Keyboard Giant

It is not difficult to explain why Ray Manzarek was such a highly regarded musician. The former Doors keyboard player has died aged 74. His musical legacy will last a great deal longer than that. Before the 1960s came along, rock and roll music had become very formulaic with lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums usually augmenting a good looking singer. All that changed when early 60s groups started to realise the impact the organ was having on their sound.

With the notable exception of the Beatles who only incorporated it late in their career with Billy Preston guesting on several tracks, most 60s bands of note had a decent keyboard player. The rhythm section of drums, bass and keyboard was, if you'll pardon the pun, instrumental to their sound. Drums aside, the combination of bass guitar and keyboard was integral to the sound of many stellar acts.

The Small Faces had Ronnie Lane and Ian Maclagan. The Animals had Chas Chandler and Alan Price. Deep Purple had Roger Glover and Jon Lord. ELP had Greg Lake and Keith Emerson. The Rolling Stones at various intervals had Bill Wyman and Nicky Hopkins. I list these bands because I would consider their respective keyboard players to be the very best to emerge from that most influential decade. The Doors, by comparison, had Ray Manzarek - he was that good. He played bass with his top keyboard using one hand and played standard keyboard below it with the other. Like Jon Lord, Keith Emerson and Nicky Hopkins, he had been classically trained and was equally at home with classical, jazz or any other genre you cared to throw at him.

It is widely believed that the enduring appeal of the Doors' music can be attributed to the mythical status of their erstwhile singer Jim Morrison. The fact is that Ray Manzarek was far more important - he made their sound possible. Listen to any of their songs and you will appreciated the extent to which he absolutely dominated the group. His other group was his musical inventiveness and willingness to experiment. Playing it safe wasn't his style and thus the boundaries were pushed. Boots like his are nigh on impossible to fill. The most the contemporary musicians can aspire to is simply to try and copy some of those magical patterns he created. I wish them luck.

The acid rock of the Doors is now stuck in time in that golden musical era which happened between 1966 and 1971. Its legacy is timeless.