H.Q. Dublin, Ireland, 26th April
& The Rosin Dubh Gig,Galway, Ireland, 29th April 1999.
There was an incredible electric buzz crackling and popping inside the dark smoky bar of the Rosin Dubh. Where we had been waiting in eager anticipation for the arrival of Ray Manzarek for the past three quarters of an hour. Tension had been building up steadly. Suddenly the house announcer clambered up on the small stage, tapped the mike, and retorted: "Ladies and gentlemen, from Los Angles, California...please welcome......Ray Manzarek".
The crowd erupted as Ray made his way through the intimate surroundings of the Rosin Dubh to the safety of the stage, a wide grin had spread across his face as he turned and faced the audience. He slowly bowed up and down and applauded to us with his hands. The crowd wanted more and the seemingly endless cheered and clapping got to the point where Ray almost seemed embarrassed, but you could tell by the grin on his face he was loving every minute of it. Hey, why shouldn't he? Ray Manzarek a living legend, a fantastic keyboard player, a musical influence for generations, for over 30 years and who was best friends with Jim Morrison, what more can I say? Ray looked surprisingly fresh and energetic. Time has been good to Ray. He looked exactly the same as he did 30 years ago, except now for his cropped and lightly silvered hair!!
Finally the cheering and clapping died down after several minutes. Ray cupped the mike and said 'Wow, we should have come here 30 years ago, sorry guys but we never made it, but I know Jim would have wanted to come here too!' Fantastic!
Ray then briefly explained the shows layout, where he would tell a number of Doors Stories, play some tunes and sign some albums and autographs at the end of the gig, as long as people didn't give him napkins to sign!! Not a whisper was to be heard from the audience as they watched Ray with homaging and unbelieving eyes. Ray Manzarek in Galway, Ireland...unthinkable up to a month ago.
After a few Irish jokes and his amazement at the great spell of weather we were having, Ray starting getting into how he first met Jim through their cameraman (John de Bella) at UCLA and later, how Jim told (a then disbelieving Ray) him the story that somehow a soul of a dead indian got inside him and how this had effected him and changed his life. Ray said that sometimes when they were playing, Jim would be on stage and making strange noises, Ray would look up at him and he sometimes thought there was actually someone else on stage. There would be Jim acting out (possessed?) that shaman role. Ray felt that there really was some one/thing else inside of Jim, possessing him on stage.
After that Ray went out to absolutely slate Oliver Stones movie of 'The Doors'. Yeah the film was entertaining but it has no reality! He even went on to say Oliver was a 'white powder' man and could snort up a whole fuckin' room of that stuff'. Ray made it clear he felt 'coke' was a 'Bad' paranoid drug, while the herb and LSD were mind altering substances and should be legalised. If you can have a beer then why not a smoke?? That's Ray's logic!.
Ray explaining the doors of perception.
At the Dublin gig, Ray was offered a 'dube' by a fan, after taking the joint Ray sucked in a huge lungfull, held it . . . then raising his head to the ceiling, he blew out a large cloud of white smoke (at this stage the audience were cheering him on!) Ray then goes 'Man, this is what I call real Irish tobacco!!'
Holy shit, the security guys were really looking puzzled at this stage, as they didn't know if they should go for the guy who gave Ray the smoke or tackle Ray himself. But they chilled out and let it ride. In Galway Ray warned us not to give him any joints, otherwise he would be lying in the corner of the stage all night and if anyone asked him a question about The Doors, he would just mumble 'Yeah...man..The Doors....groovy.....yeah...man...'
Going back to Olives Stones Movie these are the main points Ray made. One was that Jim didn't walk around in a daze with a stagger, spouting off poetry every chance he got, he was actually a normal guy (This was a point Ray highlighted several times throughout the show). Ray said 'Jim was a normal guy just like any one of us, except when he was drunk, then he was obnoxious. But then, hey, who's ever hear of a beautiful drunk?' Ray said you never hear people saying; 'Oh yeah he was drunk last night and he was so beautiful! What a beautiful sight!'
