Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers Play the Mystic Theatre
Saturday, March 20, 2010         Petaluma, California

By: David Percival

The marquee overhead at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA spelled out the source of my motivation for driving four hours in bold caps.  “THE DOORS RAY MANZAREK & ROY ROGERS TONIGHT!”   As I drove by the front entrance (two and a half hours early) into the adjacent parking lot, I couldn’t help but take notice of an older couple strolling past inconspicuously, hand in hand.  I recognized the woman first.  She looked like Ray’s wife Dorothy Manzarek based on a few pictures I had seen.  Within a split second my attention was focused on the tall gentleman at her side.  It was absolutely Ray (You know you might be too big of a fan when you recognize the rock star’s wife before the rock star!)  Thoroughly and regrettably star-struck, I parked my car and observed the keyboard legend and his wife from a distance as they glanced up at the marquee that announced his and his band’s name.  I wondered what thoughts were passing between them at that moment.  I wondered if Ray thought it was kind of funny or strange, as I did, to see “The Doors” spelled out up there, as if Robby, John, or even Jim would be joining him. 

Ray and his wife continued walking past the theatre entrance.  Although I didn’t have anything to get autographed, I was in possession of a lousy point and shoot camera and I considered attempting to score a photo with the musician while the opportunity presented itself.  The streets weren’t particularly crowded and no one was in line yet for the show, but I still couldn’t get over the fact that Ray Manzarek, the guy who co-founded the Doors with Jim Morrison after a chance encounter on Venice Beach, was quietly strolling along the sidewalk, seemingly unnoticed by everyone except myself.  I wanted to walk up to people nearby and say “Do you know who that gentleman is??  Have you heard the mesmerizing keyboard solo in “Light My Fire,” the most popular song in America for several weeks in the summer of 1967?  You’re looking at the composer of that!”  I wanted to bring attention to the musical greatness that was walking the streets of downtown Petaluma.  But out of courtesy for him and his wife I didn’t make his presence known.  I also didn’t gather up the courage to approach him for a photograph.  Instead I opted to briefly follow him and his wife around to the backside of the theatre (kind of a stalker move, I know) hoping another fan might approach them first and break the ice for me.  But that didn’t happen.  I was apparently too nervous and he honestly appeared too content; enjoying a private moment with his wife on what was still a pleasant, warm afternoon in Sonoma County.  I didn’t want to risk ruining the moment by shoving a camera in his face, worse yet knowingly irritating one of the members of my favorite band.  Perhaps I should have taken the chance.  Some people came out of a door on the backside of the theatre.  Among them I recognized slide guitarist Roy Rogers who would be accompanying Ray on stage.  Ray, his wife, and the others proceeded to go inside.

Fast forward to a bit later and I’m in line at the theatre.  There are about six or seven people ahead of me and we’re waiting patiently for the doors to open.  Behind me is a growing line of people.  I pass time by looking for Doors shirts in the crowd.  Surprisingly, I can only spot one.  I also notice that I am quite possibly the youngest person in line.  I think of the song “People Are Strange,” altering the lyrics a bit in my mind.  People are strange when you’re the only 23 year old in a group of 50+ year olds.  Attached to the right side of the theatre is a restaurant, McNear’s Saloon and Dining House, where I notice waitresses moving busily from table to table and smell the wafting aroma of delicious food coming from within.  The front door of the restaurant is propped open and I can see people sitting inside at a table.  Of course it’s none other than Ray Manzarek and company again.  Not about to disrupt his meal, I stay satisfied knowing that I’m probably one of the few people in line that have spotted him and make it my goal for the next 45 minutes not to stare too much or reveal his location.  Finally after a half hour or so a woman behind me pipes up, “I think that’s Ray Manzarek over there!”  Before long everyone in my part of the line is buzzing about Manzarek, goading each other to approach the man for an autograph while he eats with his wife and friends.  A man behind me even whips out a huge camera, zooming in through the open restaurant door to snap a picture.  Finally the doors opened and the paparazzi, I mean fans, shuffled inside.

I snag a great seat in the front row, closest to the keyboards of course.  The small, intimate theatre steadily fills up as vintage musical clips and commercials from the 40s and 50s play on a screen above the stage.  I chat with an Israeli guy sitting to my left.  He tells me that he was talking with Roy Rogers before the show and as an aspiring musician and Doors fan he had asked Rogers if he might be able to sing a song or two with them on stage.  He said that Rogers declined his request because people came tonight to see himself and Manzarek, and might not be too thrilled to see some unknown guy on stage.  We talked a bit more and then the opening act came on.

