Alabama, United States, the son of sharecroppers and one of four children. He was born, raised and worked on a farm, and picked up and learned the harmonica at 12 years of age. Coleman began performing the blues as an entertainer for American soldiers while serving in the United States Army. It was during this period that he was given the nickname "Jaybird" due to his independent manner.[1][2] In the early 1920s, he teamed with fellow bluesman Big Joe Williams as a performer in the Birmingham Jug Band which toured through the American South.[1]
Coleman made his first recordings as a solo artist in 1927. His career as a recording artist lasted only until 1930, after which he performed mostly on street corners throughout Alabama.[2]
He died of cancer at the age of 53 in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1950.
Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends
JOE COCKER Across from Midnight Jour live:Full concert HD dvd
R.I.P.
Clarence Edwards +20.05.1993
Clarence Edwards (March 25, 1933 – May 20, 1993) was an American blues musician from Louisiana, best known for his recordings of "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" and "I Want Somebody".[1] It was not until the late 1980s that Edwards was able to establish his reputation as a blues performer, assisted by his producer and manager Stephen Coleridge.
Edwards was born in Lindsay, Louisiana, one of fourteen children, and relocated with his family at the age of twelve to Baton Rouge. He joined the Boogie Beats, a local blues band, alongside one of his brothers, Cornelius, in the mid-1950s, and later played in the Bluebird Kings. Apart from playing on the local blues circuit, Edwards was shot in his leg during a fracas outside a club in Alsen.[3]
Initially, Edwards found full-time employment on a farm, but later worked for thirty years at Thomas Scrap.[3] Dr. Harry Oster recorded Edwards between 1959 and 1961, with Cornelius, and attendant violin player Butch Cage.[2] By 1970, when he next recorded for Mike Vernon, Edwards had moved from an older styling to a more contemporary approach.[4] Largely unknown until the late 1980s, his localised playing quickly spilled over to the national blues festival circuit.[3]
Swampin' (1991), and Louisiana Swamp Blues, Vol. 4 (1993), showcased the variety of Edwards' work and style, which garnered appreciation in the blues circles. However in May 1993, he died in Louisiana, at the age of 60.[3]
Following his demise, Edwards' earlier work, Swamps the Word, was remastered and reissued on CD.[3] In 2003 the compilation album, I Looked Down That Railroad was released.
Johnny Fuller +20.05.1985
Johnny Fuller (April 20, 1929 – May 20, 1985)[2] was an American West Coast and electric blues singer and guitarist.[1] Fuller showed musical diversity, performing in several musical genres including rhythm and blues, gospel and rock and roll. His distinctive singing and guitar playing appeared on a number of 1950s San Francisco Bay Area recordings, although he ceased performing regularly by the late 1970s.[1] He worked as an auto mechanic from 1968 to 1983. His best known recording, "Haunted House", was later covered with some success by Jumpin' Gene Simmons. His other better known tracks were "Crying Won't Make Me Stay", "All Night Long", "You Got Me Whistling" and "Johnny Ace's Last Letter."[1][2]
He is not to be confused with, nor was related to, the American blues musician, Jesse Fuller.
Fuller was born in Edwards, Mississippi, United States.[2] He relocated with his family in 1945 to Vallejo, California.[3][4]
His musical styling often masked his upbringing in the Deep South, but he spent the majority of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area. As such, he is usually classified as a West Coast bluesman, although he did not stick with one particular genre.[1] Fuller recorded for a number of independent record labels, sometimes those associated with Bob Geddins. These included Heritage, Hollywood, Flair, Specialty, Aladdin, Imperial and Checker Records. His debut recording was made in 1948 on the obscure Jaxyson record label, with a couple of gospel based songs. In 1954, he began a regular recording career which lasted until 1962.[4] Fuller recorded twenty sides in 1954 alone for Geddins.[3]
Fuller had local hits with his singles "All Night Long" and the original version of "Haunted House," the latter of which was written and produced by Geddins. Fuller's ability to switch styles, saw him appear in late 1950s rock and roll package tours, performing on the same bill as Paul Anka and Frankie Avalon.[1] However, this same factor lost his black audience, which left him neglected in the 1960s blues revival.[3]
In 1974, Fuller issued his debut album, Fuller's Blues which was well received,[3][5] but saw little commercial success. Fuller played at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1973 and 1977.
