Ray Manzarek Interview 1983 on Jim Morrison's Death and the Doors

[@sunlion8866]

''Jim existed to take us on a psychic voyage, he was the roadman, he was the shaman, he was the madman, and he was the sensitive poet.'' -Ray Manzarek

[@DonPiruflo]

He forgot one thing, he was the BACK DOOR MAN

[@robertludwig1278]

@@DonPiruflo and the Lizard king

[@lesclaypoolonbass9431]

@@robertludwig1278 and Mr. MOJO RISIN

[@sexobscura]

he sure spoke a load of old tripe, that's for sure

[@nomad134]

@@lesclaypoolonbass9431 and the Crawling king snake!!!

[@cbarrett34]

RIP RAY. without ray, there's no Doors

[@shepherdoffire9263]

THE BERGS SHOW without any doors member there is no doors lol

[@TheRightLadder]

There's still one door on this thing. We'll keep going until all the doors fall off.

[@pammiller2172]

Ray M. A class act. RIP

[@fenwayify]

@@pammiller2172 I don't think Ray or Robbie were particularly classy in trying to continue as The Doors sans Morrison or selling out their music for a payday. Only because Densmore and the Morrison family sued was the integrity of the band retained.

[@robbie73vespa]

@@fenwayify i whole heartedly agree, they should have called it a day after Jim's passing + for me the music after Jim's death isn't the Doors for me

[@sunnyd6019]

Who else misses Ray and Jim and The Doors. They are one of the most incredible bands to ever exist and the music they made was and will always be magic. Love listening to Ray, he always could tell a story and bring you into the conversation so well, RIP Ray and Jim, see you on the other side one day.

[@citizenseventies6738]

Ray looks younger here than he did in 1967.

[@ray44f]

And he’s 44 here

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

That whole thing must've been like living two completely different lives, like before and after Jim Morrison.

[@leafyapril]

@@ingvarhallstrom2306you know, he wouldn’t approve of this comment. He loved Jim

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

@@leafyapril I never said he didn't? I think you may have misread what I wrote, it wasn't my intention to throw shade at him. I merely reflected on the fact they were so young and incredibly talented and their whole career with The Doors was ended before they were thirty, Manzarek being 32 was the oldest. And I just imagined it must've felt like having two different careers in two different life times, before and after Jim Morrison. Manzarek went on to live another 40 years after Morrisons death, which meant the people involved had the time to re-invent themselves several times over. Imagine having been a member of the Doors. Then go on doing other stuff for another forty years. The Doors must've felt so incredibly long ago for them, yet being so intensely close to them.

[@lriper4702]

Hahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@Ladyli63N16]

The most beautiful and perfect description of Jim Morrison .... just Ray Manzarek to do it because he knew the true essence of Jim! Jim and Ray rest in peace ... in the world of the gods...!!!

[@bluewendigo672]

What a friendship. Of this 2 guy's.RIP

[@ashe984]

Such a gorgeous man Ray is in this

[@szqsk8]

Another stimulating comment Or Michaelangelo's David....

[@uhhhhyourmom]

Ray seems like such a nice guy

[@TheAndreluizcarneiro]

Trav in the Box Yeah. He had a great soul.

[@leejackson4724]

Trav in the Box R I P Ray, tell Jim hello from us.

[@neilpeartspurplenose8739]

Jim was,too..when he wasn't drunk. Unfortunately,that was far too often towards the end.

[@ashe984]

Yes he sure does funny too

[@julieerin115]

And he was married to his wife until his death, which is rare these days, even for noncelebrities.

[@djquinn11]

Ray was so smart, and talented. I miss him, such an interesting interview. The Doors were my favorite growing up. He nailed it when he said that Jim packed it all into 27 years.

[@sananto6896]

It is rare, espcially in rock band, for one band leader like Ray, to have so much respect, admiration and love for another, like Jim. RIP Ray.

[@mrmojorisin8752]

Years later Ray was recalling how he never got to say good-bye to Jim, and he wanted to tell Jim that he loved him. He began crying. Those of you who say he mythologized Jim to sell records can shove it. You may doubt Ray’s views, but don’t doubt his sincerity.

[@peterglynn2128]

Jim Morrison still Brilliant 50 years later.

