Ray Manzarek 1939-2013

Last year on this date, Doors founding member and keyboardist  Ray Manzarek passed away from bile duct cancer at the age of 74.  Shown here in 1968 (2nd from left) Ray Manzarek was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, and the DePaul University alum at one time was intent on being a basketball star.  Thankfully, he changed his course and went to California to study cinematography where he met Jim Morrison.  On a lazy day at Venice Beach, The Doors became reality, and within a few weeks it was a band of four.  Manzarek usually played the bass lines for the Doors songs, who didn't have an official bass player, by way of various keyboards.  Near the end, he chose Rosenheim, Germany as his venue of treatment for his sickness, rather than the crowded, media-rich Northern California area he called home for many years.  Ray Manzarek fans, on this sad day, I salute you.