He latterly worked as a mechanic in a local garage until his death from lung cancer in Oakland, California, in May 1985, at the age of 56.
Willie Foster +20.05.2001
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/willie-foster-mn0002293406
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bluesman-willie-foster-dead-at-79.aspx?pageID=438&n=bluesman-willie-foster-dead-at-79-2001-05-22
Raymond
Daniel „Ray“ Manzarek (eigentlich Raymond Manczarek; * 12. Februar 1939
in Chicago, Illinois, USA; † 20. Mai 2013 in Rosenheim, Deutschland)
war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker und Schriftsteller. Bekannt wurde er
als Organist der Rockgruppe The Doors.
Leben
Manzarek wurde 1939 als Sohn einer polnischstämmigen Einwandererfamilie, in der dritten Generation in den Vereinigten Staaten, in Chicago geboren. Schon früh begann er mit klassischen Klavierstunden – wohl eher im Kontext einer bürgerlichen Erziehung – und seine Begabung bildete sich langsam heraus.
Nach seinem College-Abschluss 1960 beschloss Manzarek, an der University of California in Los Angeles zu studieren, wo er Jim Morrison kennenlernte. Die aufstrebenden Intellektuellen schlossen schnell Freundschaft, Morrison bewohnte sogar einige Zeit mit Ray und dessen Freundin Dorothy dieselbe Wohnung. Manzarek machte in dieser Zeit erste ausgiebige Drogenerfahrungen: Vornehmlich konsumierte er Marihuana, allerdings auch das aufkommende LSD.
Nach dem Tod Morrisons und der Auflösung der Band versuchte auch Ray Manzarek sich als Solo-Interpret zu verwirklichen, hatte allerdings keinen großen Erfolg. Erwähnen ließe sich beispielsweise das Album The Golden Scarab (1974), seine Zusammenarbeit mit Nite City oder die elektronische Adaption der Carmina Burana (1983).
Im Jahr 2002 gründete Manzarek zusammen mit Robby Krieger, Ty Dennis und dem Frontmann der Band The Cult, Ian Astbury die Band The Doors of the 21st Century, die sich nach einem abermaligen Rechtsstreit mit John Densmore und den Eltern von Jim Morrison im Jahr 2005 „Riders on the Storm“ nannte.[1][2] Zuletzt traten Manzarek und Krieger als Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors auf.
Aufgrund eines Gallengangskarzinoms ließ sich Manzarek von Friedrich Douwes in der St.-Georg-Klinik in Bad Aibling behandeln. Angesichts seines schlechten Zustands wurde er in eine Klinik in Rosenheim verlegt, wo er im Alter von 74 Jahren an den Folgen seiner Krankheit verstarb.[3][4]
Zitat
„Die Gegenwart ist doch entsetzlich. Wir leben in genau dem zynischen Alptraum, vor dem wir in den Sechzigern immer gewarnt hatten.“
– Ray Manzarek: Pressekonferenz im Sommer 1997.
Raymond
Daniel Manczarek Jr. (February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013), known as Ray
Manzarek, was an American musician, singer, producer, film director, and
author, best known as a founding member and keyboardist of The Doors
from 1965 to 1973. He was a co-founding member of Nite City from 1977 to
1978, and of Manzarek–Krieger from 2001 to his death.
Biography
Early life and career
Manzarek was of Polish descent, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, as were his parents, Helena and Raymond Manzarek, Sr.[1] Growing up, he took private piano lessons from Bruno Michelotti and others. He originally wanted to play basketball, but he only wanted to play power forward or center. When he was sixteen his coach insisted either he play guard or not at all and he quit the team. Manzarek said later if it was not for that ultimatum, he might never have been with the Doors. He went to Everett Elementary School on South Bell Street and attended St. Rita High School in Chicago.[2] He graduated from DePaul University with a degree in economics and played in many shows at the school.
