Post by darkstar3 on May 18, 2011 15:48:28 GMT
Ridgefield Patch News
Arts
The Doors' Manzarek Will Light Your Fire At The Playhouse
Ray Manzarek of The Doors plays the Ridgefield Playhouse.
By Peter Gerstenzang | 5:01am May 18 2011
In Greek mythology, Zeus has two sons: Apollo and Dionysius. Dionysius is the god of wine, ecstasy and intoxication. Apollo, the god of the sun has dreams and reason.
Considering what we know now of Jim Morrison's wild Dionysian ways, do you ever wonder how The Doors kept it together as long as they did? A conversation with their keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, should clarify such things.
Manzarek is absolutely one of the most Apollonian guys you'll ever speak to.
He brings his famous keyboard sounds, jazzy organ, demented calliope and stately piano to the Ridgefield Playhouse Wednesday with a rockin' band and an album to promote.
"I've got a new CD called 'Translucent Blues' with a brand new group," Manzarek told the Patchrecently in that deep, friendly, trippy voice classic rock fans know as well as their dad's.
"We're called The Manzarek-Rogers Band. A slide guitarist, Roy Rogers, and I did what all old rockers do. We went back to our roots. The music really grooves and we had lyrical help from (Beat poet) Michael McClure and our late friends Jim Carroll and Warren Zevon."
Only the best lyricists for Manzarek, one imagines. After all, that first one he discovered and nurtured only managed to help change the attitudes of an entire generation.
From their breakthrough hit, "Light My Fire," Manzarek's group, The Doors, were one of the great poetic, deeply-controversial outfits of the '60s. With John Densmore's Latin-inspired grooves, Robby Krieger's bluesy guitar, Manzarek's keyboard, Jim Morrison's now gorgeous, now feral vocals, they rivaled The Rolling Stones as perhaps the most significant group of the era.
And Morrison, himself, was the 60s personified. One minute so profound and transcendent, he made you wonder how you ever accepted your homeroom teacher's tired, mundane definitions of life. The next, he was so ludicrous and excessive you either recoiled or cracked up laughing.
Still, has anyone ever described Ron Thomas like that?
Manzarek has been keeping busy since that awful summer when Morrison went to Paris (to avoid a trial for indecency) and never returned.
"Well, in the late 70s, I discovered and produced a band you might have heard of, called X," he said, before chuckling. "I saw them at the Whiskey A Go Go and I went crazy. They did 'Johnny Hit And Run Paulene,' and it had the same beatnik poetry as The Doors did. I've also written some books, made a bunch of records, kept busy. Now, there's this blues band thing."
Although, sadly, Densmore "doesn't want to play with Robby and me anymore," Manzarek, who talks fervently and laughs often, says he's still having a great time, even sans The Doors.
"People often ask me if I get bored playing the intro to 'Light My Fire,'" he said, referencing the most famous keyboard kickoff in rock history. "How could I get tired of it? There's something about the riff I came up with, those chords -- A minor to F#7 -- that still thrill me."
Manzarek does have some regrets.
For instance, he wishes that "the Doors could have all agreed about putting our songs in commercials. It's not for the money. It's to turn kids onto the music. I just heard The Pretenders in a TV spot for ... something. See, that's my point. I don't even remember what they were selling. I just know I got to hear 'Brass In Pocket.'"
Commercial endorsements notwithstanding, don't expect to see Manzarek hanging it up anytime soon. No matter what configuration he ends up playing with in the future.
"I want to be like Muddy Waters or some other bluesman. Playing when they're really old. That's the way to go out. Listen. None of the remaining Doors are doing this for the money. We're all extremely well-off. But we're still children of the 60s ... We're doing this because we love it. When you love something, you don't stop doing it."
NFO: The Manzarek-Rogers Band will be at The Ridgefield Playhouse on May 25th at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $45. For more information call 203 438-5795.
ridgefield.patch.com/articles/the-doors-manzarek-will-light-your-fire-at-the-playhouse
CT POST.com
Manzarek-Rogers Band to play Ridgefield Playhouse
Jon Chattman, Correspondent
Published 06:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 17 2011
Interviewing slide/blues guitar great Roy Rogers and Ray Manzarek, legendary co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors, was a bit like throwing a meatball to Babe Ruth.
In other words, any questions thrown at the two pros were easily knocked out of the park. As a matter of fact, an interviewer wasn't really needed during a recent phone chat; the two bounced off of each other so often that their conversation was more intriguing than any question asked.
Rogers and Manzarek are touring in support of their debut album together, "Translucent Blues" -- a trippy, future-thinking collection that finds the two working from their own material (new takes of Doors classics included), as well as from material by artists and poets such as Warren Zevon, Jim Carroll, and Michael McClure.
The pair will play Ridgefield Playhouse on Wednesday, May 25 (a day after their album drops), assuming the world doesn't end on Saturday, May 21. More on that later ...
Q: Good afternoon ,Roy and Ray ... wow, that's catchy or maybe hokey.
Rogers: I'd say Ray and Roy. I respect Ray's experience so his name would go first. We could have our own talk show!