Ray also pressed home the point that Jim didn't quit UCLA. He graduated (unlike Oliver Stone, which Ray really highlighted). Ray also though Val Kilmer did act out very well the role of Morrison (except for the fucked up script). But overall they movie is a poor representation of the Real Doors, so Ray advised us to go out and buy his book to read the real story!! Ray also felt that his representation in the film was poor, as all Ray did in the film was go 'Yes Jim, No Jim'. Ray said 'I was never like that!'
Ray also spoke about how he and Jim decided to get a Rock 'n' Roll band together. When Ray asked about a name for the proposed band, Jim said 'The Doors', at first Ray said "what the Doors...uggg man that sounds. . . .' then CLICK!! Ahhhh you mean.....the doors of perception, expansion etc. Groovy name man!!"
Ray, still knows how to Rock 'n' Roll.
Ray then sat down at the piano and starting playing one of his favourite Doors songs 'The Crystal Ship' where he spoke the lyrics. Ray played beautifully and the audience loved it. Next was a small excerpt from Bach and then he played and excerpt from 'Flamenco Sketches' by Miles Davis. At this point Ray was explaining their musical and poetry influences at the time. He was also advising which books we should read for enlightment.
Ray then played Moonlight Drive, which really got the crowd swinging. Then it came to the 'highlight' of the evening where went through the step by step details of how 'Light my Fire' materialized. From Robbie's original version (which Ray said, initially it sounded more like a Sonny and Cher song!) to their final development of the song, the verses and breaks and of course that cosmic intro (Ray says thanks to Bach for the infulence!!).
Finally Ray wanted to finish off the evening with the last song Jim and himself wrote and recorded together, it was of course 'Riders on the Storm'. Ray played majestically, the audience loved it and Ray received yet another standing ovation. Been 'forced' to play an encore, Ray choose 'Backdoor Man', shit by this time the house was really rocking. After finishing, Ray at this point wanted to go and sign autographs but the fans were having none of it, Ray bowed up and down to the applause of the fans and finally gave in after a few minutes and played a fantastic version of 'Break on Through', Ray didn't even have to strain his vocal chords as by then everyone had joined in and were singing at the top of their voices, creating a great vibe at the gig.
After 'Break on through' Ray hopped off stage and went out to the front Bar and started signing everyone's tickets, books & vinyl etc. He was real cool and very patient with everyone and made sure that everyone got his autograph (you should have seen the queue! Amazing stuff!!
Retrospective:
Overall the gig was fantastic, everyone enjoyed it and there was a great buzz and an intimate atmosphere. Ray was surprisingly witty and enjoyed the gig as much as any one else. He did tend to wander off in tangents with his stories but he always managed to get back on track again after a long time (He said his wife Dorothy always accused him for doing the same thing!). Overall Extremely entaining stuff and was a must see for any serious Doors fan.
My only criticism it that Ray never really told us anything that we didn't already know, but that is however, a minor point. To see the main man and hear those stories and music come from the mouth of a living legend, it somehow makes that 'unreal' part of the Doors come true. Yes, now I can fully conceive that The Doors fully existed and yeah man...they did and still are breaking on through......
Neilb, May 1999
Note of Interest :
Ray at the end of the Dublin gig, was asked by one of the audience about Jim's removal from Paris. Ray informed us that only last week, he was told by his manager that a unknown person had donated money to continue the lease on Jims grave for another 30 years and clean up the graffiti around the grave!
Ray said that the curious thing is, who would benefit the most if Jim's remains were kept buried or lose if Jim remains were removed and his coffin opened!!.
Ray said that he was previously going to make sure that if Jim was dug up, that the coffin would be opened...just to make sure and end the mystery. These are the words of Ray himself!!
Now we've got to wait another 30 years...bummer!!