From 1962 to 1965, he studied in the Department of Cinematography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he met film student Jim Morrison. At UCLA, he also met Dorothy Fujikawa, whom he married. At the time Manzarek was in a band called Rick and the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim.[3] Forty days after finishing film school, thinking they had gone their separate ways, Manzarek and Morrison met by chance on Venice Beach in California. Morrison said he had written some songs, and Manzarek expressed an interest in hearing them, whereupon Morrison sang rough versions of "Moonlight Drive", "My Eyes Have Seen You" and "Summer's Almost Gone". Manzarek liked the songs and co-founded the Doors with Morrison at that moment.
Manzarek met drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger at a Transcendental Meditation lecture. Densmore says, "There wouldn't be any Doors without Maharishi."[4]
In January 1966, the Doors became the house band at the London Fog on the Sunset Strip. According to Manzarek, "Nobody ever came in the place...an occasional sailor or two on leave, a few drunks. All in all it was a very depressing experience, but it gave us time to really get the music together." The same day the Doors were fired from the London Fog, they were hired to be the house band of the Whisky a Go Go. Their first performance at the Whisky was with the group Them.[5]
The Doors' first recording contract was with Columbia Records. After a few months of inactivity, they learned they were on Columbia's drop list. At that point, they asked to be released from their contract. After a few months of live gigs, Jac Holzman "rediscovered" the Doors and signed them to Elektra Records.
The Doors lacked a bassist, so Manzarek usually played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes PianoBass. His signature sound is that of the Vox Continental combo organ, an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era. He later used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo combo organ (which looks like a Farfisa) because the Continental's plastic keys frequently broke, according to Manzarek.
Manzarek occasionally sang for the Doors, including the live recording "Close To You" and on the B-side of "Love Her Madly," "You Need Meat (Don't Go No Further)." He also sang on the last two Doors albums, recorded after Morrison's death, Other Voices and Full Circle. Additionally, he provided one of several guitar parts on the song "Been Down So Long."
Later career and influence
Manzarek played in several groups after the Doors, including Nite City.[5] He recorded a rock adaptation of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with Philip Glass, played with Iggy Pop, backed one track on the eponymous 1987 album Echo & the Bunnymen, backed San Francisco poet Michael McClure's poetry readings and did improvisational composition with poet Michael C. Ford.[6] He also worked extensively with "Hearts of Fire" screenwriter and former SRC front man Scott Richardson[7] on a series of spoken word and blues recordings entitled "Tornado Souvenirs".
Manzarek produced Los Angeles, the 1980 inaugural album of the punk band X,[8] also contributing on keyboards.[9]
His memoir, Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors, was published in 1998. The Poet in Exile (2001) is a novel exploring the urban legend that Jim Morrison may have faked his death. Manzarek's second novel, Snake Moon, released in April 2006, is a Civil War ghost story.
In 2000, a collaboration poetry album entitled Freshly Dug was released with British singer, poet, actor and pioneer Punk rocker Darryl Read. Read had previously worked with Manzarek on the Beat Existentialist album in 1994, and their last poetical and musical collaboration was in 2007 with the album Bleeding Paradise.
Also in 2000, he co-wrote, directed the film Love Her Madly,[10] which was credited to a story idea by Jim Morrison.[11] The film was shown at the closing night of the 2004 Santa Cruz Film Festival,[12] but otherwise received limited distribution and critical review.
In 2006, he collaborated with composer and trumpeter Bal. The album that resulted, Atonal Head, is an exploration in the realm of electronica. The two musicians integrated jazz, rock, ethnic and classical music into their computer-based creations.
On August 4, 2007, Manzarek hosted a program on BBC Radio 2 about the 40th anniversary of the recording of "Light My Fire" and the group's musical and spiritual influences.
In April 2009, Manzarek and Robby Krieger appeared as special guests for Daryl Hall's monthly concert webcast Live From Daryl's House. They performed several Doors tunes ("People Are Strange", "The Crystal Ship", "Roadhouse Blues" and "Break on Through (To the Other Side)") with Hall providing lead vocals.
