Editing Ray Manzarek (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Raymond Daniel Manczarek Jr. was born and raised on the [[South Side (Chicago)|South Side]] of Chicago, Illinois. He was born to parents of Polish descent,{{sfn|Manzarek|1999|p=20}} Helena Kolenda{{sfn|Manzarek|1999|p=21}} (1918–2012) and Raymond Manczarek Sr. (1914–1986).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/article.php/24783/article |title=Doors Legend Doors In|work=The Warsaw Voice|access-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/512088/the-doors-ray-manzarek/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301202743/http://www.mtv.com/news/512088/the-doors-ray-manzarek/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2021|title=The Doors' Ray Manzarek|last=Tortorici|first=Frank|date=February 11, 1999|website=[[MTV.com]]|access-date=June 25, 2016}}</ref> His grandparents emigrated from [[Congress of Poland|Poland]] in the 1890s.{{sfn|Weidman|2011|p=22}}

Upon graduating from [[St. Rita of Cascia High School]] in 1956,<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Rita Grad and Founder of The Doors, Ray Manzarek '56 Dies at 74|url=https://www.stritahs.com/st-rita-of-cascia-high-school/st-rita-grad-and-founder-of-the-doors-ray-manzarek-56-dies-at-74|access-date=June 3, 2021|website=St. Rita of Cascia High School|language=en-US|archive-date=June 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603142725/https://www.stritahs.com/st-rita-of-cascia-high-school/st-rita-grad-and-founder-of-the-doors-ray-manzarek-56-dies-at-74|url-status=dead}}</ref> Manzarek matriculated at [[DePaul University]], where he played piano in his fraternity's jazz band (the Beta Pi Mu Combo), participated in intramural football, served as treasurer of the Speech Club, and organized a charity concert with [[Sonny Rollins]] and [[Dave Brubeck]].<ref name="Connelly" /> He graduated from the University's College of Commerce with a degree in [[economics]] in 1960.<ref name="Connelly">{{cite web |first=Jane |last=Connelly |url=http://campuspress.depaul.edu/vincent-test/project/test-post/ |title=DePaul's Musical History: Ray Manzarek and the Doors &#124; Newsline &#124; DePaul University &#124; A Publication for Faculty and Staff |website=Depaulnewsline.com |access-date=January 21, 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In late 1961, Manzarek briefly enrolled at the [[University of California, Los Angeles School of Law]]. Unable to acclimate to the curriculum, he transferred to the [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television|Department of Motion Pictures, Television and Radio]] as a graduate student before dropping out after breaking up with a girlfriend.{{sfn|Gaar|2015|p=15}} Although he attempted to enlist in the [[Army Signal Corps]] as a camera operator, he was instead assigned to the highly selective [[Army Security Agency]] as a prospective intelligence analyst.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wmgk.com/2017/06/14/legendary-rockers-military/ |date=June 14, 2017 |publisher=[[Classic Rock]] 102,9 MGK |website=Wmgk.com |title=Legendary Rockers In The Military – 102.9 WMGK}}</ref>

=== The Doors ===
[[File:Doors electra publicity photo.JPG|thumb|left|upright .8|From left to right, Densmore, Krieger, Manzarek and Morrison in a publicity photo from 1966]]
Manzarek re-enrolled in UCLA's graduate film program in 1962, receiving a [[Master of Fine Arts]] degree in cinematography in 1965.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tft.ucla.edu/2013/05/co-founder-of-the-doors-ray-manzarek-has-passed-away/ |title=Co-Founder of the Doors Ray Manzarek Has Passed Away |website=Tft.ucla.edu |date=May 21, 2013 |access-date=January 21, 2017 |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217132552/http://www.tft.ucla.edu/2013/05/co-founder-of-the-doors-ray-manzarek-has-passed-away/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Manzarek|1999|p=83}} During this period, he met future wife Dorothy Fujikawa and undergraduate film student [[Jim Morrison]]. At the time, Manzarek was in a band called [[Rick & the Ravens]] with his brothers Rick and Jim.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |title=Ray Manzarek of the Doors |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=June 20, 2013 |issue=1185 |page=26}}</ref> Forty days after finishing film school, thinking they had gone their separate ways, Manzarek and Morrison met by chance on [[Venice, Los Angeles|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".{{sfn|Manzarek|1999|p=97–98}} During this time, Manzarek also met teenage guitarist [[Robby Krieger]] and drummer [[John Densmore]] at a [[Transcendental Meditation]] lecture and recruited them for the incipient band. Densmore said, "There wouldn't be any Doors without [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi|Maharishi]]."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Obituary |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=March 6, 2008 |page=16}}</ref>
[[File:Ray Manzarek in 1968 (cropped).JPG|thumb|upright .8|Manzarek in 1968]]
In January 1966, The Doors became the house band at the [[London Fog (nightclub)|London Fog]] on the [[Sunset Strip]].<ref name="Goldstein">{{cite web |url=http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/NiteCity/DarkSideOfLA001.html |title=Nite City — The Dark Side Of L.A.|last=Goldstein |first=Patrif L.A. |date=September 1977 |website=[[Creem]]magazine.com |access-date=May 15, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709054645/http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/NiteCity/DarkSideOfLA001.html |archive-date=July 9, 2008}}</ref> According to Manzarek, "Nobody ever came in the place{{nbsp}}... 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".<ref name="Goldstein" /> When The Doors were fired from the London Fog, they were hired to be the house band at the [[Whisky a Go Go]].<ref name="Goldstein" /> The Doors' first recording contract was with [[Columbia Records]]. After a few months of inactivity, they learned they were on Columbia's drop list.{{sfn|Fong-Torres|2006|p=53}}{{sfn|Manzarek|1999|p=189}} At that point, they asked to be released from their contract. Following a few months of live gigs, [[Jac Holzman]] "rediscovered" The Doors and signed them to [[Elektra Records]].{{sfn|Fong-Torres|2006|p=58}}