[@wojciechwrobel6520]

I've experienced Jim twice, I haven't listened to doors for 3-4 years, but we've fallen into their hands while spinning their second album. And you know what - I cried.... For my lost youth, for my dead friends, for my lost soul, for Jim.

[@JBrooksNYS]

This was the year I was born. 1983. I grew up with my older brother listening to The Doors everyday. Im a lifelong fan.

[@bobthebear1246]

What an amazing person Ray Manzarek was. So bright, clear-thinking, articulate sensitive, and with-it. I discovered X in 1983, had *More Fun In The New World,* *Wild Gift,* and *Under The Big Black Sun.* I always forget that Ray Manzarek produced them. We lost another genius when we lost Ray. R.I.P.

[@laurooobang]

rest in peace ray.

[@adrianod3888]

Adriano Demarchi

[@zenpaganwarrior]

So glad to have met Ray in 2000 on his college tour with Michael McClure, basically doing what he was doing with Jim: putting beautiful piano music to poetry. I was the last in line following the show to have Michael sign his book Rebel Lions and Ray sign his solo Golden Scarab CD for me. I got to tell Ray, "I was born on Pam's birthday the year Jim died," and he was very considerate and thoughtful during our few minutes' long conversation about Jim's spirit being there at that show and other things. Michael (who actually stayed with Jim and Pam in London and talked with JM about collaborating on something) was a total class act as well.

[@gmajorspresents]

Ray was brilliant, the brains behind Jim. Ray had vision and knew how to play it cool.

[@JamesLee-lk4kx]

RIP ray,and Jim,and thank you for the soundtracks that changed my life forever.

[@oceanewolf9006]

The way he talks about his friend Jim Morrisson is so beautiful...

[@Sidneyyoungblood75]

Ray is a very good storyteller. An excellent salesman. At least he's been consistent in his storytelling over the many years.

[@Westerdd]

I guess it didn't do the royalties any harm :)

[@havefunbesafe]

lol...yeah, he liked to talk for sure about Jim, promoting the " brand ".

[@BillOdyssey]

Usually skips the military intelligence part lol.

[@caesarvalentin7155]

They are gone but the music will live for so many centuries like Mozart and Beethoven.

[@caesarvalentin7155]

The first time I heard the song Light my Fire on the radio I was 8 years old and belive me it still resonance in my mind forever

[@thesatanicmajesty]

Ray is such a gem, bless him

[@leonconnelly5303]

The doors still have such an individual sound no ones replicated it. Mechanical yet free, melodic yet powerful listening to them conjures something mysterious

[@chesterlane7355]

I Always remember Ray Manzarek for the music he made with his friends because I'm a huge fan of the doors since high school in the 1990's I'm almost 39 years old this year lol

[@da1stegr53]

same age, and the doors definitely changed my views on music, legends forever every member, jim was just beyond anyone of that time, and he was the soul of the doors and when tragedy hit in 1971 jim morrison became immortal.

[@talkingvegetable3538]

No one gives a shit.

[@darkdefender1111]

Chester Lane 39😲 Shit your old!

[@HartHendrix]

@@darkdefender1111 Just turned 20 and The Doors are still the most mystic and groovy band I've come across during my short existence. Rest in Peace Jim and Ray!

[@MsRadar23]

same here man, I’ve been into the doors since I was a kid, listened to my dad’s Doors vinyls in the basement, I’ll be turning 39 on Friday haha

[@carlmannino6360]

Ray was a brilliant artist and musician.

[@cbrasure925]

Ray was (and still is in another dimension) the biggest Doors fan. "Doors fans are born" I'm a Rider on the Storm but didn't figure it out until I was 11 y/o. R.I.P. Ray It's always good to hear your voice.

[@briansalisbury4764]

I always loved Rays intellect, and it is no mystery why he and a Morrison were so attracted to each other and became such good friends.

[@stupendous1068]

Happy 80th birthday Ray Manzarek!!!

[@gotoalex100]

Jim Morrison was an original and the Doors were unique. The other bands Ray mentioned are already forgotten.