Manzarek: Yeah! We could get our blog together, too, and discuss politics, the blues and sexual positions ...
Rogers: There would be so many bleeps on that show.
Q: Yes, I think they'd cancel you guys before the first commercial break. How long have you known each other?
Manzarek: Five years. I was playing a show at the Raven Theater in northern California, and our mutual agents said, "Hey, Roy, why don't you get together with Ray. Sit in, and see how you hit it off." We're both blues guys, we've been to college, and have been around. We played together, improvised and we, as they say, hit it off.
Rogers: It was very impromptu but it felt good. That's how things work so we said let's try a gig.
Q: How well did you know each other before those five years?
Manzarek: I heard Roy's name and a couple things. He's got a reputation as a brilliant guitarist.
Rogers: Personally, I didn't know anything besides him playing with The Doors. I did know he moved to northern California. I'm just for the collaborative thing. I delight in that. We're just trying to make something that is good and has value.
Manzarek: We're familiar with each other now. We're always learning something new about each other.
Q: When did you both decide to take it up a notch and record an album?
Manzarek: I'd say two years ago. I said, "OK man, we ought to record some of this stuff and let's make it a hard-rocking, 21st-century blues record." We worked on tunes off of a bunch of lyrics Roy and I had. And we had some buddies (give us lyrics). Warren Zevon had one stanza in him. I saw him in Barney's in Beverly Hills. He was buying clothes, and I asked him how he was doing. He told me, "To tell you the truth not so good ... I'm dying. I don't have long to go." I told him, "We need some blues lyrics -- something about L.A. that was dark and ominous." I also have some jazz poet buddies on it. We wanted it to be poetic.
Rogers: Poetry was a big part of it. You're always looking to stretch it.
Q: What was the process like recording, and are you pleased with the end result?
Manzarek: Oh yeah. The process was better than recording. It was just a good time putting the tunes together. We recorded near the San Francisco Bay, and a couple days were absolutely gorgeous, and there's an ocean vibe.
Q: Has performing changed now that the album's out?
Rogers: We have the same rapport. We haven't played a whole lot of gigs with the band but it was already good. It's rocking. The album's not out yet. The street date is May 24.
Manzarek: I love the fact that cuckoo guys are saying the world's ending on the 21st of May or that someone said the stars are lining up. Anyway, after the end of the world, the CD comes out.
Rogers: Maybe we can reinvent a new world.
The Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield. Wednesday, May 25, 8 p.m. $45. 203-438-5795, ridgefieldplayhouse.org
www.ctpost.com/news/article/Manzarek-Rogers-Band-to-play-Ridgefield-Playhouse-1383691.php
Arts
The Doors' Manzarek Will Light Your Fire At The Playhouse
Ray Manzarek of The Doors plays the Ridgefield Playhouse.
By Peter Gerstenzang | 5:01am May 18 2011
In Greek mythology, Zeus has two sons: Apollo and Dionysius. Dionysius is the god of wine, ecstasy and intoxication. Apollo, the god of the sun has dreams and reason.
Considering what we know now of Jim Morrison's wild Dionysian ways, do you ever wonder how The Doors kept it together as long as they did? A conversation with their keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, should clarify such things.
Manzarek is absolutely one of the most Apollonian guys you'll ever speak to.
He brings his famous keyboard sounds, jazzy organ, demented calliope and stately piano to the Ridgefield Playhouse Wednesday with a rockin' band and an album to promote.
"I've got a new CD called 'Translucent Blues' with a brand new group," Manzarek told the Patchrecently in that deep, friendly, trippy voice classic rock fans know as well as their dad's.
"We're called The Manzarek-Rogers Band. A slide guitarist, Roy Rogers, and I did what all old rockers do. We went back to our roots. The music really grooves and we had lyrical help from (Beat poet) Michael McClure and our late friends Jim Carroll and Warren Zevon."
Only the best lyricists for Manzarek, one imagines. After all, that first one he discovered and nurtured only managed to help change the attitudes of an entire generation.
From their breakthrough hit, "Light My Fire," Manzarek's group, The Doors, were one of the great poetic, deeply-controversial outfits of the '60s. With John Densmore's Latin-inspired grooves, Robby Krieger's bluesy guitar, Manzarek's keyboard, Jim Morrison's now gorgeous, now feral vocals, they rivaled The Rolling Stones as perhaps the most significant group of the era.
And Morrison, himself, was the 60s personified. One minute so profound and transcendent, he made you wonder how you ever accepted your homeroom teacher's tired, mundane definitions of life. The next, he was so ludicrous and excessive you either recoiled or cracked up laughing.
Still, has anyone ever described Ron Thomas like that?
Manzarek has been keeping busy since that awful summer when Morrison went to Paris (to avoid a trial for indecency) and never returned.
"Well, in the late 70s, I discovered and produced a band you might have heard of, called X," he said, before chuckling. "I saw them at the Whiskey A Go Go and I went crazy. They did 'Johnny Hit And Run Paulene,' and it had the same beatnik poetry as The Doors did. I've also written some books, made a bunch of records, kept busy. Now, there's this blues band thing."
