Ray Manzarek – The Doors

Published on May 21st, 2013

The-Doors

Sadly, the great Ray Manzarek passed away today. Sean Sennett interviewed Ray as The Doors celebrated their 40th Anniversary in 2007 with a series of re-issues. 

RAY Manzarek is on a mission. In Australia for a whirlwind promotional tour, The Doors’ keyboard whiz is juggling activities to coincide with the group’s 40th anniversary.

Walking from one Sydney radio station to another, via the fish markets, Manzarek is on his publicist’s phone doing an interview. Who else, other that Manzarek, would be granted an on-air chat with both Triple J and 4KQ on the same day?

Four decades after The Doors defined the Summer of Love in 1967, the band still sells more than a million CDs a year.

Between 1967 and 1971, The Doors released six fine albums: The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting For The Sun, Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel and LA Woman.

When Jim Morrison, the band’s charismatic vocalist, was found dead at 27, in 1971, in a Paris bathtub, interest in the band went into overdrive. By the beginning of the ’80s, Morrison was on the cover of Rolling Stone with the tag, “He’s hot, he’s sexy, he’s dead”.

That was the decade when The Doors were selling more albums than they did in their heyday. Now, as a new generation of seekers checks out their music, The Doors are among the most downloaded bands on iTunes.

With every passing year there seems to be another Doors’ event, whether it be a compilation, a re-issue, a film or a lawsuit. And, without fail, every year, the fans turn out in droves to buy, or rebuy, the band’s material.

In an effort to keep their music fresh, the band has made a bold step with their new collection, The Doors – The Very Best Of.

For the first time in 3½ decades, the group’s remaining members – Manzarek, guitarist Robbie Krieger and drummer John Densmore, along with original engineer Bruce Botnick – have re-entered the studio to revisit their master tapes and remix tunes for the package.

“We went to the original multi-tracks and said, ‘Let’s use things that haven’t been heard before’,” begins Manzarek in his distinctive Los Angeles baritone.

“Let’s use state-of-the art technology and mix all over again.” These remixes allow The Doors’ audience to hear the band again in a marginally altered state.

If you’ve heard Roadhouse Blues a million times, you haven’t heard it quite like this. Extra effects were found on the tapes, Robbie Krieger came across the odd guitar lick previously missing in action, backing vocals and phrases sung by Morrison that were long forgotten have resurfaced and Manzarek’s keys have a new chance to shine.

“I know all of the things that are on there,” says Manzarek of the sonic excavation.

“When I heard the original tracks, I remembered everything. The surprise for me is the sound – it’s so good. It’s like being in the recording studio with The Doors. You put earphones on and it’s like we’re inviting the audience right into the studio.

“We mixed everything all over again, to make it sound brighter and cleaner and hotter. We were like, ‘Let’s put the drums up front and kick some ass here’.”

The tapes did need restoration, but, as Manzarek admits, the likes of Hello I Love You, Touch Me and People Are Strange, among others, sound nothing short of pristine.

“The tapes needed to be baked and transferred, otherwise all of those little magnetic things (that hold the tape together) come off when the tape is rolling. Basically, I’m a keyboard player. I know the chord Em9th, and I can tell you about it. But ask me about technological things and I’ll say, ‘Bruce, where are you?’.

“Bruce was with us when we recorded the first album. It’s the same team. We’ve lost a couple of members; they’re at the roadhouse cafe in heaven and they’re rocking every night with no hangovers.”

In keeping with the 40th anniversary, The Doors – The Very Best Of comes in a litany of guises. Compiled by the good people at collectables haven Rhino, the set appears as a single CD, a double CD and a double CD with a DVD component. If you’re not confused yet, or completely out of cash, other editions are available at iTunes that feature bonus remixes of tracks produced by contemporary DJs Paul Oakenfeld, Adam Freeland and The Crystal Method.

Compared with the original Hello I Love You, Freeland’s remix is nothing short of a travesty.

Manzarek disagrees.

“It was the collective (who decided to do the remixes),” he assures me. “We were all very excited about it. It’s a new way of approaching music. I love it myself. I think it’s great. I love to hear what other people do with The Doors.

“Sampling is great. We did the same thing, except we couldn’t cut and paste.

“We were always borrowing and taking parts from other people. The introduction to Soul Kitchen has me playing a part that James Brown’s horns played, except that I’m on the organ.

“We were cutting and sampling, except that we were doing it with our fingers. We’ve always been advocates of it.”

If you’re opting to stick with the original Doors’ releases, there’s more news there, too.

The band’s entire back catalogue has recently been remastered. (Remastering simply takes the albums that we know and enhances the sound, restoring the work to how it should be heard; making the new discs infinitely better that original CD you forked out your hard-earned for 10 years ago).

Each of the Doors studio albums has been sonically enhanced with bonus tracks and, in certain cases, some DVD footage as well.

Rhino recently sold out of the stylish landmark box set that housed the entire Doors’ collection, Perception. At least 20,000 flew off the shelves in just three weeks.

For audiophiles, coming soon is a limited edition vinyl run. There will be 7500 available, confirms Manzarek, “and they’re all numbered”.

But all is not plain sailing. Arrangements came unstuck for the surviving threesome some years ago when Cadillac offered them a reported $US15 million in the hope of using Break On Through for a commercial. While Krieger and Manzarek were keen, Densmore offered a flat “No”.

“People lost their virginity to this music,” he said at the time, “got high for the first time to this music. I’ve had people say kids died in Vietnam listening to this music.

“Other people say they know someone who didn’t commit suicide because of this music. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That’s not for rent.”

Things unravelled further when Krieger and Manzarek recruited The Cult’s Ian Astbury to front their touring band, The 21st Century Doors. To their credit, the band played a blinder on their 2005 Brisbane date, but Densmore refuses to see The Doors compromised. He slapped an injunction on them.

“We’re hoping to be back later this year, or early next year,” continues the resilient Manzarek. “When we played last time we were ‘The Doors of the 21st Century’, but the judge has said we can’t use the name The Doors in any way, shape, or form; so we’re now called The Riders On The Storm.

“We have a new lead singer. Ian Astbury is off to continue his life as a member of The Cult, so we’ve got Brett Scallions from Fuel; a great singer. He’s got a great big ballsy voice. We start rehearsals in two weeks; we’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be Doors’ songs with a new lead singer. It’s exciting.”

Despite the hiccups, Manzarek is hopeful the three survivors will work together again. Recently there was a fan event on their old haunt Sunset Strip where Densmore read Morrison’s poetry while Krieger and Manzarek later jammed with Perry Farrell and Slash. A similar event is likely in London mid-year. There’s even, potentially, a new album from Manzarek and Krieger in the offing.

The Doors – The Very Best Of is out now through Rhino/Warner Music