[@peterfile2185]

The doors saved me during a break up no joke

[@bobm3957]

I'm alive thanks to The Doors American Prayer -headphones and a few hits of some good medicine. Bad case of PTSD as a fire dept medic and just too much shit on my plate. WAY too much young blood here In The Streets in The Town of New Haven (for real) That was over 20 yrs ago but I was close. Got me through a bad night and instead of The End I was Waiting for the sun and a new day. No more Whiskey bars and life slowly got better. No joke. Even got to see Ray and Robbie play a few yrs later...In New Haven Ct again

[@mikesagondeez6378]

Bob Martens medicine?? you mean drugs

[@shineouth]

@@mikesagondeez6378 weed xd

[@SethMacLeod95]

Your title name seems to show you haven’t quite gotten over it 😂

[@peterfile2185]

@@SethMacLeod95 what?!?

[@818Yankee]

The best band I ever heard!!!

[@joegongora2200]

Even Jim Morrison said that Ray Manzarek was the Doors because of how he played his keyboards. But Jim also that no one in the band was more important than the others , he said they all were the Doors.

[@AcoreOneRlovE]

I have listened to The Doors alot, just a few songs tho. But my dad, who is a guitarist and singer. Recommended me to do some research on The Doors and Jim Morrison to learn more. And now i'am obsessed with The Doors, i have listen to more lf their songs and try to listen to full albums. Jim was a real poetry, and every word came from his heart. I love The Doors, Thank you Ray for making The Doors happening! RIP Ray and Jim, i'am sure they are having a blast together in the after-life.

[@BobMinelli]

Fucking RAY was 44 at that interview. Looking pretty good. RIP brother. Now both Jim and Ray can laugh at us from beyond as we deal with the whole shit-house going up in flames. Oh, guess what time it it....TIME to get my kicks.

[@454cassul9]

Man, you make my day, can't stop laughing 🤣👍

[@DChristina]

Love that Ray M produced the band X- have seen them many times...they were great!

[@MrAnapires]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@dburch7894]

In my opinion, Ray was the pied piper. The muse and a poet in his own right.

[@burodietrich7826]

GREATEST BAND EVER

[@scott7521]

Loved Ray.... wish I could have met him.

[@vickihayward6832]

Aww Ray seemed like a lovely Guy . R.ip Ray n Jim❤❤

[@sebastianjf6226]

I LOVE YOU RAY !!!!

[@mariapilarsanchezhernandez6834]

Ray manzaret, un buen profesional, nadie tocaba los teclados como, se le veía una buena persona, viva Doors por siempre

[@MikhnevichNatalya]

Это точно!👍👍👍👍

[@b_side8669]

I know jim & Ray are gone but I wounder if they are going to come out with anymore doors cd’s I know a few years ago they came out with live in Boston I just hope they do come out with more albums like that

[@alejandroherrero71]

Que bien narra Ray, lluvia de imagenes sus relatos

[@verocarra7972]

Y que bien pronuncia el inglés americano, se entiende todo

[@charlottefleming5168]

Ray looks younger here than he did in the Doors!😜

[@TheReubenKincaid]

Seems like a lot of the 60’s and 70’s musicians did the 80’s clean up. Shorter hair, or mullets. Gone were the sideburns and hippie hair. Even Neil Young in the early eighties did it, the said said screw it, I’m Neil Young

[@oohyllab]

I agree, he looks like a million!!

[@Westerdd]

He looks very handsome. I guess he was around 43 when this was filmed

[@mikeblaz]

"Hungry Wolf" by "X" was on MTV all the time when they were first added to our cable lineup....cool tune.

[@flash8854]

Fame is a crock, power is a crock, who the hell wants that? Freedom man, freedom, enough money just to be, yourself. No acting, no image, just be. Getting up when you like and doing what you like, dress how you like. If you have somebody who loves and supports you and doesn't want a piece of you? That's probably as good as it gets man. - Mickey Alvarez. (Jim Morrison)

[@flash8854]

Ron Clooney talks about his latest novel, Mr Mojo Risin (ain't dead) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWnUYY2gd6qleJI....

