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When I was small I had a little red transistor radio that I would take to bed and hide under my pillow. Late into the night I would listen to the great CKLW and WKNR as they chronicled the British Invasion and Motown. One night after midnight they played the album cut of "Light My Fire", and I was amazed. I had never heard the extended organ solo before, and I knew right then that I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. Thank you Ray Manzarek, for the music and the inspiration.

Ditto what Jimmy said.

I can remember hearing Light My Fire on AM radio as a kid. It was a few years before I heard the whole song when FM radio started happening.

Jim I saw that he had died this morning, and was gonna post something, as always you beat me to it, You Prunk!

RIP Ray Manzarek
Here's a quote from back in 2000 when NPR interviewed Ray, "We were aware of Muddy Waters. We were aware of Howlin' Wolf and John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Plus, Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys and the surf sound. Robby Krieger brings in some flamenco guitar. I bring a little bit of classical music along with the blues and jazz, and certainly John Densmore was heavy into jazz. And Jim brings in beatnik poetry and French symbolist poetry, and that's the blend of The Doors as the sun is setting into the Pacific Ocean at the end, the terminus of Western civilization. That's the end of it. Western civilization ends here in California at Venice Beach, so we stood there inventing a new world on psychedelics."

I love the part in The Doors movie (Val Kilmer one) where the guys are practicing in an ocean-front house (Malibu?) and they come up with Light My Fire and Ray says to the others "go take a walk for half an hour" and when the others come back he has written the organ opening part for the song - this was a true part of the very-Hollywoodized movie.
His left-handed bass parts MADE the early Doors sound.

jimmydanger wrote:When I was small I had a little red transistor radio that I would take to bed and hide under my pillow. Late into the night I would listen to the great CKLW and WKNR as they chronicled the British Invasion and Motown. One night after midnight they played the album cut of "Light My Fire", and I was amazed. I had never heard the extended organ solo before, and I knew right then that I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. Thank you Ray Manzarek, for the music and the inspiration.

Mine was black . . . I bought it at a yard sale along with a little bitty kerosine lamp about three inches high. Spent many a night listening to KZOO out of Dallas and another I cannot remember out of Atlanta I think.
Also learned the hard way why NOT to cook little marshmallows over little kerosine lamps . . .

I am not the biggest keys fan but after listening to him play, I wished I could play some of what he was doing as I was very impressed with his sound.

RIP Ray