After living many years in Hollywood, Manzarek moved to Napa County, California, to a house that he remodeled extensively.[13] In his last years he played with local bands in the Napa area.[14]
In 2009, Manzarek collaborated with "Weird Al" Yankovic, by playing keyboards on the single "Craigslist", which is a pastiche of The Doors.[15] On the day of Manzarek's death, Yankovic published a personal video of this studio session which he said had been an "extreme honor" and "one of the absolute high points of my life".[16]
Manzarek was a co-producer on a few tracks for Universal Recording artist Michael Barber. A track appeared on the Internet, titled "Be Ok", on Barber's Universal Records debut.
In May 2010, Manzarek recorded with slide guitarist Roy Rogers in Studio D in Sausalito. Their album, Translucent Blues, released in mid-2011, was ranked No. 3 on the Top 100 Roots Rock Albums of 2011 by The Roots Music Report.[17]
In February 2012, Manzarek recorded Breakn' a Sweat with DJ Skrillex and his fellow members Robby Krieger and John Densmore.
Personal life and death
Manzarek married Dorothy Aiko Fujikawa in Los Angeles on December 21, 1967, with Jim Morrison and his long time companion, Pamela Courson, as witnesses. Manzarek and Fujikawa remained married until his death. They had a son, Pablo, and three grandchildren.[8]
Around early 2013, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and traveled to Germany for special treatment. On May 20, 2013, Manzarek died at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 74.[18][19] Robby Krieger said, "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."[19] John Densmore said, "There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison's words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother."[20]
Greg Harris, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said in reaction to Manzarek's death that "The world of rock 'n' roll lost one of its greats with the passing of Ray Manzarek."[21] Harris also said that "he was instrumental in shaping one of the most influential, controversial and revolutionary groups of the '60s. Such memorable tracks as 'Light My Fire', 'People are Strange' and 'Hello, I Love You' – to name but a few – owe much to Manzarek's innovative playing."[22] At 9:31 on May 21, The Whiskey a Go Go and other clubs that the Doors played, dimmed their lights in his memory. An invitation-only memorial service (Ray's celebration of life) was held on June 9 in the Napa Opera House.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bluesman-willie-foster-dead-at-79.aspx?pageID=438&n=bluesman-willie-foster-dead-at-79-2001-05-22
Ray Manzarek +20.05.2013
http://blueskalender.blogspot.de/p/ray-manzarek-20.html
Raymond
Daniel „Ray“ Manzarek (eigentlich Raymond Manczarek; * 12. Februar 1939
in Chicago, Illinois, USA; † 20. Mai 2013 in Rosenheim, Deutschland)
war ein US-amerikanischer Musiker und Schriftsteller. Bekannt wurde er
als Organist der Rockgruppe The Doors.Leben
Manzarek wurde 1939 als Sohn einer polnischstämmigen Einwandererfamilie, in der dritten Generation in den Vereinigten Staaten, in Chicago geboren. Schon früh begann er mit klassischen Klavierstunden – wohl eher im Kontext einer bürgerlichen Erziehung – und seine Begabung bildete sich langsam heraus.
Nach seinem College-Abschluss 1960 beschloss Manzarek, an der University of California in Los Angeles zu studieren, wo er Jim Morrison kennenlernte. Die aufstrebenden Intellektuellen schlossen schnell Freundschaft, Morrison bewohnte sogar einige Zeit mit Ray und dessen Freundin Dorothy dieselbe Wohnung. Manzarek machte in dieser Zeit erste ausgiebige Drogenerfahrungen: Vornehmlich konsumierte er Marihuana, allerdings auch das aufkommende LSD.
Nach dem Tod Morrisons und der Auflösung der Band versuchte auch Ray Manzarek sich als Solo-Interpret zu verwirklichen, hatte allerdings keinen großen Erfolg. Erwähnen ließe sich beispielsweise das Album The Golden Scarab (1974), seine Zusammenarbeit mit Nite City oder die elektronische Adaption der Carmina Burana (1983).
Im Jahr 2002 gründete Manzarek zusammen mit Robby Krieger, Ty Dennis und dem Frontmann der Band The Cult, Ian Astbury die Band The Doors of the 21st Century, die sich nach einem abermaligen Rechtsstreit mit John Densmore und den Eltern von Jim Morrison im Jahr 2005 „Riders on the Storm“ nannte.[1][2] Zuletzt traten Manzarek und Krieger als Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors auf.