[@ΜακηςΚωστοπουλος-κ1κ]

YOU MISSED SO SO MUCH.LIKE YOU ARE HERE. YOU NEVER GONE YOU NEVER DIE. JUST YOU BREAK THROU TO THE OTHER SIDE.I HOPE JIM YOU LIKE THERE. LOVE FROM GREECE TO THE BEST BANT EVER

[@kimberlysemple6004]

Ray. RIP. Ray had the vision and saw into Jim. Saw a flame burning to come out

[@46foryounger]

I get that drugs takes artists on a deeper more introspective and darker journey but certainly not worth losing a great artist. If you have talent youre going to have talent regardless. Most people who do drugs just don’t have the real believe in their own abilities. Another story that ends in don’t do drugs. The great Tito Puente produced grammy winning epic music in his genre for his entire life and didn’t need to be high to do it. Fight those demons of insecurity. We need great artists to live a long prosperous life.

[@gabrielababycake]

There's no ego in this man! Love him 💗

[@silvianoboa8662]

I love you, Ray. Silvia.

[@michaelmachung7233]

I enjoy listening to smart people talk.

[@bobbyhill1005]

Miss You Ray!!!

[@ΜακηςΚωστοπουλος-κ1κ]

You was the best ever, and undil today and for ever you will the best

[@StephenDoty84]

Jim's voice when he says, "Let me tell you about Texas radio and the big beat."

[@melissadalessandro7236]

I wish I had been standing next to Ray the first time he saw X perform.

[@liberty5069]

This guy has the perfect speaking voice for doing commercials.

[@oohyllab]

Easy on the eyes too.

[@JerichoMile4]

Uh...Ray Manzarek is such a good interview ! ☕

[@manuelag.h.7471]

Ray salutami Jim state suonando e cantando Riders on the storm la mia preferita .........Grandi DOORS 💙💙💙

[@j.lietka9406]

R. I. P. Ray 😌 miss your power!

[@michaelserby7697]

Classic DOORS. 🇺🇲 🖤

[@kato64]

Manzarek spinning the “Dionysus reborn” hokum. Jim Morrison was blessed with a genius level IQ (tested at 143, if I recall correctly), good looks, (IMHO) a great singing voice, and a gift for writing interesting lyrics/poems. But in the words of his bandmate, John Densmore, a “self-destructive kamikaze”, and succumbed to his reckless lifestyle in July of 1971. He was a man, not a Greek god reborn. Handsome , intelligent and gifted, but a man all the same. And I don’t say this to belittle Morrison, but to denigrate Manzarek’s self-serving glorification of his long-dead friend.

[@jobckts682]

Just 10yrs after. 40yrs Since interview

[@rev.jimjonesandthekool-aid4488]

Ray would re-tell these stories for another 30 years.

[@cuauhtemocoliver6673]

No, Jim Morrison he must be an a Hell the truth is the truth man.

[@boommyym]

Where can i find a full version of the documentalistics i guess?

[@truu-dl8rp]

RIP Ray man 😎

[@ugobrigneti8395]

Hi, could someone tell me the name of the other band ray talks about??

[@chrisboston]

Cool interview! Does anyone know the source and where this aired back in 1983?

[@julieerin115]

Jim Morrison was hot. Ray Manzarek is also kind of cute too with short hair.

[@barbararabarbar6618]

@The Metalhead omg shut up

[@kerimalpaltuncu97]

Lets date

[@edwardcatton315]

Jim would never be Jim? without Ray, Robbie & John!!!.

[@burodietrich7826]

THE OLIVER STONE SOUNDTRACK of THE MOVIE THE DOORS with VAL KILMER is OUTSTANDING

[@felixthelmocevallosmorales41]

Raymond Daniel Manzarek, conocido artísticamente como Ray Manzarek (Chicago, EE. UU., 12 de febrero de 1939-Rosenheim, Alemania, 20 de mayo de 2013)​ fue un músico, cantante, productor, director de cine y escritor estadounidense. Fue cofundador y teclista de la banda de rock The Doors entre 1965 y 1973, y en The Doors of the 21th Century (luego Manzarek - Krieger) desde 2001.

[@tonyajohnson7948]

Two remaining Doors. Yet all four will forever remain❤️

[@MichaelHansenFUN]

light my fire was used in a television commercial for a radio station

[@MynameisDmitri]

damn how would I like enjoy a joint with this guy and Jim (Morrison and Hendrix) and why not Dr Dre

[@jesuslovesyou5384]

PS I truly miss Jim Morrison

[@nitsujjustin]

And he's watching us and he's laughing

[@danferrazbr]

I love Ray, but this whole ''jim was dyonisius reincarnated'' talk seems like a way to keep the mystique alive and bank on it. No way he sees Jim like that even after living with the guy. Jim´s is part myth, part legend. Ray knows that and played those cards well, imo.

