File:The_Doors_(1971)_(cropped).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Ray Manzarek
Sign in to saveAlso known as Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Raymond Daniel Manczarek, Raymond Manzarek
American keyboardist (1939–2013)
OverviewAI-generated
Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (1939–2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, poet, and director. Born in Chicago, he was a member of the bands The Doors and Manzarek–Krieger. His musical work spanned genres including blues rock, jazz, and beat poetry, with influences from Jack Kerouac. He played the organ, Hammond organ, and piano, and was associated with the record label Elektra. Manzarek was educated at DePaul University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Manzarek’s written works include *Snake Moon* and *The Poet in exile*. He was recognized in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame collection. He died in Rosenheim in 2013 from cholangiocarcinoma.
Synthesized by Vinony from 45 facts across 9 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Firecrawl, Open Library, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 6
Top works
- Snake Moon
- Snake Moon
- The Poet in exile
- Light My Fire
- The Poet in exile
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Raymond Daniel "Ray" Manzarek, Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American musician, singer, producer, film director, and author, best known as a member of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, which he co-founded with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ray Manzarek, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
- Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison — Self (archive footage)2025
- Jim Morrison: The End — Self - The Doors Keyboardist (archive footage)2021
- Laurel Canyon — Self2020
- The Doors: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 — Self (archive footage)2018
- The Best Of The Doors2017
- The Doors - Feast Of Friends: Encore2014
- The Doors - R-Evolution — Self2013
- When Albums Ruled the World — Self2013
- The Doors: Live at the Bowl '68 — Self - Keyboards2012
- Doors: Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of L.A. Woman — Self2012
via TMDB
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Origin
- United States
- Active from
- 1939
- Active to
- 2013
Discography
Member of
- The Doors1965–1973
- Manzarek–Krieger2002–2013
- Nite City
- Rick & The Ravens
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 20,716
- Total plays
- 207,380
Tags
Ray Manzarek (born Raymond Daniel Manczarek, Jr. on February 12, 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, United States; died May 20, 2013, in Rosenheim, Germany) was an American musician, singer, producer, film director, and author, best known as a founding member and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973. He was a co-founding member of Nite City from 1977 to 1978, and of Manzarek-Krieger from 2001 to his death. From 1962 to 1965, Manzarek studied in the Department of Cinematography at UCLA, where he m
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
- LAMMPS - a flexible simulation tool for particle-based materials modeling at the atomic, meso, and continuum scales
· 2022 · cited 11,700x
- Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
· 2018 · cited 10,998x
- Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010
· 2012 · cited 10,802x
- Enzymatic assembly of DNA molecules up to several hundred kilobases
· 2009 · cited 10,019x
- Carbon Nanotubes--the Route Toward Applications
· 2002 · cited 9,339x
via Crossref · CC0
Key facts
- Born
- Raymond Daniel Manczarek Jr. , ( 1939-02-12 ) February 12, 1939, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Died
- May 20, 2013 (2013-05-20) (aged 74), Rosenheim , Germany
- Occupations
- Musician songwriter
- Years active
- 1959–2013
- Spouse
- Dorothy Aiko Fujikawa ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. December 21, 1967</span>"}]]}'>1967 )
- Children
- 1 (Pablo Manzarek)
- Genres
- Psychedelic rock jazz fusion
- Instruments
- Keyboards vocals
- Labels
- Elektra A&M
- Website
- https://raymanzarek.com/
via Wikipedia infobox
Described at
Ray Manzarek, the Doors' Founding Keyboardist, Dead at 74 - SPIN
Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, whose alternately gutsy and psychedelic shadings were nearly as distinctive a part of the Doors' sound as Jim Morrison's heated
spin.com →Keyboardist Ray Manzarek, whose alternately gutsy and psychedelic shadings were nearly as distinctive a part of the Doors’ sound as Jim Morrison’s heated dramatics, died Monday (May 20) after a long struggle with bile duct cancer. He was 74. The Chicago-born Manzarek met Morrison while the two were studying film at UCLA in 1965. Both had a passion for blues, rock’n’roll, poetry, and mysticism. Those elements, as filtered through Morrison’s charismatic incantations and Manzarek’s exploratory keyboard work, gave the Doors — rounded out by Robbie Krieger on guitar and John Densmore on drums — a uniquely spacious, liquid sound, equally adept at thrusting rock and flowing improvisations. (While the band used bassists on its studio recordings, Manzarek used a low-end keyboard to fill out the sound live.) Indeed, the Door’s biggest single, 1967’s “Light My Fire,” showcases both sides of their musical personality — and of Manzarek’s importance to each. The radio edit, a No. 1 hit, sparks to life on the strength of his circus-like intro; the seven-minute album version rises and falls on his Eastern-inflected excursions. The Doors’ catalog is filled with Manzarek’s intuitive, inimitable music. He could be menacing (“Waiting for the Sun”), playful (“Hello, I Love You”), or both (“L.A. Woman”). And after Morrison’s death in 1971, it was Manzarek who most aggressively kept the band’s legacy alive, shepherding out releases of the singer’s poetry set to new musical backings and, in 2002, forming the Doors of the 21st Century with Krieger and singer Ian Astbury of the Cult. (Densmore refused to participate in the pseudo-reunion.) In between those efforts, Manzarek released a series of solo recordings. He also played a key part in a second wave of poetic California rock noir by co-producing the first four albums by seminal late-’70s, early ’80s L.A. punk band X. Still: the Doors. When you think of that band, you think of Jim Morrison, but when you think of how it sounded, you think of Manzarek’s mysterious, lysergic keyboards. That’s quite a legacy, and one he and Jim are surely discussing this very moment in Fiji or heaven or wherever it is members of the Doors go when they die. These for sale listings + lightweight ads are from the Sellwild Marketplace. Click to sell your own items for FREE (featured here & on other top sites with millions of daily users).
Excerpt from a page describing this subject · 5,909 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Daniel
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Chicago
- Place of death
- Rosenheim
- Occupation
- singer
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- atenism
- Academic degree
- Master of Fine Arts
- Genre
- rock music
- Instrument
- piano
- Record label
- Elektra
- Official website
- www.raymanzarek.com
- Image
- Ray Manzarek in 1968 (cropped).JPG
- Work location
- Napa
Show 12 more facts
- Commons category
- Ray Manzarek
- cause of death
- cholangiocarcinoma
- date of birth
- 1939-02-12
- date of death
- 2013-05-20
- birth name
- Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr.
- influenced by
- Jack Kerouac
- manner of death
- natural causes
- name in native language
- Ray Manzarek
- start of work period
- 1961-00-00
- copyright representative
- American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
- end of work period
- 2013-00-00
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (/mænˈzɛɪrək/ man-ZAYR-ik; né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist, vocalist, and music producer. He is best known as a member of the rock band the Doors, co-founding the group in 1965 with fellow UCLA Film School graduate Jim Morrison. Manzarek is credited for his innovative playing and abilities on organ-style keyboard instruments.
Manzarek was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a Doors member. He was a co-founding member of Nite City from 1977 to 1978 and of Manzarek–Krieger from 2001 until he died in 2013. USA Today described him as "one of the best keyboardists ever".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ray Manzarek” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.