Aufgrund eines Gallengangskarzinoms ließ sich Manzarek von Friedrich Douwes in der St.-Georg-Klinik in Bad Aibling behandeln. Angesichts seines schlechten Zustands wurde er in eine Klinik in Rosenheim verlegt, wo er im Alter von 74 Jahren an den Folgen seiner Krankheit verstarb.[3][4]
Zitat
„Die Gegenwart ist doch entsetzlich. Wir leben in genau dem zynischen Alptraum, vor dem wir in den Sechzigern immer gewarnt hatten.“
– Ray Manzarek: Pressekonferenz im Sommer 1997.
Raymond
Daniel Manczarek Jr. (February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013), known as Ray
Manzarek, was an American musician, singer, producer, film director, and
author, best known as a founding member and keyboardist of The Doors
from 1965 to 1973. He was a co-founding member of Nite City from 1977 to
1978, and of Manzarek–Krieger from 2001 to his death.Biography
Early life and career
Manzarek was of Polish descent, born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, as were his parents, Helena and Raymond Manzarek, Sr.[1] Growing up, he took private piano lessons from Bruno Michelotti and others. He originally wanted to play basketball, but he only wanted to play power forward or center. When he was sixteen his coach insisted either he play guard or not at all and he quit the team. Manzarek said later if it was not for that ultimatum, he might never have been with the Doors. He went to Everett Elementary School on South Bell Street and attended St. Rita High School in Chicago.[2] He graduated from DePaul University with a degree in economics and played in many shows at the school.
From 1962 to 1965, he studied in the Department of Cinematography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he met film student Jim Morrison. At UCLA, he also met Dorothy Fujikawa, whom he married. At the time Manzarek was in a band called Rick and the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim.[3] Forty days after finishing film school, thinking they had gone their separate ways, Manzarek and Morrison met by chance on Venice Beach in California. Morrison said he had written some songs, and Manzarek expressed an interest in hearing them, whereupon Morrison sang rough versions of "Moonlight Drive", "My Eyes Have Seen You" and "Summer's Almost Gone". Manzarek liked the songs and co-founded the Doors with Morrison at that moment.
Manzarek met drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger at a Transcendental Meditation lecture. Densmore says, "There wouldn't be any Doors without Maharishi."[4]
In January 1966, the Doors became the house band at the London Fog on the Sunset Strip. According to Manzarek, "Nobody ever came in the place...an occasional sailor or two on leave, a few drunks. All in all it was a very depressing experience, but it gave us time to really get the music together." The same day the Doors were fired from the London Fog, they were hired to be the house band of the Whisky a Go Go. Their first performance at the Whisky was with the group Them.[5]
The Doors' first recording contract was with Columbia Records. After a few months of inactivity, they learned they were on Columbia's drop list. At that point, they asked to be released from their contract. After a few months of live gigs, Jac Holzman "rediscovered" the Doors and signed them to Elektra Records.
The Doors lacked a bassist, so Manzarek usually played the bass parts on a Fender Rhodes PianoBass. His signature sound is that of the Vox Continental combo organ, an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era. He later used a Gibson G-101 Kalamazoo combo organ (which looks like a Farfisa) because the Continental's plastic keys frequently broke, according to Manzarek.
Manzarek occasionally sang for the Doors, including the live recording "Close To You" and on the B-side of "Love Her Madly," "You Need Meat (Don't Go No Further)." He also sang on the last two Doors albums, recorded after Morrison's death, Other Voices and Full Circle. Additionally, he provided one of several guitar parts on the song "Been Down So Long."
Later career and influence
Manzarek played in several groups after the Doors, including Nite City.[5] He recorded a rock adaptation of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with Philip Glass, played with Iggy Pop, backed one track on the eponymous 1987 album Echo & the Bunnymen, backed San Francisco poet Michael McClure's poetry readings and did improvisational composition with poet Michael C. Ford.[6] He also worked extensively with "Hearts of Fire" screenwriter and former SRC front man Scott Richardson[7] on a series of spoken word and blues recordings entitled "Tornado Souvenirs".
