RAY MANZAREK An Evening of Spoken Word & Music
McCabes Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California
Friday, January 23, 2004
Tonight's show at McCabes Guitar Shop was already sold out earlier this week. When we were admitted into the club, there were Ray's Alesis keyboards onstage along with the house piano that Ray normally uses at this venue.
Ray took to the stage about 8:05 or 8:10, and began by spoofing on a review of a previous show where he had been 'ripped' by a local reviewer for mentioning the beautiful weather instead of launching into an immediate discussion about Jim Morrison!
As always, Ray is an entertaining and amusing elocutionist and for this McCabes appearance, he had some new material to include in the show. He started off by saying that he and Dorothy and his Doors memorabilia had moved to a little farmhouse up in Napa, where these 'city kids' are now planting fruit trees and will be growing peaches, nectarines, lettuce, tomatoes, melons, and the like.
He talked about the recently concluded tour of Europe that the band did in December. There had been a lot of "rain in Spain" on the afternoon of the show, where they played in a bullring which he referred to as the 'killing ground.' The rain had stopped before the show began at 10:00 p.m. They also had rain in Portugal.
They had been told to expect snow in Paris, but instead found a cold but beautiful winter day. Their visit to Paris for Jim's 60th birthday on December 8th was packed with fans and press. He said they went directly to Pere LaChaise when they arrived Paris in the afternoon, because of the cemetery hours. The grave was covered with candles and flowers and photos; he and Robby both lit candles, picked up a poem and burned it. He spoke of the 'secret show' they played that evening at La Scene, which Ray described as one of those dingy, dark Parisian nightclubs.
Ray began to speak about some of the reviews that the Universal Amphitheater show had received (bad!), and said that Skye Saxon and a pick-up band playing at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, had garnered a better review!! The Roseland Ballroom show in New York City last year had also been poorly reviewed ... and unfortunately, those reviews will be used against them in court.
Ray introduced the Alesis keyboards as the actual one used on stage with The Doors of the 21st Century, sat down and began playing with the various sound tones, sampling numerous Doors songs and having a lot of fun.
Reminisces about the early days of Rick & The Ravens playing Turkey Joint West in Venice Beach: Woolly Bully by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs. Ray as Screaming Ray Daniels of Chicago. Smoking pot. More noodling on the keyboards led him into playing some jazzy stuff that he said was reminiscent of their early days at the Whisky, when no one was in the place, Morrison had not yet shown up, and they got into their groove together just jamming.
At 9:25 Ray introduced beat poet, friend of Jim, fellow Chicago native and frequent collaborator, Michael C. Ford. They performed together for about 10 minutes, with Ray moving over to the piano to accompany Michael's poetry.
The next portion of the program was spent taking questions from the audience. Here are some of them:
Q: Did Ray know the story behind 'Hyacinth House'? A: No Someone else said that the hyacinths were in front of Linda Ashcroft's house in Stockton. Ray said Linda Ashcroft is a person he never met. That audience member also said that 'The Spy' was for Linda Ashcroft. Ray wondered aloud where that left Pam!
Q: Why were the lyrics to 'Back Door Man' cleaned up between the Universal Amphitheater show and the Pacific Amphitheater show, from "she eats more pussy" to "she eats more chicken." A: Ray said he didn't realize that Ian had sung the lyric differently, and then chalked it up to the Orange County Fair being a "family show."
Q: Will they be playing locally again? A: Oh sure, they'll play somewhere, probably outdoor in the summer.
Someone told Ray how much they enjoyed the New Years Eve show at Kodak Theater, which launched Ray into a story about the venue, how it is built like a European opera house, and a side story about his observations on the Babylonian architecture and huge pillars topped with elephants in the outside central courtyard where the shops are ... reminiscent of 'Hollywood Babylon.' He predicts those pillars coming down when there is an earthquake! Ray indicated that his brother Jim and wife were also there at the New Years Eve show.
Q: Someone asked Ray where he lived he had lived in Chicago. A: 3358 Bell Avenue.