Although, sadly, Densmore "doesn't want to play with Robby and me anymore," Manzarek, who talks fervently and laughs often, says he's still having a great time, even sans The Doors.
"People often ask me if I get bored playing the intro to 'Light My Fire,'" he said, referencing the most famous keyboard kickoff in rock history. "How could I get tired of it? There's something about the riff I came up with, those chords -- A minor to F#7 -- that still thrill me."
Manzarek does have some regrets.
For instance, he wishes that "the Doors could have all agreed about putting our songs in commercials. It's not for the money. It's to turn kids onto the music. I just heard The Pretenders in a TV spot for ... something. See, that's my point. I don't even remember what they were selling. I just know I got to hear 'Brass In Pocket.'"
Commercial endorsements notwithstanding, don't expect to see Manzarek hanging it up anytime soon. No matter what configuration he ends up playing with in the future.
"I want to be like Muddy Waters or some other bluesman. Playing when they're really old. That's the way to go out. Listen. None of the remaining Doors are doing this for the money. We're all extremely well-off. But we're still children of the 60s ... We're doing this because we love it. When you love something, you don't stop doing it."
NFO: The Manzarek-Rogers Band will be at The Ridgefield Playhouse on May 25th at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $45. For more information call 203 438-5795.
ridgefield.patch.com/articles/the-doors-manzarek-will-light-your-fire-at-the-playhouse
CT POST.com
Manzarek-Rogers Band to play Ridgefield Playhouse
Jon Chattman, Correspondent
Published 06:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 17 2011
Interviewing slide/blues guitar great Roy Rogers and Ray Manzarek, legendary co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors, was a bit like throwing a meatball to Babe Ruth.
In other words, any questions thrown at the two pros were easily knocked out of the park. As a matter of fact, an interviewer wasn't really needed during a recent phone chat; the two bounced off of each other so often that their conversation was more intriguing than any question asked.
Rogers and Manzarek are touring in support of their debut album together, "Translucent Blues" -- a trippy, future-thinking collection that finds the two working from their own material (new takes of Doors classics included), as well as from material by artists and poets such as Warren Zevon, Jim Carroll, and Michael McClure.
The pair will play Ridgefield Playhouse on Wednesday, May 25 (a day after their album drops), assuming the world doesn't end on Saturday, May 21. More on that later ...
Q: Good afternoon ,Roy and Ray ... wow, that's catchy or maybe hokey.
Rogers: I'd say Ray and Roy. I respect Ray's experience so his name would go first. We could have our own talk show!
Manzarek: Yeah! We could get our blog together, too, and discuss politics, the blues and sexual positions ...
Rogers: There would be so many bleeps on that show.
Q: Yes, I think they'd cancel you guys before the first commercial break. How long have you known each other?
Manzarek: Five years. I was playing a show at the Raven Theater in northern California, and our mutual agents said, "Hey, Roy, why don't you get together with Ray. Sit in, and see how you hit it off." We're both blues guys, we've been to college, and have been around. We played together, improvised and we, as they say, hit it off.
Rogers: It was very impromptu but it felt good. That's how things work so we said let's try a gig.
Q: How well did you know each other before those five years?
Manzarek: I heard Roy's name and a couple things. He's got a reputation as a brilliant guitarist.
Rogers: Personally, I didn't know anything besides him playing with The Doors. I did know he moved to northern California. I'm just for the collaborative thing. I delight in that. We're just trying to make something that is good and has value.
Manzarek: We're familiar with each other now. We're always learning something new about each other.
Q: When did you both decide to take it up a notch and record an album?
Manzarek: I'd say two years ago. I said, "OK man, we ought to record some of this stuff and let's make it a hard-rocking, 21st-century blues record." We worked on tunes off of a bunch of lyrics Roy and I had. And we had some buddies (give us lyrics). Warren Zevon had one stanza in him. I saw him in Barney's in Beverly Hills. He was buying clothes, and I asked him how he was doing. He told me, "To tell you the truth not so good ... I'm dying. I don't have long to go." I told him, "We need some blues lyrics -- something about L.A. that was dark and ominous." I also have some jazz poet buddies on it. We wanted it to be poetic.
Rogers: Poetry was a big part of it. You're always looking to stretch it.
Q: What was the process like recording, and are you pleased with the end result?
Manzarek: Oh yeah. The process was better than recording. It was just a good time putting the tunes together. We recorded near the San Francisco Bay, and a couple days were absolutely gorgeous, and there's an ocean vibe.
Q: Has performing changed now that the album's out?
Rogers: We have the same rapport. We haven't played a whole lot of gigs with the band but it was already good. It's rocking. The album's not out yet. The street date is May 24.
Manzarek: I love the fact that cuckoo guys are saying the world's ending on the 21st of May or that someone said the stars are lining up. Anyway, after the end of the world, the CD comes out.
Rogers: Maybe we can reinvent a new world.
The Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield. Wednesday, May 25, 8 p.m. $45. 203-438-5795, ridgefieldplayhouse.org
www.ctpost.com/news/article/Manzarek-Rogers-Band-to-play-Ridgefield-Playhouse-1383691.php