Country Joe MacDonald put on a very enjoyable show.  To be honest, I knew very little about the musician other than him being one half of the psychedelic ‘60s band Country Joe and the Fish.  I didn’t know any of Country Joe and the Fish’s songs (I was vaguely familiar with their popular “Fixin’ to Die”) but I knew that they had played several of the most prominent festivals of the period including the Monterey International Pop Festival and the Woodstock Festival.  Among the memorable songs he performed was a rousing rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” a song he wrote about and for Janis Joplin called “Janis” and of course his signature anti-war song “Fixin’ to Die” where he substituted “Vietnam” for “Afghanistan.”  He told some personal stories that were very interesting.  One in particular was when he described how “Janis” came about.   She had asked him to write a song for her when they broke off their relationship, a relationship that ended because hitchhiking from Berkeley to San Francisco had become too difficult for him.  With his wealth of stories and incredible abilities as a performer, Country Joe could’ve easily been the headlining act that evening.

Ray Manzarek and Roy Rogers came on the stage shortly after Country Joe ended his performance.  Ray talked about living in nearby Napa, how great it was to be in wine country, and thanked the audience for being such gracious neighbors.  Wine was definitely one of the themes of the evening for Ray and he and Roy exchanged a few jokes about that.  They played a few original pieces that I can’t recall.  The following is what I remember from their performance:  Ray talked a little bit about Bill Evans, a noted jazz pianist, as I learned, who performed with Miles Davis among other greats.  Then he and Roy Rogers played an instrumental song for Evans called “B.E. In Memoriam.”  Then Ray started saying, “I was in this band called the Doors…” and Roy interjected, “Hey, maybe we should play a Doors song!”  So much to the crowd’s approval they jumped into a lively, bluesy version of “Love Me Two Times” with Ray on vocals.  It was about this time that I noticed just how tremendously talented Roy Rogers was on slide guitar.  The way he moved his fingers around so meticulously on the instrument and the way he made it come alive with sounds that you just wouldn’t expect to come out of a guitar, just really jaw dropping.  After that song Roy left the stage and Ray played an instrumental version of “The Crystal Ship.”  That was one of my favorite moments of the evening.   The lights were dimmed even more and limited to a pale blue glow that seemed to encircle the legendary keyboardist as he enchanted the audience with the third track on the Doors’ debut album.  I closed my eyes for a moment to focus on the music, letting it wrap around my mind, but then I’d feel like I had to open them again, to remind myself that I was really only six feet away from Manzarek.  It was no recording, but the real thing. 

After much applause, Roy joined Ray on stage again and they chatted some more.  At one point Ray mentioned that Ramblin’ Jack Elliott was in the audience which was exciting.  They took a few questions from the audience including one person who inquired about the Doors infamous performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.  While I had heard the story many times before, Ray retold the story in such a humorous way (including a dead-on impersonation of Sullivan), that it was like hearing it for the first time.  The guy sitting to my left, with whom I had chatted with earlier about his musical aspirations and love for the Doors, raised his hand to ask a question.  He only got out two words before Ray said “Oh you’re the guy from Israel that Roy was telling me about.  Quick, come on up and do a song!”  I was so surprised.  The guy leapt to the stage and quickly sprang back into “Love Me Two Times.”  After the song he was in disbelief, totally ecstatic.  He planted a big wet one on Roy Roger’s cheek and made a move towards Ray who smiled and said “No kiss man, no kiss man.”  He hopped off the stage and sat back down beside me.  What a hell of a lucky opportunity, I was happy for him.  Roy and Ray performed some other great blues-soaked tunes that the Doors had covered in the span of their six-album-run including John Lee Hooker’s “Crawlin’ King Snake” tied in with the Willie Dixon penned “Back Door Man,” songs in which both Ray and Roy sung.  Interestingly I noticed Roy singing “Back Door Man” the way Howlin’ Wolf originally sung it including lyrics like “They take me to the doctor/Shot full o' holes/Nurse cried, please save the soul.”  It was a lot of fun, more great guitar work from Roy and enchanting, soulful keyboard work from Ray.  They closed the evening with a song that Ray had told us was his favorite Doors song to listen to, “Riders on the Storm.”  “To my knowledge, this is the last song Jim Morrison ever recorded on planet Earth,” said Manzarek before playing.  At the end of the song Manzarek whispered the words “riders on the storm...riders on the storm” like Morrison does at the end of the studio version, creating a similarly haunting effect.  They bowed to great applause and briefly left the stage but the audience chanted for an encore.  They returned one last time, resumed “Riders” then left for good.

I stuck around hoping Ray might join Roy Rogers in greeting fans at the front but a theatre employee told us that he wouldn’t be making any more appearances for the night.  I still had a great time.  Well worth the four hour drive south from Humboldt State University.

(thanks, David)

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