Editing Ray Manzarek (section)

=== 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>