Q: What is Ray's favorite use of a Doors song in a movie? A: 'The End' in Apocalypse Now. Ray went into a side story about how all of them, together with dates, went together to see 2001: A Space Odyssey and because of their late arrival, had to sit in the very front row -- which, as it turned out, was the best place to sit for that movie, stoned!
Q: Have you considered doing any songs by The Cult? A: No, no I haven't considered it. But, we have been working for the last three days on new songs. They haven't gotten to Ian's songs yet, but they have been rehearsing and working on new songs such as 'Cops Talk' and 'Street of Crocodiles' -- which he did an impromptu performance of (I really liked this one), followed by a performance of 'Cops Talk.' He said that McClure gave them the lyrics for 'Eagle In A Whirlpool' which he also did an impromptu performance of.
Q: What were the reviews of the LPs and tours following Jim's death? A: They were critically despised! More talk on the reviews of D21C, the negative reviews and how they have come full circle! Ray joked about how they have been living with bad reviews for so long, and how no one dares to criticize Bruce Springsteen.
Ray got into a side story about "Celebration Of The Lizard," a play that had been put on in San Diego a few years ago by his friend Joel Lipman ... it was a story about people who had left Los Angeles (the chaos and disorder) and went to the desert, set entirely to the music of The Doors arranged by Olan Jones.
Q: Will Ray be signing later? A: Yes, that is what he does ... and this is how the evening goes (re-capping the evening's sequence: talk, playing, Michael C. Ford, Q&A, etc., then signing). Someone asked if Ray could sign Jim's signature and he said no, but John Densmore can.
Q: What did Ray think of Val Kilmer as Jim in the movie? A: The movie was over-the-top and ridiculous, but Val did a real good job, 'was very sexy.'
Q: Did Jim make a film? A: Yes, Hwy, in which 10 good minutes were expanded to 50 minutes ... then spoke of being able to see Ray's student movies in 'The Doors Collection' and Ray's recent movie, 'Love Her Madly.'
Q: What music or current bands does Ray listen to now? A: None ... he's into electronica, techno, acid jazz music, and classical music. He does not listen to any current bands.
Several times, Ray remarked that he sure wished that John would come on-board with them, and 'take the trip' ... but he doesn't think he will, and that John's efforts to "stop them" will be decided in a court of law by a jury.
Q: How did Jim get so good, so fast? A: He had done it plenty, man. We played at the Turkey Joint 4 sets a night, and the Whisky, and Ondines ... working the songs out at the London Fog ... he did a lot of singing. He had a natural ability for the structure of music, an innate structural understanding ...
Q: How was Stewart Copeland? A: Stewart was a great guy, but there were problems with scheduling ... he broke his elbow, he had movie scores to do, etc. Other than that, he was a great guy.
Q: What was Paul Rothchild like? A: He was fabulous ... he was a brilliant, intellectual stoner from New York City, a folkie. When we made records, there were six Doors. Paul was the oldest guy in the studio, and I was the oldest guy in The Doors.
Q: About Boot Yer Butt! and the guitar being heavily featured. A: That was totally Robby's project, Ray has not listened to it. He is glad that the guitar is heavily featured, Robby has not gotten enough credit.
Q: The release of Feast of Friends on DVD? A: That was cancelled, along with Isle of Wight, from Eagle Vision. No idea when it will be released.
Q: The Morrison / Courson lawsuit? A: That is John's lawsuit. Stewart's lawsuit is over with. John's is an ongoing process. The Morrisons & Coursons want Jim's share of money for D21C playing ... the trial is set for April. Ray joked that he was taking those keyboards to court with him.
With that final question, Ray played a jazzy thing on the Alesis for a minute or two, and then said goodnight. He re-located to behind the counter in the front section of the guitar shop, where he proceeded to tirelessly sign, pose for photos, and talk with all the fans who waited behind to do so. This was a really entertaining program ... Ray had some new "material" to introduce, i.e., things about The Doors of the 21st Century, the new music they are working on, and (sadly) the lawsuits. The Alesis keyboards on stage provided a new playing field to entertain with some improvisational playing.
Only regret: no 'Crystal Ship' played this time.
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Ida
January 24, 2004