Ray Manzarek tickling the keyboard during a live performance.

The Doors were a distinctive band, but there were two aspects that stuck out more than others in their awesome sound.  The first was the baritone caterwaul of poetry coming from the mouth of Jim Morrison.  The other is the awesome keyboard work of Ray Manzarek.  Morrison died in 1971, but Manzarek was able to live on, continue performing, write books, produce music, work on films, and generally have a rich full life for many years.  Now, that life is over.  Ray Manzarek has died at age 74.

Ray Manzarek met Jim Morrison at UCLA film school in 1965.  Morrison read Manzarek some song lyrics, and that was the lynchpin for the legendary rock band getting together to push against boundaries both musically and lyrically.  The Doors were a blend of rock, blues, jazz, and poetry, and the work of Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger, and drummer John Densmore were at least as important to the band’s success as Morrison, though they tend to be overlooked in the shadow of Morrison’s genius.

Manzarek died surrounded by friends and family at his home in Rosenheim, Germany.  He had been struggling with bile duct cancer.

Tags: ray manzarek, the doors, ray manzarek dead, ray manzarek dead at 74, doors organist ray manzarek is dead, the doors, jim morrison, rosenheim, germany, bile duct cancer, musucians, rock music, rock and roll hall of fame, robbie krieger, john densmore, music, light my fire

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]