Monday 27 May 2013

Music Monday: Goodbye Ray Manzarek

The only thing that ultimately matters is to eat an ice-cream cone, play a slide trombone, plant a small tree, good God, now you're free.

RAY MANZAREK


The Doors; nine studio albums and an incredible back catalogue of tracks that you can either sink down into your chair and relax to or leap up and dance.

It's a sound I've found I can drink, smoke, laugh and cry with, Doesn't matter what mood I'm in, The Doors always hit the spot! Sadly Ray Manzarek died just the other day, keyboard player with The Doors and general all around master of awesomeness.

I checked through some quotes and found he had so many cool things to his c.v, so many great achievements, and funnily he didn't class himself as a great keyboard player at all. In fact he said none of the guys in the band were that good at what they did, it was more that they became something better than the sum of their parts when together.

Obviously Jim Morrison died a long time ago, now Ray is gone too. Two of The Doors left and I gotta say I think I'll be very sad when that number clocks its depressing way down to zero.

I couldn't tell you much about the band and the guys, I tend to stay away from reading too much about bands I like in case they switch me off by being pricks. I couldn't do a dude like Manzarek justice even if I did know a boat load of facts. I'm here to share some of the music and this week; It's all Doors!

You probably expect me to kick off with 'Break on Through' but that ain't gonna happen! Nope, my picks! My plan and my favs! Five tracks and as few words between them as possible.

Enjoy the music.

Thank you Ray.



God I love this song. Everything about it is just pure awesome!



Can't sit still when this one is on either! Love me two times baby! I do indeed love this double fold!



Yes, I know, we need some of the big hitters! I know! You can have one now. Here it is! Lights off, rain on window Paine, smoke rising from the arm chair. Bliss.



We come to the fifth track and as the regulars know we only do five. This is the point where I stick on 'The End' and wrap it up right? Nope! I can't do that, sorry.

When we did our wills (@mamacrow and I) we decided to make sure we wrote down on a file what we wanted to happen at our funerals, kind of takes away from any external pressures that way. No one can say they know better as to what should happen, grave or urn, ashes on the sea or on the mantelpiece?

For me I have many songs that I'd like to hear, but when they push my cold corpse into the fire and I go up in smoke I want this. I love it, it means so much and it is so damn cool.

I think it'll make a cinematic end. :-)





Thanks for listening this week. It's weird when a famous person dies and you feel a connection has gone. I was incredibly sad when Davey Jones of The Monkees died. When I heard the news about Ray Manzarek I didn't cry, I put on some albums and I danced, chilled and felt very greatfull for all the hours of enjoyment I got out of The Doors.

Thank you guys and because it's you we are breaking our Five track rule! Play us out guys!

THE END

2 comments:

  1. A great tribute and what a great band they were, without them The Charlatans, Inspiral Carpets etc would never have been inspired to make an instrument like the organ central to their sound. I know you said you haven't read many stories / interviews about the band but, if you had, you would've read that Ray was a lovely man. Cheers for sharing the memories.

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    1. Thanks for commenting. Huge love for The Doors. They are make my soul sing, if I'm allowed to say that without sounding utterly crap :-)

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