[[File:Ray Manzarek 1968.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Manzarek performing live on Danish television, using his signature technique: a Rhodes Piano Bass with his left hand, while performing the main melodies with his right on an organ.{{sfn|Shepherd|2003|p=301}}]]

The Doors lacked a bass guitarist (except during recording sessions), so for live performances, Manzarek played the bass parts on a [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] [[Rhodes piano]] [[keyboard bass]]. His signature sound was that of the [[Vox Continental]] [[combo organ]], an instrument used by many other psychedelic rock bands of the era.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ray-manzarek-doors-keyboardist-dead-at-74-189116/ |title=Ray Manzarek Dead; Doors Keyboardist Was 74 |magazine=Rolling Stone |first=Andy |last=Greene |date=May 20, 2013 |access-date=September 26, 2020}}</ref> He also used a [[Gibson G-101]] Kalamazoo [[combo organ]] (which looks like a [[Farfisa]]) for the band's later albums.{{sfn|Gerstenmeyer|2001|pp=97, 165}}

During the Morrison era, Manzarek was the group's regular backing vocalist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Plaut |first=Eric |title=Ray Manzarek |url=http://www.consciousnessmagazine.com/RayManzarek.html |website=Consciousness Magazine |access-date=February 17, 2021}}</ref> He occasionally sang lead, as exemplified by  recordings of [[Muddy Waters]]'s "Close to You" (released on 1970's ''[[Absolutely Live (The Doors album)|Absolutely Live]]'')<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=[[Absolutely Live (The Doors album)|Absolutely Live]] |others=[[The Doors]] |type=Liner notes |year=1970 |publisher=[[Elektra Records]] |id=EKS-9002 |at=LP labels}}</ref> and "You Need Meat (Don't Go No Further)" (recorded during the ''[[L.A. Woman]]'' sessions and initially released as the B-side of "[[Love Her Madly]]").<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blake |first=Mark |title=Archive: Ray Manzarek RIP |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/archive-ray-manzarek-rip |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |publisher=[[Louder Sound]] |date=May 20, 2014 |access-date=December 15, 2021}}</ref> He went on to share lead vocals with Krieger on the albums (''[[Other Voices (The Doors album)|Other Voices]]'' and ''[[Full Circle (The Doors album)|Full Circle]]'') released after Morrison's death.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/doors-other-voices/ |title=When the Doors Continued Without Jim Morrison on ''Other Voices'' |date=October 18, 2016 |last=Allen |first=Jim |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |access-date=September 26, 2020}}</ref>