Manzarek produced Los Angeles, the 1980 inaugural album of the punk band X,[8] also contributing on keyboards.[9]
His memoir, Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors, was published in 1998. The Poet in Exile (2001) is a novel exploring the urban legend that Jim Morrison may have faked his death. Manzarek's second novel, Snake Moon, released in April 2006, is a Civil War ghost story.
In 2000, a collaboration poetry album entitled Freshly Dug was released with British singer, poet, actor and pioneer Punk rocker Darryl Read. Read had previously worked with Manzarek on the Beat Existentialist album in 1994, and their last poetical and musical collaboration was in 2007 with the album Bleeding Paradise.
Also in 2000, he co-wrote, directed the film Love Her Madly,[10] which was credited to a story idea by Jim Morrison.[11] The film was shown at the closing night of the 2004 Santa Cruz Film Festival,[12] but otherwise received limited distribution and critical review.
In 2006, he collaborated with composer and trumpeter Bal. The album that resulted, Atonal Head, is an exploration in the realm of electronica. The two musicians integrated jazz, rock, ethnic and classical music into their computer-based creations.
On August 4, 2007, Manzarek hosted a program on BBC Radio 2 about the 40th anniversary of the recording of "Light My Fire" and the group's musical and spiritual influences.
In April 2009, Manzarek and Robby Krieger appeared as special guests for Daryl Hall's monthly concert webcast Live From Daryl's House. They performed several Doors tunes ("People Are Strange", "The Crystal Ship", "Roadhouse Blues" and "Break on Through (To the Other Side)") with Hall providing lead vocals.
After living many years in Hollywood, Manzarek moved to Napa County, California, to a house that he remodeled extensively.[13] In his last years he played with local bands in the Napa area.[14]
In 2009, Manzarek collaborated with "Weird Al" Yankovic, by playing keyboards on the single "Craigslist", which is a pastiche of The Doors.[15] On the day of Manzarek's death, Yankovic published a personal video of this studio session which he said had been an "extreme honor" and "one of the absolute high points of my life".[16]
Manzarek was a co-producer on a few tracks for Universal Recording artist Michael Barber. A track appeared on the Internet, titled "Be Ok", on Barber's Universal Records debut.
In May 2010, Manzarek recorded with slide guitarist Roy Rogers in Studio D in Sausalito. Their album, Translucent Blues, released in mid-2011, was ranked No. 3 on the Top 100 Roots Rock Albums of 2011 by The Roots Music Report.[17]
In February 2012, Manzarek recorded Breakn' a Sweat with DJ Skrillex and his fellow members Robby Krieger and John Densmore.
Personal life and death
Manzarek married Dorothy Aiko Fujikawa in Los Angeles on December 21, 1967, with Jim Morrison and his long time companion, Pamela Courson, as witnesses. Manzarek and Fujikawa remained married until his death. They had a son, Pablo, and three grandchildren.[8]
Around early 2013, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and traveled to Germany for special treatment. On May 20, 2013, Manzarek died at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 74.[18][19] Robby Krieger said, "I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."[19] John Densmore said, "There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison's words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother."[20]
Greg Harris, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said in reaction to Manzarek's death that "The world of rock 'n' roll lost one of its greats with the passing of Ray Manzarek."[21] Harris also said that "he was instrumental in shaping one of the most influential, controversial and revolutionary groups of the '60s. Such memorable tracks as 'Light My Fire', 'People are Strange' and 'Hello, I Love You' – to name but a few – owe much to Manzarek's innovative playing."[22] At 9:31 on May 21, The Whiskey a Go Go and other clubs that the Doors played, dimmed their lights in his memory. An invitation-only memorial service (Ray's celebration of life) was held on June 9 in the Napa Opera House.
RAY MANZAREK-RIDERS ON THE STORM
The doors & Scott Stapp - Riders on the storm
The Doors featuring Pat Monahan - Love Me Two Times
Joe "Guitar" Hughes - Going Fishing
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