Ray Manzarek (1939-2013)-Break on Through

Last updated on: May 20, 2013 at 5:43 pm by Jason Mankey

Ray Manzarek (1939-2013)-Break on Through 2013-05-20T17:43:18-06:00 Jason Mankey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Led Zeppelin will always be my favorite band, but the real Pagan rock and roll soundtrack was written by The Doors. The Dionysus/Jim Morrison comparisons are obvious (and I even do rituals based on them), but it was always a bit more than that. The Doors always captured that restless spirit that grips so many of us who dedicate our lives to mystery and madness. The Doors may not have been a Pagan band, but their music always encapsulated my own Pagan experience. Break on Through, Riders On the Storm, When the Music’s Over . . . . . . that’s life’s ritual; it’s heavy and it’s exhilarating and it’s screwed up, and sometimes it still makes sense anyways. Today we mourn the passing of Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founder of The Doors.

Jim Morrison will always be looked at as the guy who was The Doors, but the band was always more than just The Lizard King. Robby Krieger (guitar) was their secret weapon, and the guy who actually wrote Light My Fire (lyrics and all). John Densmore (drums) probably won’t be remembered as one of the greats, but his jazz background and light touch was always perfect for the Doors, and credit to him for always keeping it all together live (The Doors had a tendency to improvise). The guy who was the architect of their sound (and a lot of their myth) was Ray Manzarek, and I miss him already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAXDYTnvrrg
Dead Cats/Break on Through (Live) This is how to remember The Doors.

That whole mooody atmosphere of The Doors has as much to do with Jim’s lyrics as it does with Manzarek’s keyboards. His decision to essentially play the bass on his organ meant that no one would ever duplicate the sound of Los Angeles’s finest band. The Doors were so unique that it’s hard to say they were even influential, you couldn’t clone a Morrison, and now you can’t clone Ray. I’m listening to the band right now and I’m crying. My rock and roll world will never be the same.

The Doors were Ray’s baby. He was the one who put up the money to keep the band together in their early years. He was the one who saw the rock star in Morrison and encouraged its growth. He brought in Kreiger (who in turn brought in Densmore) and it was at Ray and Dorothy’s (Ray’s wife since before the days of The Doors up until just today) house where the band first practiced. No Ray Manzarek no Doors, it’s as simple as that.

Manzarek wasn’t only the architect of the band’s organ-heavy sound, he kept the flame burning when it looked like The Doors might end up relegated to the trash-bin of rock history. It’s hard to believe today, but by the end of the 1970’s The Doors were nearly the Herman’s Hermits of American rock and roll. Much of the danger and brilliance had been forgotten with only the occasional single still spinning on radio. A well timed biography of Jim and the band (No One Here Gets Out Alive by Danny Sugerman and Jerry Hopkins) helped to revive interest, but so did Manzarek’s thinly veiled references to Morrison possibly being alive. I can almost still here him saying “No one saw the body man!”

Manzarek never duplicated the success he had with The Doors, but it all wasn’t a total failure. Manzarek’s Golden Scarab solo-album won’t go down in history as one of rock’s forgotten treasures, but it was just as adventurous as it was pretentious. Besides, lyrics to Egyptian gods and pharaohs is cool by me. Manzarek also later produced the seminal punk band X, wrote novels and oversaw much of the band’s legacy.

THE GOLDEN SCARAB-Ray Manzarek

Amenhotep-Akhenaten-Nefertiti-Tutankhamun
All of life is sunlight
Osiris is the night
Aten of the daylight
Bring your golden life

In Egypt on the Nile in Memphis-Heliopolis
Scarab roll your dung ball
Roll away the night
Push across the sun ball
Golden scarab light

Golden and glowing and spinning and shining
and beaming sublimely you first light of morning
Blazing light high in the sky of your noontime
Red warm and soft light as night fall is soon time

You shine-the Mind-no fear-no time
The Dream-The Sun-The one

All of life is sunlight
Bring your golden light
Bring your golden sunlight
Bring your golden light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-HbzkQVRQ

On June 20 2003 (appropriately near the Summer Solstice) I went down to Detroit’s DTE Energy Music Theatre where I got to see Manzarek (touring with Robby Krieger as the “Doors of the 21st Century”) for the first (and last time) in my life. It was a night of The Doors greatest hits with Ian Astbury of The Cult doing a fair impression of Jim Morrison. I could feel Manzarek’s joy from our cheap seats, it was obvious that the dude loved playing his music and celebrating the legacy he created back in the 1960’s. Sure, there were some cornball moments from Manzarek during the show, but I always got the feeling that was just how he rolled. I never got to see The Doors (Morrison passed before I was even born), but I got to see Ray and Robby and it was pretty damn close.

Thanks for the memories Ray and being a big part of my life’s soundtrack. Break on through.

(And if you see me on the road this summer you can bet your ass we’ll be doing a ritual to celebrate Ray.)

Previous Post

May 16, 2013

Do Pagans Proselytize?

Next Post

May 21, 2013 My Summer Weekend-Memorial Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Editorializing Gateways to Paganism Guest Posts Holiday Histories Led Zeppelin News and Views Occult Pagan Pagan TV Club Paganism polytheism Ramble On Reviews Ritual Strange Days Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2026 March 2026 February 2026 November 2025 September 2025 August 2025 April 2025 August 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 October 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 January 2023 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who had a coat of many colors?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jacob Joseph Esau Benjamin