[@TyphonBaalHammon]

I think Manzarek had a very sincere admiration for Jim Morrison, and he tends to tell stories in a very grandiloquent over-the-top way (His book Light My Fire, makes him sound quite like a crazy hippie, but his style works better when you hear him speak). I think if any of us had lost a good friend of ours we would tend to think back mostly about the good things, to mythicize them, and with Jim Morrison it's even easier because he was already being mythicized while he was still alive. Basically, I don't think Manzarek was as cynical as you make him out to be.

[@rev.jimjonesandthekool-aid4488]

You underestimate jim. He was a god.

[@JB-gv3lo]

Ray looks like Kevin Spacey in a way

[@Inglewolf]

This is from NBC's "Friday Night Videos" show, which was an alternative for those of us (poor or rural or in my case children of cheap parents) who didn't have cable and couldn't watch MTV. I remember watching this on my 12" Philco black-and-white set. Interviews like this and the one the week later with Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield) were exclusive to this show. I remember this being the first time Manzarek gave up the ghost of Morrison still being alive--"I think they're just stories..." Just my opinion, I think Manzarek always wanted to believe that Morrison was still alive...

[@AYDmarinac]

Inglewolf in one second i almost felt like he wants to say, ofc these are stories, i think and i hope Jim would call me if he is alive :)

[@Eugenie7003]

❤❤the Doors band!!

[@michaelsix9684]

where did Jim learn to sing the way he did

[@veronicabenzi3198]

te quiero mucho ray manzarek eres el creador de los door yant

[@jimmorrison5493]

Looking good Ray

[@afritimm]

The burial in Pere Lachaise in Paris has burnished Jim's myth, and it is touching to see his father take this as if it was a decision by the French govt to honor him. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Jim died of a drug overdose in a bar with drugs supplied to him by his girlfriend's dealer. He was then secretly carried back to the apartment by one or two friends. Then they called the police and the friends told them it was a heart attack. An autopsy would have been normal, but his friends were desperate to avoid this because it would prove drugs. They somehow convinced the police to skip the autopsy, and described him not as a rock musician (the police had never heard of him) but as a poet. Otherwise, the authorities would never agree to Pere Lachaise for a rock musician in those years, especially one barely known in France. So through clever manipulation they got him accepted for Pere Lachaise as a "poet" and buried him very quickly with virtually no one there but 3 or 4 people. You'll note this interview mentions he was already buried before they even heard he was dead.

[@toddman3849]

I wonder what the doors would be after the drugs? Would jim be still poetic? Loved the doors..but wonder if it would have survived the drugs?

[@cuauhtemocoliver6673]

Jim Morrison a great Demon really man. That’s it.

[@ivangreco8874]

Grande ray

[@leehaynesiii276]

If Ray was born in 38' he woulda been 44 or 45 here !? The same age I am now. He looked great for 44/45. Far better than myself I must say.

[@waynedodgin7449]

Im a 976 yr old Jedi Knight and have love the Doors since i was the tender age of 925.MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THEM ALL!

[@missblink4611]

So what happened to this “x” band ??? As was he just selling his product ?

[@seanpatrick7019]

I wonder what he thought about Rush.

[@lennywebb6740]

It is nice to think Jim was a Greek God but I think I believe the story of him being found dead on the shit pot in that night club where the owners carried his body back to his apartment to lay him in the bath.

[@Engelbird]

Ray was quite the looker in his own right.

[@obwhankanobee1923]

I think morrison was just a member of a rock band that became a rich and famous alcoholic drug addict ...that overdosed and passed away.......but that is only my take on the whole thing....

[@lucky5853]

Here he looks different from the early years of partying and drugs ,even younger, RIP Ray.

[@BearFlagRebel]

X? Saw them and didn't come away thinking the same as Ray as I think the vast majority of people who saw them did outside their fan base.

[@ashe984]

Ray sure seems like a nice guy so very gorgeous and a sexy man. He is funny too