Lighting a Fire at the Playhouse

In Greek mythology, Zeus has two sons: Apollo and Dionysius. Dionysius is the god of wine, ecstasy and intoxication. Apollo, the god of the sun has dreams and reason.

Considering what we know now of Jim Morrison's wild Dionysian ways, do you ever wonder how The Doors kept it together as long as they did? A conversation with their keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, should clarify such things.

Manzarek is absolutely one of the most Apollonian guys you'll ever speak to. 

He brings his famous keyboard sounds, jazzy organ, demented calliope and stately piano to the Ridgefield Playhouse Wednesday with a rockin' band and an album to promote.

"I've got a new CD called 'Translucent Blues' with a brand new group," Manzarek told Patch recently in that deep, friendly, trippy voice classic rock fans know as well as  their dad's.

"We're called The Manzarek-Rogers Band. A slide guitarist, Roy Rogers, and I did what all old rockers do. We went back to our roots. The music really grooves and we had lyrical help from (Beat poet) Michael McClure and our late friends Jim Carroll and Warren Zevon."

Only the best lyricists for Manzarek, one imagines. After all, that first one he discovered and nurtured only  managed to help change the attitudes of an entire generation.

From their breakthrough hit, "Light My Fire," Manzarek's group, The Doors, were one of the great poetic, deeply-controversial outfits of the '60s. With John Densmore's Latin-inspired grooves, Robby Krieger's bluesy guitar, Manzarek's keyboard, Jim Morrison's now gorgeous, now feral vocals, they rivaled The Rolling Stones as perhaps the most significant group of the era.

And Morrison, himself, was the 60s personified. One minute so profound and transcendent, he made you wonder how you ever accepted your homeroom teacher's tired, mundane definitions of life. The next, he was so ludicrous and excessive you either recoiled or cracked up laughing. 

Still, has anyone ever described Ron Thomas like that?

Manzarek has been keeping busy since that awful summer when Morrison went to Paris (to avoid a trial for indecency) and never returned.

"Well, in the late 70s, I discovered and produced a band you might have heard of, called X," he said, before chuckling. "I saw them at the Whiskey A Go Go and I went crazy. They did 'Johnny Hit And Run Paulene,' and it had the same beatnik poetry as The Doors did. I've  also written some books, made a bunch of records, kept busy. Now, there's this blues band thing."

Although, sadly, Densmore "doesn't want to play with Robby and me anymore," Manzarek, who talks fervently and laughs often, says he's still having a great time, even sans The Doors.

"People often ask me if I get bored playing the intro to 'Light My Fire,'" he said, referencing the most famous keyboard kickoff in rock history. "How could I get tired of it? There's something about the riff I came up with, those chords -- A minor to F#7 -- that still thrill me."

Manzarek  does have some regrets.

For instance, he wishes that "the Doors could have all agreed about putting our songs in commercials. It's not for the money. It's to turn kids onto the music. I just heard The Pretenders in a TV spot for ... something. See, that's my point. I don't even remember what they were selling. I just know I got to hear 'Brass In Pocket.'"

Commercial endorsements notwithstanding, don't expect to see Manzarek hanging it up anytime soon. No matter what configuration he ends up playing with in the future.

"I want to be like Muddy Waters or some other bluesman. Playing when they're really old. That's the way to go out. Listen. None of the remaining Doors are doing this for the money. We're all extremely well-off. But we're still children of the 60s ... We're doing this because we love it. When you love something, you don't stop doing it."

INFO: The Manzarek-Rogers Band will be at The Ridgefield Playhouse on May 25th at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $45. For more information call  203 438-5795.