=== Later career and influence ===
[[File:Ray Manzarek.JPG|thumb|right|225px|Manzarek in March 2006, performing in the Netherlands]]
After recording two solo albums on [[Mercury Records]] to a muted reception in 1974, Manzarek played in several groups, most notably [[Nite City]].<ref name="Goldstein" /> He recorded a rock adaptation of [[Carl Orff]]'s ''[[Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana]]'' (1983; co-produced by [[Philip Glass]]), briefly played with [[Iggy Pop]], sat in on [[Bedbugs and Ballyhoo|one track]] on the eponymous 1987 album ''[[Echo & the Bunnymen (album)|Echo & the Bunnymen]]'', backed San Francisco poet [[Michael McClure]]'s poetry readings and worked on improvisational compositions with poet [[Michael C. Ford]].<ref>{{cite AV media|url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8i90y_ray-manzarek-and-michael-c-ford-at_music|title=Ray Manzarek and Michael C. Ford at Hen House Studios|website=[[Dailymotion.com]]|access-date=September 25, 2020}}</ref> He also worked extensively with ''[[Hearts of Fire]]'' screenwriter and former [[SRC (band)|SRC]] frontman Scott Richardson on a series of spoken word and blues recordings entitled "Tornado Souvenirs".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://raymanzarek.com/biography/ |title=Ray Manzarek Biography |website=Raymanzarek.com |access-date=March 16, 2021}}</ref> Manzarek produced the first four albums of the seminal [[Punk music#North America|punk band]] [[X (U.S. band)|X]],<ref name="Lewis" /> also contributing occasionally on keyboards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/los-angeles-mw0000319061/credits |title=X: ''Los Angeles'' – Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 21, 2017}}</ref> Two of those have also been included on [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/ |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time |date=May 31, 2012 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=December 15, 2021}}</ref>

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 [[American Civil War|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''.<ref name="Torreano" /> Also in 2000, he co-wrote and directed the film ''Love Her Madly'', which was credited to a story idea by Morrison.<ref name="Torreano" /> The film was shown at the closing night of the 2004 Santa Cruz Film Festival,<ref>{{cite web |first=Sarah |last=Phelan |url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/05.19.04/manzarek-0421.html |title=Truly, 'Madly', Deeply |work=[[Metro Santa Cruz]]|access-date=December 21, 2013}}</ref> but otherwise received limited distribution and critical review.
[[File:Ray Manzarek - picture by Simone van den Boom.jpg|thumb|right|175px|Manzarek at the Bospop festival, Weert 2010, the Netherlands]]

In 2006, he collaborated with composer and trumpeter Bal. The album that resulted, ''Atonal Head'' explores the realm of electronica. The two musicians integrated jazz, rock, ethnic, and classical music into their computer-based creations. {{citation needed|date=September 2020}} 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/60sseason/documentaries/manzarek.shtml |title=Radio 2 – 60s Season – BBC |website=[[BBC Radio 2]] |date=August 4, 2007}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://raymanzarek.com/television-live-from-daryls-house/ |title=Live From Daryl's House |date=April 15, 2009 |website=Raymanzarek.com |access-date=April 9, 2021}}</ref> In his last years, he often sat in with local bands in the [[Napa County, California|Napa County]] area, where he relocated in the early 2000s.

In 2009, Manzarek collaborated with [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] by playing keyboards on the single "[[Craigslist (song)|Craigslist]]", which is a [[pastiche]] of the Doors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0002146889/credits|title=Weird Al Yankovic: ''Alpocalypse''{{snd}}Credits|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date = May 24, 2013}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Craigslist with Ray Manzarek">{{Cite AV media|title=Ray Manzarek Plays "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Craigslist"|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra5x88C0yQY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Ra5x88C0yQY |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=[[YouTube]]|date=May 20, 2013|access-date=May 24, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In May 2010, Manzarek recorded with [[slide guitar]]ist [[Roy Rogers (guitarist)|Roy Rogers]]. A collaborative album between the two, entitled ''Translucent Blues'', was released in mid-2011; its lyrical content is primarily penned by songwriter/poets [[Jim Carroll]] and [[Michael McClure]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Hal |last=Horowitz |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/translucent-blues-mw0002134532 |title=''Translucent Blues'' – Review |website=AllMusic |access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref> During June through August 2011, Manzarek recorded "[[Breakn' a Sweat]]" with DJ [[Skrillex]] and his fellow former Doors members [[Robby Krieger]] and [[John Densmore]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/bangarang-r2381342/review|title='' Bangarang'' – Review|website=AllMusic|access-date=September 26, 2020|first1=Jon|last1=O'Brien}}</ref> In August 2013, ''Twisted Tales'', another Manzarek–Rogers collaboration, was released and dedicated to Manzarek after his passing.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Here |first1=Classic Rock |last2=Now |title=Slide Guitarist Roy Rogers talks 'Twisted Tales' Final Album with Ray Manzarek |url=https://www.classicrockhereandnow.com/2013/08/slide-guitarist-roy-rogers-talks_23.html |access-date=2022-08-28 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=BraveWords |title=RAY MANZAREK & ROY ROGERS - Twisted Tales CD Now Available; Audio Samples Streaming |url=https://bravewords.com/news/ray-manzarek-roy-rogers-twisted-tales-cd-now-available-audio-samples-streaming |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=bravewords.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Ray Manzarek & Roy Rogers - Twisted Tales |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/6867568-Ray-Manzarek-Roy-Rogers-Twisted-Tales |language=en |access-date=2022-08-28}}</ref>