What a sad day yesterday, hearing about the loss of the legendary Ray Manzarek… The multi-talented artist and keyboardist, most known as the founding member of the Doors, was a great influence and inspiration for me and tons of other musicians. In a period in rock music where guitarists were the ultimate heroes, Ray infused keyboards magically and gave the Doors their signature sound.

photo credit: Alex Jilitsky via photopin cc

Playing the Rhodes keyboard like a bass guitar, the Doors never had a live bassist as far as I recall. Who can forget the organ intro in “Light My Fire” or the delicate sounds in “Riders on the Storm”? Here is a not so known album from Ray Manzarek, the adaptation of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana:

Rest in peace Ray, thank you for the beautiful music.

Top photo By TriviaKing at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26207052